Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. One has to wonder what NBC big-wigs were thinking when they moved "Friday Night Lights" -- the high school football-themed drama -- to Friday nights.

The show is based on the H.G. Bissinger book and the movie of the same name.

And while the TV show wasn't a ratings hit for NBC, while bouncing from Tuesday, to Wednesday, to Thursday nights last TV season, it was a critical success with a hardcore fan base.

On Wednesdays it went up against "American Idol."

"That was like sending your child to school every day, and he's getting beat up," Peter Berg, the show's executive producer told Sports Illustrated.

So the show sank to 114th in the ratings. Well produced, well acted and with great storylines, the show was a favorite of Kevin Reilly, NBC president of entertainment.

It was his push -- and that of the show's fans -- that brought it back.

The competition at 9 p.m. Friday -- the show's 2007-08 debut is tonight -- is pretty weak: "Primetime Medical Mysteries" on ABC, "Moonlight" on CBS and "Nashville" on Fox.

But the competition isn't just on TV.

It's the lure of the real Friday night lights.

High school football is played on Friday nights. So when you aim a show at a younger audience -- and the young at heart -- and you force that audience to make a decision between a TV show and a live event, my guess is people will choose the live event.

Tonight in San Diego, there are nearly 40 high school football games. The average attendance at each game is more than 1,000.

I've seen high school football games all over California, in Ohio, Utah, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas and crowds elsewhere in the country will be even larger.

The point here, is that the show's target audience will be at a game, not at home watching TV.

Certainly, there is some argument if "Friday Night Lights" isn't a football show. Network executives have made a play to draw more women to the show.

There are plans to add a second school to the mix with either Dillon coach Eric Turner or one of the team's stars transferring to a competitor.

I understand there has to be more to the show than football, but the show is based on football and the football scenes are very realistic.

The problems the players and coaches have off the field are real. Ask any high school coach in the area, and they'll tell you there is as much drama off the field as on it.

And while I love this show, I think placing it on Friday nights, puts it in a fourth-and-long situation before the ball is even kicked off.

More Friday nights

Channel 4 San Diego moved its weekly prep football games from Thursday to Friday this season.

I think that's a mistake, but at least I understand the reasoning.

On Thursday, Channel 4 had to schedule all of its games at the start of the season. And last year, there were some late-season clunkers, adding up to bad ratings.

Playing on Friday allows for flexible scheduling.

Next week's game features No. 1-ranked Carlsbad at No. 3 Oceanside. That should be a ratings success, but with 40 other games on the schedule that night, a lot of folks who would watch will be at other games.

Jonestown revisited

Sunday's "Outside the Lines" on ESPN explores the infamous 1978 Jonestown mass suicide and the impact basketball has had on the adopted son and grandson of Jonestown leader Rev. Jim Jones.

In a moving and revealing 30 minutes, the show explores the life of Jones, who founded the People's Temple, and his move from San Francisco to Guyana.

Jim Jones Jr., the adopted son of the Rev. Jones, took up basketball on a court he and his friends constructed in Jonestown.

The Jonestown team was invited to a tournament at Georgetown and were spared when 919 people dies in a mass suicide at Jonestown. Jim Jones Jr., then 18, lost his wife and unborn child.

Jim Jones Jr. returned to San Francisco where he married and had three sons.

His oldest boy, Rob Jones, played basketball at Pacifica Archbishop Riordan. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Rob Jones is now a freshman basketball player at the University of San Diego.

"Outside the Lines", which unfortunately airs at 6:30 a.m. Sunday on ESPN with a re-air at 9 a.m. on ESPNEWS, explores how basketball saved the life of Jim Jones Jr. and the impact the game has had on him and his family.

It's truly worth watching.

Around the bases

- TBS has made a solid first impression with its coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs. The coverage of Monday's Padres-Rockies play-in game was good. The network took some heat for not having the definitive shot of the final play at the plate in the 13th inning when Matt Holliday slid into Padres catcher Michael Barrett. But with four playoff games already on the horizon, TBS was spread pretty thin. Plus, the network is only as good as the ballpark allows it to be. Camera positions at every stadium are preset. So unless this was a World Series game, no network would have had that definitive, down-the-line shot.

- Monday's Padres-Rockies game drew a 2.9 national rating. Baseball's last one-game playoff -- Mets-Reds on ESPN in 1999 -- drew a 5.3 rating, but a New York team was involved. The "Monday Night Football" game -- Patriots-Bengals on ESPN -- drew an 8.9 rating.

- Chip Caray, Tony Gwynn and Bob Brenly are TBS' No. 1 broadcast crew. All are National League guys. So why are they working the Yankees-Indians series? Ratings. While those games are on at 3:30 p.m. on the West Coast, they're in primetime in the East. And New York drives the ratings numbers.

- I love TBS' scoreline when hitters are at the plate, a line that reminds me of the Peterson Scoremaster. Those familiar with scoring baseball games, know what I mean.

- All of TBS' broadcast teams -- Dan Orsillo-Joe Simpson, Ted Robinson-Steve Stone, Dick Stockton-Ron Darling and Caray-Gwynn-Brenly -- have been solid, although Darling grates on me a bit. Marc Fein is by far the best of the sideline reporters. Jose Mota and basketball guy David Aldridge leave a lot to be desired.

- With short games, studio guys Ernie Johnson, Cal Ripken Jr. and Blue Jays slugger Frank Thomas have had a lot of air time and have done a nice job. I like Thomas' honesty and insights.

- If you want to watch the TBS games in HD on Cox Cable, try Channel 733.

- The biggest downside of TBS' coverage: How many promos can the network run for "Frank TV"? I understand TBS has a new show it wants to promote, but there comes a point of diminishing return. Too much, waaaaay too much.

- While TBS has stepped into the playoff picture, it will stop televising Braves games next season, breaking a 30-year tradition that started in the team's dark days in the 1970s.

- ESPN and Major League Baseball reached an agreement that allows the network to place sets for its "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight" shows onsite at playoff games. ESPN and MLB had been at odds because the network didn't want to mention the networks carrying the games -- namely TBS and Fox. The problem was solved when ESPN officials agreed to cross-promote the playoffs.

All-sports talk

It now appears to be a sure thing that Clear Channel's KLSD (1360) will launch an all-sports station. The Oct. 15 target date may be unrealistic, but it's coming with Lee Hamilton penned in for the afternoon drive-time slot.

Meanwhile, with the Padres season over, XX Sports 1090 will juggle its lineup sometime in the next two weeks.

Mornings will stay the same with Billy Ray Smith and Scott Kaplan from 5-9 a.m. and syndicated Jim Rome from 9-noon. John Kentera and Joe Tutino will work noon-2 p.m.

Dan Patrick's syndicated show will run on a tape-delayed basis from 2-4 p.m.

Darren Smith and Bill Werndl pick up the 4-8 p.m. slot.

Nights will probably be syndicated programming.

Local notes

- Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will call Sunday's Chargers-Broncos game. Kickoff is 1:15 p.m. on CBS.

- Last week's Chiefs-Chargers game on CBS drew a 25.4 rating and a 51 share of the audience in San Diego. In Kansas City, the game drew a 31.1 rating and a 46 share.

Big football Saturday

Saturday's college football schedule includes No. 9 Florida at No. 1 LSU (5 p.m. on CBS), No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 19 Texas (12:30 p.m. on ABC), No. 15 Virginia Tech at No. 22 Clemson (3 p.m. on ESPN), No. 20 Cincinnati at No. 21 Rutgers (5 p.m. on ESPN2) and No. 25 Nebraska at No. 17 Missouri (6:15 p.m. on ESPN).

Also, No. 4 Ohio State is at No. 23 Purdue in an ABC regional game, but the West Coast gets winless Notre Dame at UCLA at 5 p.m.

The San Diego State-Colorado State game is 2:30 p.m. on the mtn. The Stanford-USC game is at 4 p.m. on Versus.

Around the dial

- Phil Simms, the former New York Giants All-Pro quarterback and current NFL analyst on CBS, will make a guest appearance Monday on the daytime soap opera "As the World Turns".

- CSTV goes behind the scenes for a 90-minute documentary on football at New York City's Stuyvesant High. "The Peglegs of Stuyvesant High" follows a team of high-achieving, multi-lingual students during the 2006 season. The show first airs at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. It re-airs at 7 p.m. Sunday, 6 p.m. Tuesday and 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 12.

- NBC has taped coverage of the World Gymnastics Championships at 1 p.m. Sunday. This event is one of the biggest steps toward the 2008 Olympics.

- NBC and Championship Off Road racing have extended their partnership through 2009.

Staff writer John Maffei's TV/Radio Column appears every Friday. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.