[USA] Friday Night Lights

INTERVIEW: Friday Night Lights Executive Producer/Lead Writer Jason Katims
Wednesday, January 14, 2009Posted By Chris Littmann 10:00 PM

With Season Three of Friday Night Lights in the books (for the DirecTV audience) and Season Three about to kick off on NBC on Friday (9 p.m. ET), it seemed like the perfect time to chat with Friday Night Lights executive producer/lead writer Jason Katims (pictured first row, second from the left). This thing is chock full of spoilers so do not read this if you've not watched tonight's season finale. My full phone conversation with Katims from last week is just beyond the jump to shield the eyes of those who have yet to watch any of this season. (And if you haven't joined the discussion, come talk about the finale here.)

Littmann: Jason, thanks for taking some time out to speak with me today. I want to cover a lot of ground, but let’s start where we’ll be leaving things as Season Three closes. We’ll get into specifics in a bit, but overall, a lot was left open to continue the series, but I think we tied up enough of the main storylines that fans wouldn’t be left screaming “What if?” if for some unfortunate reason we don’t get Season Four. Was that something in your mind, trying to play both sides of the card, and how difficult was that to accomplish?

Katims: It was definitely something that was on our minds. We definitely wanted to figure out a way to keep a lot of balls up in the air, a lot of possibilities for what would happen for next year. In terms of the part of the show that feels resolved, that kind of was inherent in the story we were telling this year. We were telling a story about a lot of people graduating so I felt the closure part of it was pretty much taking care of itself. But we wanted to keep the feeling that there’s still a lot of story to tell and there’s situations and questions, and I feel very much that we were able to accomplish that. The finale was definitely a balancing act between the two things you mentioned. We wanted to have a very satisfying episode with resolution, but we also wanted to keep things open for hopefully moving forward with another season.

FC: On a similar line of questioning, this was the shortest episode run the show had been dealt in its three seasons. Were there details/stories you wanted to work in but simply didn’t have the time, particularly knowing you were dealing with lengthy goodbyes to both Gaius Charles (Smash Williams) and Scott Porter (Jason Street)?

JK: From the very beginning when we were told we were doing 13, and that was part of the arrangement between NBC and DirecTV, I was actually very excited about that. Doing 13 episodes really mirrors about the amount of games in a football season. We were really able to use that as a constant thing in the background, and at times in the foreground for telling stories. I think that really energized the season. I liked the fact that there were fewer tangential stories and that we felt like we were constantly staying on story and on point.

I think that some fans and critics in the second season felt like we were a little bit light on the football. I agreed with that concern and feel really happy in the third season that we were able to use the football season as a time-telling device for the year. Whether or not you always saw a game in an episode, you always felt where we were in the season.

FC: So we’ve got Lyla (Vanderbilt), Tyra (Texas) and Riggins (San Antonio State) all headed to college. Matt, on the other hand, decides he’s sticking around in Dillon to take care of Loraine and presumably be with Julie. I think if any of the season-ending destinations were a little confusing, it was probably Saracen’s. Matt probably seemed the most apt to leave Dillon, but he ends up as the one staying. Can you explain a little bit about what went into that choice?

JK: It was very interesting when we got to the point of figuring out what everybody was going to do because when you’re in the writers’ room, it’s one thing to break a story, but it’s another thing when you’re making these weirdly life-like decisions. It’s very sort of personal and ... almost in a weird way, I don’t want to use arbitrary because it’s misleading, but it’s like it becomes personal and becomes a toss-up of what you’re going to do with your life.

What I liked about the feeling was that’s what it really feels like in life. When you’re making those big decisions, a lot of times it’s not so cut and dry. You’re dealing with your life. To be honest, the idea of Matt staying, that decision was something we came to very late in the process. And similarly the resolution we had with Riggins and Lyla was a twist on what we had originally intended. It had less to do with what we wanted to set up for Season Four and more to do with what felt most right for the characters, and when I say most right I don’t necessarily mean the best decision. I don’t necessarily think Matt Saracen deciding to stay in Dillon and take care of his grandmother is the best life decision, but it just seemed most right for him at the moment.

FC: And while we’re talking about where people are going, I sort of get confused at times. Was Landry supposed to be a junior this season?

JK: Yeah, Landry and Julie (Aimee Teegarden) are both still supposed to be in school next season.

FC: The college choices were all significant, but the real news of the finale was Coach Taylor getting elbowed out of Dillon and forced over to the soon-to-be-re-opened East Dillon. I’m a big fan of the mileage that could come from this personally, but I’m wondering ... What was the reaction like from Kyle Chandler and the rest of the cast?

JK: The cast was, I think, pretty much universally so excited about the last two scripts and what became the last two episodes of the season. Kyle really loved that twist. Sometimes as actors on the show, when they get a script that’s the one moment when they become like fans, not knowing what’s going to be in it. He was really surprised and thought it was a great twist and a great setup for what could be next year. It’s great when you have a cast like that, where you’ve really developed an atmosphere of mutual trust. Kyle and Connie (Britton) were very much on board with how we leave it off. Honestly, it did feel like we had to do something. I wanted to do something that was somewhat bold so it didn’t feel too much like, “Well the show is over. Everybody is graduating.” I wanted there to be a feeling of “Wow, what’s going on now?”

FC: The way the story wraps up, we appear to be losing at least Tim, Lyla and Tyra. That’s on top of losing Street and Smash. You assembled quite a group of young actors that people weren’t really familiar with, but some are already going on to big projects post-Lights. Talk to me a little bit about your departing Panthers.

JK: Across the board, it’s a phenomenal cast on the show. You’re right in that a lot of these actors, especially the younger ones, haven’t done much before being cast on the show. Over the three seasons, it’s been remarkable to watch each of them evolve and grows. Our filmmaking process on the show is one that empowers the actor and makes them feel like partners in the process. It’s unique and something that everyone in the show is both proud of and very excited about. Each one of them has really come into their own. Watching their performances this season, they all have such confidence in their choices and are so natural and real. I certainly hope the show continues and we get to continue to work with many of the actors, but I hope and fully expect they’ll all go on and do incredible work.

FC: Season Three likely doesn’t happen if not for some help from DirecTV. Have you gotten any feedback from them in the way you’d get feedback from a network, and if so, what was it like?

JK: We’ve had a great relationship with DirecTV. With this great deal that was brought up by Ben Silverman and Eric Shanks, DirecTV has come on and really been a great partner. It’s interesting because since the show was already around for two years when they came into the picture, they were fans. Everything that they’ve done has shown that. The marketing, the publicity and the way they’ve supported us has come out of them being very excited to be part of it.

They didn’t want, creatively, anything to change. They just wanted to know that we would still be able to deliver the show we delivered in the first two seasons, and once they saw that we were able to do that, I think they were thrilled. It’s been really nice working with them. Clearly it’s something that for DirecTV was new and different. They were extremely excited about it. There was really no downside; it was all positive. If it wasn’t for DirecTV, there wouldn’t have been a third season, so I’m obviously very appreciative of their involvement.

FC: Question about DELETED SCENES

JK: I think the deleted scenes will come out on NBC.com when each corresponding episode airs. The differences between the versions at the end of the day are very subtle. Jeff Reiner (Executive Producer) and I actually found it to be an unexpectedly positive process to go back in after several months and do the NBC version of the show. Like I said, the differences are very subtle, but we were able to do small things -- mostly in transitions -- and refine what we did a little bit.

FC: The season wrapped long ago, and now, when it comes to a potential fourth season you’re really just playing a waiting game. Do you have a sense of what it’s going to take to return and if there’s any time frame for a decision, or will we just be twiddling our thumbs until the Upfronts?

JK: I hope we’re not waiting until the Upfronts, but maybe. My guess would be once it’s aired four or five times on NBC, we’ll have a sense of what kind of numbers we’re getting, and the network, DirecTV and everybody involved will be able to make a decision about Season Four.

One thing that was really nice about Season Three is, because of circumstances of the shortened season in Season Two, we found out that we got our pickup in early April and we were able to get with the writers on, I think, April 9, and we didn’t start shooting until August. That gave us much more lead time than we normally get and I found that to be incredibly helpful from a storytelling point of view, from a production point of view. When we came in and started shooting in August, we knew a lot of the story arcs. We knew how many episodes we were going to need a character. The same thing with sets, and how many football games, and home games and away games. All these things that usually when you start production you just don’t know. I think it helped to have that additional time with the writers, so my hope is that should we get a fourth season that we will be told earlier rather than later so we can have that again.

FC: Let’s back away from Season Three and Season Four and talk about last season. I talked to Taylor Kitsch back in October, and he echoed some comments made by Zach Gilford that Season Two was a departure from what everyone expected on this show. What drove this shift that seemed to sort of catch viewers and cast members alike off guard?

JK: In Season Two, there were a lot of things that took our characters on tangential stories -- and when I say tangential, I don’t mean they were tangents, but a lot of times there would be stories where the main cast members were meeting and interacting with new people as opposed to just playing off each other. That seemed necessary to start to broaden the show. It maybe gave people a feeling of wanting more of the interaction between our characters. We decided to pull back a little bit on the amount of football because by the end of Season One, we had really delved into the characters so much that we felt confident that by giving more space to the character stories it would be a positive thing for the show. But inadvertently going so far away from the football we lost a little bit of the nucleus of the show and it felt a little bit like we drifted far away from that.

One of the things I was happiest about in getting a third season was getting to the next stage in the show with these people’s lives. I personally think there were a lot of great episodes and storylines, so I don’t really want to speak negatively of it, but it definitely was also shortened by the strike, and by the end of it, we left without really an ending and we were really building toward a big arc at the end that was going to return a lot to the team and football. Had we been able to do that, the perception overall of Season Two might have been a little different.

FC: So did you feel like you got to at least explain what you were building toward in the opening sequence of the Season Three premiere during Coach Taylor’s news conference?

JK: Obviously we had to just kind of talk about it instead of show it, but we also felt like starting off Season Three, we made a decision early on that rather than spending four or five episodes wrapping up what would’ve happened in Season Two, we just had to do a time cut and move on.

FC: I’ve got a few questions from our readers before we wrap up. A few people asked about Coach Taylor’s father and we’re wondering if that’s something you have in the back of your head as a storyline you want to do, but haven’t had the chance.

JK: It’s in the back of my head. It would be very challenging to tell that story. It would really depend on being able to cast it really well and figuring out who that would be and trying to find a storyline that would do justice to introducing the character. It is something that we have thought about doing. Sometimes I try to limit the number of new people we introduce for the reason I was talking about in Season Two when things can start to feel tangential.

FC: Another from a reader: Do you have a favorite moment or storyline through all three seasons?

JK: It’s really like asking you to choose between your children. I’m trying to think if there’s something that stands out above the others ... no, I can’t do it. It’s hard to say that.

FC: One last one from a reader: With all the people we’re losing who have been fan favorites, do you have some way in your mind that, if we get a Season Four, you can bring them back for a cameo?

JK: I would absolutely bring people back -- and some of the characters, not ever have them leave. That’s really going to depend on finding story for them. I’m very proud this season what we did with Smash’s character and Jason Street’s character. They were characters that in the second season with struggled with Jason Street. We sensed the same thing would happen with Smash since he graduated, but I felt like we found four-episode arcs for both of them that didn’t feel like they were just coming back as a cameo; they were stories for them. They did some of their best work on the show in those arcs.

What I would do is try to figure out ways to incorporate as many of our characters as possible, whether that be for the entire season, or arcs, but I would only do it -- as I’m sure the actors would only want to do it -- if the stories justified it. No one wants to come back to the show and be window dressing. You want to come back and have meaty material to play. My hope would be to continue to find ways to use this cast that clearly we love and the audience loves, but to only use them if we have real story to tell with them.

FC: I just want to thank you for taking a break to talk about your show. Best of luck going forward. Here’s hoping for a fourth season.

JK: Thanks.

Sc0tTy	vrijdag 30 maart 2007 @ 09:41
	Omdat ik over de serie Friday Night Lights nog geen topic zag open ik hem bij deze quote: Friday Night Lights is the story of the Dillon Panthers, their Coach Eric Taylor and the fictional city of Dillon, TX a town that lives and dies with every game their Panthers play. It is not a “sports show” in that the individual episodes tend to revolve around the personal lives of the Coach and his players and not around the actual playing of Football. Upcoming games are treated more like ever present specters in the background, influencing events while not being the focus of them. Young members of the Friday Night Lights castAccordingly not every episode will show an actual game even though every game that is played by the Panthers is shown to some extent, often in cut scenes at the end of an episode. The show puts special emphasis on dealing with social issues facing the various team members and their families. Episodes have addressed pertinent social issues such as infidelity, drug use, mental illness, racism, alcoholism and parental abandonment. For a complete list of episodes with summaries see the article entitled List of Friday Night Lights episodes De cast van FNL : Wanneer er meer animo is voor deze serie zal ik de post vertalen naar het nederlands en wat mooier maken
Sc0tTy	vrijdag 30 maart 2007 @ 09:47
	woei de ep van gister avond was weer erg. panthers gaan naar state ! was wel mooie wedstrijd en arme tyra gelukkig kon ze weg komen, vind ook jammer voor landry dat hij zo bij tyra moet komen
Posdnous	vrijdag 30 maart 2007 @ 09:50
	Zucht, weer van die veel te knappe mensen waardoor de serie vanaf minuut 1 al niet meer overkomt.
Sc0tTy	vrijdag 30 maart 2007 @ 09:59
	Posdnous dan ken je net zo goed je tv weg gooien
Sc0tTy	vrijdag 13 april 2007 @ 01:33
	hmm jammer dat dit topic niet zo actief is gister was de final , erg goeie ep kvond de wedstrijd een beetje gaar eigenlijk hmm ik hoop echt dat de Eric blijft volgend jaar ik kan niet wachten op het volgende seizoen ( als dat komt )
wonderer	vrijdag 13 april 2007 @ 01:34
	quote: Op vrijdag 30 maart 2007 09:50 schreef Posdnous het volgende: Zucht, weer van die veel te knappe mensen waardoor de serie vanaf minuut 1 al niet meer overkomt. Dat was inderdaad het eerste dat ik dacht... "hoop looks". Stomvervelend.
Sc0tTy	vrijdag 13 april 2007 @ 01:56
	dat snap ik niet... ELKE serie loopt vol met lekkere acteurs/actrices... wrom bij deze serie klagen en de rest niet ? ik vind het verhaal van deze serie erg goed ik let ook niet echt meer op het uiterlijk btw als een serie alleen maar lelijke mensen zou hebben zou niemand er naar kijken hoe goed de serie ook is
wonderer	vrijdag 13 april 2007 @ 01:59
	Alleen maar "lelijke" mensen is het andere uiterste. Ik vind het gewoon frappant en onrealistisch en ik erger me er ook in andere series (House, Bones, The Class, How I met your mother) aan. Ik vind ook de reacties in deze en gene topic op Fok in de trant van "oeh, die en die zag er weer lekker uit!" en dat is dan de enige "inhoudelijke" post die ze maken op een aflevering. Ik ken deze serie niet, maar ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat met zo'n cast de lust tot kijken me wel vergaat, eigenlijk.
Sc0tTy	vrijdag 13 april 2007 @ 10:35
	mwah ik let daar gewoon niet meer op het is gewoon zo , eerste 2 afleveringen dacht ik ook dat het nix was maar daarna begon het echt goed te worden , dus ik stel voor dat je een paar afleveringen kijkt , ik weet zeker dat je hooked ben ( ten zij je niet van dit soort drama's houd ) PS : ik hou totaal niet van American Footbal
Bullet-tooth	maandag 11 juni 2007 @ 19:27
	Ik ga nu maar eens ep.1 kijken. Heb zelf AF gespeeld en deze serie werd me wel aangeraden .
Plastic_Power	maandag 11 juni 2007 @ 19:32
	quote: Op vrijdag 13 april 2007 01:34 schreef wonderer het volgende: [..] Dat was inderdaad het eerste dat ik dacht... "hoop looks". Stomvervelend. De footballspelers trekken wel vaak de meest aantrekkelijke meisjes aan
Tommeh	dinsdag 9 oktober 2007 @ 17:03
	Hmm, ik heb het hier maar ff niet gelezen voor eventuele spoilers want ben nu met ep 2 bezig. Ben toch wel benieuwd .
Sc0tTy	woensdag 10 oktober 2007 @ 10:56
	Erg goeie serie, zondag season premiere van seizoen 2 gezien, erg goede ep khad weer rillingen over men rug van de intro song. Die coach is wel een lijer trouwens , die nieuwe.
Tommeh	zaterdag 20 oktober 2007 @ 20:50
	Zoo ik ben weer bij. Moet zeggen dat ik het een erg leuke serie vind! Net de nieuwe gezien ( S02E03 ) top einde!! Ben weer benieuwd naar de volgende!
Tommeh	maandag 29 oktober 2007 @ 01:30
	Niemand die dit kijkt joh? Ik vind het echt een aanrader. Nieuwe aflevering was top! Er veranderd veel.
Tazmaniac	maandag 24 maart 2008 @ 16:22
	Ik meld. heb net de pilot gezien op aanraden van Tommeh!! (enkele maanden geleden) ik heb dus nog heel wat in te halen voordat ik terug kom, maar bij deze dus alvast een tvp'tje ga er denk ik wel wat moeite mee hebben dat er zoveel mensen zijn.. damn.. weet nog niet goed wie nou wie is op een paar na en ik vind dat het elkaar allemaal snel opvolgt man.. beetje lastiger te volgen dan andere series (zelfs met subs)
Chielus	maandag 24 maart 2008 @ 17:02
	Ben al een tijdje op zoek naar deze serie, lijkt me een erg aardige serie. 9al heb ik een beetje BH90210 gevoe erbij) Maar goed zal nog eens een poging wagen om de eerste Eps van S1 ergens te krijgen......
Sc0tTy	maandag 24 maart 2008 @ 17:25
	Japs erg goeie serie Taz, de personen kom je vanzelf wel achter allemaal apparte rollen zijn het niemand lijkt op elkaar.
Tommeh	maandag 24 maart 2008 @ 17:59
	Mooi dat je aan het kijken bent . Die personage's leer je automatisch kennen, valt best mee. Ik vind het nog steeds een hele gave serie. Apart gefilmd ook .
Tazmaniac	woensdag 26 maart 2008 @ 12:54
	De personages leer je idd allemaal kennen, maar ik had in het begin het idee dat er veel meer mensen in de spotlight zouden staan maar dat valt reuze mee. Okay, first off.. Coach Taylor en Lyla vind ik echt prima spelen daarnaast is de verhaallijn ook erg leuk om te volgen.. komt niet over als onwaarschijnlijk enzo dus das goed gedaan! Wat lijkt Lyla trouwens veel op Leighton Meesters (Blair, Gossip Girl) goddamn!! Zelfs nu ik weet dat het Leighton niet is vind ik dat ze er als twee druppels water op lijkt!!! Na vijf afleveringen wist ik wel dat het een blijvertje voor me was, maar nu na 8/9 episodes kan ik echt niet meer w88 totdat de rest klaar is met downloaden Lig nog 14maanden achter nu, maar die zal ik snel genoeg inhalen trouwens.. wel gaar wat Riggins Jason aandoet.. moet dat een beste vriend voorstellen maar op de een of andere manier vind ik Lyla wel beter bij Tim passen dan bij Jason haha ohjaa en leuk ook die ruzies tussen de coach en zijn vrouw hahaha best grappig altijd!! en de manier waarop Julie omgaat met Matt schitterend! Zat me trouwens de hele tijd af te vragen waar ik coach taylor van kende.. heb het moeten opzoeken.. is hoofdrol speler in Early Edition voor de mensen die het kennen.. altijd een erg leuke serie vond ik [ Bericht 9% gewijzigd door Tazmaniac op 26-03-2008 12:59:50 ]