The Best New Shows of Fall

Friday Night Lights
NBC
Premieres: Tuesday, Oct. 3
Airs: Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

As electrifying and successful as Peter Berg's feature film adaptation of Buzz Bissinger's "Friday Night Lights" may have been, a two-hour feature couldn't begin to touch on the full spectrum of sports excitement and small town social commentary that could be packed into a non-fiction book. That's a big part of why Berg's small screen series seems to have so much potential. From the first shots, "Friday Night Lights" transports viewers to the Lone Star State, to a blue collar community where football is the thing that links everybody together, a source of civic pride that serves as a salve to cover all manner of other ills. A very confident Kyle Chandler and a sympathetic Connie Britton anchor a capable cast of youngsters, most of whom look like they might really be able to play a little football. After one episode and one game, we've really only met three or four players and two or three cheerleaders, which makes it likely that there are dozens more potential stories to tell as Berg and his fellow storytellers weave this tapestry.

- Daniel Fienberg

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