Friday Night Lights
The what: For anyone who has ever read anything else I’ve ever written, it’s apparent how much I love this show. It’s about the small Texas town of Dillon, in which high school football is the cultural and societal barometer.
The show mostly focuses on the coach of the Dillon Panthers, Eric Taylor, and his wife Tami. They have a high school aged daughter who acts as the voice of dissension when things get a little too football-centric, which they often do.
The feels: This show will make you feel all the feelings. Every single one of them. Any time you gather up a bunch of athletes, make them take a knee in front of a handsome coach while he delivers a rousing pep talk, you’re gonna get hearts bleeding. Then, when you add in sentimental stories about Texas forever, sick grandmas, unexpected adolescent pregnancies, college acceptance struggles, and teenage love triangles, you get a show that routinely rips your heart out while you beg for more.
The deets: Even though the show struggled to find and audience, and it’s fate was often unclear, it consistently gained critical love. All five seasons are on Hulu now, and if I see you on the street and I say “Clear Eyes, Full Heart,” you have to reply, “Can’t Lose.”