Press Tour Alert: 'Friday Night Lights' Exec 'Spoils' Season 3!
NBC and DirecTV just hosted a little luncheon with the cast of TV's best drama series, Friday Night Lights, and as entertaining as it was, it was nothing compared to dessert: Shortly after the press conference, exec producer Jason Katims got into a huddle with a few select journalists and basically outlined his plans for the entire third season. Warning: Major, life-altering spoilers are below.

* If you're having a tough time coping with the impending loss of Gaius Charles' Smash and Scott Porter's Jason, wait until next year: Katims reveals that Tim, Matt, Tyra and Lyla are all entering their senior years this season. The knowledge that this may be their final year in Dillon will "add an urgency to [their] stories, but also a nostalgia."

* When the new season starts, eight months will have passed since the Season 2 finale, placing the action at the start of a new school year. Among the major developments: Tim and Lyla are now in a serious relationship. "We think it'll be a tremendously fun storyline, which could ultimately become very moving," Katims says. "It's one thing to have this passionate, secret relationship, but once they're in a real relationship, they see how different they are. They're completely an odd couple... Also, they're both seniors now, so it's really a question of, Where are they going now? Where are they headed? Lyla really tries to get Tim to be the best version of himself. (She wants him to) get into college, get a scholarship... But the question is whether these two are destined to have very different lives."

* The hiatus has not been nearly as kind to another Dillon super-couple: Tyra and Landry. "Tyra in the past eight months has [realized] that, while she loves Landry, she kind of feels like he's not really The Guy," says Katims. "So it becomes a story about, Are they going to be able to be friends? And will Landry be able to accept that?" Probably not when he meets the new Guy in her life, but more on that below.

* Matt and Julie will try and put the past behind them and become friends.

* As previously reported, Tami will be appointed the principal of Dillon High. "From the beginning, we wanted to find ways to get (Connie Britton) driving story as much as possible, and not just be the coach's wife," says Katims, adding that the new gig will lead to some serious tension at home. "Suddenly she (and Coach Taylor) may find (themselves) on opposite sides of some issues."

* Katims concedes that it was not easy placing the calls to Charles and Porter informing them that they're runs on the show were coming to an end. "It was very hard to break the news to them," he admits. Smash and Jason, however, will be going out with "two of the most powerful storylines" this season. "We are not doing this in any unceremonious way. And, also, we want to very much leave the door open for both of them to come back to the show."

* A handful of new characters will be introduced, including a freshman named J.D. McCoy. "He's a phenomenal quarterback," Katims explains. "In the first arc of the season, there's a controversy over who will be the first-string quarterback for the Panthers." Additionally, an old friend of Billy Riggins named Cash will make a play for Tyra. "He's a local rodeo star, so he's right in Tyra's wheelhouse. So Landry is not going to be (happy)."

* Matt Czuchry (Chris) and Benny Ciaramello (Santiago) will not be back.

* A renewed focus will be placed on the Landry/Matt friendship, a relationship Katims says got sidelined last season in the wake of the Landry/Tyra murder plot. "With that intense, secret thing between Landry and Tyra, we lost a little bit of Landry as Matt's buddy/sidekick/friend, and we're going to have that back."

Tim and Lyla in a serious relationship? Landry and Tyra dunzo? Tami the boss of Dillon High? An end in sight for four more characters? Surely, you guys have some thoughts about all this, right?

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You already know the good news: Friday Night Lights will indeed return for a third season — on DirecTV — starting Oct. 1. (NBC will air those 13 episodes again in 2009). Now here’s some better news: FNL exec producer Jason Katims gave EW.com a sneak peek at his playbook for the upcoming season. It's some pretty good scoop, so we'll have to put out a SPOILER ALERT for those who wish to avert their eyes at this time.

• The action will skip ahead about eight months to the fall and the final year of high school for several main characters, including Lyla (Minka Kelly), Tyra (Adrianne Palicki), Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch, pictured), and Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford). “This season is going to be a lot about their senior year, the coming of age,” Katims says. “Who are they going to be? What are they going to do? Are they going to go to college or be stuck in Dillon? Or do they choose to stay in Dillon?”

• There is a possibility of increasing the length of each episode — and including slightly juicier content — for the run on DirecTV, but nothing has been determined yet.

• Tami (Connie Britton) has received a big promotion at school — from guidance counselor to principal. “It starts out with Coach [Chandler] loving it,” Katims says. “Tami’s bringing home this big paycheck. But at a certain point, he realizes that this woman is now technically his boss. It definitely tests them a little bit.” Especially when they don’t see eye-to-eye on certain academics-versus-athletics issues.

After the jump, Katmis previews season 3 romances: "[O]nce they’ve actually gotten involved, they both realize that they’re a complete odd couple."

• A couple of new faces (not yet cast) will pop up in Dillon, and one will cause a quarterback controversy. Said newcomer is “a freshman phenomenon who has been moved to Dillon from Dallas by his very wealthy parents to play on the Panthers and take Matt Saracen’s job,” Katims says. Also complicating Matt’s life is the sudden appearance of his mother. “He hasn’t seen her since he was probably seven years old,” says Katims. “One of the really interesting arcs this season is the very, very slow reconnection between Matt and his mother.”

• On the love front, Tim’s pursuit of Lyla has apparently paid off, as the two are now dating. “They are trying to have a mature relationship despite the fact that once they’ve actually gotten involved, they both realize that they’re a complete odd couple,” Katims says. Landry (Jesse Plemons) must cope with the fact that he and Tyra (Palicki) are in the Friend Zone as Tyra finds herself in a “hot-and-heavy, smoldering romance” with a local rodeo star. “The question we’re raising is whether he’s going to sidetrack her,” says Katims of Tyra’s new man. “She is adamantly trying to get into college and buck the odds and not become her mom and her sister.” As for Matt and Julie (Aimee Teegarden), the exes are spending more time together. Will there be a romantic reunion? “It starts as just reconnecting as friends and then it becomes potentially more than that,” Katims hints.

• The decision to say goodbye to graduates Smash (Gaius Charles) and Jason Street (Scott Porter) is “very sad, but it’s tempered for me by the fact that their stories are so strong,” Katims says, referencing the four-episode farewell arcs that each will have this season. “I’m really looking forward to seeing these two incredible actors dig into them.” Katims teases that Smash hits some kind of “bump in the road,” loses his scholarship, and is working at Alamo Freeze when Coach attempts to help him get back into a college. Meanwhile, to support his baby and prove to Erin (Tamara Jolaine) that he’s a worthy mate, new dad Jason tries his hand at the home-flipping business (and it involves the Garrity house).

• By the way, don’t rule out a return for Charles and/or Porter down the road: “We would love to have them back,” notes Katims. “Should either of them be available and want to come back — whether it is next season or the end of this season — that’s something we’re definitely going to want to pursue.”

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oh man. i'm insanely excited, and you are more than welcome to spam this with pictures of taylor's beautiful body. i wouldnt hate it.