For a while it looked as if Friday Night Lights would be sent to the graveyard of good TV, where so many shows before it have been so hastily interred. The show was stalled midway through its second season by the writer’s strike. Thanks to the deadly combination of critical acclaim and mediocre ratings, it seemed unlikely that NBC would shoot the rest of the season, let alone order a third season. Now NBC and DirecTV have structured a deal to save it in which 13 episodes of season three will air first on DirecTV and then on NBC.

This is good news for two reasons. First, the show is fabulous. I’m no sports fanatic, but Friday Night Lights is only ostensibly about football; mostly it is about the lives of the high school students on the team and in its orbit, and about their parents. It’s very well written and very sharply acted by a likable cast. I recommend it wholeheartedly — if you haven’t watched, go start the first season on Hulu.

Second, it’s good news because it’s a creative and unusual deal. If it works out, it will bode well for future shows that are critically acclaimed but struggling with ratings — if they can’t survive in the standard TV market, perhaps they can survive in a market that encompasses cable, satellite, broadcast, and internet. How many Fireflies, Arrested Developments, and other shows could have been saved with this sort of structure?

Last 5 posts by Ken

• Towards A Comprehensive List of Things Obama Is Pushing Us To - July 29th, 2010
• And Don't Get Him Started On Charlie the Tuna - July 27th, 2010
• Jeffrey Lord Is Not A Writer - July 27th, 2010
• If The Government Says That It's Not About Freedom, Then It's Just NOT - July 26th, 2010
• Will Refrain From Snark For Food - July 26th, 2010