All's Well in Roswell

Jason Behr recieves Katherine Heigl's
"Annoyed Look Version 1.0"

Before veteran writer and producer Jason Katims brought us the beloved Parenthood and Friday Night Lights, he worked on a little sci-fi high school drama called Roswell. While it centered on a group of aliens trying to fit in and avoid detection from the government and alien bounty hunters, all while learning to harness their out-of-this-world powers, Roswell actually had less in common with Smallville and was much more like Katims' other programs, including My So-Called Life, which Katims also wrote for.

As he did on Friday Night Lights, Katims was able to focus on developing the characters on Roswell and make each of them feel distinct and as real as could be believed. Thus, it was easier to identify with and care for these characters. Even the ones that were, literally, alien.

I recently rewatched the first season of Roswell and it's easy to see why, unlike Dawson's Creek and Smallville, I was so hooked on the show when it first ran. It's also easy to fall back in love with as the writing and acting still hold up.

Katims' smartest move was setting up the relationships early in the first season before heading into the more science-fiction heavy episodes that pile up at the end of the season. Now, I'm a big sci-fi fan. So, it's a testament to how good this show is that I actually wanted more of the high school drama stuff than I did of the undercover FBI agents and shape-shifting killer alien plotlines.

The basic set-up is that Max (Jason Behr), Isabel (Katherine Heigl), and Michael (Brendan Fehr) are aliens in human form that are high-school aged in 1999. Max & Isabel were found wandering the desert in New Mexico and adopted by the Evans family, while Michael was put into foster care. They all attend Roswell High and stick close to each other and try to keep each other, and their powers, secret. One day "The Crashdown," a local diner, two patrons get in an altercation, one of them whipping out a gun trying to shoot the other one. The shot misses, but hits Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby) in the stomach. Max rushes over and uses his power (he can "manipulate molecules" or something like that) to heal her wound, instantly. Then, he makes it look like she had just spilled ketchup on herself and leaves.

The next day at school, he tells her what he is. Since Max saved her life, and he's so intense and broody, she falls for him. Behr's actually quite charming in the role, as is Appleby as Liz. All the characters on the show are perfectly cast, actually. Heigl gets to be perpetually annoyed at Max and Michael whenever they threaten to expose their secrets. Colin Hanks plays the requisite geek that falls for Heigl's Isabel (and their relationship actually makes Heigl appealing just from her being in close proximity to Hanks' winning performance). Fehr is great as the aloof heartthrob with spiky hair that starts dating Liz's best friend, the excitable and overdramatic Maria (Majandra Delfino). Add in veteran cool guy William Sadler as the Sheriff and Nick Wechsler (now on Revenge) as his son Kyle, Liz's ex-boyfriend, and you've got a great cast to bounce off of one another.

The way Katims (who wrote at least 19 of the show's total 61 episodes) builds the relationships between these characters is quite masterful. The Sheriff is constantly suspicious of Max and his friends, and it doesn't help matters that his son is constantly looking for reasons to hate Max. Michael and Maria have a classic love-hate relationship that of course leads to them majorly having the hots for one another. And even Isabel can't help falling for the sincere Alex (Colin Hanks). As they all deal with trying to keep their own secrets and whether or not they should even get involved with each other, the Sheriff and even the FBI start snooping around these kids.

Things kind of go off the rails a bit near the end of the season when two more aliens are introduced, one being an older alien that's supposed to watch over Max, Isabel and Michael, and another alien their same age. The latter is Tessa, played by Emilie De Ravin (AKA "Crazy Jungle Claire" from Lost). She causes all kinds of trouble for Max and Liz and is super annoying in general. (I think she gets paired with Kyle in the second season and, if I recall correctly, that ends up being pretty fun to watch.) Anyway, the 1st season ends with too much sci-fi stuff going on for my taste, but the core group appears to be in a safe place for a little bit as they go into the second season.

It was fun to revisit this show and see not only Katims' evident talents in this early stage of his career, but also Heigl before she became so annoying, Hanks before he became a straight man to Bradley Whitford on The Good Guys, and Wechsler before he pined over Emily Thorne on Revenge. (Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jonathan Frakes was also involved on the show and directed a few episodes. But, the less said about that, the better.) The strong writing and acting on this show make it a joy to revisit and is surprisingly un-cringeworthy to look back on. Especially for a show more than a decade old. If you love either Friday Night Lights or Parenthood, you'd do well to go back and see just how good Jason Katims was already when he ran a show called Roswell.

Classic Television Rundown: Why Everyone Should Watch "Friday Night Lights"

In an effort to do the internet equivalent of covering up my ears and going "LALALALA I'M NOT LISTENING!" to last night's season finale of Mad Men, as Brigitte and I are three episodes behind, I will instead blog about a different season finale.

Namely, the season finale that we watched last night of the superb, superb, SUPERB NBC sports drama, Friday Night Lights. No, I mean, the teen drama, Friday Night Lights. No, wait, the family drama, Friday Night Lights. Wait, no, I mean, all of those things.

So, because I'm guessing you, the reader, do not watch Friday Night Lights, and I judge that based on its historically lousy ratings, which are so low that even ABC Family appeared to have cancelled its rerun airings, here are five great reasons for you to watch.

1. It features a lot of Explosions in the Sky and a lot of beautiful cinematography.
On a purely aesthetic level, there is a lot to love about this show, especially for those of us who love things like films by Terrence Malick and music by Explosions in the Sky. The 2004 movie of the same name featured actual new compositions by Explosions in the Sky, and the television show features a very Explosions-like score by W.G. Snuffy Walden (I love that dude's name!) and, in later episodes of season one, features actual Explosions songs. Meanwhile, most of the establishing shots in the series are handheld cam shots of rural Dillon, TX, set to said ambient instrumental rock. Even if you hate everything else associated with the series, you'll want to watch this show just for the superb score and cinematography.

2. It is full of great sports action.

Then again, a show that features high school football should also show some high school football. And Friday Night Lights delivers in sports action. In fact, it has such good sports action that it got Brigitte interested in sports in real life (sort of.)

3. It is full of hotties, if you're not into sports action. (Or, it's a bonus if you're into both hotties and sports action.)

Even if you don't love sports action (and I know you do love sports action, DoktorPeace, which is who this bullet point is mainly addressed to,) this show is chock full of hotties. Like, Minka Kelly as Lyla Garrity, the more-complicated-than-you-think-at-first head cheerleader of the Dillon Panthers. Or, Adrianne Palicki as Tyra, the more-complicated-than-you-think-at-first town whore (said in the way Ralph Cifaretto says it on The Sopranos..."hooooahh.") And for the ladies, Taylor Kitsch as the more-complicated-than-you-think-at-first tough guy alcoholic fullback Tim Riggins. But especially, the hottest of the hotties has got to be Coach's tough-as-nails but tender-lovin'-hot wife Tami Taylor, played by Connie Britton. Yowwwwwwwza, I'd like to be guidance-counseled by her!

4. It is very well-acted and very well-written.
Seriously, though, while the characters on the show are, like most television shows, more attractive than the average person, said actors are, first and foremost, terrific actors. I've always read about how Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton are always snubbed by the Emmys, and prior to watching this show, always thought that was a bunch of hooey. Well, it ain't. Their two performances, and specifically their performances and interactions together, are astoundingly great. Showrunner Jason Katims (he of Parenthood and Roswell) guided a show in its first season to great heights by writing great real characters like the Taylors. And the series is honestly The Wire-like in its breadth and depth of characters. Obviously, the issues dealt with in the first season are not as intense as those in The Wire -- natch, because at its heart this is a family drama -- but the scope of its characters is such that characters like the Taylors, Smash Parker, Jason Street, Tim Riggins, Tyra, Tyra's mom, Buddy Garrity, etc., are as familiar and well-loved to us as Bubbles, Omar, etc.

What's the word snobs use to describe that? Oh yeah, Dickensian. It's truly Dickensian in its scope.

5. It makes you feel.

Friday Night Lights' first season is to emotions what Lost's first season is to emotions (and planes crashing in possibly supernatural airplanes while being chased by monsters made of smoke.) Friday Night Lights makes one feel emotions deeper than one has ever realized. Friday Night Lights has it all -- funny (like smart geek high schooler Landry constantly talking about pheromones, or Riggins trying to make jokes at the annual team roast,) sad (like Jason Street getting injured and people bein' all sad about it, or Matt Saracen's grandma having alzheimers) happy (like the Dillon Panthers winning a big game,) happy and sad (like when Riggins confronts his deadbeat dad,) disappointed (like the Dillon Panthers losing a big game,) sweet (like when Matt Saracen and Julie Taylor start dating adorably,) and full of joy (like when Coach brings his wife Tami and his daughter Julie into a loving embrace and tells them how much he loves them.) As one watches each episode of Friday Night Lights season one, one experiences a full range of emotions. Not unlike the emotional first season of Lost. Except, instead of smoke monsters, it's, y'know, based in reality.

Now stop reading this blog, go to Netflix Instant Streaming, and start season one of Friday Night Lights immediately.

"Every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle. He is going to fight and he is going to lose. But what makes him a man is at the midst of that battle he does not lose himself. This game is not over, this battle is not over." -Coach Eric Taylor, or, Coach Taylor, or, just, Coach.