Connie Britton became iconic for her role as Tami Taylor, the beloved wife of Coach Eric Taylor, in the 2006 NBC sports drama Friday Night Lights. The series’ fandom is so strong that any mention of the show from the original cast immediately brings up the question of if/when/can we get a revival? (Clear eyes, full hearts, reboot?) Britton found herself on the other end of that question again recently, and gave an honest response on what she thinks about revisiting that story.
As news came this week that all five seasons of Friday Night Lights will hit Netflix on August 1, Connie Britton spoke with ET about the chances that Tami Taylor will dust off her big glass of wine and reprise the role of the Dillon Panthers matriarch, and her response was … maybe not as enthusiastic as many fans would hope to hear.
We'll do a reunion for sure, like a cast reunion, [but] I don't see them going back into that story, at least with this cast. . . . I heard inklings a few years ago that they were gonna make another Friday Night Lights. Now meanwhile, we know we've already had a movie, we already had this TV show, and then if they were to do it again with like a whole different iteration of it, I don't know. I would think that would be sort of odd.
It’s true that the series, which centered around a high school football team in Texas (where they take their high school football verrrrry seriously), was already based off of a movie, which itself was based off of a book. And the series spawned Friday Night at The Luncheonette, a crossover web series with NBC’s Parenthood, which not only shared a number of the same actors but also apparently existed in the same universe. But in an era when everything is getting rebooted and revived, you still can’t expect the Dillon, Texas loyal to be satisfied with what we’ve already had.
Not to be overlooked in Connie Britton’s statement is what sounds like a pretty good chance fans might get to see a cast reunion, as the series celebrates its 15th anniversary this fall. Friday Night Lights premiered in October 2006 starring, along with Britton, Kyle Chandler as football coach Eric Taylor. The show ran for five seasons on NBC. Other well-known stars from the series include Jesse Plemons, Aimee Teegarden, Scott Porter, Zach Gilford, Taylor Kitsch, Michael B. Jordan, Minka Kelly and many more. Any reunion with this much star power would call for a celebratory trip to the Alamo Freeze!
So while we may not see a revival of Friday Night Lights anytime soon — at least with Connie Britton as the coach’s wife — don’t expect fans of the series to give up hope. It sounds like a revival has at least been discussed in the last few years, so fans will continue to pledge “Texas forever!” until better news comes along. You know what they say about clear eyes and full hearts. And we can always relive the glory years when the series hits Netflix on August 1. Until then, check out some other great options on Netflix, as well as our 2021 summer TV schedule.
