“Friday Night Lights” wrapped up a fantastic fourth season Friday night on NBC, and for the first time, loyal viewers don’t have to worry about next season. TV’s best family drama will return for a fifth and final season, first on DirecTV, then on NBC. That may be bittersweet, but who would have thought that this critically-acclaimed but low-rated show would last that long. “FNL” will long be remembered as one of the great success stories in the history of television; the eventual boxed series will become a cherished collector’s item.

For now, we’re still caught up in the emotions of the wonderful Season 4 Thanksgiving finale. Season 4 may have been the best season yet. Executive producer Jason Katims basically rebooted the franchise with an ambitious storyline that had Coach Taylor leaving the Panthers for the downtrodden East Dillon Lions. A new world with new characters was introduced while old characters headed to the exits. Despite a limited 13-episode run, the goodbye-and-hello transition worked well.

“Friday Night Lights” has so much heart that characters seem real. The acting… from Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton (the best married couple on TV, and finally Emmy-nominated)… to holdovers Taylor Kitch, Zach Gilford, Jesse Plemons and Aimee Teegarden…  to newcomers Michael B. Jordan, Madison Burge and Jurnee Smollett… was brilliant. The writing and production remained superb.

You just knew that the season finale would feature the Lions vs. the Panthers, and that the writers (Katims scripted the episode) would find a way for the underdogs to win. Implausible, of course, but sports are unpredictable. Landry’s game-winning field goal was a delirious, happy moment, one the viewers deserved after all the trauma and heartbreak they were put through. After the celebrating though, life goes on and the final scenes — with Tim going off to prison so his brother could continue being a dad, Julie and Matt splitting up and Tami moving to East Dillon as a guidance counselor — were touching and tear-inducing. Steve Earle’s “Goodbye” was the perfect soundtrack choice. Can’t wait to see happens next.