Friday Night Lights is an American drama television series based around a high school football team situated in Texas. It was developed by Peter Berg, and executive produced by Brian Grazer, David Nevins, Sarah Aubrey, and Jason Katims, based on the book and film of the same name. The series takes place in the fictional town of Dillon: a small, close-knit community in rural Texas. Particular focus is given to team coach Eric Taylor and his family, Tammy and Julie. The show uses this small town backdrop to address many issues facing contemporary American culture, including family values, child development, life lessons, school funding, racism, drugs, abortion and lack of economic opportunities.

Produced by NBCUniversal, Friday Night Lights premiered on October 3, 2006, airing for two seasons on the National Broadcasting Company. Although the show had garnered critical acclaim and passionate fans, the series suffered low ratings and was in danger of cancellation after the second season. To save the series, NBC struck a deal with DirecTV to co-produce three more seasons of the show with each subsequent season premiering on DirecTV’s 101 Network after which NBC rebroadcast the series a few months later. The series ended its run on The 101 Network after five seasons on February 9, 2011.

The year is 2033, and humanity’s first crewed mission to Mars is about to become a reality. As a clock counts down the final 90 seconds to landing, an expert crew of astronauts endures the final harrowing moments before touching down on the red planet. Even with the best training and resources available, the maiden crew of the Daedalus spacecraft must push itself to the brink of human capability in order to successfully establish the first sustainable colony on Mars. Set both in the future and in the present day, the global miniseries event MARS blends feature film-caliber scripted elements set in the future with documentary vérité interviews with today’s best and brightest minds in modern science and innovation, illuminating how research and development is creating the space technology that will enable our first attempt at a mission to Mars.