To all the fans of NBC’s excellent new drama, here is your chance to pick up another great show on the same network.  Tonight, NBC will be showing its football drama, Friday Night Lights, in the time slot immediately following Heroes.  This is a great move as these two shows are the best of the freshman series this season.

Friday Night Lights is set in the fictional town of Dillon, TX, where football is everything.  The entire town’s hopes and dreams ride on the high school football team’s performance.  This a year, a new coach, Eric Taylor has taken over the reigns largely because he has worked with the star Quarterback, Jason Street, since the Pee Wee leagues.  But in the season opener, Street receives a serious spinal cord injury and is paralyzed.

 

The show revolves around Coach Taylor and the town trying to pick up the pieces, as well as how Jason Street is dealing with the life altering injury that changed everything for him.  The drama plays out both on the field and in the rehab center where Jason is trying to find a reason to go on now that he has lost everything that was important to him. 

 

In the series so far, Jason’s best friend, Tim Riggins has not been able to bring himself to visit Jason in the hospital.  Jason’s girlfriend, Lyla Garrity has been there constantly and does not want to give up on Jason.  But Tim and Lyla have found comfort in each other’s arms and have started a secret relationship.

 

Second string quarterback, Matt Saracen, pulled off a miraculous save in the opener after Jason’s injury, but the team lost its second game.  A quarterback from a school ravaged by Katrina has been brought in as a ringer, and it’s unclear whether Matt will get a chance to show what he can do.  Matt’s own life is incredibly complicated as his father is in the military and is stationed in Iraq and Matt is the sole care giver for his grandmother.

 

Coach Taylor is under pressure from all sides, as the town turned against him after the loss, and holds him to a very high standard- win, or quit!  The time commitment and stress of being the coach is taking a major toll on his personal life as well, as his wife is increasingly frustrated with Taylor’s lack of attention.

 

In tonight’s episode, the team is pitted against their major rival, the Tigers, and it is unclear who will be the starting quarterback.  Tim and Lyla’s relationship deepens as they begin to come to terms with what they are doing.

Claire, the cheerleader in Heroes lives in Odessa Texas, which also seems to be the base of operations for one of the major bad guys (affectionately known as Horn Rims, who is also Claire’s adoptive father), and she is a cheerleader for the high school. The book, Friday Night Lights, on which the series is based is about the 1986 season of a football team, the Perriman Panthers, in Odessa Texas. On Heroes Claire seems to be the most important of the characters in terms of saving the world- hence “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World”.  The football team’s quarterback, Brody, has also played an important part in the series, accidentally killing Claire twice.

Pretty boys! Pretty girls!

Lots of the characters on Heroes fit a basic "type" that are also offered on Friday Night Lights.

Attractive Cheerleaders: Claire Bennet and Lyla Garrity- On Heroes, Claire is the attractive cheerleader who will save the world.  On Friday Night Lights, Lyla is the attractive cheerleader who is trying to save Jason's world after his serious injury.

Brooding, tortured long-haired addictive type: Isaac Mendez and Tim Riggins- On Heroes, Issac abuses Heroin partly because he can't stand to see the future unless he is on the drug.  On Friday Night Lights, Tim Riggins abuses alcohol because he can't stand to see the implications of Jason's injury.

Bombshell blondes struggling to make a better life: Niki Sanders and Tyra Collette- On Heroes, Niki runs an online porn site to get money to better her life and that of her sons.  Niki was also involved in an inter-racial relationship with her son's father.  On Friday Night Lights, Tyra hopes to follow one of the players out of the town, and is starting an inter-racial relationship with "Smash" Williams.

Tall, dark & handsome: Nathan Petrelli and Eric Taylor- On Heroes, Nathan is a politician with a plan, but is forced to compromise his goals when he is blackmailed.  On Friday Night Lights, Eric Taylor has a plan until his star player is injured and everything falls apart.  He also has to compromise with the towns people who will blame him for losses and force him out.

Sweet, sensitive guys: Peter Petrelli and Matt Saracen- On Heroes, Peter lives in the shadow of his older brother.  He is caring and spent a good part of his life as a caregiver for the sick and dying.  On Friday Night Lights, Matt lived in the shadows of the older star quarterback Jason Street.  Matt is the caregiver for his grandmother who is suffering dementia.

Quirky funny guys: Hiro Nakamura and Landry Clarke- On Heroes, Hiro's quirky behavior is largely due to the cultural differences as he is brought into contact with others as he explores his powers.  On Friday Night Lights, Landry is not a football player, but he is suddenly thrown into the mix as his best freind takes over as lead quarterback.


 

Both have AWESOME slogans:
Heroes: Save the cheerleader, save the world
Friday Night Lights: Clear eyes full hearts can't lose

Both Sets of Characters Have a Mission to prevent the end of the world:

On Heroes the characters are coming together to prevent a world ending event.  On Friday Night Lights, the characters are struggling to win their season and to end up as state champs, but if they loose it’s the end of the world to the town.