Barney: Spring Forward with the Season's Best TV Shows

From Contra Costa Times ...

"The 10 Best TV Shows Right Now!" And coming in at No. 3:

3. "Friday Night Lights" (Returns 8 p.m. April 30, NBC): I've seen the entire season on DirecTV and am pleased to report that fans are in for a major treat. As Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) assumes his post at East Dillon High, the new setting and characters take some getting used to, but this cult favorite quickly finds its groove with stirring stories that explore race relations and the bonds between friends and family. Meanwhile, some things never change: "FNL" continues to provide more lump-in-the-throat moments than any other show.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/tv/ci_14686774

C'mon April 30th! We can't wait.

Starpulse Top 10 TV Shows

... After watching three nearly perfect seasons, and one admittedly weird black sheep of a season, I've come to see "Friday Night Lights" as being likely the most resonant, emotionally honest show on television. It's far more than just a show about football. In fact, it's as much about football as "Mad Men" is about the advertising industry.

The sport serves more as a cultural backdrop and touchstone than as a dramatic centerpiece. The characters' wistful search for purpose in a town obsessed with the fleeting, short lived glory of high school football should seem jarringly familiar to anyone that grew up knowing those titular Friday night lights. These characters could have walked the halls of anyone's high school, and it's this adherence to reality that puts "Friday Night Lights" up there amongst the best shows of the decade.

Even in its fourth season, which already aired on DirectTV and will air on NBC in April, the show deals with topics like abortion and the death of a parent without resorting to the cloying phoniness that plagues most network dramas that tackle similarly weighty issues.

by Kris King
Starpulse contributing writer

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2010/03/15/whats_the_best_show_on_tv

EW: Best 10 Shows on TV Now

Ken Tucker sounds off on spring TV's MVPs. Plus, teasers on what's coming up next for each one

4. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

NBC, premieres APRIL 30, 8–9 p.m.

KEN'S TAKE: Having seen this new season on DIRECTV's 101 Network, I can say with assurance that you're going to moan, cry, and cheer at the new obstacles facing Coach Eric (Kyle Chandler) and Tami (Connie Britton) Taylor.

WHAT'S NEXT: The season 4 highlight reel includes a significant death, a major breakup, an abortion scandal, a shocking arrest, and a season-ending showdown between the scrappy underdog East Dillon Lions and the mighty Panthers. Also of note: Taylor Kitsch takes his shirt off at least three times.

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20349465_7,00.html

TV Guide: "The Taylors" in Top 50 TV Families

From Bonanza's classic Cartwrights to the newest reality clan, the Kardashians, check out numbers 21-50 in TV Guide Magazine's Top TV Families list!

Coming in at No. 34:

http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/photos/top-tv-families-21-50-160.html

Coach Taylor's television family would have been No. 1 in our book. :)

Friday Night Lights Season 4 Cast Photos

Check out some great cast gallery photos from Season 4 of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS which premieres on NBC on Friday, April 30 (8-9 p.m. ET).

Synopsis: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Season 4 - As season four opens, a redistricting plan has left Dillon a town divided. Having been ousted from his role as head coach at Dillon High School, Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) finds himself faced with the daunting task of building a football team from scratch as well as motivating and disciplining the unmanageable East Dillon Lions players. Tensions follow Coach Taylor off the field and into the home as he and Tami (Connie Britton), who remains Principal of West Dillon High, find themselves increasingly at odds with one another and the adversarial roles the redistricting has forced upon them. As one of the main proponents of redistricting Dillon, Tami bears the brunt of criticism from the very unhappy parents and students who have been zoned out of West Dillon and into the less desirable East Dillon.

http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/03/11/friday-night-lights-season-4-cast-gallery-photos/

Are you ready for some Dillon football?