Our own Michael Ausiello just broke the news that NBC and DirecTVare in talks to give Friday Night Lights another two seasons. That hasto be the best news I’ve heard since the show was miraculously saved fromgut-wrenching cancellation last year under the unique shared-windowexperiment that runs the season on DirecTV before it airs onNBC. I couldn’t wait, went out and found a buddy with DirecTV last November and have already gobbled up the season still airing on NBC. (Not sure that’s exactlywhat DirecTV was aiming for, though I’m sure they’re happy that their subscribers are less likely to be lonely at least once a week for a few months.) I’m glad I did, too. This past seasonrivaled the first in terms of story quality (the Smash arc, the Tyra-Landry romance, and more football games!) and performances (Connie Britton and KyleChandler rule — check out the clip of Chandler’s Coach squirming while Matt’s grandma heaps praise on him just moments after he dropped by to bench her grandson).

It seems from Ausiello’s report that the new deal again hinges on the DirecTV arrangement. Yet I had a hard time tracking down a friend who even has DirecTV. Is that just the sad state of my social life or are people not exactly lining up to subscribe for DTV’s original content? How about you PopWatchers? Psyched about the prospect of more FNL? How many of you watched via DirecTV last year vs. catch it on NBC? Take the poll below and discuss in the comments.

More Friday Night Lights:
Ausiello: ‘Friday Night Lights’ close to scoring a renewal?
Scott Porter blogs his final show
Is Joe McCoy TV’s best bad-dad?
Who’ll return for season 4?

Well. I’m supposed to be here blogging about Episode 3.8 (what we call it in the biz, 3rd Season, Episode 8, New York, New York) of Friday Night Lights. There’s only one problem. I haven’t actually watched it. I haven’t watched any of my episodes this year. Don’t know if I ever will. I can’t really explain why, it’s just something that I haven’t gotten around to. They are sitting there on my entertainment center, in DVD form. They are also resting on my DVR, ready to be Slingbox’ed to my computer for my viewing enjoyment at any time. They might collect dust for a little while longer. I don’t know when that time will actually come.

I watched Gaius Charles’ exit episodes and was touched beyond belief. The final scene with him flashing that Bazillion gigawatt smile that electrified FNL for three years was just perfect. I wish I could’ve been there, wish Jason would’ve had more interaction with all these other amazing characters on our little show that could, and did. I wish I would’ve had a scene with Jesse Plemons, who basically was my little brother in Austin. I wish I would’ve had more time with Aimee and Connie and Adrianne. It would’ve been a pleasure, but I’ll just sit back and enjoy their work from afar. And applaud them. After those four episodes I stopped watching. Maybe it’s that I just want to remember those five weeks of filming my exit from FNL, as I remember them. Not how they’ve been edited together to fit into 42-minute episodes for commercial enjoyment. That month was slightly surreal. It was wonderfully bittersweet.

So, that’s what I’ll talk about here…the steps that led up to Jason Street leaving Dillon, TX, and how Scott Porter remembers it. I got the call in June that Jason Street would be wrapping up and moving on from FNL, that I was becoming a guest star in Season 3. That his entire exit would be told in four episodes. I was at a comic book convention in Philadelphia (Wizard World) getting ready to go sing karaoke with all my nerdy friends. Jason Katims and Peter Berg called me together on a conference call. Conference call? I knew that wasn’t a good sign. Sure enough they broke the news to me. Thank God for Pete’s straightforward nature, the honesty was refreshing.

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Much like my friend Connie Britton, I have very little experience with this whole blogging thing. So, after staring blankly at my computer screen for a half hour or so trying to figure out how to sum up Friday Night Lights into one perfect piece of blog art, I decided to re-watch the episode and see what happens. I immediately got sucked into the episode and forgot all about the blogging that was supposed to be happening. It’s amazing the things that you catch the second or third time you watch an episode. One of the things I love about our show is that it is full of so many moments and nuances, which really make the show what it is. Anyway, my eyes are clear, my heart is full, and now I’m finally ready! Here are some of my favorite moments (and just random thoughts) from the episode.

This week picks things up with the wonderful Garrity family at the Dillon Airport (a.k.a. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport). It’s a family reunion for Buddy, his kids are back from living "with their mom…in Northern California…with some vegetarian…raising figs!" In the entire three seasons I have known Brad Leland I have yet to call him by his real name. He is, and always will be Buddy G. to me. I think that says something about how good an actor is when it’s even hard for his cast to separate his character from real life. Also the Taylors take a trip over to the McCoy estate for dinner. I loved the random miniature poodle with blue and gold bows that Mrs. McCoy is holding when she opens the door. Hilarious! Such a perfect detail that I missed the first time I watched. The scene at the dinner table between Coach and Joe was a great setup for their scene outside the locker room at halftime. This is just the beginning of the drama between these two. Just you wait.

We don’t really see much of my friend Matthew Saracen in this episode. The last time I checked he was still crying about how he lost his job to Joe Doyle. I tried to tell the guy he needed an angle, but he just didn’t want to listen. I mean, have I ever steered him wrong? Well, maybe that one time with the Members Only jacket. But that’s it.

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Drama in Dillon. After Smash road off into the sunset of College Station, Tex. (and he will be greatly missed), everyone’s lives kept going. Tami is all up in everyone’s business, trying to keep Tyra from dating a pill-popping cowboy, and freaking out that Julie got, in my opinion, an extremely tacky rope-heart tattoo. Watching this story unfold was extremely special for my parents and me, because at the young age of 13 the words "pip 33" were inked into my flesh (still there today). These scenes with the Taylor family were so similar to the "discussions" (me being yelled at) that took place in my house; it felt like I was watching home movies.

In other Panther news, Street is back. He’s teamed up with a lovable band of idiots (Herc and the brothers Riggins) and trying to flip Buddy’s house to raise a "nest egg" for his new born, Noah (a "nest egg" is actually the act of putting a pseudo egg in a hen’s nest to encourage it to lay more; the connection between this and financial savings is not entirely clear to me, but oh well). And after, heroically, coming in as a sophomore, stepping into the huge shadow of Jason Street, after valiantly leading the team to a Texas state title, after almost three, I may say, courageous seasons as the starter, young Matt Saracen has been benched for the younger, and apparently better, J.D.

McCoy? Really? C’mon coach, he’s a freshman…and he’s not even cool. (Everyone is thinking it, I just said it.) Seriously, though, his name is Joe Doyle and he likes to brag about the fact that his parents bronzed his first diaper. Lame.

Bring Voodoo back, fine, he was kinda intimidating and nefarious. A good Goliath to Matt’s David. Even his name was scary, "Voodoo," petty creepy. But Joe Doyle? The kid has a trust fund, what’s unnerving about that? Of course he’s good, his daddy hired a private coach who used to play QB for USC or some fancy school like that, but Matt has heart. Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player ever because he made the players around him better. Matt Saracen makes his team better. This McCoy kid is a question mark. Eric Taylor said it himself, "I know Matt Saracen, I don’t know your son." Well where’s that mentality now coach? Funny how quickly one loss can make you forget the little people that helped you get that pretty ring on your finger (not the wedding ring, the state championship ring).

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