(Untitled)

[eilowyn]

I was reading this excellent article about how something as well-done as Friday Night Lights could be so completely trounced in the ratings by the thematically, if not presentationally, similar Glee. The gist of the author's point is that Glee feeds into our narcissism and need to be the winner, the center of the spotlight, while the more subdued

Comments

[rebcake]

Hmmm. Well, I also never watched Friday Night Lights, even though it got good reviews and people I like recommended it. Why? Because it presents itself as being about sports. Glee presents itself as being about art, specifically performing art. I tell myself that I care more about art than sport because it's more cooperative, less competitive. However, team sports require cooperation, and arts can be competitive. At my kid's art high school, they don't have Friday night football, they have Shakespeare competitions.

I still find art more satisfying and constructive than sport, although sport can be an amazingly beautiful spectacle. I know that Glee isn't perfect, but I'm kind of, well, gleeful that a show about a high school choir can be more popular than a show about a high school football team. My drama nerd bias is no doubt showing.

Of course, I like ALL the seasons of Buffy...

[penny_lane_42]

The coolest thing about FNL is that you can love it even if you rabidly hate sports and/or don't understand them, but if you love/understand them it takes on a whole new level of nuance.

Honestly, I don't care a thing about sports, but I love the show. Love. It's seriously the most realistic show I have ever seen in my life. Plus: best marriage in the history of television.

[eowyn_315]

Heh, the funny thing is, I should probably feel like that, since I was a drama/music kid in high school and have little to no interest in sports. And yet... FNL utterly amazes me, while Glee was a huge disappointment. And that sense of gritty realism is a big part of why. I am so invested in the lives of these characters and especially the Taylors' marriage. Their joy is uplifting and their despair absolutely breaks my heart. Their after-school activities matter much less than their painfully realistic conflicts and emotional struggles

[eilowyn]

I heard this phrase about another show, but it fits very well here: Friday Night Lights is about sports the way Baywatch is about water safety. It's only a cover to explore human relationships, the joys and trials of small-town America, how to make a marriage work, etc.

I'm not one for sports, and was involved in the arts all through high school, so I can understand where you're coming from. I just wouldn't discount Friday Night Lights because it's about sports, and while Glee does have lots of flashy musical numbers, it has terribly inconsistent characterization, overly melodramatic storylines, and a character that is clearly a Mary Sue for the creators to live out their ideal high school experience. It doesn't deserve all the praise it gets, and while I still watch it for the musical numbers (a common phrase I've heard among television connoisseurs), the storylines become less and less endearing as each episode airs.

[rebcake]

Well, Glee is also an absurdist satire, which isn't for everyone. I pretty much flee from realistic drama, especially of the "gritty" variety, so there's also that.