NBC, which made a big point last month about moving to a year-round schedule of program introductions and changing the way it introduces its shows to advertisers, has announced a "prime time press presentation" to be held on April 2, six weeks before the traditional week of network upfronts.

In an invitation, NBC said it would "outline the network's strategy for its 2008-09 prime time program schedule" at the event, which it playfully called an "Infront."

While NBC is not expected to give details about specific scheduling moves, executives will discuss their outline for a "52-week season."

The bulk of network TV advertising time is sold during the "upfront" time period, which has historically started in May with a series of lavish presentations to media buyers. Last month NBC said it would modify its presentation and hold a series of meetings with leading advertisers in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in early April. At an event in May, the network has said it will emphasize all its advertising opportunities beyond prime time on NBC.

At the April 2 event, NBC may comment on some of the unanswered questions of the television season, including the status of "ER," "Scrubs," and "Friday Night Lights." NBC has shown interest in renewing "ER" for a fifteenth season. It has also conducted negotiations with ABC Studios, the makers of "Scrubs," about the future of that sitcom. And it has reportedly pursued a deal with DirecTV to collaborate on a third season of "Friday Night Lights."

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Best. Panel. Ever. That's basically how I'd describe last night's Friday Night Lights session at Paley Fest '08. OK, so, I may be a little biased, having served as moderator of said panel, but the fact remains: The 800 or so Panther fans who packed into the Cinerama Dome got their money's worth. And if you don't believe me, believe my colleague Anna Dimond, who was embedded in the crowd with pen in hand chronicling every scoopbit, spoiler and motorcycle thrust.

 

Participants: Adrianne Palicki, Zach Gilford, Aimee Teegarden, Minka Kelly, Scott Porter, Connie Britton, Jason Katims and Jeffrey Reiner.

MIA: Taylor Kitsch, Gaius Charles, Jesse Plemons and Kyle Chandler, all of whom were stuck on film sets far away from L.A.

 

Cutting to the chase: Although the DirecTV deal is still not official, Katims said to expect some news "within two or three weeks." Even more promising, he referred to shooting new episodes in July, before quickly qualifying it with an "if the show returns." What would a DirecTV deal look like? Basically, FNL would air on NBC and DTV concurrently.

What if?: Where does the story pick up "if" the show comes back? According to Katims, it's unclear. Most likely, the action would jump ahead to a new school year. As for "graduating" cast members or "incoming freshman," he maintained that he's devoted to his core cast, but added that there needs to be a balance between the authenticity of the show (i.e., people do leave high school, eventually) and its growth (move over, Taylor, there's a new hottie in town).

Of football and young men: Regardless of where (and if) next season's plot picks up, there are a few things that are going to stay front and center, with football topping that list. Katims admitted the sport had been benched a little bit this year, but promised that would change next season. He also assured fans that the storyline surrounding Smash's transition to college will be told.

Killer plot: Katims, being the stand-up guy he is, took full responsibility for the murder plot that polarized fans and critics alike. He then pointed out that at least one good thing came out of the controversial story: Tyra and Landry got together!

Awwww: Gilford is super, super, super shy. The mere mention of the scene from this season in which Matt gets a lap dance made him blush. He also has trouble taking a compliment. When the moderator (me!) offered him props for his big bathroom breakdown scene in this season's penultimate episode, he gave all the credit to Chandler (his costar in said scene) and the good "camera angles."

Scenes from a perfect marriage: Britton said she and Chandler clicked immediately. She also shared their daily morning routine: running lines over coffee.

Funnyman: The show's resident practical joker is... Taylor Kitsch! Who would've thought?

Dance man: It didn't take much prompting, but, thanks to one fan's request, a super-game (and buff) Scott Porter stood up, walked to the front of the stage and reenacted his famous motorcycle hip thrust from Music & Lyrics. He even topped off his performance with a sassy little booty shake. What's not to like?

 

 

Taylor wasn't able to attend last night's Paley Festival with the rest of his FNL cast mates (due to other commitments), but it sounds like he was there in spirit according to the following report...

  

The Friday Night Lights panel at Paley Fest was moderated by Michael Ausiello from TW Guide, and an avid FNL himself. In attendance were Jason Katims and Jeffrey Reiner, Executive Producers. Connie Britton, Minka Kelly, Aimee Teegarden and Adrianne Palicki all looked gorgeous in their dresses, and Scott Porter and Zach Gilford looked lucky to be stuck in between them. Kyle Chandler could not make it back in time from a Canadian shoot (apologies given via Connie Britton). Gaius Charles, Jesse Plemons, and Taylor Kitsch were not there, much to every woman's heartbreak. 

  

The first on-line user submitted question was directed mainly towards the women: "What is it like working with Taylor Kitsch? He is so hot." Gilford immediately responded, "It's really kind of distracting." The women seem to agree that the hardest part is dealing with Kitsch's inability to keep a straight face in any scene. They also agree that his laugh is hard to take seriously, and then do impressions of it. Jason Katims confirms Kitsch's role in the next Wolverine film would not interfere with shooting Season 3, if they are picked up.

 

Porter and Kelly talked about the story arc in Mexico. Kelly admitted to some trepidation over the complex relationship between Jason Street, Lyla Garrity and Tim Riggins, but was pleased with how well everything turned out. She concluded that being stuck kissing both Porter and Kitsch "was awesome." 

 

Katims says he was consistently impressed with Kitsch's development of Tim Riggins in Season 1, and equally impressed with the rest of the cast.

 

 

That's the latest I'm hearing on NBC's on-the-bubble, fan-favorite series Friday Night Lights—that the deal for season three is "nearly done" (a deal that would bring FNL to both NBC and DirecTV in the fall).

I'm also hearing that cast members' agents and managers are being told it's looking "likely" that the show will come back this fall for...13 episodes.

Yes, it seems FNL may be on a probationary period for season three (awaiting pickup of the back nine episodes), but fear not! With the new eyeballs coming to the series via DirecTV, and the new attention to the show via the kickass fanpaigns to save it, surely the ratings will improve and FNL will get a full season. So if you ask me, this is all good news! Or rather, it will be good news...If they'd only finalize everything and announce it.

The gallery has been updated to include several new albums & photos, with more still to come!

 

• FNL Season 2 Screencaps: Episodes 1 - 10
• Appearances Albums Updated

• 15 New Icons
  

But the strike also appears to have given NBC time to come up with a financially palatable way to save Central Texas-shot Friday Night Lights, keeping the show on for a third year.

While NBC officials are declining to comment citing ongoing negotiations, Bob Hudgins, head of the Texas Film Commission, says he was told a rumored deal with satellite provider DirecTV will happen, and the series should begin series prep in June for a July start.

Rumors of the deal first arose last week on the Web site Dead linehollywooddaily.com.

Most likely the deal would be similar to one NBC struck with DirecTV last year that brought the soap opera Passions to the satellite provider's The 101, a channel that provides original programming. Whether the show would continue to appear on NBC, as well, is uncertain but likely.

Lights has had a rough year, never pulling in more than 7.5 million viewers a week and ranking a dismal 53 among viewers ages 18-49. But it remained one of the most-recorded-to-DVR shows on television and is known to attract more affluent "upscale" audiences with incomes of more than $100,000 a year.

Taylor is featured in a new Dockers ad in the March 2008 issue of GQ Magazine.

 

To view the high quality scan, click here! 

 

Nikki Finke over at Deadline Hollywood Daily reported tonight that the powers that be at NBC have seen the light about a little show we love called Friday Night Lights and have partnered with DirecTV to bring us season three. According to Finke, the series will air on both NBC and on a DirecTV-exclusive channel.

So, we fans are dying to know: Is is it true?

A little digging around with NBC and FNL sources tonight tells us yields this info: Nothing is official yet, but a tentative agreement has been reached with DirecTV, and things look "more than promising" that Friday Night Lights will be back in a dual-platform mode this fall. One highly placed source in particular sounded like a canary-swallowing cat while saying: "I think you'll be happy."

Um, mind-blowingly ecstatic is more the word if FNL goes on to its third season.

By the way, it's only right to mention that our own E! Networks boss, Comcast CEO Ted Harbert, deserves a big ol', Texas-hair-sized shout-out if this deal does indeed go through. I'm told by NBC Universal insiders that Harbert (a fan himself) was the first one to call up NBC and pitch a network-sharing deal in order to help save Friday Night Lights, which lead to talks with other networks, such as DirecTV. (Warning: If that doesn't give you fellow fans the warm fuzzies, head straight to your cardiologist.)

The gallery has been updated to include four new albums! Click below to view each one.

 

• InStyle Magazine
  
• TV Guide Photoshoot #1
  
• TV Guide Photoshoot #2
  
• FNL Season 1 DVD Extras/Deleted Scenes

  

We've also added one new affiliate, and two new links to the links section.

 

From Universal Studios Home Entertainment...

 

From executive producers Peter Berg (The Kingdom), Brian Grazer (American Gangster) and Jason Katims comes the much anticipated second season of the critically-acclaimed series Friday Night Lights. Led by Kyle Chandler (King Kong), Connie Britton (24) and a talented ensemble cast, Friday Night Lights provides a heartfelt look at life in the small town of Dillon, Texas. A consistent hit with critics, Matt Roush, from TV Guide raves, "There is no finer or truer drama on network TV." 

 

The release date is April 22nd and the DVD is expected to retail for $29.99US.

 

To check out the cover art, click here! (please note, this link will take you away from TaylorKitsch.net.) 

Disc 1:
Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentary - “Last Days of Summer” with Executive Producer Jason Katims and Co-Executive Producer Jeffrey Reiner
Audio Commentary - “Are You Ready For Friday Night” with Stars Connie Britton and Aimee Teegarden

Disc 2:
Deleted Scenes

Disc 3:
Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentary - “There Goes the Neighborhood” with Stars Jesse Plemmons and Adrienne Palacki

Disc 4:
Deleted Scenes
Friday Night Lights Cast & Producers at the Paley Festival in L.A.

 

But the question of the day is, what would you do for Tim Riggins? (Ladies, that says "for," not "to," though as always, we welcome your Riggins-related fan fiction in the Comments.)

The answer is nothing short of amazing. You fans are incredible and devoted, and here is the proof...

It's so touching I could cry. Please, if you haven't seen it yet, check out SaveFridayNightLights.tv and contribute to the cause. 

As for the current status of FNL, I can tell you that according to inside sources, no deal has been hammered out yet regarding a third season. However, the idea of the previously reported multiplatform approach is still on the table, and the power players and critics remain hopeful that something can be done to save one of TV's best-ever series.

Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't Lose...Right?