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.

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.

'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.

Friday Night Lights casting call

It's time to audition for the fourth season of Friday Night Lights, to shoot soon in Austin. The show is guaranteed thirteen episodes this upcoming season and the same for one more year after that. Here's the skinny:

*Casting Call for Austin, Texas, Studio Television Series Friday Night Lights*

*Production Title*: Friday Night Lights

*Studio/Independent/Student*: Studio
*Production Company*: DirecTV / NBC
*Union/Non-Union*: Non-Union
*Project Type*: Television Series
*Other*: DirecTV/NBC
*Production Location*: Austin, Texas
*Production Start Date*: September 02, 2009
*Shooting Schedule*: multiple weeks/months throughout filming

*Producer*: Nan Bernstein
*Writer*: Jason Katims
*Director*: various

*Synopsis*:
Seasons 4 and 5 of the popular NBC television series

*Character Breakdowns*:

* FOOTBALL PLAYERS - male, age range 18-24 who look like they are in
High School, athletic, some previous football experience. MUST
have completed all NCAA eligibility and/or not intending to play
college football as this will jeopardize your eligibility. We are
casting our CORE Group of players, so MUST have 100% full-time
flexible availability and be able to make this project your
priority (this means no full-time job unless you can get out of it
as needed and you are not registered for school for fall/winter
semester!)
* CHEERLEADERS - female, age range 18-24 who look like they are in
High School, cute, athletic, MUST have previous cheerleading
experience. We are casting our CORE Group of cheerleaders, so MUST
have 100% full-time flexible availability and be able to make this
project your priority (this means no full-time job unless you can
get out of it as needed and you are not registered for school for
fall/winter semester!)

*Paid/Non-Paid*: Paid
*Other/Additional Compensation*: None
*Meals/Lodging/Transportation Provided*: Meals, Snacks and Beverages

Kimber Becker
Kimber12849@aol.com
Westside Marketing & Entertainment

Friday Night Lights gets two more seasons

It's official. Two more seasons for Austin-shot Friday Night Lights with a continuation of the joint deal between DirecTV and NBC. Unfortunately they will again by 13-episode seasons. That will make a total of 76 episodes for the show. The second season was shortened by the Writers Guild strike, and the third was concocted by the cable/network pact.

Friday Night Lights on DirecTV?

Yep, my sources say it's a done deal, and it's starting to leak onto the Web today.

Look for the third season (full 22 episodes) to start shooting in a brain-bakingly hot Austin this July. What this means is still anyone's guess. Only on a DirecTV channel? On there and NBC? Network folks are not talking. The latter is reasonable if it helps the NBC bottom line enough to make it affordable to keep a lower rated show. Did fan response cause this? It didn't hurt.

I'll have the details in my columns next week when the news will probably be common knowledge.