Great TV that no one is watching has pretty much become the norm nowadays.  Great TV shows are constantly getting canceled (Freaks&Geeks, Pushing Daisies, My So-Called Life, etc.) simply because not enough know about them when they are on, and they later go on to become major hits.  Here are two shows that you really should be watching.

Friday Night Lights is inspired by the book and subsequent film of the same name, but they really are very loosely related.  They all have the same overarching themes, but the story and characters used in the TV show are entirely fictional.  Friday Night Lights is about a high school football team in Dillon, TX, a town where high school football is a way of life.  The show is shot very realistically in a "docu-drama" style.  This makes sense, because the issues dealt with in the show are treated very realistically.  Many issues that you would expect to come up in a show dealing with teenagers do, in fact, come up (dating, sex, drugs, parent issues), but they are treated in the way they work in real life, rather than the way they are portrayed in some other teen shows.  Coach Eric Taylor has to deal with the constant pressure from the town to make sure he leads the Dillon Panthers to victory, while at the same time dealing with the pressures in raising a family at home.  Granted, at my age (20), I may not fully comprehend marriage yet, but in my estimation, Eric&Tami Taylor's relationship on the show is the most realistic portrayal of marriage on TV today.  They argue the way people really argue, and they ultimately get over it the way people do in real life.

Coach Eric Taylor is played by Kyle Chandler, and he gives what I feel is one of the best performances on TV today.  Connie Britton's performance as Tami Taylor is equally excellent.  They play off of each other very well, and the scenes featuring the two of them tend to be the best scenes of the entire show.  They really deserve more recognition for their work in this show, which has gone widely unnoticed by any of the award groups out there.  The actors playing the high school students all put in strong performances as well.  Gaius Charles stands out as Smash Williams, a character that particularly in the first season is given great stuff to work with.  He really knocks it out of the park.  Zach Gilford is also great as Matt Saracen, who gets thrust into a high position on the team when he isn't really ready for it.  One particular storyline in the first season involving his father really gives Gilford a chance to shine.  Jesse Plemons becomes the breakout star as Landry, who in the first season comes across as the "comic relief" character, but soon grows into his own.  The rest of the young cast is great as well, and Brad Leland is hysterical as car salesman Buddy Garrity, who will do anything to support the Panthers.

The first season of FNL stands on its own as a near-perfect season of television.  The overall arc in the season is strong, and each character is given plenty of subplots throughout.  I have no qualms with saying this season made me misty eyed on multiple occasions.  The second season was hurt by the writer's strike, but also suffered from creative problems when the show became a bit too unrealistic.  (A murder subplot is introduced that really doesn't fit with the rest of the show.)  The third season, a short season that originally aired on DirecTV and then moved to NBC, brought the show back to the glory of the first season.  The show will be back for 2 more seasons before calling it quits.  They will be losing many cast members, but gaining some new characters as well. I am excited to see where it goes from here.

Another show worth checking out is a UK import called Skins.  Skins is a teen drama about a group of friends that go through the trials and tribulations of being a teenager, without censoring anything.  The show pushes a lot of boundaries in its use of sex and drugs, and even through this, it is probably the most realistic teen show on TV.  The characters are easily relatable, which makes the show a fun ride.  It is also key to note that all of the actors are actually the same age as the characters they play.  The first 2 series (UK equivalent of season) of the show (19 episodes in total) deal with one particular group of friends as they move through college (which in the UK is a 2 year training program before going to university).  As can be expected, hook ups and breakdowns abound, but the show treats all of these issues extremely well.  The show balances comedy and drama very nicely (much in the way it is balanced in real life).

The only 2 recognizable stars are Nicholas Hoult (from About A Boy) as Tony and Dev Patel (pre-Slumdog Millionaire) as Anwar.  Hoult in particular is great as Tony, who, although a bit of an ass, still makes himself likable.  Mike Bailey and Hannah Murray stand out in particular as Sid and Cassie, whose relationship ultimately becomes the biggest story of the show.  The first 2 series stand alone very well, and the show has a definitive end after the second series when the students graduate.  The producers made a bold move in not bringing any of these characters (except 2) back for the next season, and thus their characters are able to be given nice endings.  Effy, Tony's younger sister, and her friend Pandora are brought back for Series 3, which has just premiered in the US.  The rest of the cast is new.  After watching the premiere, I don't know if this series will stand up to the first 2 nearly as well, but it still looks like it will be great.

Do yourself a favor and check out these two shows, which you can find on iTunes or DVD.  You won't regret it.

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