Friday Night Lights VS House
We got ourselves a little debate going on here people! Mary, who is a House fan, made a comment on the last post that she didn’t think House was in the same league as Friday Night Lights.
I would NEVER tell somebody that I thought a show that they loved was stupid - I can only give my opinion, just as you can give yours! Here’s Mary’s opinion:
House uses the same formula every week. I mean really, it does get old.
FNL doesn’t have a formula. It’s beautifully shot and has fantastic acting. It’s hard to explain if you’ve never watched it. The characters are so real and their problems are ones everyone can relate to. It celebrates the small moments in life that other shows ignore.
Now - objectively - I can see where Mary believes that House uses the “same formula” every week. In a nutshell, House has a patient with a medical problem that he has to diagnose. Usually the patient will die in a matter of hours/days if he doesn’t figure out what’s going on. The thing that a lot of critics do not get is that the undiagnosed patient is only 1/4 to 1/2 of the story. The rest centers on characters, character developments and real life situations that these esteemed professionals find themselves in. And comedy - lots of comedy.
I have not seen Friday Night Lights, so I can not comment on it. What I can do, though, is set my DVR to record it so that I can watch an episode and be objective. I never dismiss something out of hand before actually trying/seeing it. I can say now, though, that so far I have had no interest in watching Friday Night Lights and do not see how a story about a football obsessed town would be interesting to me - but then again, I didn’t give two hoots about House, either, until I was provoked into watching it.
Are there those that watch both House and Friday Night Lights here? What’s your take on this discussion?
June 7th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
I DVR both House and FNL, and watched almost each episode of both shows last season. While I enjoy both shows and was on the House train long before it was popular to love House (S1), I have to agree that FNL is something else altogether. I truly believe that FNL has had one of the best seasons of television that I’ve ever seen. It could fall completely flat next season but this season was just perfection on so many levels. Each episode just kept topping the one before it. The difference, I think, between House and FNL, and really most of what’s on television and FNL, is how heartfelt and real everything seems on FNL. Therefore, it may not be to everyone’s taste. (The few people I have heard that have tuned in and not liked it are those that actually grew up in towns like Dillon, TX — mainly because the show felt too real). And it does take more than one episode to grab you, though once it does, you’re done, baby. And no, I didn’t grow up in Texas or a small town or played or was related to someone who played football. The themes on FNL are universal — family, adolescence, growing up poor, growing old, being alone, unrealistic expectations, and limited prospects. (And yet, some scenes are just hilarious.)
June 7th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Lilibeth said what I meant in a much more eloquent fashion.
I’m not knocking House at all. I enjoy the show very much. I work in healthcare, so that’s one of my interests in the show (trying to guess the diagnosis!) I think Hugh Laurie does a great job portraying Gregory House too. I don’t really care about the other characters though. The residents? Boring. Cuddy? I don’t care about her and House’s supposed sexual tension. I like the show best when House is interacting with the patients.
Also, I hate the set! Hate it! I know the dark, shadowy atmosphere is done purposefully to set the tone, but I just want to run down the halls and flick on all the lights! Contrast that to FNL’s beautifully done cinamatography. It’s just gorgeous. There are no sets in FNL. If a scene is set at a diner, they shoot in an actual diner. (and frequently, the servers will be actual employees of said diner.) The homes of the characters are all real houses. The camera follows the actors, so they are free to focus on the scene and not worry about hitting their mark. They also are encouraged to adlib, and make suggestions. And then you have the characters. They are so real, you want to go down to Dillon and meet them. None of them are all good or all bad. Even the obnoxious town big shot is shown having shades of decency.
If you want to see an episode, you can watch them on nbc.com. I recommend the second episode as one of the best to introduce you to the characters. Another I recommend is Mud Bowl, though that takes place almost at the end of the season. It’s a fantastic episode that isn’t too hard to follow even if you haven’t seen any other episodes. (I watched with a friend who hadn’t seen FNL before and she enjoyed it.)
If you’re not up for a whole episode, go to youtube and catch some clips.
June 7th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
I love both shows! but I would never compare the two because you just can’t. And if you say House is “formulatic”, you can counter that by saying FNL is full of Cleches’ (set in highschool full of jocks, sluts and cheerleaders) but of course to those who actually watch these show we all know that the show is WAY more deeper than that.
Randi, you should try and check it out so maybe you wont have to wonder so much why there is so much talk about the actors deserving to be nominated for awards