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'Friday Night Lights' Touches Down Tonight On DirecTV, Then Returns To NBC In February

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By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2008

The lights are on again for "Friday Night Lights," but this time, the series will be on satellite first.

A third season of 13 episodes of the critically acclaimed family drama begins at 9 tonight on DirecTV. These episodes will air on NBC in February. And they probably will pop up online long before that.

According to NBC officials, the only way "Friday Night Lights" could be renewed was through underwriting from the satellite service provider.

"Lights," starring Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, is based on a best-selling novel and feature film about life in a rural Texas town where high school football rules. It has a loyal fan base, but ratings haven't grown in two seasons on NBC.

NBC programming executive Ben Silverman, a fan of the show, wanted a third season, and he found a way to fund it.

Because NBC owns the studio that produces "Lights," there are profits in having an underwriter.

The young, educated and upscale fans are just the kind of viewers that might subscribe to DirecTV, says Eric Shanks, the satellite company's executive vice president for entertainment.

Shanks, also a fan, says "the passionate fan base will give us the ability to acquire new customers and reward our customers with something they just can't get on cable."

DirecTV is placing the program on its channel 101, which offers original programs commercial-free. In addition to "Friday Night Lights," channel 101 will add a trivia game show and a comedy show later this month.

Rocker Meat Loaf will host "Rock & a Hard Place," which will test the knowledge of rock and pop musicians from the past and present (such as Bananarama versus Right Said Fred).

Comic Dom Irrera is the wacked judge on "The Supreme Court of Comedy," where comics such as Jamie Kennedy, Tom Arnold, Jon Lovitz, Paula Poundstone and George Wallace are courtroom cutups.

For NBC, the "Friday Night Lights" deal is one of several creative financing ventures designed to cover escalating programming costs at a time when audiences are being fragmented and ad revenues are in decline.

The network's new "Knight Rider," for example, is partially underwritten by Ford thanks to product placement.

General Motors has a big stake in the network's spy thriller "My Own Worst Enemy," which debuts Oct. 13.

And the new action-adventure drama "Crusoe" (based on the classic shipwreck story) is an international production with 75 percent of the cost covered by a British company that will share in worldwide distribution. It debuts Oct. 17.

As for "Friday Night Lights," the new season picks up with a new school year and new team on a quest for the state championship.

Coach Taylor (Chandler) is back in his job, after spending part of last season at a college. His wife, Tami (Britton), is now principal at Dillon High, where a pesky vice principal challenges her every move.

The characters Jason Street (Scott Porter) and "Smash" Williams (Gaius Charles) will appear only in a few episodes. The series uses high school football as a backdrop, and these two characters have graduated.

ANCHOR GONE: Weekend anchor Jennifer Howe, 42, was let go Sunday by WTSP, Channel 10, after 12 years at the CBS affiliate.

Howe, a St. Petersburg native, joined WTSP as a weekday morning anchor and later moved to weekends.

She was married to former WTSP anchor Pat Minarcin, who won an age discrimination lawsuit against the station after his contract was terminated. They divorced in 2006.

Station officials declined to comment on the reason for terminating Howe's contract.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

Ghost Hunters, 9 p.m.,

Sci-Fi Channel

In July, the "Ghost Hunters" team spent a few days in St. Petersburg at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort, where ghostly visions have been reported for years. What did they find?

Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654.

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