You know what's pitch perfect about Friday Night Lights? I know, pretty much everything, but today, let’s get specific. The show embraces foibles and unpolished speech patterns in a way that makes me feel like I’m sitting at the Taylor’s kitchen table and they’re not actors or characters, but honest-to-God citizens of Dillon, TX. Don’t get me wrong: I still love Veronica Mars and her clever pitter patter, but there’s something so refreshing about those generally inarticulate Panther boys. Their jokes at the Roast ("When Matt Saracen started, he was so shy he had to email his plays," "How 'bout Saracen sleeping with Coach's daughter?") were the epitome of lame high school boy jokes. Even the usually snappy Tyra's angry insult to Landry (she actually called him smelly) was perfect in its inherent lameness. It was much more cutting and sad than if she’d actually been able to articulate why she was so hurt.
The lame jokes (remember Street’s Bill Clinton impression during the pilot?), the sentence fragments and sometimes-loose grammar… They’re a big part (aside from masterful storytelling) of Friday Night Lights’ perfectly imperfect world.
While we’re on the subject of perfect, how ‘bout that Landry?
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