Return to Dillon, Texas, and Friday Night Lights

A Friday Night Lights Companion

Love, Loss, and Football in Dillon, Texas

Edited by Leah Wilson

Introduction by Will Leitch, founding editor of Deadspin

Talk to any of the millions of devoted Friday Night Lights fans and they’ll tell you: it’s not just a show about high school football. Its rich, interesting characters and honestly portrayed relationships make the show’s portrait of West Texas life compelling and relatable in ways that have nothing—and everything—to do with touchdowns. A Friday Night Lights Companioncelebrates the show, its fearlessness, and what it’s meant to those who love it.

  • Dave Campbell’s Texas Football managing editor Travis Stewart provides a moving tribute to the power of high school football, by way of unlikely hero Matt Saracen
  • Jonna Rubin shares the lessons she’s learned from the best marriage on television: Eric and Tami Taylor’s (lesson number one: drink more wine)
  • Television Without Pity writer Jacob Clifton offers a meditation on one of Friday Night Lights’ most fundamental values: being a part of something bigger than yourself
  • The Washington Post’s Jen Chaney reminds us what we love most about all our favorite Dillon residents, from Tim Riggins to Buddy Garrity to Jess Merriweather
  • And more writing and reflections on Friday Night Lights

A Friday Night Lights Companion takes you from series pilot to series finale, through all five masterfully crafted season' worth of love, loss, family, and football.

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Posted November 22nd

If you’re already signed up for certain book mailing lists, you’ll have heard about the exciting new initiative we’re starting. When you sign up for designated mailing lists (they’ll be paired with the above graphic), you’ll not only get the latest news on the book, but we’ll also email you a free PDF of book content. There are thirteen excerpts you can download right now and there’s no limit to what you can sign up for, so go crazy if the mood strikes...

A Friday Night Lights Companion‘s Fan Favorite Tournament: Winner Announcement
Posted July 19th

Those of you who have been following our A Friday Night Lights Companion‘s Fan Favorite Tournament know that on Friday the final match came down to Tim Riggins and Coach Eric Taylor. Both accumulated a lot of votes (and a lot of supportive tweets!) throughout the weekend, but only one can win now. The Fan Favorite winner is . . .

Coach Eric Taylor

With 2/3 as many votes as Coach, Tim...

Last Friday Night Lights Twitter Party (And Finale Thoughts)
Posted July 18th | 3 Comments »

We had our final Friday Night Lights Twitter party this past Friday night, and aside from the show itself, I’m genuinely going to miss the live-tweet sessions we hosted each Friday. We got the opportunity to know (and also know better) so many Friday Night Lights fans, and talk through so many different plot lines together, from the head-scratching ones (Julie and the TA!) to the heartbreaking (Vince and his dad). As the finale cued up at minute one and then faded at minute ninety, we also got...

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