Universal Television is rebooting drama series Friday Night Lights

Universal Television is working on a new version of Friday Night Lights, the critically acclaimed drama about the American football team of a high school in Texas. The original series ran for five seasons, from 2006-11, on NBC and DirecTV's 101 Network. Two of the original series' executive producers - showrunner Jason Katims and Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer - are involved in the new version. Sources say the reboot would focus on new characters rather than the Kyle Chandler- and Connie Britton-led cast of the original.



Friday Night Lights is inspired by a 1990 non-fiction book by H.G. 'Buzz' Bissinger about the American football team of Permian High School in Odessa, Texas. Pete Berg directed and co-wrote the 2004 film adaptation of the book and created and produced the series.

Set in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, the series follows the lives of the coach, Eric Taylor (Chandler), and the players of the Dillon Panthers American football team, along with Coach Taylor's family (Britton played Tami Taylor, Eric's wife, and Aimee Teegarden played their daughter Julie) and other students.

The series never became a hit, but did have a cult following and widespread critical acclaim for most of its run. Friday Night Lights won three Emmys, including Best Actor in a Drama for Chandler and Best Writer for a Drama (Katims) in the final season. The series also helped launch the careers of several members of the younger cast, including Jesse Plemons, Taylor Kitsch, Zach Gilford, Minka Kelly, Gaius Charles, Adrianne Palicki and Michael B. Jordan.