Tami Taylor, Mother to All: Abortion on Friday Night Lights

Renee Powers COMS 650-2 Dr. Vazquez May 2, 2011

The secret of Friday Night Lights: Its actually a chick show. The secret Texas: The women are in charge. Tami is both a small-town society wife (much as she strains against those obligations) and a no-nonsense Ann Richards stateswoman as high school principal. Sometimes she is a paragon of supportiveness and understanding; other times shes easily frustrated by her teenage daughter and football-focused husband Friday Night Lights is about a lot of things other than football, but the one subject that recurs throughout is parenthood. Tami is the mother to us all. (Cohen 102) Introduction and Review of Literature Television, by definition, is a domestic medium. It is in the home, or private sphere, where women have historically been positioned. Furthermore, it is a feminine medium in that it operates as flow, or the nature of television that allows one program to blend into the next seamlessly through credits and commercials. It also allows for innumerable points of identification in characters, through advertisements, and within narratives. Television additionally addresses cultural and political issues, such as the womens movement. Hence, women have always had a certain association with television. Throughout the womens movement, television often reflected that which was happening in the real world. Television narratives provide an outlet for ideological perspectives. Television writers and producers created content that taught women which side of the movement they could or should join. Additionally, advertisers saw the untapped market of women watching television and soon women were inundated with images that spoke to how they should look. The media tamed the politically voracious feminists of the 1960s through sexualized advertisements, their bodies on display for male pleasure. Yet programming

attempted to fight back. In the 1970s, The Mary Tyler Moore Show defined the new womana young career woman and feminist icon without a partner who was determined to make it on her own. As the medium matured through the 1980s, television reflected the backlash of feminism in shows like Murphy Brown, who was portrayed as the feminist buffoon. In the 1990s, television portrayed the post feminist confusion of Ally McBeal, who grew up being told she could have anything she wanted so she strove to have it alllike a man. The millennium saw the HBO production of Sex and the City featuring four women who equated success with material consumption. Meanwhile, in 2006, NBC aired the critically acclaimed drama Friday Night Lights, which highlighted a number of issues that resonated with women on either side of the feminist spectrum. Based loosely on a book of the same name by H.G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights portrays women realistically and told their stories courageously in its five season run, particularly that of Tami Taylor played by Connie Britton. Near the end of the fourth season, a student named Becky Sproles from East Dillon High School visits Tami for counsel on her unintended pregnancy that was a result of a one-night stand with football player Luke Cafferty. Tami is the principal and former guidance counselor at East Dillons rival school, Dillon High School, who is no stranger to providing advice to teens. Tami provides Becky with information on inexpensive prenatal care and adoption. When Becky asks, But what if I dont want to keep the baby? Tami tells her she can provide information on abortion, as well. The final episodes of season four depict the harassment of Tami and her family by the anti-abortion constituency in Texas, which results in the

loss of her job as principal. I will explore how Friday Night Lights provides a perfect storm of industry and narrative to successfully handle the taboo subject of abortion. In Tami Taylor, FNL found a character with strong morals combined with gritty common sense to drive honest narratives. On DirecTV, FNL found a safe home to courageously tell the truth, no matter how controversial. In 1997, Anne Elizabeth Moore wrote The Silent Screen, a plea for accurate representations of abortion on television. She claims that abortion is the most contentious topic one could put on television despite it being a common occurrence. Moore explains how television is not afraid of controversial narratives including gay marriage, child rape, or murder but continues: And yet, of all these, abortion is the most common experience. Moore delineates network and cable programs that have toyed with the storyline where a character has an abortion, from Roseanne to Party of Five, and even HBOs film If These Walls Could Talk. However, all characters have either opted to have the child or conveniently miscarried before their scheduled abortion. Additionally, when these women consider the procedure, the storyline becomes traumatic, or as Moore writes, it always seems to be an ugly, violent, miserable process. Moore speaks from personal experience with abortion that these are not a realistic portrayal of how women deal with the issue. Not only does the pregnant teenager in Friday Night Lights go through with the abortion, it becomes the catalyst for a number of narrative changes. Furthermore, the pregnancy was a result of consenting sex and not rape, which can be seen as an easy way out for some writers. Moores point is that a television program has not accurately portrayed womens experiences with abortion since

Maude in 1972. However, Moore wrote this article before Friday Night Lights was broadcast. As previously mentioned, though contentious, Friday Night Lights is not the first show to feature a characters contemplation of abortion in its narrative. Lewis Beale recalls Maude as the first television program whose protagonist terminates a pregnancy. Beale writes, Maudes decision stands as a watershed in TV history, an event that brought the battle over choice into the prime-time arena and notes that it did so a year prior to the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States. Maude, a character created by the politically savvy Norman Lear, was written to realistically represent older women. Beale writes that she was a contrast to the perfection of such TV mothers as Donna Reed and Harriet Nelson. When the opportunity arose for network comedies to win $10,000 for portrayals of population control, Lear opted in favor of the script featuring an abortion. CBS was hesitant to air the two-part episode, even threatening not to air it, however all but two CBS affiliates broadcasted Maudes Dilemma. Granted, the show received a bit of backlash but this history did not deter the writers of Friday Night Lights. Beale also notes that NBC, the network that aired the first two seasons of FNL and reruns of the last three seasons, has seen its share of trouble with abortion themed programs: NBC said that it lost $1 million in advertising revenue due to sponsor withdrawals from its 1989 movie Roe vs. Wade, and it took another hit when Law & Order dealt with the bombing of abortion clinics. Nevertheless, according to Beale, Norman Lear was confident that decisions to terminate a characters

pregnancy can be handled skillfully on primetime television with little detriment to the integrity of the program, as we will see with Friday Night Lights. Friday Night Lights aired initially on NBC but moved to DirecTV Channel 101 after poor ratings. In an article about the kinds of programming HBO embraces in a post-network era, Al Auster contends cable subscriptions allow for edgier and more realistic narratives. Though he asserts HBO produces the highest quality of television due to a number of talented producers, Auster writes that HBO gives these producers the spaceand moneyto create without interference (245). Space, money, and the freedom to be creative are precisely why some programs flourish on cable. Furthermore, HBO allowed for alternate forms of genres including the fictional documentary-style drama, much like Friday Night Lights, as seen in The Sopranos. HBO has impacted cable television in a number of ways and shows like FNL have benefitted from this industrial change. In her book Redesigning Women, Amanda Lotz also addresses the multichannel industrial change as having a positive impact on womens stories on television. She contends that narrowcasting, or targeting a niche segment of the overall audience (26), explains this influx of diverse female characters. Cable networks, like Lifetime and Oxygen, can target women specifically in ways that network television could not due to advertising costs. Network television broadcasts in order to make the most of their advertisers dollars. With the dawn of cable networks, advertisers can afford to narrowcast because this audience is targeted. This is beneficial for women and representations of women on television. Targeted advertising allows for targeted narratives speaking to and reflecting

diverse experiences. This targeting, coupled with cable televisions freedom for creativity as discussed by Auster, post-network dramas have the potential to provide authentic characters and narratives. Though Friday Night Lights debuted on network television, the narrative became much more courageous and boldly feminist when discussing womens issues once it switched to DirecTV, as will be discussed later. Curiously, Lotz explains that representations of womens experiences are not confined to programs that advertise themselves as overtly feminine. In a discussion of the mixed-sex ensemble show Family Law, Lotz claims it offers audiences not specified as female a narrative that examines issues through multiple viewpoints and emphasizes a diversity of female perspectives (158). Furthermore, Lotz contends that such shows, because they do not specifically target females rather a broader demographic, allow for a greater reception of authentically female perspectives, a gain for representations of women on television. As such, Friday Night Lights includes womens narratives in a broadly defined mixed-sex ensemble drama. This advancement was made possible by narrowcasting womens drama of the late 1990s and early 2000s as previously discussed. Lotz writes, Feminist television critics explore representations of womens lives, discourse about their abilities, and stories that dominate cultural narratives based upon the presumption that these series contribute to the audiences perceptions of gender roles and understanding of the world (18). Post-network television provides a multiplicity of stories for and about women thanks to an expanding market that broadens programming choices for women. Indeed, this is

the reason that the feminist role model framework is an invalid way to evaluate womens roles within television programs. Feminism varies according to context and can contradict itself within a single program. Defining a specific television program or even a character on a program as feminist can be troublesome because the range of womens representation is far more expansive than ever before. Therefore, the exploration of representation, discourse, and narratives is necessary when discussing womens roles on television. Like Lotz, I subscribe to bell hooks definition of feminism: To me feminism is not simply a struggle to end male chauvinism or a movement to ensure that women will have equal rights with men; it is a commitment to eradicating the ideology of domination that permeates Western culture on various levelssex, race, and class, to name a fewand a commitment to reorganizing U.S. society so that the self-development of people can take precedence over imperialism, economic expansion, and material desires. (qtd. in Lotz 21) It is this foundation of feminism that I discuss Tami Taylor as a feminist character and, moreover, Friday Night Lights as a feminist program. This is the feminism that allows for a television program about football to subversively act to eradicate Western ideology of patriarchal domination. Through an analysis of narrative and industry in a specific cultural and political context, I will explore how Friday Night Lights allows for new feminist narratives, representation, and discourse to flourish in the multichannel era.

In the epilogue of her book, Lotz addresses the proliferation of television dramas that attempt to repackage female characters in narratives that do not resolutely announce themselves as programs for women (165). Someone not familiar with the show Friday Night Lights may wonder what a show about football has to do with feminism. As it turns out, quite a bit. Though Friday Night Lights revolves around football in a small Texas town, the narrative focuses on Coach Eric Taylor and his wife Tami. In the first season, Coach Taylor is new to Dillon High School but, as head coach, leads the football team to the state championship. Meanwhile, Tami Taylor lands a job at Dillon High School as a guidance counselor and lends her ear to countless misguided teens. At work, Tami earns the trust of the community and is promoted to Dillon High School principal. In the home, she manages to support her husband and his team, be involved in her teenage daughters life, and, in the second season, she and Eric welcome baby Gracie into their lives. Though it may seem that Tami Taylor is superwoman, her flaws keep her from adhering to a feminist role-model framework. Lotz writes, Adherence to the role-model framework yields narrow conversations; it is unequipped to assess the nuances of narrative complexity (172). Though many characteristics of Tami are admirable, such as her patience and passion to help struggling teens, it is the honesty of the character that resonates with women. When her newborn Gracie arrives at the beginning of the second season, Eric Taylor is away from home to coach college football. The audience sees Tamis struggles to manage the household and family alone. A few episodes feature Tami in tears late at night, sometimes

attempting to reach Eric by phone. Furthermore, the final episodes of season five leave the audience wondering if the couple can come to a compromise, as Tami is offered a job in Philadelphia and Eric fights to stay in Dillon. At one point, Tami tells daughter Julie, You know that your father and I love each other very much, suggesting that love cant keep even the strongest marriages together. Though many times admirable, Tami is not always put on a pedestal, neither as a mother nor as a wife. She has realistic character flaws just like any other woman, wife, and mother. That said, Tami Taylor embodies grace. At the end of her book, Lotz calls for expanding the range of womens stories to include lesbian characters, partnered characters, characters without rewarding careers, and stay-at-home parents (180). Tami Taylor represents a partnered character in a strong marriage. The Taylors marriage is enviable. Though they may argue, bicker, and spend episodes without speaking to one another, Friday Night Lights depicts an honest representation of a strong, loving marriage. Regardless of financial issues that emerge or job opportunities for either partner, Tami and Eric respect one another. Instead of punctuating the narrative with marital issues, Friday Night Lights is built on the foundation of the Taylor family. Nonetheless, the show tackles controversial issues from underage drinking and hazing to teen pregnancy and abortion.

Abortion in the United States in the late 2000s When discussing a text, we must situate it in the cultural milieu that surrounds the program. In this case, a discussion of the abortion debate during a

10

contentious political time is necessary. The fourth season of Friday Night Lights began in October 2009 and ran through February of 2010 on DirecTV Channel 101. This marks the end of Barack Obamas first year as President, who ran for the office in 2008 with the understanding that he is a pro-choice Democratic candidate. The Congress maintained its Democratic majority as well, with pro-choice Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. However, the opposing Presidential ticket, John McCain and Sarah Palin, ran into hot water. Though running on an anti-abortion platform, McCain and Palin were forced to tackle the issues surrounding teen pregnancy on the campaign trail after it was released that Palins teenage daughter Bristol was pregnant. The abortion debate seemed to have become more contentious than ever. Regardless, the Obama administrations support for reproductive rights was obvious from the beginning. In the first week of taking office, President Obama lifted the regulation put in place by the previous administration that banned the United States Agency for International Development from funding international organizations that provides abortions (Baker 13). In the fall of 2009, the Obama administration initiated discussions regarding healthcare reform, which included abortion rights and a lengthy dispute about the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal aid to be used to obtain an abortion. Many anti-abortion groups deemed the Obama Administrations actions reprehensible and protested to make their voices heard. In fact, in May of 2009, the University of Notre Dame invited the President to speak at their commencement ceremony. Notre Dame is a Catholic institution, a religion that is passionately anti-abortion, which brought this debate to a climax

11

that President Obama had not experienced. Months prior to the commencement ceremony, protestors congregated at Notre Dame and even shouted protests during the Presidents address, though he called for open hearts, open minds, and fairminded words on the issue (Shear A1). This illustrates the heated discourse around the abortion issue in the United States. Put simply, this is an issue close to the hearts of many. A pro-choice President is a grave threat to those who may disagree. Meanwhile, the producers of Friday Night Lights worked on a series of episodes that reflected this issue. The episodes were received with great critical success. Tony Lee describes in The Atlantic the dialogue between Tami and Becky as masterful and nuanced while Ginia Bellafonte in The New York Times lauds FNL choosing to maintain its commitment, above all, to the world it renders. Feminist websites and opinion columns sang praises of the episodes as well. NARAL ProChoice New York designed a t-shirt fundraising campaign with a logo similar to the Dont Mess With Texas design that read instead, Dont mess with Tami. The NARAL New York website writes: Last week, Friday Night Lights hero Tami Taylor was harassed for doing the right thing: being there for a young woman who needed her. NARAL Pro-Choice New York supports all trusted adults who provide support to the young people in their lives and we believe that they should do so without fear of retribution. Additionally, Gloria Feldt, former president of Planned Parenthood, writes in The Washington Post, I want to hug the necks of everyone associated with Friday Night Lights for being courageous enough to tell it like it is. Through these and many other examples, it is clear that the narrative pleased pro-choice viewers

12

as well as television critics. However, what is the most interesting are some of the responses the episodes garnered from the other side of the political aisle. Of course, any abortion on television, regardless of how gracefully the issue might be handled, will cause controversy. What is surprising is the message that came from one of the movements largest organizations. Dave Andrusko writes the newsletter Todays News & Views for the National Right to Life Campaign. In the July 2010 newsletters, when the episodes in question appeared on NBC, Andrusko was surprisingly complimentary. He claims that Becky does not actually want to have the abortion but does so to please her mother, therefore Becky is not a murderer, rather a victim of overaggressive parenting. Andrusko reasons that this show presents a pro-life narrative by demonizing Beckys mother and that Luke Caffertys passionately anti-abortion parents should be praised as role models. Furthermore, Andrusko mentions the dialogue in which Becky asks Tami what she would tell her daughter if she were in the same position. Tami tells Becky that she would support her decision. Because Becky was apparently hesitant in her decision to terminate the pregnancy, Andrusko rationalizes that Tamis daughter would make the decision to keep the baby. In the end, Andrusko warps the narrative to be both congratulatory of pro-life values as well as in admiration of Tami Taylor.

Industrial Aspects of Friday Night Lights Friday Night Lights began in 2006 on NBC and ran for five seasons, with the final three seasons debuting on DirecTV months prior to NBC air. Friday Night

13

Lights received much critical acclaim but the ratings were never very high. The most recent episodes aired on NBC have seen around 3.5 million viewers each week (Ng). In fact, NBC threatened to cancel the show after season two, influenced by the writers strike, however fans sent thousands of plastic footballs in protest (Spong 100). This prompted a deal with DirecTV who picked up the third season (and all remaining seasons) for the price of 40% of production costs (Grossman 36). It was an easy decision for DirecTV. Knowing the enthusiastic, albeit small, audience FNL boasts, Eric Shanks, DirecTV executive vice president of entertainment hoped to please customers who already subscribed to DirecTV. Furthermore, DirecTV already offered a package for exclusive NFL football games called Sunday Ticket which Shanks tells Grossman might translate into fans of Friday Night Lights (36). DirecTV recognizes that airing Friday Night Lights may not necessarily bring new subscribers to the service, but it hopes to cultivate the relationship with current subscribers through quality television. In Shanks words, it is a way of rewarding our customers for being DirecTV subscribers, to give them things that cable and other providers cant give them (qtd. in Stilson 8). Just as Auster contends that HBO granted producers spatial and monetary access for creative liberty, so too did DirecTV give artistic freedom to Friday Night Lights. It is precisely these conditions that allowed for honest representations of all facets of womens lives to thrive on a show supposedly about football. Moving to distribution on DirecTV turned out to be incredibly beneficial for the shows writers. First and foremost, DirecTV allowed for a quality show to run its natural narrative course without the threat of cancellation. Additionally, Friday Night Lights

14

producer Jason Katims told USA Today that moving to DirecTV would allow the program to run longer and have more mature themes (Bianco and Levin). This is evident in the seasons that aired on DirecTV: season three featured a child abuse case, season four featured a teenager seeking an abortion as well as a mother dealing with a drug habit, and in season five Tamis daughter Julie sleeps with her married teaching assistant. Though the first two seasons, which aired solely on NBC, did lend much of its story line to an attempted rape and one characters use of performance-enhancing drugs, the last three seasons were a bit more explicit about controversial issues. An article by Bill Keveney in USA Today exposes the producers plan to target women in the second season due to low ratings in the first season. It is suggested that the fan base is small because women, particularly between the ages 35 and 49, dismiss the show for being about teenagers and sports. Season two aired on Friday nights in an attempt to draw this demographic. The narrative in this season begins with the birth of Gracie to Tami and Eric and also limits scenes featuring game play. This is evident of the producers use of narrative to draw in that missing demographic. Interestingly, the advertising in FNL is not geared towards women. Because the shows foundation is football, UnderArmour athletic gear and Schutt football helmets receive much time on air. In fact, the only other noticeable product placement outside of UnderArmour and Schutt are Ford, driven by all the Taylors, and Applebees, where Julie Taylor and her friend Tyra Collette work in the first few seasons. It would seem if the producers were looking for women ages 35-49, more

15

products would be included for that demographic. However, not once does Tami Taylor apply under-eye cream or even feed Gracie with branded baby food. It should be noted that this analysis was conducted through viewing solely through Netflix Instant Play or on DVD where there are no commercial breaks. Interestingly, DirecTV aired FNL commercial-free so it is only NBC that disrupted the narrative flow with commercials.

Narrative Elements of Friday Night Lights Although the advertising did not target women, the story lines were often centered on womens experiences. Granted, much of the narrative revolved around the football team that Eric coaches (be it Dillon, East Dillon, or Texas Methodist University), but the writers spent many episodes focused on stories specific to women. For instance, after witnessing Julies boyfriend buying condoms at the supermarket, Tami spends an episode preoccupied with having to discuss safe sex and contraception with her teenage daughter. Another example comes from the end of the first season. Tami knew she was pregnant with Gracie for an entire episode before she tells Eric. The narrative explores the concerns of older women giving birth, unplanned pregnancy within a marriage, and even hints at infertility struggles. A third example of the shows focus on womens stories is the attempted rape of Tyra Collette. She was assaulted in a parking lot, forced into her truck, but managed to burn the perpetrator with a cigarette lighter. The man begins to stalk her and Tyra lives her days in fear. This struggle is woven into many episodes over the course of the second season.

16

In the fourth season, Becky Sproles, a student at East Dillon High School, discovers she is pregnant after losing her virginity to quarterback Luke Cafferty. She seeks the advice of Tim Riggins, the older brother figure who rents a trailer from Beckys mother. Tim played football under Coach Taylor and, prior to renting the trailer, lived with the Taylor family for several episodes. Knowing how Tami has helped numerous other troubled teenagers, Tim takes Becky to Tami for guidance. At this point, Tami is principal at Dillon High School where the football boosters are already not pleased with her reallocation of funding intended for a jumbo-tron to schoolbooks. Becky sits down at the Taylor dinner table and tells Tami, a stranger to her, of her predicament. Tami, as the compassionate mother to all, discusses adoption and affordable pre-natal care. When Becky asks, What if I dont want to keep it? Tami offers pamphlets for that, too. The scene ends here. Later, we discover Beckys boyfriend Lukes parents know of the pregnancy. Lukes mother, Mrs. Cafferty, tells Luke, Mary and Joseph thought they were in a predicament, too, signaling the anti-abortion political and religious views of the Cafferty family. When Luke tells her that Becky terminated the pregnancy, Mrs. Cafferty calls the school board to complain that Tami Taylor instructed a student to have an abortion. Tami and the Taylor family are harassed throughout the final episodes of the fourth season. Angry protestors with anti-abortion signs greet Tami at school. The Taylor family phone rings at all hours and the callers berate whoever answers. Finally, Tami meets with the school board and decides to leave her position as principal of Dillon High School. (Interestingly, though Friday Night Lights revolves around the Taylor family and their connection to football, it is Tamis

17

career that drives the narrative of the program over the course of its five seasons. Upon her resignation, she accepts a counseling position at East Dillon High School, where her husband is now coaching. This leads to a conference out of town where Tami meets an old colleague who recommends her for a position at an east coast Ivy League-type university. The series ends with Tami moving her family to Pennsylvania for this position.) Much like Maude, Friday Night Lights uses the narrative as a vehicle to educate its viewers about abortion. Maudes daughter tells Maude that abortion is legal in the state of New York. On the other hand, in FNL, Becky and her mother attend the abortion consultation together where the doctor instructs them of a waiting period and is forced to read a document detailing the procedure itself. This is borne of anti-abortion legislation that was passed in Texas in 2003 that requires parental consent, a doctor to inform women about medical risks and adoption alternatives, and a waiting period of 24 hours that may involve reviewing color pictures of the developmental stages of a fetus (Planned Parenthood). Just as Maude informed viewers that abortion is legal in the state of New York, FNL informs viewers that abortion, though legal in Texas, is a bureaucratic nightmare no matter the circumstances. Moore, who wrote in praise of Maude but criticized television since for not including honest narratives, would be pleased to see that this show provides an accurate, respectful, and courageous portrayal of the decision to have an abortion and the feelings a young woman encounters after the procedure. Becky, though devastated at her circumstances, overcomes the situation with poise and maturity.

18

Friday Night Lights does not let go of this facet of the storyline once the pregnancy is terminated, though. In keeping honest, the narrative occasionally returns to Beckys struggles with the decision, though never damning her. For example, after the abortion, Becky and Luke discontinue their relationship, much to Lukes disappointment. He pursues her still but she tells him that there is simply too much baggage between them, which makes her uncomfortable. Late in the fifth season, she decides to start anew, put the past behind her, and begin a fresh relationship with Luke. This infuriates Lukes parents but Luke and Becky stand up to them respectfully. Friday Night Lights does not paint abortion in a positive light but neither does it handle the issue traumatically, as Moore criticizes other programs of doing.

Conclusion As Beale lauded Norman Lear for maintaining an honest representation of abortion in Maude, so too do many critics on all sides of the political spectrum in relation to Friday Night Lights. Cable television networks, such as HBO, paved the way for edgier programming, providing producers the context and funds to be as creative as they desire, as discussed by Auster. Lotz speaks to the impact target marketing had on the post-network era, allowing programming to become more narrowcasted and, as a result, more representative of womens authentic lives. Television depicting more honest narratives is a feminist issue because of its potential to illuminate Western ideologies and inherent patriarchies, as defined by bell hooks (qtd. in Lotz 21). Television as a domestic medium brings this

19

consciousness-raising into the home. Furthermore, television programming can act subversively by presenting feminist issues and sincere representations of women in a show about football, a stereotypically male institution. The historic 2008 election brought with it a new President who ran an unabashedly pro-choice campaign. Running against him was a ticket whose vice president praised her teenage daughter for choosing life. This illuminated the stark division of the abortion debate in the United States, creating a controversial culture in the realm of womens reproductive rights and social issues. The antiabortion movement gained momentum in opposition to Barack Obamas win and his administrations pro-choice policies. Friday Night Lights captured this cultural, political, and religious context through a number of elements: young Becky Sproles pregnancy dilemma and subsequent abortion, the script Beckys doctor had to read by law to inform her on the risks of the procedure, how her boyfriends parents represented the religious right through lines like, Mary and Joseph thought they were in a predicament, too, Mrs. Cafferty calling for Tami Taylors resignation, protestors yelling with signs outside Tamis school and calling the Taylor house at all hours, and lastly, Tamis ultimate resignation from her position as principal at Dillon High School. A story line about abortion would be incredible controversial on network television, even though Maude did the same in the 1970s. In this political context, networks fear these kinds of issues. This is why DirecTV became so instrumental in the success of this story line. DirecTV provided the producers and writers of Friday Night Lights the artistic liberty to create at will. Up to this point, the show had not

20

been the type to sugarcoat any issue, be it race, class, or sexual orientation. Therefore it was only natural that it could be the place to harbor a sincere representation of abortion. Tami Taylor, as mother to all, acts as moral guide throughout all five seasons to nearly every teenage character on the program. She pushes troubled Tyra Collette to apply to college, she accepts Tim Riggins into her home when his brother kicks him out, and she provides an unbiased ear when Becky desperately needs adult support. All the while, Tami struggles to maintain work-home life balance and keep the foundation of her marriage and family strong. It is only through such an authentic character that a program can risk a narrative that features a teenage abortion. Tami provides a safe place for honest stories. In light of the contentious political culture of 2009 and 2010, it seems audacious for a show to focus its narrative on the issue of abortion. Yet the combination of moving to DirecTV and creating an honest character like Tami Taylor allowed Friday Night Lights to thrive in this context. DirecTV shielded a critically acclaimed show from the networks hatchet whereas the character of Tami Taylor allowed for courageous narratives driven by strong and smart women.

21

Works Cited

Andrusko, Dave. Im NOT Rotting for an Abortion This Friday Night. Todays News & Views. National Right to Life Campaign, 9 July 2010. 28 Apr. 2011 <http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/July10/nv070910.html>. ---. The Monday After Friday Night Lights. Todays News & Views. National Right to Life Campaign, 12 July 2010. 28 Apr. 2011 <http://www.nrlc.org/news_and_views/July10/nv071210.html>. Auster, Al. HBOs Approach to Generic Transformation. Thinking Outside the Box: A Contemporary Television Genre Reader. Ed. Gary R. Edgerton and Brian G. Rose, Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2005. 226-246. Baker, Peter. Obama Reverses Rule on U.S. Abortion Aid. The New York Times. 24 Jan. 2009: 13. Beale, Lewis. An Abortion That Shook Prime Time Television. Los Angeles Times. 10 Nov. 1992. Bellafante, Ginia. Abortion in the Eyes of a Girl from Dillon. The New York Times. 9 July 2010. Bianco, Robert and Gary Levin. Friday Night Lights will tee it up on DirectTV. USA Today. 21 July 2008. Cohen, Jason. Lone Stars. Texas Monthly. 38.10 (2010): 102-105. Feldt, Gloria. On Friday Night Lights, a Brave and Honest Abortion Story. The Washington Post. 25 July 2010. Grossman, Ben. DirecTV As Show Saver. Broadcasting and Cable. 28 July 2008: 36.

22

Keveney, Bill. Friday Night Lights Makes Play for Women. USA Today 16 July 2007. Lee, Tony. Friday Night Lights Tackles Abortion. The Atlantic. 10 July 2010. Lotz, Amanda. Redesigning Women: Television after the Network Era. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2006. Moore, Elizabeth Anne. The Silent Screen. Progressive. 61.3 (1997): 36. NARAL Pro-Choice New York. NARAL NY: Dont Mess With Tami! 28 Apr. 2011. <http://www.cafepress.com/NARALPCNY>. Ng, Philiana. Friday Night Lights, Fringe Return Down in Ratings. The Hollywood Reporter. 16 Apr. 2011. 26 Apr. 2011 <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/friday-night-lights-fringereturn-179187>. Planned Parenthood. Texas Abortion Laws. 26 Apr. 2011. <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/setexas-abortion/texas-abortionlaws-28992.htm> Shear, Michael D. Cheers, Protests at Notre Dame; Obama Calls for Open Minds Amid Abortion Debate. The Washington Post. 18 May 2009: A1. Spong, John. Big State, Small Screen. Texas Monthly. 38.10 (2010): 98-192. Stilson, Janet. Power Play. MediaWeek. 18.20 (2008): 8-9.

23