“Friday Night Lights” producers have changed just enough this year to keep Jason Katims’ small-town soap hopping. Judging by tonight’s fast-moving, story-packed fourth-season premiere, fans can anticipate another strong season. Some notes:
* 4.1, titled “East of Dillon,” begins in late August. Its first shot is of a windmill in motion.
* 4.1 begins as the pilot did, with a local radio broadcaster bringing us up to speed. Eric Taylor is now coaching the brand-new East Dillon Lions.
* New grad Matt Saracen, still in town to continue looking after his dotty grandma (and continue dating young Julie Taylor), is now a deliveryman for something called Panther Pizza. His grandma still thinks he plays for the Panthers, and Matt gets to demonstrate some of his tackling skills this week.
* Landry Clarke gets a letter informing him he’ll be attending East Dillon for the 2009-2010 school year. He’ll be the only familiar face on the East Dillon Lions.
* Buddy Garrity is still a West Dillon booster, but seems marginalized and unhappy.
* The East Dillion Lions HQ is a dump, covered inside and out with graffiti.
* We meet a future East Dillon player as he makes an unsuccessful bid to elude the police.
* As Coach Taylor weighs in his recruits, he discovers they all want to be QB1.
* After the title credits (and I can’t say what the title credits look like this season; the screener uses last season’s, with former regulars Adrianne Palicki and Minka Kelly still in the mix), we advance three weeks into September.
* We learn Dillon High principal Tami Taylor had a hand in redistricting the two Dillon high schools, and she is besieged by parents livid that their kids have been redistricted into the more ethnically diverse East Dillon High. This strife is exemplified by Julie’s friend Devon, who finds herself caught between parents and school administrators.
* The first time we see Tim Riggins, he’s slipping out of class as a college instructor is lecturing on “The Odyssey” and the hero’s journey. He’s next seen on his own hero’s journey, chucking his books and school supplies out the window of his fast-fleeing pick-up as he makes his way back to Dillon. I think Riggins’ story may be my favorite this first week back.
* Fans can also look forward tonight to Eric Taylor’s staffing dilemmas, a decision from Julie that greatly concerns her parents, Matt’s visit to the Dillon Tech art department, a hot mother-daughter team, a new look for Riggins’ newlywed sister-in-law, the return of Panthers quarterback J.D. McCoy, and perhaps the lowest point in Eric Taylor’s career.
