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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

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[link]  Coach Taylor kind of deals with these controversies the way Coach Reeves on "The White Shadow" did, by furrowing his brow and putting his hands on his hips and hoping that the whole thing blows over by game time. The White Shadow was a bachelor; but on "Friday Night Lights," the best scenes involve the mutual support between Taylor and his wife, a guidance counselor played by Connie Britton. (It's the most unfussy portrayal of a marriage on television).

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Forget those reruns

"Friday Night Lights" fans: In 1978's "The White Shadow," Ken Howard portrays a former NBA player who finds a second career as a basketball coach at a predominantly black Los Angeles high school, helping his players improve their fundamentals and their living situations. The show looks dated, but it created a template for so many shows (with and without sports as a backdrop) that followed.

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Can 'Friday Night Lights' be the exception?

newsday: Jason Katims was born in Brooklyn, spent his early childhood at the Ebbets Field Apartments and is a lifelong Mets fan. In other words, he's one of us -- a sports guy.

What he is trying to do now, though, is rare in his chosen field of producing TV shows: establishing a durable, critically acclaimed hit with a sports theme.

"Friday Night Lights," based on the book and film about Texas high school football, already has won over critics and has a passionate fan base. But its ratings have been as barren as West Texas dust.

Keeping it alive long enough to find a broader following required an innovative deal sealed earlier this month in which DirecTV will share in the cost in return for showing episodes first, beginning Oct. 1. NBC will offer the same episodes starting in February.

"It's a very exciting way to not only keep the show alive," said Katims, an executive producer, "but hopefully breathe new life into it."

That will require bridging a gap that much sports-themed culture faces: convincing non-sports fans to give sports itself a chance, and convincing sports fans to give fictional drama about sports a chance.

"The truth is, people who love football and people who hate football love this show when they find it," Katims said. "The hardest thing from a marketing and publicity point of view is getting people to sample the show."

Many sports movies have found a way to cross over. TV? Not so much.

"Other than 'The White Shadow,' I don't know that television has had sports shows that have tapped into what's wonderful about the culture of sports in the way movies have," Katims said. ...continue reading