I do find Friday Night Lights to be strangely addicting, even if I can't stand most of the teen drama, and the setting reminds me of why American public high schools are social experiments that have failed. (A return to single-sex schools is needed!) And there is the premarital sex between pretty people which is taken to be a normal part of any relationship. Are there teenagers who behave like this? Undoubtedly. But do we need to be reminded of this? The coach and his wife try to be a moral compass for their students and their own daughter, and perhaps this is where they fail as role models for the audience, since they seem to be the typical American parents who are too soft.
And then there is the crazy Football culture at the high school, which seems to overwhelm anything else. But again, this is more a criticism of reality than of the TV show trying to capture that reality.
What do I like about the show? Coach Taylor -- I haven't watched enough of the show to see what kind of father he is, but he seems to be one of the few male characters on TV who isn't belittled for being a man, or emasculated by the women in his life, especially his wife (as you might see in American sitcoms). He offers a strong male presence on the field, and his players respect him. I also enjoy watching the interaction between the male characters, even if they make many mistakes (and not just with respect to their love lives), and their work as a team.
More photos at Yahoo! TV.
Here's a clip from the first season:
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