guess i'll go on living afterall...

NBC SET TO AIR "FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS" in April

By WSJ Staff

Everett Collection

“Friday Night Lights” fans, rejoice.

The critically-acclaimed but low-rated sports drama currently airing on DirecTV will make its return to NBC on April 30 a couple months ahead of schedule. Originally slated to air on NBC during the summer, the show — which stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton and is based on the 2004 movie (itself based on a 1990 non-fiction book by Buzz Bissinger) — is currently in its fourth season.

The move was announced today, as NBC revealed its post-Winter Olympics line-up. Since the network announced it was canceling the ill-fated “Jay Leno Show,” sideliners have wondered how they would fill the additional five hours of primetime programming.

The solution? Pretty much as critics had predicted, with “Law & Order” episodes all over the new schedule. Plus, new drama “Parenthood,” which is based on the Ron Howard movie, will premiere at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2, following “The Biggest Loser” and Jerry Seinfeld’s reality show “The Marriage Ref” will premiere at 10 p.m on Thursday, March 4.

NBC’s new line-up, as seen below, begins March 1.