"Friday Night Lights" Reprieve
The trades are full of this story, so just in case you haven't heard: "Friday Night Lights" will be back, and it looks like for two more season - in this case, seasons running 13 episodes each.
Without getting into particulars, this appears to be roughly the same deal as the current one - a window on DirecTV followed by the run on NBC a few months later. It's a remarkable reprieve for a fine show and not entirely expected, given the numbers; it ranks about 18th or 19th on NBC's already woeful schedule, averaging somewhere around 3.8 and 4 million viewers. That would be a great performance for a cable series but a BROADCAST one?
Which is just the point: NBC is happy to get anything, and (in the case of "FNL") happy to get something of quality. But don't forget - the costs are being split among multiple partners. This is not a big outlay for NBC.
(Pix: NBC)