The fifth, and sadly, final season of “Friday Night Lights” kicks off Wednesday on DirecTV, and the producers of the best show on television have provided a tantalizing 30-second look at the upcoming season.

Of course, the biggest question from the preview is what does Julie mean about providing an “epic” last night in Dillon for Landry? I’m thinking (hoping?) that that’s just the producers being coy and that the two won’t, um, come together …

I like the idea of Billy joining the East Dillon staff. Billy’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he’s the kind of guy you root for and, with his brother apparently locked up in the pokey, should provide some patented Riggins levity.

I also look forward to watching Eric and Tami dealing with their daughter leaving the nest. Watching how the stern coach will handle his Princess leaving home, for this father of a 15-year-old girl, should be particularly compelling.

I’ll be watching Wednesday and this blog will return with episode recaps next spring when NBC airs the final season of “Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.”

J.D. McCoy and Vince Howard battle in the ‘Big Cat Clash’ on ‘Friday Night Lights.’

The three or four of you who actually regularly read this blog know what a huge fan of “Friday Night Lights” I am.

From the start, I’ve extolled the show’s excellent acting and writing while lamenting the fact that no one was watching the show about life and football in Dillon, Texas.

The fourth season of FNL probably has been its best, with Coach Eric Taylor taking on the daunting challenge of East Dillon High. Though some episodes have been better than others — “The Son” in particular — I haven’t been disappointed in any episode this season.

Until now. Read the full story

Tim helps Billy and Mindy welcome their child into the world.

Leave it to Tim Riggins to lend sage advice to a newborn.

“Keep your guard up,” he tells his new nephew. “Stay angry.”

Of course, in light of what happened to Tim at the end of the most recent “Friday Night Lights,” Steven Hannibal Riggins probably should ignore any advice from his uncle.

“Laboring” opens with Dillon coach Wade Aikman, Evil Joe McCoy and the conference director inspecting the East Dillon field, which will play host to the showdown between the Panthers and the Lions. Read the full story

Tami Taylor is taken to task for advice she gave a student on "Friday Night Lights."

For Tami Taylor, the worst was behind her.

Called on the carpet for giving advice to a student, the Dillon High principal had to answer to the school board, explaining to them that what she did is what any principal would do, what any human being should do.

After the board decided to back her, she relaxed, but then the media had to butt in and go and ruin things …

Tami was just one of three Dillon residents experiencing a traumatic week, with Luke Cafferty dealing with the Becky fallout and a budding pill addiction and Vince dealing with a new thug life that results in the shocking death of a friend.

Oh, and Matt makes a reappearance. Read the full story

Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler finally were rewarded for their work on "Friday Night Lights."

Well, it’s a start …

Thursday’s Emmy nominations announcement was definitely a good news, bad news scenario for “Friday Night Lights” fans.

The good: Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton finally were recognized for their outstanding work as Eric and Tami Taylor.

The bad: the show itself wasn’t nominated for best drama. It definitely was deserving, although I’m not sure which of the six nominees – “Lost,” “Breaking Bad,” “Dexter,” “True Blood,” “Mad Men” and “The Good Wife” – it would replace.

Bad, Dexter, Blood and Mad are four of my favorites, and though I don’t watch Wife, I’ve read nothing but praise. As for Lost, as much as I enjoyed – and was irritated by – the show during the past several years, its final season probably deserved a nomination.

One other Lights slight was the lack of a nomination for Zach Gilford, who should have been recognized for his outstanding work, including his heartbreaking performance in “The Son.”

As for Chandler and Britton, they continue to demonstrate this week what an injustice it was that they hadn’t been nominated until this season.

“I Can’t” opens with Luke receiving hosannahs of praise from the reverend at Mount Sinai Commandments Church. Luke, of course, is squirming in his seat, since the congregation wouldn’t exactly support the fact that he got Becky pregnant. Read the full story

Coach Taylor has his eyes opened on "Friday Night Lights."

Since being unceremoniously dumped by Dillon High and shuffled off to the disaster that is East Dillon High, Coach Eric Taylor has struggled to gain his footing in his new surroundings.

Fresh off the Lions’ first victory, things seemed to be coming together for Taylor. Then his world was rocked by two incidents, one tragic and one just plain silly.

In “The Lights of Carrol Park,” Taylor is at the park, looking for Tinker. Wearing his coaching shorts and East Dillon hat and jacket, Taylor couldn’t be more out of place. And when a shot rings out, Taylor is frozen as the rest of the crowd races away. Read the full story

A toilet placed on their football field mocked the East Dillon Lions.

I never had the pleasure of having a toilet placed on my high school’s football field, but I can completely relate to the East Dillon Lions, as I played in my fair share of toilet bowls.

Some lowlights:

— During my four years of high school football, our teams were incredibly consistent, going 1-8, 2-7, 1-8 and 2-7.

— My coach’s favorite thing to say at halftime was, “OK, fellas, let’s go out there and try to make it close.”

— I’m 5-foot-7 and was starting quarterback for 2 1/2 years.

— In two years of junior high, we played eight-player football, and in seven total games, we never scored a point.

— Observant readers will notice I wrote “eight-player football,” not “eight-man” because our biggest player was a girl. Always felt a little strange having a girl on the team, but I never said anything because Jody would have kicked my butt!

Enough tripping down memory lane and back to my point. Which was … Um, oh, yeah, I can relate to playing for a bad team, and the East Dillon Lions very definitely are bad, but are showing some promise.

“Toilet Bowl” opens with craziness at the Taylor household, with Tami and Julie racing to catch a flight to Boston for a college interview and Coach Taylor struggling to get Gracie dressed. Again, this hits close to home, as I’m the guy who the first time he dressed his little girl, put her onesie on backward, a fact that, 15 years later, still causes my wife to giggle uncontrollably whenever it’s brought up … Read the full story

Vince finally learns to trust his coach on ‘Friday Night Lights.’

Trust is a very delicate thing.

Difficult to attain and nearly as tough to maintain.

In “In the bag,” coach Eric Taylor earns the trust of Vince Howard, Becky quits trusting her father and Tami learns to never trust a teacher who sings Simple Minds karaoke.

Julie takes her sadness over Matt having taken a powder and turns it into anger directed at her academic smackdown competition. That anger also is turned toward a teammate who doesn’t even know when the battle of Stalingard was. I mean, come on! Everyone knows that! Read the full story

Lyla takes a bull ride during a visit to Dillon.

Julie and Tim laid their hearts out to the love of their lives. When that wasn’t enough, they did the only thing they could — they set them free.

In the end, all Julie and Tim showed their love for their significant others by setting them free.

Whether Matt and Lyla have left Dillon for good, we will learn down the road.

“Stay” opens with Slammin’ Sammy discussing Friday’s East Dillon matchup with a McNulty team that sounds like the second coming of the 1985 Chicago Bears. To make matters worse for the Lions, the potential slaughter is to be broadcast on TV.

“It’s one thing to be on a team that sucks,” Calvin bluntly tells Vince. “It’s a whole other thing to be on a team that sucks on TV.”

Julie tells Matt she has tickets to the Austin music festival and Matt goes along, saying that his grieving handbook says that when your dad dies, one should immediately go to a music festival.

Coach Taylor and his staff meet with media about the upcoming TV game when Stan Traub steps in it, enthusiastically pulling a Joe Namath, guaranteeing a Lions victory.

Lyla shows up at Riggins’ trailer and watching the two of them together, my first thought is “Whose hair is longer?” Not exactly sure when I turned into my father, but it is an extremely disturbing development …

Lyla busts her former boyfriend about how he fell of the face of the earth and he interrupts her, quite effectively, with a smooch.

Julie pitches the Austin trip to her parents, who, of course, shut her down and she responds by saying “You guys are awful!” I have two teenagers in my home, so I am very familiar with this scene. I live this scene … Read the full story

Matt Saracen deals with his emotions following the death of his father.

How do you grieve for someone you hate? And what if that someone you hate is your own father?

These are delicate questions asked, but never answered, in the best episode of season four of “Friday Night Lights” featuring a heartbreaking performance by Zach Gilford in the title role of “The Son.”

The episode opens with East Dillon once again getting pummeled, when a funny thing happens. The Lions, led by Luke and Laur … Um, Luke and Vince go against the wishes of Coach Taylor, running a wildcat play that results in a touchdown by Vince. Taylor, of course, is not happy. But he’s also not stupid.

He promises to open up the offense when they get the ball back and, in true Hollywood fashion, Vince immediately delivers. This sets up Vince’s long pass to, you guessed it, Luke, since apparently the Lions only have two players on their team. Make that three if you count Twinkle Toes Landry.

Matt watches a video his father sent two Christmases ago featuring a painfully uncomfortable Henry passing along holiday wishes from Iraq. In just a few seconds, Matt and Henry’s relationship is summed up with Henry, wearing a Santa Claus cap, awkwardly trying to do the right thing and Matt watching uncomfortably.

Vince is named co-conference player of the week with T.J. McCoy, the spawn of Evil Joe McCoy. At the pancake breakfast honoring the players, Vince is asked to say a few words to the Pop Warner kids in attendance. Borrowing from the advice he received while learning how to steal a car, he instructs the little ones to “don’t panic, be cool, get paid.” Read the full story