If ratings woes compel NBC to cancel “Friday Night Lights” before its sophomore season, it could become the most critically beloved freshman series punted by the Peacock — or any broadcast network — since “Freaks and Geeks” in 2000 and “Boomtown” a few years later.
Though ongoing positive reviews for the show dovetail with NBC’s new marketing campaign emphasizing the sudden development of quality programs in its stable, the Peacock has not found a way to convince any kind of meaningful audience to give “Friday” a shot.
One suggestion has been for NBC to try moving the 8 p.m. show to a 10 p.m. slot. (The show might make a better lead-out from “Heroes” than “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” for example — perhaps a trade is in order.) “Friday” has some storylines that are PG-13 in subject matter, and while the notion of 8 p.m. as a sex-free zone has long since been blown out of the water, viewers might be more in the mood for some of the “Friday” subject matter after they’ve had a chance to settle in for the evening.