TEENS LOVE "FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS"

NBC's compelling character drama "Friday Night Lights" (Tuesdays, 8/7c) has received a lot of positive critical buzz, but you may have also heard of its ratings troubles. As a matter of fact, the pilot episode which aired on October 4 was one of the lowest rated programs so far this TV season.

For this reason it may come as a surprise that the show about a high school couch leading his team to Texas is also the third most watched new show among teens, just behind "Heroes" and "Ugly Betty".

The reason teens love this show is that its depiction of high school does seem to relate more to them than that of other more 'soapy' teen-focused shows on television, such as "The O.C." and "One Tree Hill".

Also, it did not hurt that NBC, which normally does not market to teens, organized special local screenings for high-school students in over 50 cities across the US and the feedback from teens who are known to be very picky about their TV has been very positive.

On tonight's episode, Taylor (Kyle Chandler) has one week to save his job, prove the distrusting town wrong, bring his team together and produce a much-needed win, unfortunately all while his family is falling apart.

Next week, "Friday Night Lights" airs an all-new episode on Monday night at 10/9c (instead of a "Studio 60" rerun). The episode will be repeated the following day in the drama's regular timeslot.