Reboot of ‘Friday Night Lights’ is in the works
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(Credit: NBC)
Over a decade since its emotional conclusion, Friday Night Lights is set to be rebooted by Universal Television. Although the project is still, reportedly, in the very early stages of development, fans of the cult series are already brimming with excitement and some trepidation that the sports drama may be returning to screens in the near future.
For the uninitiated, Friday Night Lights follows the world of a high school football team in a rural West Texas town. Led by coach Eric Taylor – portrayed by Kyle Chander, who won an Emmy for the role – the show used the overarching theme of high school football to address a variety of real-world issues, including racism, abortion, and drug addiction. Although the programme was never hugely popular, it gained a passionate cult following for its honest portrayals of Middle America.
Originally, the show went off the air in 2011, after the conclusion of its fifth series. Since then, many have speculated that a reboot might be on the cards, though those ideas have regularly been downplayed or refused by those connected to the show. Connie Britton, for instance, once responded “You need to let it go,” when asked about a potential reboot back in 2019.
Now, though, a reboot of the show is definitely in the works, as confirmed by Variety. Original showrunners and executive producers Jason Katims and Brian Grazer are reportedly on board the project, though details surrounding its personnel are still fairly sketchy. Seemingly, the show will focus on an entirely new high school football team in a different area, so it seems very unlikely that fans will see the return of original cast members like Chandler, Britton, Gaius Charles or Jesse Plemons.
Britton, who played Tami Taylor in the original series, seemed to confirm this fact. In September, she told Variety, “I heard that they’re making another Friday Night Lights, which I find bizarre.” This comment certainly suggests that the original cast has not been consulted about the reboot, much less that any of them are on board.
The original series finale saw Coach Taylor coaching a college football team in Philadelphia, which certainly left open the potential for revisiting his storyline in the future. However, it seems apparent that this reboot will aim to stand on its own two feet as much as possible rather than rely on the original series.
The rebooted series would mark the third time that Friday Night Lights has been adapted from the original 1990 novel by H.G. Bissinger. It first appeared on screen in a 2004 film by Peter Berg, who went on to create the television series two years later. So far, it is not known whether Peter Berg is connected to the upcoming reboot.
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