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I spent last weekend watching the final 12 episodes of “Friday Night Lights.”

That illustrates a few things.

It shows how exciting some of my weekends are.

And it shows how much I love “Friday Night Lights.”

Of course, regular readers know that.

Last week, I blogged about last Friday’s opening episode of the fifth and final season. The sentimental opener and the entire season previously ran on DirecTV and now NBC hopes it will get a larger audience at 8 p.m. Fridays.

It will be tough to do this Friday in Buffalo because the second episode will compete with Game 5 of the Buffalo Sabres playoff series with Philadelphia.

It may be ideal to watch it on DVD (I’ve read it is available now) anyway the way I did last weekend. Like a good novel, it is hard to put down once the series draws one in.

How good is the final season?

Well, it was good enough for me to stay up until 1 a.m. Saturday and Sunday to finish it.

The series starring Kyle Chandler as Texas high school football Coach Eric Taylor and Connie Britton (see above) as his wife Tami works on so many levels.

Football is the backdrop for a series about a small Texas town and residents battling for survival in a tough climate and a tough economy.

This season, Tami became the guidance counselor at East Dillon High, where she deals with students at risk even before the district’s budget problems threatened many programs. And that includes football.

Meanwhile, the Taylors’ oldest daughter, Julie (Aimee Teegarden), is taking a few ill-advised risks in her first semester in college and ruining her near-perfect image.

The school budget cuts aren’t the only issue that make this season of “Lights” seem ripped from current events.

One of the star football players, Vince Howard (Michael B. Jordan), is being recruited by big-name colleges as a junior and his father becomes overly involved. By no means is the plot taken directly from the controversy surrounding Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, who is expected to be a first-round draft choice after leading the Tigers to a national title. But it may remind viewers of the Newton case that drew NCAA attention.

This season also includes a story line in which a young female student takes on a typical male role and another story line in which Tami asks her husband to put her career first after 18 years of marriage. Naturally, those stories lead to some potential conflict between the sexes.

There also are some strong romantic story lines. And several of the original cast members – including Scott Porter, Taylor Kitsch, Zach Gilford and Adrianne Palicki — return in story lines that don’t seem too forced for the most part.

If there was one disappointment, it is that Minka Kelly, the future Mrs. Derek Jeter, didn’t make it back to “Lights” as Lyla Garrity.

The scripts of “Lights” often generate strong emotional moments and this season is no different. I’m not ashamed to admit that I choked up a little after watching at least half the episodes. A speech that Coach Taylor gives to Vince – his star quarterback — about striving to be better in episode three next week is one of several season highlights. Another highlight comes when Vince’s dad tells his son about experiencing pride for the first time in his life.

Of course, it would irresponsible to tell viewers how “Lights” ends. Let’s just say, the ending couldn’t have strived to be much better.

The Silly Season: Who writes this stuff? I was watching Channel 2 this morning and heard anchor John Beard say “The Buffalo Sabres are closer now to the Stanley Cup.”

Of course, the Sabres tied their series with Philadelphia, 2-2, Wednesday night and that line is technically correct. But they are 14 wins away from the Cup so you might say the line is more than a little optimistic and premature.

pergament@msn.com

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