Thursday Night Lights Out
I was writing in my blog a few days ago when it occured to me that "Friday Night Lights" was possibly headed towards many storylines that I had been examining in my research.
My blog (http://52gooseeggs.blogspot.com/)concerns the great success of the football team from Bedford County Training School, from Tennessee, which once posted 52 consecutive shutouts against football opponents. That accomplishment, achieved from 1943-1950, remains a national record today.
I thought some of the readers of this blog might enjoy some of my observations.
I grew completely addicted to FNL during my recent year of research about high school football in the south the days before desegregation. During this time, I watched the first three seasons of FNL in their entirety, then watched them again via Netflix with my slow-to-warm up wife. She did finally stop her protests when I caught her wiping her eyes during most episodes.
My addiction did not stop there. I read the book that started it all, and then I watched the feature film.
As an English teacher, I am a constant critic of the way narratives are constructed, and my respect for FNL's writers has not faded upon closer, critical examination. Because I am a high school teacher I especially appreciate the writers' success in depicting full, well-rounded teenaged characters. The actors are clearly given a "wide pitch" by the director, and their collective talent is, in my opinion, unmatched by any show presently on network television.
I wrote the blog entry about "Thursday Night Lights Out" knowing that I was taking a (pun intended) shot in the dark, but the writing process itself is always worthwhile, even when there is minimal feedback.
That said, any feedback on my ideas about FNL or any of the work at http://52gooseeggs.blogspot.com/, will be very gratifying. The entry that deals directly with FNL is my most recent, entitled "Thursday Night Lights Out."
