Pros: All-around good cast. Strong pilot script from Jason Katims, very un-showy direction of pilot by Thomas Schlamme fits the material.

Cons: A little speechy here and there

I liked this one a lot. Katims has the very tough task of living up to his "Friday Night Lights" standard. "Parenthood" didn't quite hit me with the same thunderbolt as "FNL," but it's oozing with potential by the end of the pilot

I liked the distinctiveness of the setting (Berkeley/Bay Area), and the foundation of the sprawling Braverman family of four adult siblings dealing with their own children of various ages and emotional states. There was great detail and specificity that gave the characters immediate depth and, well, character right away.

There's a lot of plot and character development going on in the script, perhaps a hair too much at times. But in the main it delivers a lot of info without getting terribly bogged down in exposition. Some of roughest patches seemed to be out of the mouths of the teenage characters, which is a little surprising since "FNL" has excelled at portraying high schoolers in a credible way. But this is a minor quibble.

Among a uniformly good cast, Maura Tierney stands out in the pilot as Sarah Braverman, the daughter who instigates much of the basic plot by moving back with her parents in Berkeley after hitting hard times with her teenage kids in Fresno.

Craig T. Nelson is very good as patriarch Zeek. Bonnie Bedelia doesn't have a whole lot to do in the pilot as matriarch Camille, but there's clearly more coming for her. Dax Shepard makes a good impression as bohemian brother Crosby. Of the younger thesps, Mae Whitman impresses in the pilot as Sarah's feisty, growing-up-in-a-hurry daughter, Amber.

Can't help but wonder how an family ensembler without a built-in marketing hook will fare on NBC. Let's hope viewers are drawn in by the familiarity of the 1989 movie (though there are few similarities, as I recall) and then suitably dazzled by the solid thesp roster.

How do they do it?

Showrunners and other creatives marvel that the quality of the work that the "Friday Night Lights" team pulls off on its modest episodic budget of about $2 million and change. On a day when showrunner/exec producer Jason Katims were celebrating the clinching of a two-season, 26-episode pickup, Katims took a moment to answer the "how" question.

Although everyone associated with the show raves non-stop about his talents as a showrunner, Katims (pictured left with "FNL" star Connie Britton) was humble in spreading the credit around.

It starts with the video verite 360-degree shooting style that Peter Berg (helmer of the 2004 "FNL" feature who also created and exec produces the series) established when the pilot was shot. Multiple cameras are going all of the time, and moving all around, in any given scene. Actors never know where they're next shot is coming from, so they just focus on the nailing the scene from any angle. (Katims didn't say so but you get the feeling there's a strict no-whining policy on"FNL" sets.) 

"The way Pete Berg directed the pilot allowed us to do the show in a very timely way," Katims says.

Then there's the "incredible team in Austin," says Katims, who supervises the writing from L.A.

Helmer-in-chief Jeff Reiner and producer Nan Bernstein plot out the shooting sked with a military precision. Katims notes that they often shoot footage for more than one football game at a time, to take advantage of the time and coin spent on elaborate setups.

"It saves a lot of money," Katins says, particularly when your show is blessed with a talented and dedicated crew.

With the season finale of "Friday Night Lights" airing on DirecTV on Wednesday, Variety's Stuart Levine (who reviews the last episode here) and Jon Weisman chatted with red eyes and heavy hearts about the show facing the end of its three-year run -- and how much "Friday Night Lights" could offer if it were to connect on a Hail Mary bid for a fourth season. Caution: Spoliers aplenty if you've been waiting to watch the third season on NBC, beginning Friday.

Stu: At some point, business will defeat creative and the show won't be able to come back. There's just not enough viewers (650,000 per episode, according to DirecTV) to keep the accountants at bay. And while it's incredibly tough to think about saying goodbye to all our friends in Dillon, there is something to be said about going out on top. Sure, a fourth season could offer a lot about the charcters and story arcs you mentioned, but will it be the same show? And will head writer Jason Katims and his talented scribes be able to keep up the great work? Well, looking at what they've accomplished in three seasons, there's little doubt they certainly could, but I couldn't bear the thought of watching characters that didn't matter to me as much as the ones that arrived when the show premiered in 2006. 

Jon: I guess I'd say if the opportunity somehow arose for a fourth season, why live in fear? Do we regret that the show has been on the past two years, even though the first season remains the show's best? Put it this way: If "Lights" had a 2009-10 pickup, we wouldn't say it should be canceled.

But certainly, it's going to take a white knight to make this conversation anything more than theoretical. If I were leading the Save Friday Nights Committee, I'd start the campaign right now, with the show taking its final bow on NBC (where the third season will reprise) starting Friday. How often, after all, has a network show come pre-approved by even a small sample of the public?

Stu: Yeah, certainly NBC could do a lot a worse than bringing back "Friday Night Lights," even though they know it'll get a small aud.

Changing subjects for a sec, what are some of your favorite moments from the three seasons? I was thinking about that the other day, and a lot of Matt Saracen scenes popped into my head, especially the one where Coach Taylor goes to his house in season two as he's laying in the bathtub, with the weight of the world on his shoulders -- caring for his ill grandma, replaced as quarterback, his dad stationed in Iraq.

In more generic terms, I also love it whenever Coach Taylor gathers his players and begins a speech with "Gentlemen …." No matter what he has to say, it carries such gravitas that you feel you're part of the team and are hanging by every word.

Jon: First scene that comes to mind is the visceral threat you felt in the first-season episode when the team bus was pulled over by cops after a victory over a school (and referees), where racism filled the air. I can't think of many moments in my entire life of television watching that felt so tense.

At the same time, I'd also say the lighter moments between Eric and Tami, often in an episode that would also find them sparring, warmly fill my memories of the show. "FNL" managed to make their relationship both idealistic and realistic -- really quite something.

I did truly enjoy the Matt Saracen arc, highlighted by the bathtub scene that you mention -- heck, there wasn't much about the show I didn't enjoy. I'd say my biggest love-hate relationship was with how the writers treated Landry and Tyra. Their relationship was one I adored -- it truly moved me how Landry won her over -- but it hurt how little the writers seemed to trust moving that relationship forward, instead choosing to repeatedly break them up (most notably with the misguided manslaughter storyline) and force Landry to win her back over and over again. The show that gave you Eric and Tami could have also given us one high school relationship with some staying power. Yes, high school is chaotic, but if Tim and Lyla is your most stable couple, maybe you're being too tough.

I guess you could say it was all worth it, though, when you heard Tyra read her college application essay the other night ...

Stu: Yeah, that scene was chilling, and it brought to the forefront all the challenges that Tyra faced, though she did create some drama on her own. I also loved the episode where assistant coach Mac is accused of making racist statements. Really powerful stuff.

But, for sheer joy, I'll say my all-time favorite is "Mud Bowl," which aired near the end of the first season. When the Panthers can't play at home because of a nearby explosion, they end up playing for the right to play for state in an abandoned field in the middle of a cow pasture, in a driving rainstorm as the players are sloshing and sliding all over. It was pure exultation, playing for nothing but love of the sport.

Jon: The point is, we could spend all day and not run out of great "FNL" moments to rehash. Whatever happens, this is a classic show that will only grow in stature as time passes.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Before the entire "Friday Night Lights" production moves to Austin in the dead of summer — yeah, it shouldn't be too hot that time of year over there — the cast, crew and execs gathered at a watering hole in Santa Monica last night to celebrate the third season pickup.

It almost wasn't meant to be, but DirecTV decided "FNL" could be a watershed moment for its entertainment division and decided to pay for part of the production tab for the show, somewhere around 40%, with NBC picking up the rest. For its commitment, the satellite provider will have the exclusive window for 13 episodes that are scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

Then in midseason 2009 (probably February or March), NBC will start airing those same episode for folks who don't have access to DirecTV. Hopefully, diehard viewers who will have to wait and see the episodes on NBC will be able to keep themselves in a media blackout from reviews, blogs, plot developments, etc.

Cast members attending the bash Thursday were Aimee Teegarden, who just bought her first car and, much more impressive by our standards, threw out the first ball at the Dodgers-Mets game Wednesday afternoon; Kyle Chandler, who just might be the nicest and most down-to-earth leading man on TV; and Minka Kelly and Connie Britton, who both mingled among the masses.

Showrunner Jason Katims said season three would focus more on on-the-field action than in season two, and that issues will be raised about all the seniors on this year's team. Katims reiterated that senior year can be great fun for those about to graduate, but the Dillon High School gang will face situations that will, once again, test their mettle against trying scenarios.

Also there to relish all things "FNL" were in-house director Jeff Reiner, exec producer David Nevins and creator Peter Berg, who directed the Billy Bob Thornton movie.

The strike may be over, but the Writers Guild of America fundraisers to fill the coffers of its industry strike fund continues.

The next event, hosted by Writers Theatre LA, is set for Saturday at the Lyric Theater (520 N. La Brea Ave.) and will feature perfs of five one-act plays. The last one in the rotation is  WGA board member Howard Rodman's take on "How the Writers Strike Ended," which is billed as "a savage (and savagely funny) look inside the moguls' executive dining room, where food is made, decisions are eaten." (Rodman pictured left)

There are more perfs and readings set for Sunday March 9, and on March 31 there'll be a perf of Jennifer Maisel's "The Last Seder," about how a Passover dinner allows a family's to heal its past and move on. Play recently earned a grant from the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays and was commissioned by the Foundation for Jewish Culture...

Meanwhile, the Writers Guild Foundation is reviving its "Anatomy of a Script" seminar series examining film and TV scripts, starting March 11 for six consecutive Tuesdays at the WGA's HQ on Third Street.
Seminars, moderated by scribes Winnie Holzman and Robin Schiff, begin with a dissection of "Traffic" with Stephen Gaghan; followed by "Lars and the Real Girl" with Nancy Oliver; "Friday Night Lights" with Jason Katims (pictured right); "Ghost" with Bruce Joel Rubin; "The Bernie Mac Show" with Larry Wilmore; and "Grey's Anatomy" with Shonda Rhimes....

And finally, what does ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" have in common with "Gunsmoke," "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," "Law & Order," "Bonanza," "Lassie," "Death Valley Days" and "The Simpsons"? Four-hundred episodes, that's what (at least half of them included the clip of the cat flushing a toilet). "AFHV" was YouTube when YouTube wasn't cool (or invented yet), and "AFHV" czar Vin Di Bona (pictured far left with "AFHV" host Tom Bergeron) has been there for all of them. Di Bona banked seg No. 400 last week; it's set to air April 20.