Episode 118

I just finished writing a paper entitled "The Presence of Ghismonda and Guiscardo in Curial e Guelfa," which is an analysis of how one of Giovanni Boccaccio's novelle in the Decameron had a direct influence on the composition of the 15th-century Catalan novel. In this entry, I attempt to do a similar analysis. It will be called: "The Presence of Dawson, Pacey, Joey and the gang in Friday Night Lights."

I intend no disrespect to Friday Night Lights (FNL from here on out), and I think it has actually improved upon some of Dawson Creek's (DC's) more ridiculous plot lines, but these are just the facts. FNL has diluted the plot lines: that is, there are many more characters in FNL, so where the same characters participate in all the DC adventures, FNL spreads the love. If you're a fan of FNL and want to keep your dignity, you may want to stop reading right now. I know DC did not invent these themes or stories, but some of these are blatant steals. In no particular order -- and some more banal than others -- here you are:

1. Pacey (DC) and Landry (FNL) both have dads who are cops. Both dads get involved with the illegal drama in which their sons are implicated.
2. Two male best friends, Dawson and Pacey in DC and Jason and Tim in FNL are both in love with the same girl (Joey and Lyla, respectively). One of the guys is the girl's "soul mate" and the other is his more bad-ass friend.
3. Landry actually quotes Pacey, saying something to the effect of "I'm tired of being the sidekick, I'm going to get my own storyline" before becoming one of the shows' more prominent characters.
4. Both of the cute, promiscuous blondes (Jen in DC, Tyra in FNL) lose out to the brunette (Joey and Lyla) in a fight for love triangle attention.
5. The central family (the Leerys in DC, the Taylors in FNL) has a baby when their other only child (Dawson and Julie, respectively) is a grown teenager.
6. The Dad of the central family is the football coach of the the high school team.
7. One of the football players gets injured (Jack in DC and Jason in FNL, but not as drastically in DC) ruining his chance at a career and turning him in to a disillusioned wreck (at one point, both jump in to a body of water in an awkward I'm-so-helpless-what-should-I-do move)
8. Jen (DC) and Matt (FNL) both live alone with their grandma, who becomes a lovable sidekick to the gang.
9. Only the main family's parents end up together.
10. The unmotivated kid who's failing out of school (Pacey and Tim) becomes mentor to a spunky little kid (Buzz and Bo).
11. The badass sidekick from #2 sleeps with a woman twice his age in both shows. I will combine this with the fact that the usually obedient female lead in both (Joey and Julie) hook up with one of their male professors.
12 Andy tutors Pacey like Landry tutors Tyra and they both fall in love.
13. The tough guy character (Smash in FNL and Pacey in DC) has a bipolar girlfriend who he finds crying on her kitchen floor.
14. Tim Riggins lives with his older brother like Joey Potter lives with her older sister -- both older siblings are sometimes supportive and responsible and sometimes not even able to take care of themselves.
15. The innocent female character (Joey and Julie) dates an older guy only to realize that their lives are too different and return to her cute high school boyfriend.

16. Lyla and random guy (FNL) meet doing a teen-line radio show: this would be a combination of Jen meeting CJ at the teen-line and Jen meeting Charlie at the radio station (DC).

I'll stop there, but before I go for the day, I'd like to add that I'm only at the end of Season 2 of FNL right now. Based on the above analysis, I predict that many, many more similarities will arise in Season 3. I'm just waiting until one of the football players comes out of the closet.