If I haven't made it crystal clear, I love good television shows. Just love them.
In elementary school my family and I stayed in Odessa, TX once during a road trip, and I clearly remember this flat, empty town and its huge high school football stadium with unreal lights that lit the thing up like an alien spaceship. That image has always stuck with me, just so romantic and mysterious and sad.
So naturally my most recent addiction has been Friday Night Lights - I just finished the third season.
Not only is the story line and acting spot-on and the filming beautiful, but the portrayal of a small southwestern town is so authentic - not cheesy or overdone.
Instead of a mocking parody, the show takes things like the football culture, high school, the isolated ignorance, the alcoholics and abuse and meth labs, the religious devotion, the "everyone knows everyone" aspect, the poverty, the fact that so many soldiers come from this type of background, etc. and raises it to an entirely different level by taking the time to understand the people and the environment and the meaning behind it all.
Anyway, I fell in love with the characters (oh, Tim Riggins), realized how important integrity is and re-examined some of my own prejudices and misunderstandings. Pretty powerful stuff.
