Is 'Friday Night Lights' renewal a done deal?

According to television critic David Bianculli, it is. The source: none other than star Kyle Chandler. Bianculli wrote last week on his blog, TV Worth Watching, that Chandler broke the news in an interview Bianculli recently did with him for the NPR show "Fresh Air With Terry Gross":

Chandler confirmed that a deal to spread costs and continue the series had been struck. All that was left, he said Wednesday, was to "dot the i's and cross the t's." He was scheduled, and planning, to report back to Austin in June, he said, to start filming season three on location.

However, show runner Jason Katims told us not to start celebrating just yet -- he's hopeful, but cautions that the deal has not yet been finalized. (Previous reports indicated that NBC is negotiating with DirectTV to partner on the program, sharing costs and distribution rights.) A spokeswoman for Universal Media Studios, which produces the show, did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment. But it's likely that the last details may well be resolved by Wednesday, when the peacock network holds a news conference in New York to discuss its upcoming season.

In the meantime, die-hard FNL fans were already starting to celebrate. "YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" was the general tenor of responses in the blogosphere.

-- Matea Gold and Maria Elena Fernandez

(Photo courtesy Michael Muller / NBC / AP)