Taylor Kitsch to Leave Friday Night Lights

[Brian Damage]

Friday Night Lights, which over the last season and a half has seen the departures of nearly all its original young cast, is about to endure another devastating blow. Popular heartthrob Taylor Kitsch, who plays bad boy Tim Riggins, will not be returning next season as a series regular, executive producer Jason Katims tells me exclusively.

Taylor found success on the big screen last year as Gambit alongside Hugh Jackman in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," and later this year will appear with Ryan Phillippe in the apartheid drama, "The Bang Bang Club." He is also attached to the sci-fi fantasy film "John Carter of Mars," which is set to start shooting this month. "Because this was a big opportunity for him, we wanted to let him do that," says Katims. "We'll stay in close contact with production and try to get him for as many episodes as possible."

But the show made similar promises about former cast member Adrianne Palicki, who left the series last season to star in a string of upcoming films that have so far ruled out any return appearances.

While the show's other young characters, including Tyra, Lyla (Minka Kelly), Smash (Gaius Charles) and most recently, Matt (Zach Gilford), all left to pursue higher education, it was explained at the start of the current season, that college was not in Riggins' future.

Instead, he has joined his brother in an illegal chop shop endeavor to raise extra cash to buy land. He has also entered into a romance with an under-aged girl. Either one of these scenarios could conceivably land Tim in jail, possibly taking the fall for his older brother, Billy, who is about to become a first time father. But Katims resisted commenting on the possibility of sending Riggins to the slammer, saying instead, 'You'll just have to watch.'" He also wouldn't say if Aimee Teegarden, whose character, Julie, is college hunting, would return next season, as she too is being courted by film producers.

The series is currently airing on DirecTV through February and will rerun on NBC later this year. The NBC/DirecTV partnership guaranteed a fifth season, which Katims says he expects will be its last.

http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/kecks...ghts-3688.html