Fancast: Inside TV

"Answer me this, Timmy. What happened to Texas forever, huh? What happened to livin' large, what happened to that eternal bond that you used to love to throw around when I was still healthy and headed towards the NFL, huh?" -Jason Street

» "'State' became the 'Holy Grail,' its pursuit the singular obsession of the town."

Last Days of Summer - 9:00 p.m. on NBC

The critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights returns for its second season tonight on NBC. For those unfamiliar with the H.G. Bissinger masterpiece that spawned the series (and 2004 film), FNL tells the tale of a small Texas town economically devastated by the oil bust.

Marginalized to the fringes of society, the town developed a pathological obsession with high school football. In an attempt to compensate for what wasn't there, 'State' became the 'Holy Grail,' its pursuit the singular preoccupation of town.

The story is very much an indictment of the way the culture immortalizes kids, only to discard them when they've outlived their usefulness (i.e. can't help win football games); sending them into the real world with a warped sense of reality that leaves them completely unprepared.

More than any new drama last season, NBC's remake came out of the gate in a league of its own, perfectly capturing the essence of Bissinger's story. But towards the middle of last season, a monumental shift in the thematic content occurred. Network executives imposed their will upon the ratings-challenged show, morphing it from a relevant drama ripe with social commentary to a bland teenage drama using high school football as its gimmick.

It's been heartbreaking to watch the the storylines shift from the assistant coach expressing a racial bias very prevalent in America (blacks can't play quarterback) to a budding romance between Tyra and Landry bred from an attempted rape.

As much as the writers may deny (Alan Sepinwall reports they did), don't buy into it. Network executives starting calling the plays a long time ago.

FINAL GRADE: B-

When FOX announced King of the Hill would return for a 12th season, I was thrilled. As much as I love Futurama (and used to love The Simpsons), it's Hank Hill who has headlined the greatest animated comedy of our time.

While South Park and Family Guy beat viewers over the head with idiotic jokes that may as well have been written for ten year olds (that 'South Park' calls them "political" is laughable), Hill and Futurama delivered socially relevant satire with elegant subtlety.

But after the first three episodes, my initial happiness has subsided. ‘Lucky’s Wedding Suit,’ the episode intended to be the Hills’ last hurrah still resonates and I'm dismayed it will never be more than a season finale.

In an industry where very few series go out on their own terms, great series finales are rare. Arrested Development managed to pull it off despite a tragically early demise (as did Freaks and Geeks to a lesser extent).

King of the Hill deserved no less of a send off after its remarkable 200-plus episode run. ‘Lucky’s Wedding Suit’ was just that.

Luanne's wedding allowed us to revisit all the series' minor characters. The closing montage began with the series' regulars standing on Rainey Street, sending off the bride to be and closed with one last visit to the alley.

The final seconds saw Boomhauer reflect on the "enormity of it all" and Hank finally admitting that he's got "well, I'd guess you call it... well, emotions."

It was beautifully done. And as much as I'm enjoy the new season, I've got to wonder if ten years down the road, these extra episodes will have been worth compromising such a magical end to one of the greatest series of our time.

» Watch the Final Scene of Lucky's Wedding Suit

FINAL GRADE: B+

It's amazing how quickly a show can fall from grace. Just four episodes ago, Heroes was the best drama on network television. Since that time, we've seen a decline of epic proportions. Four episodes. That's all it took. It's hard to wrap your mind around.

The first season was a masterful yarn of serialized storytelling. The pacing was perfect, the writing tight, the balance of the ensemble cast nearly perfect. By the time the season's 20th episode, Five Years Gone, rolled around, the show couldn't have been going better.

» Watch a clip from Episode 20: Five Years Gone

But it all fell apart, starting with the season finale. And through the first three episodes of season three, it appears the curtain has closed. Ironically it was the bomb the Heroes worked so hard to stop that sealed the fate of the show. Only the bomb never exploded. New York was spared, the show destroyed beyond repair.

That bomb and the danger that came with it is what carried the mysteries and intertwining story arcs throughout the season. In its absence, Heroes has been forced to manufacture drama, resulting in meandering and undisciplined writing.

Five Years Gone showed viewers the devastating aftermath of the explosion. Hiro, Peter and Niki had aligned and fought a war to no avail. The cost of their failure and the toll it took on them was such a beautiful portrait of each character, the thought we'll never see exactly what happened should induce nothing less than anger.

Instead, Hiro is currently in Japan helping an oddly placed British man become a hero, all the while lusting after his girlfriend. A virus is plaguing some of the Heroes (Niki included), Molly is having nightmares and Peter has lost his memory. Worst of all? HRG and Claire are in hiding. But instead of going up against the company, trying to stay one step ahead, we're being forced to suffer Claire's personal voyage of self and one of the most painful romantic storylines on TV today.

Oh to be Five Episodes Gone...

FINAL GRADE: C+

When I first screened Californication, I called it the best the best pilot I'd seen in a long while.

Last night's season finale put a rubber stamp on its place as the best new series of the year and propelled David Duchovny's to the head of the pack for 'Best Actor in a Comedy Series;' no small feat with competition like Steve Carell and Alec Baldwin.

The final scene, a surprising act of redemption was absolutely brilliant, a final act of defiance to those who criticized the premise as nothing more than a cliched soap with an overabundance of nudity.

All season, the writing oozed of such self-referential charm quashing any hints of pretension. Coupled with the writers' ability to deftly navigate the line of severely dark overtures and side splitting humor, the plot was as tightly scribed as anything on television today.

With Duchovny's brilliant performance, Hank's acute awareness of the utter predictability of his self-inflicted path to destruction and inability to stop it rendered him one of the great charactures of the tragically flawed protagonist.

Quite an accomplishment in a year that saw The Sopranos try, and fail, to do the same.

Final Grade: A

Contact Nadum at Nadum_TV@comcast.com