The “Friday Night Lights” movie may be dead as of now, but a part of the series will live on, when Landry Clarke’s Christian speed metal band Crucifictorious stops by the Luncheonette from “Parenthood.” It’s not for an episode of the series, but one of a series of web videos NBC is releasing over the next couple of weeks to keep fans of shows engaged while they’re pre-empted by the Olympics.
Four shows in all are getting the digital bonus treatment, and will be featured on NBC.com, YouTube and Hulu: a “Chicago Fire” four-parter called “I Am A Firefighter” about Dawson being faced with an emergency while alone at the station (debuting Tuesday, Feb. 11); a “Grimm” four-parter called “Love in the Air” in which Rosalee and Juliette gather their girlfriends for a Valentine’s DAy spa party, “only to discover a Zieglevolk casting a love spell among the group” (debuting Friday, Feb. 14); and a “Parks and Recreation” four-parter called “The Hapley Group,” with Perd Hapley conducting a political round table featuring Crazy Ira, the Douch, Joan Callamezzo and a new character, Mike Patterson, played by Seth Morris, who will be guest-starring on the show itself soon (debuting Thursday, Feb. 20).
But much as I’m looking forward to the intellectual summit that is the pairing of Perd Hapley and Crazy Ira, I’m by far most excited about “Friday Night at the Luncheonette” (debuting Thursday, Feb. 13), in which Amber and Max are hanging out at the recording studio when Crucifictorious shows up. Jesse Plemons will be on hand to play Landry again, and Derek Phillips(*) will be there for some reason as Billy Riggins. (Maybe he’s the new bass player?)
(*) Phillips has, of course, been on “Parenthood” before, playing an entirely different character in the Crosby/Jasmine wedding episode, and “Parenthood” has invited on a bunch of other “FNL” alums in new roles. Jason Katims doesn’t seem a stickler for strict cross-series continuity: “Parenthood” and his upcoming “About A Boy” are going to be set in the same universe, with Crosby popping by the new show, but Phil Abrams – who has a recurring “Parenthood” role as the father of another autistic kid in Adam and Kristina’s neighborhood” – pops up in the “About A Boy” pilot as a different character. This concludes today’s bit of anal retentive continuity discussion.
I don’t always make time for webisodes related to even my favorite series, but when one features a crossover between two different shows I love, one of which has been off the air for three years and doesn’t seem likely to return in a grander format, I will absolutely be there. I’ve been agnostic on the need for an “FNL” movie, since the series wrapped up so perfectly, but the idea of a brief snippet of post-show life for characters like Landry and Billy – particularly with Max Braverman reacting to the two of them – sounds like a lot of fun.
What does everybody else think? If you had to pick someone from Dillon, TX to come to the Bay Area, would it be the murderous Lance, or would you rather have Tyra wind up on staff with Bob Little, or Matt Saracen teaching art at Adam and Kristina’s new school?