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NBC has called a Hail Mary pass with one of its new fall shows.

It's a weekly drama set against the backdrop of prep sports, a relatively unglamorous world that hasn't yielded a TV hit in nearly 30 years. The series' roster lacks any big-name stars, and come winter it'll have to dodge the ratings blitz that is "American Idol."

Oh, and even though it's scheduled for Tuesdays, the program will be called "Friday Night Lights."

The odds may sound hopeless, but fourth-ranked NBC has little to lose by hurling a bomb toward the end zone. Adapted from the 2004 movie starring Billy Bob Thornton (itself based on a bestselling book by H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger), "Friday Night Lights" is a slice-of-life tale about a small-town football coach, his troubled young players and the football-obsessed local burghers.

It may be tough to persuade non-fans — hello, NFL widows — to care about a gridiron story. With the exception of "The White Shadow," a 1978-81 cult drama about a high-school basketball coach, sports-themed series have a dismal record on network TV, including Steven Bochco's "Bay City Blues," the '70s sitcom "Ball Four" and CBS' "Clubhouse," which ran for just five episodes in 2004.

So, NBC brass have hatched a game plan to let any reluctant viewers know that "Lights" is really a show about relationships. The backfield action is just an added bonus.

"It's 'The O.C.' with guts and authenticity," NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly told reporters when plugging NBC's lineup in May.

As David Nevins, president of Imagine Television, which is producing the show with NBC Universal's in-house studio, put it in an interview Friday: "We're very aware that what makes dramatic TV click is women.

"This is not simply about the dynamics of a team," he added. "You're going to really explore the lives of the kids...read on