Friday Night Lights: Book, movie, TV series, movie based on TV series?

Yes, there is still serious talk about a movie based on the Austin-shot TV series Friday Night Lights, which is based on the big-screen Friday Night Lights, which is based on the book Friday Night Lights, which is based on a real-life high school football team.

Read more about this latest development here, with details on the cast's reunion at the Emmy's after party celebrating the series' writing Emmy and Kyle Chandler's nod--held at a place fittingly called Dillon's.

The coach wins an Emmy!

Big congrats to Kyle Chandler for his upset win of an Emmy for his role as Coach Eric Taylor on television's Friday Night Lights. The show also got yet another writing Emmy. Alas, Connie Britton did not win best actress (but you can read more about her here). All the same, a fitting end for the beloved Austin-shot series.

What Chandler said:

"Let me thank the people of Austin, Texas, who welcomed us into their homes ... and brought the show to life."

I first met him on the set the first FNL season. You can read that piece from The Dallas Morning News here.

Texas Film Hall of Fame awards

Renee Zellweger

Rip Torn

Connie Britton

Kyle Chandler


Britt Daniel of Spoon

Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights

Ted Nugent plays "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Tattoos on Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson's head

Beth Broderick in the crowd

Emcee Wyatt Cenac

Richard Linklater

John Hawkes of Winter's Bone

Robert Rodriguez

Liz Smith

Actor Shiloh Fernandez and director Catherine Hardwicke


Gary Dourdan of CSI

Britt Daniel

Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson

Ted Nugent and John Pierson

Joey Lauren Adams

Ted Nugent, Shemane Nugent and their son

Birds?

Photos from the set of 'When Angels Sing'

Thanks to the lucky person who made it onto the set of When Angels Sing in Bastrop this past week and granted me permission to post these photos. In the photos you can see Willie Nelson, Connie Britton, Turk Pipkin and--if you squint--director Tim McCanlies.

Connie Britton chats with tall guy Turk Pipkin, on whose story the film is based.


Willie talks to the crew.


Willie Nelson peeks out at the set.


Willie strides into the action.


That's Tim McCanlies in the blue shirt and khaki baseball hat in the middle facing the camera.

Teen w/ acne and braces? 'When Angels Sing' wants you now...

This just in (note the date; you have to respond TODAY only):

Third Coast Extras is seeking a teenage male with acne and braces for a featured extra role on When Angels Sing for Tuesday, February 22nd. Pay is $101.5/hr. We are casting for this role today. Please submit photos and contact numbers to thirdcoastextras@gmail.com.

The film has been actively shooting around Austin and Bastrop with Harry Connick Jr. and Connie Britton leading the cast.

Rip Torn, Renee Zellweger, 'Friday Night Light' in Texas Film Hall of Fame

The Texas Film Hall of Fame is a semi-swanky celeb-gazing fest put on by the Austin Film Society that opens the South By Southwest Film Festival every year. The names of honorees are released in drips and drabs in advance of the March 10 event at Austin Studios.

Our first names for 2011 are Rip Torn, Renee Zellweger and the TV show Friday Night Lights (not to be confused with the movie and the book). Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton are accepting and Jesse Plemons, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson and Brad Leland are in attendance for Lights as it celebrates its swan song.

Along with them, presenters will include usual suspects Catherine Hardwicke, Luke Wilson, Richard Linklater and Thomas Haden Church.

The host is seemingly non-Texan Wyatt Cenac of The Daily Show fame. But wait! He grew up in Dallas and attended Jesuit College Preparatory School.

More names will be released soon, I'm sure. My next guess is Owen Wilson. Wanna take odds?

Fionnula Flanagan in 'When Angels Sing'

Winner of the award (given out by me) of the sexiest older woman, Fionnula Flanagan is another interesting name to join the cast of Tim McCanlies' directed/Elizabeth Avellan produced When Angels Sing, which is currently filming in Central Austin. The film is based on the book by Turk Pipkin and has a very interesting cast including Harry Connick Jr., Connie Britton, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson (he's been on the set this week), Sara Hickman (singing with her daugther Lili!) and Lyle Lovett. Oh, but unconfirmed reports have that spare Jonas brother out of the film.

See more about the film here. It shoots through March in Austin and Bastrop.

Oh, and for you Connick fans: He will end his film shoot with a show at the Long Center on March 26. Tickets are available here.

Connie Britton starring in 'When Angels Sing'

One name I hadn't heard associated with Tim McCanlies' film adaptation of Turk Pipkin's book When Angels Sing is Friday Night Lights alum Connie Britton. Sounds like an interesting cast, headed by Harry Connick Jr. and featuring such musical actors as Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Sara Hickman and Kris Kristofferson.

You can read more about the film, which is shooting through March, here.

I listened to Britton talk about FNL a while back. You read about that here.

Writers Guild nominates 'Friday Night Lights' for best drama

Austin-shot Friday Night Lights is finally getting the love as the lights begin to dim on the series. The Writers Guild of America has nominated the show for best written drama. Listen to the list of other nominees and you'll see it's no faint praise: Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Friday Night Light's fifth--and almost certainly last--season is airing currently on DirecTV and will show on NBC in the spring. Stars Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler both were nominated for Emmy Awards this year.

Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler nominated for Emmys

The series itself didn't get the love, but Friday Night Lights stars Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler both are nominated for Emmy Awards, it was announced this morning.

Read my recent Dallas Morning News column for more on Britton. I give her a good chance at a win. Chandler faces tougher competition, but don't count the coach out. Don't forget that he was previously Emmy nominated for his "explosive" guest spot on Grey's Anatomy. It's Britton's first nod.

The series also got a writing nomination for the episode "The Son," penned by Rolin Jones.

Austin-based casting director Beth Sepko was nominated for two Emmys--one for FNL and another for the Austin-shot HBO film Temple Grandin, which I finally watched this week. I give it four hooves up (kidding). Temple Grandin is up for best Outstanding Made-For-Television Movie and its star Claire Danes is up for best actress.

See the full list of nominees here.

'Friday Night Lights' a ratings winner?

The one given about Friday Night Lights has been that it's well-written and gets really crappy ratings. That's ending this summer. The show has been in first place or tied for first for five straight weeks as its fourth season airs on NBC. Could the show conceivably get picked up for a sixth season if this continues? You bet.

The big irony is the cast and crew are preparing to bid the show farewell as the last few of the 13 episodes for season five are being shot in Austin (They will air first on DircTV in the fall under the deal NBC struck with the satellite provider). Read my Dallas Morning News column from last Friday for Connie Britton's take on this.

(Almost) everything you ever wanted to know about Friday Night Lights' Connie Britton

Connie Britton interviewed by Reel Women's Sherry Mills.

Connie Britton spoke at length at Saturday's meeting of Reel Women, both about her career and about the television series Friday Night Lights. Here are some of the highlights:

On Friday Night Lights:

+ No, a sixth season will not happen.

+ She got teary-eyed recently while reading the script to the final season's tenth episode which is about to go before the cameras.

+ The fifth season will wrap up a lot of loose ends.

+ Look for orginal cast members to all return for the final episodes.

+ She was hesitant to do the show after playing the coach's wife in the film version of Friday Night Lights because the film role was so small. Peter Berg promised a larger role in the TV show.


On her background:

+ She went to Dartmouth but majored in Asian Studies, not theater, and spent a semester in China. Despite her major, she starred in many of the college's theatrical productions and raised the ire of some theater majors/profs.

+ Until recently she held a small grudge for the lack of support she got at the time of her graduation. She went back to the school to give an address and put it all behind her.

+ She attended the Neighborhood Playhouse after being rejected by other theater programs.

+ Her big break came in Edward Burns' low-budget The Brothers McMullen. She was visiting her sister in Washington D.C, and almost didn't show up for the NYC audition. The film was shot in the cast and crew's spare time and thus has a lot of continuity problems. Burns met Robert Redford on an elevator and handed him a tape of the completed film. It went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at Redford's Sundance Film Festival.

+ She is single, dating an L.A. writer and has two rescued dogs, one from Austin.

More in my Dallas Morning News column this coming Friday.