Kyle Chandler
The actor picks projects (Early Edition, Homefront) that give critics
goose bumps but don't get much ratings love. FNL is no different. As
coach of the Dillon, Tex., Panthers, Chandler does some of his richest
work as an embattled leader scrambling to hold his team — and
family — together through fumbles both on and off the field.
Connie Britton
Wait till the end of the set — let's say episodes 17 to 19 — before you
dismiss Britton's Tami Taylor as a yummy mummy. Sure, coach's wife is
hot, but she's also a study in exquisitely contained cyclones of
emotion, especially as daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) navigates the
deep waters of teenage sexuality. Powerful stuff.
Football!
...And yet not. If you're into the pigskin, there's plenty of action — games,
practices, the entire town's feverish obsession with what happens on the
50-yard line. But fear not, footballphobes! Athletics never interfere
with masterful storytelling and the finest acting you'll see on network
TV. Know what they call that? A win/win.
Hot Guys Who Only Look Like Jailbait
Move past your inappropriate Harry Potter lust with the FNL footballers.
Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen), Scott Porter (Jason Street), and
Taylor Kitsch (dirty-hot Tim Riggins) are all worth a look-see, and all
well into adulthood. Which makes Riggins' affair with his older neighbor
even more watchable.
You're Smarter Than Emmy Voters
They continually snub The Wire and Battlestar Galactica, so it's no
surprise that Emmy all but ignored this gem. And with episodes like the
one in which an assistant coach makes a racial gaffe that leads to plot
turns as inspired as they are honest...well, they oughta be ashamed.
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