I found the pilot to this show on the internet and had the opportunity to watch it this afternoon. It looks to be a good show, and I'm excited about it.
The show is set in the fictional West Texas town of "Dillon, Texas" and the team is the "Dillon Panthers". Basically, it's Odessa Permian in a different wrapper. Actual on-field footage and crowd scenes from Pflugerville High School are being used, so it's a lot more realistic than Hollywood productions of high school football have tended to be in the past; plus, the team's helmets have the distinctive "P" on the side, the only difference is the colors are blue, white, and yellow, rather than black and white.
The characters are good as well as believable: you've got the top-flight QB being recruited by Notre Dame, the inexperienced and scared backup QB, the charismatic black tailback (he reminds me of Martellus Bennett with his personality), and the drunken white-trash fullback. The coach is played by Kyle Chandler; you may remember him from the CBS drama series "Early Edition" several years back, and also from the George Strait movie "Pure Country", where he played roadie/Dusty stand-in Buddy Jackson. He delivers a solid performance (I may actually be able to forgive him for playing that idiot Buddy Jackson), and is a bit Gary Gaines-like: good guy, family man, a bit insecure/overwhelmed with the limelight he's been thrown into as the head football coach in the top football town in the state.
Those of us that grew up around West Texas high school football will find a good portion of the show quite familiar: football appears to be the only thing that the town cares about, the star QB is dating the prettiest cheerleader, there's the pretty non-cheerleader with an attitude appears to be dating the fullback but has no problem whatsoever flirting with the tailback and anyone else around, know-it-all boosters who give coaching advice to the coach with a West Texas twang, the mayor (a lady) giving advice to the star QB on how he needs to have a tougher personality and not be so polite, older women flirting with the players, players sitting around in the yard drinking beer,
Now here's a bit of Permian-related irony that I noticed, something that I figured folks on the West Texas board might appreciate: the coach's name is Eric Taylor. You ask me what is soing ironic about that? Well, those who read "Friday Night Lights" or have been associated with West Texas high school fooball will recall that Jerry Taylor was the head coach of crosstown rival Odessa High at the time the book was written. He is mentioned rather negatively in the book, particularly in the epilogue, as it discusses how he was the one that turned Permian in to the UIL for illegal practices, which led to Permian being ineligible for the playoffs that year and probably started the ultimate downfall of the Permian dynasty.
This was quite noticeable to me, for Jerry Taylor is a native of Stamford, one who played on our state championship football teams in the 1950s, coached for us back in the 1970s and early 1980s on his way up the coaching ladder, and then returned to Stamford for one last coaching gig and retirement while I was in school. A bit obscure for someone to notice, perhaps, but I thought it was incredibly ironic to hear the name "Coach Taylor" associated with this Permian-esque team, when the real Coach Taylor of West Texas is hated in Odessa, received numerous death threats from Mojo backers, had to have a police escort to school every day that year, and left that 5A coaching job to go to 3A Breckenridge (after taking the Bronchos to the playoffs, no less).
The show is set in the fictional West Texas town of "Dillon, Texas" and the team is the "Dillon Panthers". Basically, it's Odessa Permian in a different wrapper. Actual on-field footage and crowd scenes from Pflugerville High School are being used, so it's a lot more realistic than Hollywood productions of high school football have tended to be in the past; plus, the team's helmets have the distinctive "P" on the side, the only difference is the colors are blue, white, and yellow, rather than black and white.
The characters are good as well as believable: you've got the top-flight QB being recruited by Notre Dame, the inexperienced and scared backup QB, the charismatic black tailback (he reminds me of Martellus Bennett with his personality), and the drunken white-trash fullback. The coach is played by Kyle Chandler; you may remember him from the CBS drama series "Early Edition" several years back, and also from the George Strait movie "Pure Country", where he played roadie/Dusty stand-in Buddy Jackson. He delivers a solid performance (I may actually be able to forgive him for playing that idiot Buddy Jackson), and is a bit Gary Gaines-like: good guy, family man, a bit insecure/overwhelmed with the limelight he's been thrown into as the head football coach in the top football town in the state.
Those of us that grew up around West Texas high school football will find a good portion of the show quite familiar: football appears to be the only thing that the town cares about, the star QB is dating the prettiest cheerleader, there's the pretty non-cheerleader with an attitude appears to be dating the fullback but has no problem whatsoever flirting with the tailback and anyone else around, know-it-all boosters who give coaching advice to the coach with a West Texas twang, the mayor (a lady) giving advice to the star QB on how he needs to have a tougher personality and not be so polite, older women flirting with the players, players sitting around in the yard drinking beer,
Now here's a bit of Permian-related irony that I noticed, something that I figured folks on the West Texas board might appreciate: the coach's name is Eric Taylor. You ask me what is soing ironic about that? Well, those who read "Friday Night Lights" or have been associated with West Texas high school fooball will recall that Jerry Taylor was the head coach of crosstown rival Odessa High at the time the book was written. He is mentioned rather negatively in the book, particularly in the epilogue, as it discusses how he was the one that turned Permian in to the UIL for illegal practices, which led to Permian being ineligible for the playoffs that year and probably started the ultimate downfall of the Permian dynasty.
This was quite noticeable to me, for Jerry Taylor is a native of Stamford, one who played on our state championship football teams in the 1950s, coached for us back in the 1970s and early 1980s on his way up the coaching ladder, and then returned to Stamford for one last coaching gig and retirement while I was in school. A bit obscure for someone to notice, perhaps, but I thought it was incredibly ironic to hear the name "Coach Taylor" associated with this Permian-esque team, when the real Coach Taylor of West Texas is hated in Odessa, received numerous death threats from Mojo backers, had to have a police escort to school every day that year, and left that 5A coaching job to go to 3A Breckenridge (after taking the Bronchos to the playoffs, no less).