Stephanie Hunt, the rock 'n' roll newcomer on ‘Friday Night Lights’

Currently recording with members of the Black Angels, Hunt is on track to break out of a bit role on "Friday Night Lights" -- if she’s willing to leave the Austin, Texas, music scene behind. 

 
While on what was intended as a temporary break from the University of Texas at Austin, Stephanie Hunt auditioned for football-centered small-town drama “Friday Night Lights.” At the time, this Longhorn was a bit of a Hollywood long shot.

After completing one year of college as a journalism major, Hunt asked for a semester off, suddenly having the urge to pursue acting. The death of a close friend, Hunt said, prompted the academic leave and “inspired a whole bunch of self-reflection."

Within one week of pulling out of UT, and with no acting resume to speak of, a connected acquaintance tipped Hunt off to the opening on "Friday Night Lights," which shoots in Austin.

The role came with requirements. The character needed to know how to play the bass guitar, an instrument Hunt, a trained violinist, had only fiddled with for a couple of months. Auditioners would also have to perform a rock song. Hunt opted to risk writing her own tune — a song she composed only minutes before facing casting directors.

'Friday Night Lights': Season 4, Episode 4: 'I need you to not be weird about it'

“Oh, I’m not your type?”  

The line was delivered by Aimee Teegarden’s Julie Taylor, pictured, recoiling from being rejected by her lesbian pal Devin. It came seconds after she recoiled at the thought that Devin may be hitting on her. Emotions swing quickly in a small town.

Four episodes into its fourth season, "Friday Night Lights" continues to barrel helmet-first into big-picture issues, covering topics of gender, race and death Wednesday night. This season is unfolding as a sort of resetting of the series. A town divided after a redistricting, technicalities such as where an entire side of the city suddenly materialized from, or when Stephanie Hunt's Devin and Julie became close, are glossed over.

And for the better. "Friday Night Lights" is at its best when it remembers its mission is to convey the drama of a small town and not fret over meticulous plot details. Most of those reading daily recaps on blogs such as this likely fell in love with "Friday Night Lights" for its ability to tackle matters rarely seen on television -- say the second season's focus on college recruitment -- and such difficult storylines are where "Friday Night Lights" is excelling in its fourth season. 

After arriving for a bit part last season, it’s great to see Hunt’s Devin return. She's still equal parts cool, confident and shy, and any episode that offers a further exploration of her character is a worthy one (look for a profile of Hunt to launch later this  morning on Show Tracker).

'Friday Night Lights': Season 4, Episode 3: 'I'm not a Panther anymore'

Sometimes even the small victories aren't victories.

The fourth season of "Friday Night Lights" continues to explore a sense of desperation, throwing its characters into unfamiliar and uncomfortable terrain. But it's doing so to great dramatic effect. Kyle Chandler's Eric Taylor has been tested before, but writers and producers are putting him through the wringer and adding a deeper dynamic to Eric's marriage to Connie Britton's Tami.

On opposite sides of a town redistricting, the drama related to Tami remaining the principal of Dillon High and Eric becoming the coach at East Dillon High continues to cause more tension. Smartly, however, writers and producers have a found a way to dig beneath the surface and create some focused, recession-timed subplots.

After being told by the principal of East Dillon that he wasn't supposed "to even be here," Eric has a new revelation. He was just removed from his position at Dillon High and offered a lesser gig; he's become the town joke, running a football team at a school that may or may not even care to have one. Having his team of ruffians burn their old East Dillon uniforms was a nice symbolic moment in Episode 2, but it inspires a financial crisis in Episode 3. 

'Friday Night Lights': Season 4, Episode 2: 'You've got to find your inner pirate'

 
There have been plenty of desperate scenarios on "Friday Night Lights" over its first three seasons. Racial tensions, a paralyzing injury, a self-defense murder, questionable college recruiters, a bitter divorce and an unjust firing, to name a few. 

Husband and wife squabbles seem rather minor, in comparison. Yet when Kyle Chandler's Eric Taylor and Connie Britton's Tami Taylor argue, the whole balance of the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, seems off. The heart, the soul and the two constants over each of "Friday Night Lights'" three-plus seasons, there's a sudden and uncomfortable tension when Tami demands that Eric not his raise his voice to her midway through the fourth season's second episode.

Perhaps it's the documentary-style filmmaking that pervades "Friday Night Lights" that brings an uneasy intimacy to the scene. The off-center camera angles, and the close-ups of the Taylors feuding in the kitchen, all work to make the viewer feel as if he or she is invading the couple's space. Or perhaps it's simply the talents of Chandler and Britton, who turn the language of the script into one less about love and more about respect, capturing a couple that's constantly working at their relationship.

Be it the 9-5 or the family dinner table, nothing in "Friday Night Lights" is accomplished without a little elbow grease. Indeed, if things looked bleak at the end of Episode 1, with the East Dillon Lions getting walloped and Joe McCoy (D.W. Moffett) firmly in charge of the Dillon Panthers -- and perhaps even the town -- it was nothing compared to the glued-to-the-couch drama of unrest in the Taylor household.

'Friday Night Lights,' Season 4, Episode 1: 'So what’s it like being the guy who used to be Tim Riggins?'

High school tales and coming-of-age stories typically have some sort of resolution. Be it college, a new job opportunity, a wedding or just a dance with a crush, it’s par for the course that a sense of optimism will color the world that will be explored off-screen.

The fourth season of “Friday Night Lights” is what happens when everyone wakes up, and idealism once again becomes a daily fight. “Friday Night Lights” returned to DirecTV tonight as something of a new show, complete with a host of fresh faces and plenty of old ones in refreshingly unfamiliar terrain.

Thanks to a clever plotline that involved a redistricting of the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, “Friday Night Lights,” in many ways, is back to square one. Fired, unfairly, from his job coaching the Dillon High Panthers, Kyle Chandler’s Eric Taylor is now two seasons removed from a college gig in Austin. Taylor is starting over, heading a team of unfit and unruly kids at the lower-class and under-funded East Dillon High -- some of whom spend more time running from the law than outgunning opponents.

“It’s rough,” jokes senior Landy Clarke (Jesse Plemons) of his move to East Dillon. “I’m constantly ready. I’ve got a piece on me at all times.”

Perhaps more so than ever, the plot shifts open “Friday Night Lights” to more deeply explore the social-economic and racial undertones that the series has handled deftly over its three seasons.

Returning, thankfully, to the Season 4 is last season’s standout Stephanie Hunt, whose indie-rock Devin is the pitch-perfect awkward geek. Referring to her mother’s ridiculous threats to keep her out of East Dillon, she relays that her mom “would die” before allowing her daughter to move. “I think hunger strike, probably,” she says with an understated sarcasm.

“Friday Night Lights” doesn’t stereotype, but it does know how to depict fear. “That hellhole with that element” is how the parent rants about the prospect of her child being moved to East Dillon High.

Peter Berg and Kyle Chandler on the restructuring of 'Friday Night Lights'

When the third season of “Friday Night Lights” wrapped in late 2008, star Kyle Chandler was under the belief that he’d be hanging up his coaching cleats for good.

The series, which touches on the political, social and familial impacts of a football-obsessed but beleaguered town, carries with it a small but dedicated audience. Last year, it also became somewhat of a network experiment. 

Now a partnership between DirecTV and NBC, “Friday Night Lights” had been trimmed last season from a full 22-episode run to one that capped at 13-episodes. Chandler was convinced that number would soon become zero.

“It was fatigue,” Chandler says, explaining the reason for the negativity. “The first year we were up against ‘American Idol.’ The second year was the writers strike. The third year we get cut down to 13 episodes. I just assumed that while we had a solid base, the numbers wouldn’t go out the roof. … I just didn’t expect that we would overcome a network’s desire for something fresh.”

With “Friday Night Lights” set to begin its fourth season Wednesday night on DirecTV’s 101 Network, Chandler is experiencing something he’s never had on the show before: stability. NBC and DirecTV renewed their partnership for a two-season run of 13-episodes apiece, bringing to an end -- at least for now -- the annual stress over a last-minute renewal.

Yet a sense of uncertainty surrounds practically everything else in the world of “Friday Night Lights.” Set in the fictional Texas town of Dillon, Season 4 serves as a major restructuring of the series. 

'Friday Night Lights' adds Steve Harris to the team

"Friday Night Lights" has boosted its roster with a little more star power for its fourth season. Veteran actor and former regular on "The Practice" Steve Harris will appear in at least seven episodes of the small-town football drama this season, a spokeswoman for the series confirms.

As first reported by Entertainment Weekly, Harris will play a former football star, Vernon Merriweather. His daughter, Jess, will be played by Jurnee Smollett ("The Great Debaters").

When opening night arrives Oct. 28 on DirecTV's 101 Network, Kyle Chandler's Eric Taylor will no longer be the coach of the Dillon Panthers, having been ousted from his post after a devastating loss. One town redistricting later, and Taylor has accepted a job across town at East Dillon High, where he'll lead the school's Lions.

— Todd Martens

Related:
'Friday Night Lights' returns with a mystical look at Season 4
'Friday Night Lights': Jason Katims on Season 3, the show's future
Complete coverage of 'Friday Night Lights' on Showtracker

'Friday Night Lights' returns with a mystical look at Season 4

Changes be coming to the fourth season of "Friday Night Lights," and while the football drama has always been rooted in reality, its promos on DirecTV have gone a more fantastical route. The latest teaser for the series, which returns on Oct. 28 on DirecTV and next summer on NBC, once again gives the series a sort of Guillermo del Toro makeover.

Gone are the harsh, barren grounds of the fictional town of Dillon, Texas. What we see here is an alternate reality, where the sky and wind look to be living creatures, and one very magical tree has the power to uproot an entire village. Fans may recall a similar promo last year, where lightning bugs sparkled like Tinker Bell. 

Show Tracker will have more on "Friday Night Lights" as the season nears, but the above clip offers some hints as to what do expect in Season 4. Minka Kelly's Lyla Garrity exists only in photograph, but it's a picture that soars through the whole town. Like Scott Porter's Jason Street last season, here's betting her character plays an influential role even when not on camera.

More distressing, however, may be the slow-mo sprint that Aimee Teegarden's Julie Taylor takes away from Zach Gilford's Matt Saracen. After getting reacquainted last season, is the couple heading toward splitsville in Julie senior's year? And what to make of the pained, tired look given by Kyle Chandler's Eric Taylor as Tami (Connie Britton) joins him on the football field in the teaser's final moments? Remember, the two are at different schools at the start of Season 4. 

Jesse Plemons' Landry seems to be enjoying life on the porch -- and there's no sign of any new characters, or Season 3 breakout star Stephanie Hunt (look for her on "Parenthood," the upcoming NBC series from "FNL" writer/producer Jason Katims) -- but the 30-second clip has already given us enough to ponder.

As for the song, that's Greg Laswell's "Come Undone."

--Todd Martens

'Friday Night Lights': Jason Katims on Season 3, the show's future

This post is in two parts. Up top is a spoiler-free article highlighting a recent interview with "Friday Night Lights" showrunner Jason Katims. For those who have been following the series on DirecTV, a complete transcript of the conversation -- with spoilers -- can be found in the extended section of this post.

"Friday Night Lights," the critically acclaimed show about high school football in small-town America, can claim a rare distinction -- it may be the first in television history to end a season before it begins.

For an estimated 600,000 viewers, the third season of "Friday Night Lights" came to an end this week on DirecTV. But because of a groundbreaking business deal, the show will also open its third season tonight  (Jan. 16) on NBC.

"This was an arrangement made in the eleventh hour for one season," said show runner Jason Katims, whose program averaged a lowly 6.2 million viewers in its second season on NBC. "This was an experiment. There really hasn't been any specific discussions about going further . . . But if our numbers are solid, and stay somewhere within the range of where we were with previous seasons, then I think we'll be fine."

But he added: "The ball is in NBC's court."

In an unprecedented agreement announced early last year, the subscription satellite provider scored dibs on airing a commercial-free 13-episode run of "Friday Night Lights" in exchange for absorbing some of the series' costs. In addition to offsetting expenses, the arrangement allowed NBC to keep a critical darling on its prime-time lineup.

The first half of the experiment has gone well, said Katims. "This is the truth: I feel positive about this show continuing," he said. "I feel like the show is building momentum. I'm noticing a lot of people mentioning that they found the show on DVD."

Although early reports placed the show's audience on the satellite provider at around 400,000 viewers, officials with DirecTV put the viewership between 600,000 and 800,000 when factoring in all four of its weekly airings. The company has more than 17 million subscribers.

The show's fans, however, received a recent scare when principal actor Aimee Teegarden agreed to appear on the CW's "90210." But the actress is booked for only two or three episodes, according to a "90210" spokesperson. "We love Aimee, and we love [her] character, and she would definitely still be a part of the show, should we come back," Katims said.

Those tuning into the drama on NBC will find a third season that harks back to its first. A strike-shortened second season resulted in a host of cliffhangers, many of which are resolved in the first 10 minutes of this year's premiere.

Additionally, by fast-forwarding to the beginning of a new school year, "Friday Night Lights" gives news fans an easy access point, although Katims admitted that it might be a jolt to some longtime viewers.

Inspired by the nonfiction book of the same name by H.G. Bissinger, "Friday Night Lights" presents a broader, more complex look at small-town life than most teen-centric dramas. Two separate story arcs of Season 3, for instance, delve into what Katims described as "the uncomfortable politics that surround a football program in a Texas high school," asking questions about academic and athletic funding.

But plenty of time is devoted to high school's extracurricular activities -- the non-sporting kind. NBC promos have been hyping the "Friday Night Lights" cast as the sexiest on television.

"The show has an air about it, about being important or noble or something," Katims said. "I think there might be some subliminal feeling that watching the show is like taking medicine . . . I'm glad to see they're doing ads that don't just list critical acclaim. We need to get the word out."

A complete transcript of the interview with Katims is below.

'Friday Night Lights': 'This is the game you're going to talk about'

One more to go. "Friday Night Lights" fans have been through this before. As the third season of "Friday Night Lights" comes to an end, the season finale faces the distinct possibility of being the final send-off for the series. And with many of this year's principal characters going off to college, this seems, perhaps, a fine time to call it a day.

But after viewing Episodes 12 and 13 of this shortened, 13-episode season of "Friday Night Lights," which wraps Jan. 14 on DirecTV and premieres two days later on NBC, "Friday Night Lights" has put forth its most compelling argument yet that it deserves a fourth season.

Episode 12 is nearly all football, giving us a detailed state championship in which the show expertly highlights the games within the game. And next's week season finale offers a challenging plot twist that provides a tantalizing opportunity to rewrite the series.

But that's jumping ahead.

Season 3 of "Friday Night Lights" got off to a fast start. The show's principals of Eric and Tami Taylor, portrayed by Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, opened the season having to adjust to a new power dynamic, and "Friday Night Lights" handled it with its expected grace. The season's first four episodes, in particular, were strong, with Eric having to reinstate some confidence in the departing Brian "Smash" Williams (Gaius Charles), and Tami taking on all of Dillon, Texas, in a battle over academic and athletic funding.

There were some weak spots that followed. The continued downfall of Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland) makes him TV's most lovable villain, but some of the relationship dramas grew tired. Little was done with Buddy's daughter, Lyla (Minka Kelly), especially in comparison with her excellent born-again plot in Season 2, and her on-again/off-again relations with Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) was predictably rocky and lacked any real tension.

"Friday Night Lights" welcomed a terrific newcomer in the lesbian indie rocker Devin (Stephanie Hunt) — a character who absolutely needs her own story arc if "Friday Night Lights" continues after this season — but the McCoy boys were Season 3's most prominent newbies. It's a shame that it wasn't until Episode 12 that freshman quarterback J.D. (Jeremy Sumpter) and evil rich pops Joe (D.W. Moffett) started to show some real life.

Before the holiday, "Friday Night Lights" ended with Joe punching his son. This week's episode opened with Tami being urged to report the child abuse to the state. Her initial hesitation seemed off — she's the principal, and she's always been by the book — but the call was made, and the fictional town of Dillon may never be the same again.