Wild/Wacky Story

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  "Friday Night Lights" came to Philadelphia -- Frankford's stadium, specifically -- in July 2010
to film part of its final episode.
  As it turned out, that episode did not run until July 15, 2011.

It was Tuesday Night Lights at Frankford

Jul 21, 2010

By TED SILARY silaryt@phillynews.com

  IF ASKED now to name his favorite television show, Mike Capriotti goes with "NCIS. "

  That won't be the case some Friday night this winter.

  Capriotti, who has earned a certain amount of acclaim as the football coach at Frankford High, has now gone all Hollywood on us. Along with his players.

  "Friday Night Lights," the popular TV series based on the best-selling book, yesterday came to Frankford's legendary stadium to film a two-pronged practice session - early evening in the sun; later at night under very powerful portable lights - that will wind up as part of a 2010-11 episode.

  Nan Bernstein, the show's producer, declined to reveal the plot twist. But in a pre-shoot, locker-room meeting, Tim Crowley, a Division I college football referee and a technical adviser to the show, detailed for Capriotti and the players what's expected to happen and even mixed in a nice visual.

  The players loved it. Without prompting, they immediately began pounding their thigh pads in rhythmic appreciation.

  Earlier in the day, shooting was done at Temple University, which will be known as Braemore in the episode. Frankford is Pemberton, and the players wore green-and-white practice shirts. The locker-room doors were repainted green, as was the scoreboard, though Pioneers was retained as the nickname.

  The green helmets were borrowed from Ridley High, and stickers featuring a "P" were slapped over the "R's."

  Bernstein said she asked a friend to scout six locations in the Philly area and that the contenders were whittled to two.

  "We didn't want a tricked-out stadium with turf," she said. "We didn't want a place we could have found anywhere in Texas. We wanted something older. Something with a great feel. This place spoke to us. "

  Only two official cast members were part of the shoot. One was Eric Taylor, played by Kyle Chandler, head coach of the show's East Dillon High Lions.

  As the crew set up equipment, Chandler, sporting a Braemore hat, sunglasses and cowboy boots, stood outside the stadium's Dyre Street (north) entrance and took photos of the developing scene inside the stadium.

  "This is hallowed ground," he said. "Just a beautiful little space. "

  Capriotti said he and Jack Creighton, Frankford's athletic director, encountered a man checking out the stadium one afternoon late last spring.

  "We asked him what he was doing," Capriotti said, "and he said he was looking around for a place to shoot a TV show. Well, you know me. I'm so proud of this place. I was talking about the monument for the World War, the great coaches we've had, from Odie Surrick to Al Angelo to Tom Mullineaux, how my uncle was a star here [so was Mike, class of '70], how my sister was a cheerleader, how my mom works at the hot dog stand . . .

  "It makes me very happy that we were picked. "

  Thirty-three players were in uniform, 32 members of Frankford's squad and Crowley's nephew, Nathaniel Crowley, a product of St. Joseph's Prep. All involved signed waivers and no one will be paid. Donations will be made to Frankford and/or the football program, Bernstein said.

  Absolutely huge light standards, two apiece on Rutland and Large streets, were part of tractor-trailers brought in from Iowa (two), New Jersey and Tennessee (one apiece). They arrived at about 6 p.m. Monday and were guarded by security personnel thereafter.

  Capriotti found it funny that he was forced to wear a baseball hat.

  "I never wear a cap," he said, smiling. "It feels so strange. I asked them, 'Would you make Al Pacino wear a baseball cap? ' ''

  Assistants Ed Doyle, Dom Doyle (Capriotti's brother-in-law and nephew), Dave Cebular, Warren Cosby and Will Doggett, along with field caretaker Joe Shields (the field looked great, despite the outrageous temps this summer), dressed in Pemberton T-shirts and standing behind the fence on the home side of the field, kept kidding that Capriotti was probably sneaking a smoke behind the wall of backup players.

  The sunlight session stretched from 6:25 to 7 and was followed by a food spread at a nearby church; there were also snack tables right outside the stadium. At night, they went from sundown to just short of 11 o'clock.

  The first-team offense - long passes from quarterback Mike McGroarty to wideout Savoy Martin were prevalent - always had the ball.

  There were occasional messups, high snaps, illegal motion, a wobbly pass, and Chandler responded with actor's anger.

  "My grandfather has hit harder than that!" he semi-roared at one point. "And you know what? He's been dead for 30 years! "

  Another time he yelled, "You'll be running damn laps until it hurts me! "

  Chandler admitted to thievery.

  "As soon as I got here, I asked the players and coaches what some of [Capriotti's] favorite comments are," he said. "Then I stole them. It sort of commemorates him for being out here with me on the field. Of course, I'm not really a high school football coach, so I'm constantly asking people how things go so we can make it as realistic as possible. Almost all of the football is unscripted. "

  Said Capriotti: "That surprised me. I thought we'd be following specific instructions. I kept waiting for an itinerary, or a script. We just jumped right in. Off the cuff. After a while, it was like we were just doing what we do. I thought everyone enjoyed it, from our kids to the crew. I know I did. "

  McGroarty loved the experience.

  "I was nervous at first, being my first time in front of cameras," he said. "That was different, seeing how the big league is. I calmed myself down when they told me, 'Just have fun. Like you're in a real practice. ' ''

  When asked whether he might now want to become an actor, McGroarty laughed and said, "Nah, I'll still be going to college for criminal justice. "

  Martin dismissed the notion that he'd been hit with the jitters.

  "I've been on TV before," he said, noting his national-champion experience with a Frankford Chargers pound team in 2008. That final was played at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, in Florida. "It felt good knowing that these people wanted to come out here and watch us play football. "

  Down the line, America will watch. But how much of Frankford/Pemberton will they see?

  After speaking with a crew member, Chandler noted, "You're probably talking 2 minutes. "

  No sweat. Many Philly eyes will still be peeled.