Actress Minka Kelly, most famous for her role on “Friday Night Lights” and as girlfriend to Derek Jeter, stole the sexiest woman title from Kate Beckinsale, who the mag named the tops for 2009.

In the Esquire article, Minka Kelly poses for sexy photos, which is new territory for the actress: “I’ve never done a sexy photo shoot before. I’ve never really honestly tapped into that side. It was really liberating. It was exciting. I would look at the pictures, like, that’s me?”

Minka also shares growing up with her mom, who was a struggling stripper. Of her late mother, Kelly says, “My mom lived a fast life. It was all about what we could do to have fun with nothing. She – for most of my life, she was a dancer. An exotic dancer. She was a stripper. So she would come home at like three, four o’clock in the morning and sometimes she would have a really great night, and she would wake me up in the middle of the night and we’d go to (Los Angeles grocery chain) Ralphs and go grocery shopping.”

Season 4 of Friday Night Lights will premiere on Friday, April 30 at 10 p.m.

Friday Night Lights was to return to the NBC schedule during the summer, but since Jay Leno is leaving the 10 p.m. timeslot, there was an opening for FNL to return early.

Taylor Kitsch, who plays Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights, is pursuing a film career, it seems.

Executive Producer Jason Katims tells E! Online: “Taylor is shooting a movie [John Carter of Mars] and it doesn’t work out with his schedule to have him on as a series regular for FNL next season.”

Katims assures, “I’m sure you will see Taylor next season. We are planning to have him come back toward the end of the season, and possibly do a couple along the way if we can work it out with production.”

Katims added: “We love Taylor and we are doing everything within our power to get him on season five as much as possible.”

Taylor Kitsch begins filming the sci-fi fantasy flick “John Carter of Mars” this month.

Of course, if you don’t have DirecTV, you need to wait until next summer to get your Friday Night Lights fix when it airs on NBC.

Friday Night Lights executive producer Jason Katims commented: “Not only do we know the show is staying on, but we know exactly how many episodes we are going to do. We’ll be able to think about where we might want to lead to … what kind of stories we want to tell.”

No doubt Friday Night Light’s great reviews, nominations and awards – not to mention the loyal fan base – helped the series stay on the air.

As we saw this season, Friday Night Lights will air on DirecTV before its network broadcasts on NBC.

Friday Night Lights stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton – who made our list of the hottest moms of all time.

Of course, neither NBC nor DirecTV have yet commented on the deal, but an NBC insider commented that the studio is “actively looking at ways to keep FNL going.”

EW.com reports that another NBC source said “We’re very optimistic a deal will be worked out.”

There are some monkey wrenches to contend with, however. First, one of Friday Night Light’s stars, Jason Katims, will be doing the Parenthood pilot on NBC. If that’s picked up, he could either try and do both shows if his schedule allows, or he’ll have to make a choice about which show to do.

FNL’s director, Jeffrey Reiner, is working on an NBC pilot called “Trauma,” so there’s buzz about his availabilty to work on Friday Night Lights if he’s otherwise tied up with another series.

15. Carol Brady (The Brady Bunch)

Hang with me on this one – it was the 70s, ya know, so maybe Carol Brady isn’t smokin’ by today’s standards, but she was pretty friggin hot back in the day. Plus, she looked like she was a major tiger in bed, always cozying up to Mike Brady. Speaking of Tiger – what the hell ever happened to that mutt?

14. Rita Bennett (Dexter)

As Dexter’s girlfriend (now wife), Rita seems a little clueless – how can she not know about Dex’s secret side? Despite being a beauty, being oblivious to Dexter’s side hobby may be a big flaw. Give her credit though – she was a single mom with a messed up past that included all matter of abuse, and she’s one strong woman.

13. Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

Sure, it’s all about the football – but hot coach’s wife and guidance counselor Tami Taylor is one sexy mom that injects her sensibility into the crazy mix. A gorgeous redhead who’s into football – sounds like a football fan’s dreamgirl.

12. Gabrielle Solis (Desperate Housewives)

To be fair, that jump ahead 5 years on Desperate Housewives wasn’t kind to Gabrielle, but she’s still sexy underneath her frazzled mom frump. Let us not forget her pre-kid sexy days when she was getting it on with her gardener. Her inner hotness will no doubt shine again as the season wears on.

11. Joy Turner (My Name Is Earl)

She’s crass talkin’ white trash who rocks her hair extensions and cheesy clothes – damn if Joy isn’t the hottest trailer trash on the planet. Her self-confidence and tell-it-like-it-is attitude only wins our hearts over more.

10. Elyse Keaton (Family Ties)

Sha-la-la-la… ooh, that Elyse Keaton, she epitomized the 80s hot mom – as post-hippie mama to republican uptight Alex P. Keaton, Elyse and hubby Steven clearly had some smokin’ chemistry. Mama Keaton was equal parts sexy wife and fab mother.

9. Peg Bundy (Married … With Children)

A little cheesy, sure, but Peg Bundy’s cleavage baring tops, tight pants and high heels made her the anti-soccer mom – and we love her for it. Her unorthodox child raising be damned, Peg brought over-the-top hot to TV. Yeah, she’s trashy and unconventional… but we wouldn’t have her any other way.

8. Claire Littleton (Lost)

The hottest mom ever to give birth while stranded on a mysteriously whack island, Claire Littleton is a blonde Australian beauty who shows she’s fragile and strong all at the same time – and all while looking out for the best interest of her baby. Too bad she’s a ghost mom now.

7. Niki Sanders (Heroes)

Niki Sanders is maybe a little too complicated for some guys, but that doesn’t detract from her sexiness. An internet stripper with issues that include split personality Jessica and a red-hot deadly temper, Niki may be a little safer to check out from a distance.

6. Rachel Green (Friends)

We watched Rachel go from sexy single woman playing the dating game, to pregnant… to mom to baby Emma in the final two seasons. And while her on-again/off-again relationship with baby daddy Ross was a rollercoaster run, new mommyhood matured Rachel and she never lost her sex appeal.

5. Margene Heffman (Big Love)

Bill Henrickson’s third – and hottest – wife on Big Love, Margene started out as the Henrickson’s babysitter but her sweet, young ways quickly found her in the wifey lineup. She’s finding her order among the wives, but her fresh-faced adorable mom definitely gets top billing among the top 5 of our list.

4. Betty Draper (Mad Men)

Betty takes the stuffy 50s/60s housewife and, despite being a picture perfect former model, gives us a glimpse at her internal suffering as a repressed (and depressed) woman. Betty is a fox, no doubt, but she wants to be the perfect wife, mother and hostess – clearly, there’s a lot she needs to sort out.

3. Kate Austen (Lost)

Kate’s a mom by default, picking up mom duties where dead mama Claire left off, but she truly cares about Aaron too. We’ve seen Kate barely clothed and making out with both Jack and Sawyer, so we know she’s got good taste in guys. Plus she’s a former fugitive – that’s kinda hot, right?

2. Becky Donaldson (Full House)

Just try and deny the hotness of Becky Donaldson on Full House. Becky and Uncle Jesse were like a fantastic force of beauty to be reckoned with – Becky’s the ultimate smiley-smiley sweet aunt, wife, friend and mother and perhaps one of the only good reasons to still watch reruns of Full House.

1. Nancy Botwin (Weeds)

Sometimes a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do – and Mary-Louise Parker’s Nancy Botwin does just that, becoming suburban pot dealer to keep her family on track. Are her methods less-than-desirable? Sure. Is she smart, funny and sexy in the process? You bet.

NBC will air 13 episodes of Friday Night Lights (they previously aired on DirecTV).

DirecTV subscribers got the first look at Friday Night Lights’ season 3 premiere, while non-satellite subscribers will have to wait until February to catch the series on NBC.