By Jennifer Edwards
Odessa American

NBC has taken the “Friday Night Lights” television pilot and run with it — but this time the goal line is in an Austin suburb, not Odessa.
A television series inspired by H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger’s book “Friday Night Lights” and the 2004 movie of the same name snagged the 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Eastern) Tuesday slot on NBC’s fall lineup.
But there’s bad news for Odessans: Unlike the book and movie, the show won’t be set in Odessa.
In fact, it won’t be set in any specific town, director Peter Berg said.
“What we’re basically doing is creating a fictitious Texas town that is inspired by Odessa,” he said. “For legal reasons, we can’t be specific to any one town.”
That fictitious town is dubbed Dillon, though much of the series is being shot in Pflugerville, near Austin.
“It’s so hard logistically to film in Odessa,” he said.
As disappointing as that might be for “FNL” fans, Pflugerville offers at least one allusion to the Permian Mojo team.
“The Pflugerville P looks like the Permian P,” Berg noted.
That said, Odessa will again host “Friday Night Lights” at some point, Berg said.
“I love filming in Odessa,” he said. “It’s a safe bet to assume we’ll come up to Odessa and shoot again.”
Like the scenes in the movie, many of the “FNL” actors call Texas home.
At least one, Matthew T. Johnston (an assistant coach), is from Odessa, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Johnston may not be the only Odessan eventually in the show.
“As we expand our program, we’ll start casting new characters,” he said. “Most of those will come from Texas.”
Within the small circumference of Dillon’s city limits, the “FNL” actors — Texan and otherwise — don’t just watch football.
They deal with family and community issues — as well as the standard Texas football madness.
“To be able to explore the complexities of family and life is very exciting to all of us,” he said.
The story line, however, is very similar to the book and movie, according to TV.com.
It follows Eric Taylor, a newbie high school football coach, as he tries to guide a talented team to success.
The crux of the series, however, is whether Taylor can build an award-winning team that still retains its morale and its morals, the site said.
The series begins filming in three months, Berg said.