Landman, Taylor Sheridan’s New TV Show, Is the Closest We’ve Come to a Friday Night Lights Replacement Before the Reboot Happens

Taylor Sheridan’s latest TV series is many things, but the least expected aspect of Landman and that is a strangely perfect sequel to Friday night lights. Sheridan is the television writer and mega-producer behind such coveted shows as yellow stone, King of Tulsaand 1923and his latest series is set in the Permian Basin region of Texas, examining the various effects of an oil boom on the area. Landman’s the real life story comes from the podcast Growing cityreleased in 2019, exploring how the oil industry drastically impacts the way of life of those around it.

Billy Bob Thornton leads the Landman cast as Tommy Norris, a crisis management executive for a major oil company whose family life begins to intertwine with his professional world. Tommy is the main focus of the series, taking up most of the screen time. However, the series takes time to follow different types of characters belonging to the oil business in the area, such as the crew who tragically died in the explosion at the end of the first episode and Jon Hamm’s CEO character, showing the more lavish end of the industry. .

Landman brings back one of the best parts of Friday Night Lights

The Texas setting is vital to Landman’s narrative

Friday night lights it’s been out for over a decade and there’s never been anything to replace it. No series has matched its mature combination of sports narrative excitement, naturalistic character arcs (season two excluded), and social critique in this way. The TV series sets a fictional Texas town and examines the cultural impact of football obsession on the lives of teenagers, exploring ideas about the education system, toxic sports culture, teenage mental health and family relationships. With all of Peter Berg’s projects in mind, the TV show is still his masterpiece.

Football and the oil industry are very different subjects for a TV series, but it is the approach Landman and Friday night lights start exploring your material. In both shows, the Texas landscape and culture are vital characters. Landman is based on the NBC football series to create a dark atmosphere using the barren rural setting of the region and encompasses aspects of community and the charms of small-town life. Both programs offer social criticism in some form, but also provide sophisticated and nuanced takes on the subject.

In Friday night lightsThe series explores the toxicity of high school football, from the pressure placed on children to the monetary involvement of local adults. However, the show also highlights characters like Matt Saracen and Tim Riggins, showing how organized sports can have an immensely positive effect on youth development. Landman’s The end of episode 2 shows the aftermath of the tragic deaths of three oil workers, but the show doesn’t outright condemn Tommy Norris for his involvement. Both shows offer arguments and counter-arguments, allowing the viewer to decide their own thoughts.

Drake Rodger’s Dakota Loving Gives Landman Another Friday Night Lights Element

Landman’s First Episode Features a High School Football Star

Landman’s The first episode finds Tommy Norris’ high school daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) in a relationship with a young football prodigy named Dakota Loving (Drake Rodger). He is a very stereotypical portrayal of a teenage football star with numerous college prospects, who turns out to be a womanizer who leaves Ainsley when she refuses to have sex with him. Although he is a much more simplified version of the types of characters that might appear in Friday night lightsit recalls the Texas teen football aspect of the original NBC show.

After Landman episode 2, it looks like Ainsley will be on some growth path to become more like her father. She has been spoiled most of her life, but her role in the series implies that she will become familiar with the harsh way of life surrounding her father’s industry. Having teenage characters is a fun way to provide a sense of nostalgia that might resonate with fans of Friday night lightseven if it’s not a central aspect of the show.

Landman Has a Third Connection to Friday Night Lights

Billy Bob Thornton starred in the film Friday Night Lights

Before Kyle Chandler Became Coach Eric Taylor of the Dillon Panthers Billy Bob Thornton starred as Coach Gary Gaines in the original 2004 film Friday night lights film. The film was co-written and directed by Peter Berg, who went on to develop the series. Berg’s film is based on the book Friday Night Lights: A City, a Team, and a Dream (1990) by H.G. Bissinger, who followed the Permian Highschool Panthers football team in Odessa, Texas, which played for the championship in 1988 after the injury of its star quarterback.

In many ways, Landman has even more narrative connections to the film and the real-life story behind it Friday night lights than with the show. While the town of Dillon in the TV series has its charms and beloved characters, the original story is a cultural touchstone of today’s Permian Basin region of Texasrepresenting the region’s resilience. As much as the Friday night lights the title represents sporting heroism, is also a critical commentary on the football culture of Odessa, Texas, and Landman needs to incorporate its elements to accurately represent the area.

What’s going on with the Friday Night Lights reboot?

A reboot is in early development, but there isn’t much news

Just before Landman aired its first episode on Paramount+, Variety reported a Friday night lights reboot is being developed by original series showrunner Jason Katims. This wouldn’t be a reboot of the original show, but instead, it would explore new characters and a new cast centered around a similar premise. Given that it has already been successfully adapted twice, Friday night lights has proven to be a timeless story about football and teen culture in America, and it will be interesting to see how it changes when recreated in the 2020s.

With the same showrunner involved in the project, there is some promise that the new series could offer a fresh perspective while maintaining the intelligence of the original series. Assembling a cast that can rival the 2000s show is a difficult task, given how successful actors like Jesse Plemmons, Minka Kelly, Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton and others have had in their careers after the series. In the meantime, while we wait for more Friday night lights the news continues, Landman It’s an interesting side dish.

Sources: Variety