Virginia Sherwood / NBCTake a knee, Friday Night Lights fans.
It's true. Taylor Kitsch won't be a full-fledged castmember next season.
I had a nice long chat with executive producer Jason Katims last night about Taylor (otherwise known as the fiery hotness that is Tim Riggins) and he told me: "Taylor is shooting a movie [John Carter of Mars] and it doesn't work out with his schedule to have him on as a series regular for FNL next season."
What the what? So does that mean we won't see Taylor at all? And what about the other "graduated" stars?
"I'm sure you will see Taylor next season," Katims assured me, after offering me his hanky. (What? I took the news hard.) "We are planning to have him come back toward the end of the season, and possibly do a couple along the way if we can work it out with production."
After more begging pleading responsible journalistic querying, Katims told me: "We love Taylor and we are doing everything within our power to get him on season five as much as possible."
Katims said he knew it was only a matter of time before Kitsch would move on to a big-screen career, especially after starring in the latest X-Men. "Taylor is not only incredibly talented but a real guy. Passionate, devoted, solid. We've loved having him on the show but we wanted to support him in this and give him a chance to shoot the movie, which will be good for his career."
As for the others, "Jesse Plemons and Aimee Teegarden are both graduated and we're definitely going to have them be on the show next year," Katims told me. "I don't know yet if they're going to be in every episode, but they're going to have significant arcs."
"It's been a really big challenge," Katims said of the whole graduation thing. "Every time we say good-bye to a castmember, it's difficult from a personal standpoint and it's difficult from a story standpoint. But with Friday Night Lights, you kind of have no choice. They're in high school and people move on."
Will you watch FNL without Taylor in every ep? Who else will you be missing?