TV Daily

Weekend Pick

Photo: NBC

We've feared for the second season of "Friday Night Lights" (Friday at 9 p.m. EST on NBC) for plenty of reasons: The show's widespread critical praise, paired with mediocre ratings, made it an easy target and a prime candidate for a sophomore slump. In keeping with our fears, the show's writers made a big, soapy "O.C."-style blunder in the first episode of the season when they had nice-guy Landry accidentally kill the man who attacked his crush, Tyra. But all is not lost! Coach Eric Taylor is finally back in Dillon after an ill-fated hiatus in Austin, ready to guide a sloppy Panther football team to another winning season, while his wife, Tami, showcases the ups and downs of postpartum life with serious style and humor. After enduring daughter Julie's bad decisions, it looks like her lovable ex, Matt Saracen, is ready for a little revenge. And on tonight's episode, Landry looks likely to come clean to his dad, who's a cop, which means that he and Tyra can start to pay the price for their absurdly stupid decision to dump his accidental murder victim into a muddy river. Once the truth is out, the healing can begin! For those who gave up on this show or decided not to watch when they heard it was sliding downhill: Yep, you're missing out again.

-- H.H.

Also…

On Friday, those mourning the end of "Meerkat Manor" might want to hop on over to "Orangutan Island" (8:30 p.m. EST on Animal Planet) for a good time. And the fifth-season finale of "Real Time With Bill Maher" airs at 11 p.m. EST on HBO. On Saturday, set your TiVos and consider yourself lucky if you've never seen Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas," because it's a charming, funny little mood lifter (9:10 a.m. EST on ENC). On Sunday, fans of inconvenient truthiness should tune in for "A Global Warming?" at 9 p.m. EST on the History Channel. Explorer's "Inside the Body Trade" (10 p.m. EST on National Geographic) examines the black-market sale of body parts. And the sixth-season finale of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" airs at 10 p.m. EST on HBO.

On the talk shows -- Friday

Contributors: Megan Doll, Heather Havrilesky, Eryn Loeb, Amy Reiter

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