Many people have heard of the sports drama Friday Night Lights, but not many know that the first adaptation of the book was actually a short-lived series that starred Ben Affleck back in 1993. In 1988, H.G. Bissinger moved his family to Odessa, Texas so that he could study the Permian Panther high school football team. Bissinger's goal was to write a book that carefully examined the impact that high school football can have on society, which eventually led to the creation of the non-fiction book, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream. The book was well received critically, and in 2002 was named the fourth-greatest sports book of all time by Sports Illustrated.
Fourteen years after H.G. Bissinger's book was published, a film adaptation was created and directed by Peter Berg. Two years later, in 2006, the football story was adapted by Berg into a television series titled Friday Night Lights. The show was produced by NBC and aired for five seasons, with the fifth season premiering in 2010. Besides the disappointing Friday Night Lights season 2, the series was received positively by critics and was popular with audiences.
However, before Friday Night Lights, there was a television adaptation of H.G. Bissinger's other book about a small town, high school football team, Against the Grain. Against the Grain followed Ed Clemons, who became the coach of his old high school football team, the Stumper Mustangs, and attempted to change the Mustangs from a losing football team into state champions. Included in the cast of the TV show was Ben Affleck, who took on the role of Joe Willie Clemons, the son of Ed Clemons and quarterback of the Mustangs. Just like Friday Night Lights, the show was produced by NBC. However, Against the Grain only aired eight episodes, which ran from October to December 1993 before getting canceled.
Why Ben Affleck's Against The Grain Was Canceled After 8 Episodes
The goal of Against the Grain was to create a show that represented problems and family issues individuals may face in their real-life experiences, a concept Friday Night Lights also utilized, even taking inspiration from real people. Despite the positive critical reception Against the Grain received as a wonderful family drama about values, morals, and football, the show didn't draw in many viewers. NBC took notice, and before the producers of the show were able to start work on the next season, it was canceled.
Most likely, the main reason nobody watched Against the Grain was that each episode of the show was slotted to release on Friday evenings. This was a huge mistake as the majority of the target audience, football-loving families, were at high school football games, not at home watching television. Unfortunately, NBC never changed the time slot for Against the Grain, and it was canceled after its eighth episode. Friday Night Lights was able to avoid this issue by releasing its episodes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when there are typically no live football games to watch.