No matter how prolific Jason Street’s final words of ‘Give it a chance’ may be, odds are NBC will never give Friday Night Lights that last chance. So for now, we can only assume that this was not only the second season finale, but unfortunately the series finale as well. Definitely nowhere near as good as last week’s stellar episode, but ‘May the Best Man Win’ ranks up there as one of the best episodes of season two.

Not only did we see some actual football, we got resolution to Smash’s strung out racism arc. He’s going to Whitmore, just like Mama Smash always wanted. And no matter how depressed he is by the decision, Mama was right, ‘When God closes a door, he opens a window.’ Smash should know by now to always listen to Mama. Whitmore seems like the perfect choice for the newly humbled Smash, a school that will appreciate his skills and give him more than ample field time to show his worth to the NFL. Certainly a step up from the arena football league that was touting a $14,000 offer.

The football was short and sweet, but it offered us the image of baby Gracie in a full body pink snowsuit. If this show is done, one of the things I’ll miss most is the utter quirkiness that was baby Gracie. The kid had spunk, and some seriously huge eyes. It was great to see an actual plot revolve around the Taylor’s this week, and Tammy just walking out on Eric and Mo fighting? Any other show would have milked Mo’s return as a chance to create some serious marital drama, but on FNL, all a fight did was encourage Tammy to make Eric’s next day hangover a little worse. It’s just refreshing to know that no matter what may have happened on the show, Eric and Tammy would always remain a constant, something so few shows would dare to do.

Also constant? Tim’s courting of Lyla. The previously quiet Tim is not only making wooing old ladies at church a weekly part of his routine, but he’s now got his own show on Lyla’s station, much to the delight of the women of Dillon. Lyla is of course smitten with Chris, his perfect hair, ranch and family. I’m not sold on their relationship, largely because Chris just seems a little too perfect. There’s no doubt that if the show were to continue, Tim would eventually get Lyla back. That’s what makes the plot feel thin, at least with Landry’s love triangle Jean was a worthy competitor. Chris doesn’t make any sense, nor does Tim’s continued longing for Lyla.

Just like Tyra and Landry’s relationship doesn’t make any sense to Matt. And of course, why would it? As much as we all balked about the murder plot, it’s the only reason their current relationship works.  It was refreshing to see Matt and Landry ribbing each other about their love lives, and the nerd in me was happy to see Landry putting together his Guitar Hero guitar. And Landry whispering about Tyra’s skills in the boudoir? Perfectly Landry and a definite laugh out loud moment.  I really hope it’s not the last funny Landry moment we get.

And then there’s Jason, off in his own plot completely separated from everyone else in Dillon. The writers have been struggling to find a place for Jason ever since he quit coaching and I’m really not fond of the pregnancy being used to reassure his manhood. Despite Eric telling him the importance of family, I don’t think Jason gets it.

That doesn’t matter though, because we may never know what Erin’s final decision ended up being, just like we’ll never know if Dillon will make it to State again, if Tyra will get bored of Landry and bolt, or if Matt and Julie will make their way back to one another. ‘May the Best Man Win’ wasn’t intended to provide any sort of closure, it was just meant to be the middle. A middle we may never get. Here’s hoping Friday Night Lights ends up somewhere next season, anywhere, because in the words of Lorelai Gilmore, ‘I want a middle.’

Popularity: 64% [?]

Friday Night Lights, NBC’s critically acclaimed, but low rated drama ends its second season tonight, after 15 episodes.  At this point, fans don’t know if they’ll ever see another episode, thanks to some rather disparaging remarks from Ben Silverman, the head of NBC Universal.  So here’s what you need to do, if you’ve ever watched Friday Night Lights and enjoyed what you saw, this is the time to act.

How you can:

• Watch damnit!  Especially if you have a Nielsen box.  PVR’ing the show is great, but networks haven’t figured out how to actually use PVR numbers to their benefit yet (plus, FNL already rocks the PVR stats), so watching live is better.
• Tell everyone you know to watch.  Especially if they have a Nielsen box.
• Email NBC.  Tell them why you love the show.
• Sign every petition you can.  Like say, this one.
• If you don’t own the season one DVD’s, buy them.  Come on folks, they’re less than $20 bucks.  What are you waiting for?  Seriously, they are $18.99.  What is wrong with you?  Here’s the Amazon link to make it easy for you.
• If you see an FNL related article on a major news outlet’s website, comment.  Believe it or not, comments made at TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, Zap2It and many others are actually read by executives, or rather, their assistants.

At this point, things aren’t looking great, but there’s still a chance FNL could end up on NBC’s sister channel USA Network, or even another network.  Honestly, speak to any fan of this great show and they’ll tell you the same thing, ‘I don’t care where it airs, as long as it’s still on.’  Here’s hoping it will be.

Popularity: 65% [?]

Friday Night Lights is all I have left. Let me explain myself, I’m out of new television. Officially in a drought. I’m supportive of the writers’ strike, but damnit, I write about TV, I need TV to do that. Anyway, tonight’s episode, Humble Pie, proved yet again that the major flaw of season two is the inability to have plots flow and feel original, things FNL used to make look easy.

Let’s start with Smash’s racism arc. My attitude towards Smash is often indifferent, especially during most of this season when the writers reverted any growth he may have had during Waverly’s sickness, to him simply being ‘The Smash” again. Now it’s obvious the writers are trying to mature him, make the character realize that there are more important things in life than football, but unfortunately it’s continuing to feel like a retread of last year’s race storyline with Mac McGill, except this one’s a lot less subtle. Gaius Charles is no doubt effective, especially in the scene where Smash consoled his younger sister after the prank call and the final scene where Smash realized just how screwed he was, as is Liz Mikel as Mama Smash (often the highlight of any episode in which she appears), but as often is the case with this season of Friday Night Lights, the actors are once again saving otherwise weak story lines. Even with Smash’s future up in the air, I’m having difficulty caring about this plot.

Another plot I’m having difficulty with? Tim and the Meth Man. Tim went from being the show’s figurative punching bag, to the literal one. Of course he didn’t get away with stealing Meth Man’s money, but having Lyla provide the money seemed like a cheap way out. I doubt Meth Man’s gone for good (especially after Billy opened his mouth) however I wouldn’t complain for a moment if he was. The last thing this show needs is another murder.

And then there’s the epic love story of Lyla and Tim. Tim loves her, she doesn’t love him, I don’t care. It was great to see Lyla set him strait that they would never happen again, as they only made sense during Jason’s hospitalization. Without that dramatic event to bond them, we get no sense of why these characters should be together and Tim’s speech that he knows her so well fell short with me, does he really know her at all? Of course part of Lyla’s rejection is because of Chris, but there’s just something about him that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it’s the smile and his seemingly perfect response to everything she throws his way? I’m hoping there’s something more to his character.

After two weeks off screen, Tyra returned with not one, but two story lines. After her refusal to give Landry a shot, it seems like the two parted ways a bit, with Tyra returning when she needed math help. Typical Tyra. It was nice to see something new get thrown her way, in the form of Jean. Her ridiculous jealously over the new girl provided some much needed comedic relief, especially since Landry was enjoying it so much. Also awesome? Matt and Tim’s reaction to Jean’s mixed tape. The quiet smiles and gentle ribbing as Landry finally became the recipient of some courting, rather than the dumbling fool, were great to see.

Not as great as Tami’s look when Tyra easily put the chips on top of the fridge though. It felt like the first time in ages I’ve actually laughed out loud (not in disbelief) at FNL. Unfortunately the volleyball storyline felt like a tired retread of last year’s Powderpuff game, with some bad volleyball scenes. Seriously, I know the show is on a budget, but they couldn’t have hired Adrianne Palicki a coach or something? The writers haven’t forgotten that Tyra owes Tami for last year(this is the second time Tami’s cashed in on it this year, the first being Pantherama), but they’ve given us no scenes to show that that relationship has continued. It seems like this plot would give the perfect excuse for Tyra to get some much needed Mrs. T therapy, however, with Julie’s snide remark that Tami was “one for seven,” it’s obvious that the real reason for the renewed Tyra/Tami interaction was to facilitate yet another fight between Julie and her mother. Julie’s had one note all year, and it’s beyond annoying thirteen episodes in.

Now, Buddy’s the exact opposite. Brad Leland continues to win every scene he’s in, this time as he gave Jason a job and the confidence he needed to make the sale. The look on Buddy’s face when Jason told him that he closed the deal with the looky lu? Too great to describe. As nice as it was to see Jason again, it’s obvious the writers don’t have a clue what to do with him He’s outgrown Dillon, no doubt, but he’s still there. However, catching a glimpse into Jason and Herc’s hilarious domestic squabbles and guy love? Enough to make me forget that the character serves no purpose as of late.

Humble Pie was a step up from last week, but it feels like FNL is stuck. With only two episodes remaining in season two (and perhaps the entire series), they don’t have very long to get out of it.

*Photo courtesy of NBC.

Popularity: 72% [?]

May is such a weird month TV wise. Not only do we get the excitement of season finales but we also get upfront news. At times it can be heartbreaking, realizing a show you love dearly is dead, even if it didn’t get the ending it deserved. But May can sometimes bring the best news, and today just happens to be an example of that. According to Ausiello over at TVGuide, Friday Night Lights has received a full season order. I’d attempt to type how happy I am about this but I just don’t think it’s possible to convey that sort of emotion in words. If you’re paranoid that Ausiello’s wrong, Kristen over at E! has confirmed the same news. It’s a good day folks!!!

In what I’m sure a lot of Grey’s Anatomy fans will be bitter about the Addison spinoff currently titled Private Practice, has been picked up by ABC. While this comes as a shock to no one it does confirm that half the Grey’s creative team will be jumping ship to the new show. Considering Grey’s quality as of late, this news just comes as confirmation that the show is on a slippery slope to sharkdom. Check out this cute but ridiculously cocky video of Kate Walsh on Ellen Degeneres hearing the news for the first time from the head of ABC Entertainment, Steve McPherson:

Popularity: 8% [?]

We know that Studio 60 has a 13 episode order and the assumption is that NBC will want to air all those episodes to recoup as much money as possible.  They overpaid for the show, so they might as well make lemonade out of lemons.  At this point I’m willing to predict that there’s no way in hell Studio is gonna get a back 9 order.  It looks like the network is slowly making plans to get rid of it.

I’m not surprised considering TvSquad reported today that Kevin O’Reilly, head of NBC’s entertainment division may be on his way out.  O’Reilly bought Studio 60 during a bidding war with CBS.  His slate of high style, expensive programming has proved unsuccessful this year, aside from Heroes.  NBC is obviously trying to save Friday Night Lights, their critical darling, but it looks like they’re throwing Sorkin to the side to do so.

Seems like a smart move on NBC’s behalf.  Studio 60 has been nothing short of a disaster for them.

Popularity: 11% [?]