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Skating with Celebrities is a celebrity reality television show that began airing on the Fox network on January 18, 2006. Its first and only season ended on March 2, 2006.
Synopsis
The show was Fox's attempt to piggyback onto the success of another popular show, ABC's Dancing With The Stars, while adding the traditional Fox "edge" (in this case, skating instead of dancing) to the variant.
The show pairs six champion figure skaters with six celebrities who have various degrees of ice skill (Deborah Gibson, for example, is a skating novice; Dave Coulier played ice hockey in Canada; Kristy Swanson had taken skating lessons as a child; Jillian Barberie trained as a competitive figure skater into her teens). Each team is composed of one man and one woman and they have to perform a new routine each episode. As part of their new routines, each celebrity must demonstrate a specific figure skating skill (the first episode required a spin with no less than three revolutions; the second episode required synchronized footwork covering no less than half the length of the skating surface).
Each pair receives scores from a trio of judges (assembled like the American Idol panel—a tough male British industry insider, a softer-edge female American star performer from the recent past, and a moderate American professional man associated with the business side of the artistic endeavor) for technical merit and artistic impression. The scores are added together to create a cumulative score. No teams were eliminated in the first episode.
In the series' final week, the team of actress Kristy Swanson and Olympic Bronze Medalist (figure skating) Lloyd Eisler defeated the team of television personality Jillian Barberie and U.S. pairs champion John Zimmerman to win the show's first championship.
Skating with Celebrities aired in the U.S. at the same time as its UK equivalent, Dancing on Ice, which featured nine British celebrities partnered with international figure skaters, including a number of Americans.
Cast
The show was hosted by Olympic Gold Medalist (swimming) Summer Sanders and Olympic Gold Medalist (figure skating) Scott Hamilton and judged by Olympic Gold Medalist (figure skating) Dorothy Hamill, renowned skating coach John Nicks, and journalist Mark Lund.
The six celebrities joining the show were Olympic Gold Medalist (decathlon) Bruce Jenner, television personality Jillian Barberie, comedian Dave Coulier, actress/singer/songwriter Deborah Gibson, actor Todd Bridges, and actress Kristy Swanson.
The six professional skaters who paired with the stars are five-time U.S. pairs champion Tai Babilonia, three-time U.S. pairs champion John Zimmerman, Olympic Silver Medalist (figure skating) Nancy Kerrigan, four-time World champion Kurt Browning, three-time U.S. pairs champion Jenni Meno, and Olympic Bronze Medalist (figure skating) Lloyd Eisler.
The teams received assistance in their practice sessions from a trio of champion skaters who now work as choreographers: Five-time U.S. national ice dance champion and Emmy Award-winning choreographer Michael Seibert, U.S. and world figure skating champion and director/choreographer Randy Gardner (Tai Babilonia's longtime skating partner), and three-time U.S. ice dance champion Renee Roca.
Episodes
Episode 1 (Featured Skill: Spins)
Notable Moments
- The teams skated to music from the movies.
- During rehearsal, Dave Coulier, a hockey player, was frustrated at the fact that he kept tripping in his figure skates, so he filed off the toe picks to make them more like hockey skates.
- Lloyd Eisler and Kristy Swanson ran into their first complication as a team: Swanson, as a left-hander, spun in the opposite direction from Eisler. Choreographer Renee Roca told Eisler that they would simply have to choreograph the routine to take advantage of the difference rather than have each try to adapt to the other's spinning. The awkwardness of this decision showed as their shaky routine landed them in last place.
- Todd Bridges and Jenni Meno skated to music from "Wild Wild West." During their practice video, Meno had a very hard time with dancing, and video from practice sessions showed awkward and unrhythmic movements from her. However, during the performance, she pulled off the dance moves quite well and on the beat.
- This was the only episode where Jillian Barberie and John Zimmerman had the highest score alone. They tied with Eisler and Swanson in episode 4.
Scoring
Scores (Nicks/Hamill/Lund/Total)
| Pair | Technical | Artistic | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barberie-Zimmerman | 8.4/8.4/9.0/25.8 | 8.7/8.3/9.0/26.0 | 51.8 |
| Coulier-Kerrigan | 8.2/8.3/7.9/24.4 | 8.5/8.3/8.1/24.9 | 49.3 |
| Jenner-Babilonia | 8.0/8.1/8.2/24.3 | 8.1/8.3/8.1/24.5 | 48.8 |
| Gibson-Browning | 7.8/8.0/8.0/23.8 | 8.0/8.2/8.0/24.2 | 48.0 |
| Bridges-Meno | 7.7/7.9/7.8/23.3 | 8.0/8.3/8.1/24.4 | 47.7 |
| Swanson-Eisler | 7.9/7.9/8.0/23.8 | 7.9/7.9/7.9/23.7 | 47.5 |
Episode 2 (Featured Skill: Synchronized Footwork)
Notable Moments
- The teams skated to 70s music.
- Kurt Browning and Deborah Gibson skated to a version of "You're The One That I Want" from the movie Grease with Gibson singing the female vocal part.
- Jillian Barberie pulled a groin muscle during rehearsal, the first of many injuries she would suffer during the competition.
- Judge John Nicks was particularly dismayed with Dave Coulier's seeming lack of grace during their disco routine—among other things, Coulier had a hard time stopping and making quick turns because he had filed off the toe picks from his skates—leading to a rhetorical question: "Where is your feminine side?" Coulier answered, "In my other pants."
- Eisler and Swanson rebounded from last place in the first episode to receive the highest score in this episode.
- Todd Sand taught Todd Bridges to lift Jenni Meno above his head, which he did to open their routine. Bridges fell during the routine, however, costing them points and leading to their elimination.
Scoring
Scores (Nicks/Hamill/Lund/Total)
| Pair | Technical | Artistic | Overall | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barberie-Zimmerman | 8.4/8.6/8.2/25.2 | 8.5/8.4/8.3/25.2 | 50.4 | 102.2 |
| Swanson-Eisler | 8.5/8.4/8.3/25.2 | 8.6/8.5/8.4/25.5 | 50.7 | 98.2 |
| Jenner-Babilonia | 7.9/8.3/8.1/24.3 | 8.1/8.4/8.2/24.7 | 49.0 | 97.8 |
| Coulier-Kerrigan | 7.9/8.0/7.8/23.7 | 7.9/8.0/7.8/23.7 | 47.4 | 96.7 |
| Gibson-Browning | 7.8/8.2/8.0/24.0 | 7.9/8.3/8.1/24.3 | 48.3 | 96.3 |
| Bridges-Meno (eliminated) | 7.9/7.9/7.9/23.7 | 8.1/8.1/8.0/24.2 | 47.9 | 95.6 |
Episode 3 (Featured Skill: Unassisted Single-Legged Lunge)
Notable Moments
- The teams skated to Motown music.
- Randy Gardner taught Bruce Jenner how to support Tai Babilonia in a rudimentary death spiral, a move that garnered them the highest scores of the night.
- This was the only episode where neither Barberie/Zimmerman nor Eisler/Swanson finished in first place.
- John Zimmerman fell going into the last move in his and Barberie's routine, costing them first place.
- Dave Coulier and Nancy Kerrigan did their routine in drag—her in a man's suit and mustache, him in a padded suit shaped like a female figure skater's costume and a bouffant wig—as a response to John Nicks' criticism about Coulier's lack of grace that ended in the rhetorical cry, "Where is your feminine side?" The pair's appearance in the routine was very similar to costuming for a routine Lloyd Eisler used to do with his professional partner, Isabelle Brasseur, called "Patricia The Stripper".
- Eisler and Swanson had two major mistakes that nearly cost them the competition—Swanson tripped during their synchronized footwork segment and fell to the ice, and Eisler smacked her chin against the ice as they went into a combination lift/spin done very close to the ice's surface. Swanson's chin was cut when it hit the ice, prompting judge Dorothy Hamill to ask, "Are you O.K.? That looked like it hurt."
- Deborah Gibson had trouble doing the lunge due to an injury, and Kurt Browning had trouble trying to incorporate more traditional pairs elements (particularly lifts) into their routine due to the two of them being so close in size. The difficulties were too much for the team to overcome, and they were eliminated.
Scoring
Scores (Nicks/Hamill/Lund/Total)
| Pair | Technical | Artistic | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jenner-Babilonia | 8.2/8.2/8.5/24.9 | 8.5/8.3/8.4/25.2 | 50.1 |
| Barberie-Zimmerman | 8.3/8.4/8.4/25.1 | 8.2/8.2/8.3/24.7 | 49.8 |
| Coulier-Kerrigan | 8.0/8.2/8.2/24.4 | 8.4/8.4/8.5/25.3 | 49.7 |
| Swanson-Eisler | 7.9/8.2/8.3/24.4 | 8.2/8.1/8.4/24.7 | 49.1 |
| Gibson-Browning (eliminated) | 7.9/8.1/7.9/23.9 | 7.9/8.1/8.0/24.0 | 47.9 |
Episode 4 (Featured Skill: Side-by-side Jumps)
Notable Moments
- The teams skated to Top 40 pop music.
- Eisler and Swanson and Barberie and Zimmerman tied for first place with the highest scores in the series to date. This would be the last time Barberie and Zimmerman would have the high score in the competition.
- Both Jillian Barberie and Bruce Jenner had to be rushed to the hospital during practice for this round; Jillian Barberie suffered a strained rib cartilage during practice when John Zimmerman hoisted her into a two-armed "detroiter" lift, and Bruce Jenner got his toe pick caught on the ice while practicing spins and fell face-first, resulting in a cut above the eye requiring 16 stitches to close.
- Bruce Jenner was supporting Tai Babilonia in a pairs glide move in an otherwise uneventful routine when Babilonia realized they were about to run into the "kiss and cry" dais. She quickly stepped up onto the dais and was able to get back onto the ice smoothly, but the misstep cost them points and landed them in third place.
- Dave Coulier admitted during practice that he was afraid of falling and getting injured and thus had difficulty learning the required jump. The pair eventually did a single waltz jump at the start of their routine before they went into their skating in order to fit the required element in, and it cost them the competition as their low scores led to their elimination.
Scoring
Scores (Nicks/Hamill/Lund/Total)
| Pair | Technical | Artistic | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swanson-Eisler | 9.3/9.3/9.1/27.7 | 9.5/9.4/9.3/28.2 | 55.9 |
| Barberie-Zimmerman | 8.9/9.5/9.2/27.6 | 9.4/9.5/9.4/28.3 | 55.9 |
| Jenner-Babilonia | 9.0/9.2/9.0/27.2 | 9.0/9.3/9.2/27.5 | 54.7 |
| Coulier-Kerrigan (eliminated) | 8.5/9.1/8.8/26.4 | 8.4/9.1/8.8/26.3 | 52.7 |
Episode 5 (Featured Skill: One-Footed Edge Glide)
Notable Moments
- The teams skated to music selected by the judges for each individual team.
- The lowest two scoring teams would compete for a spot in the finals in a skate-off.
- Eisler and Swanson skated a slow, romantic routine that included a one-armed death spiral; the judges gave them the highest scores yet in the series and first place heading into the finals.
- Barberie and Zimmerman were criticized for cribbing elements from past routines and for not adding more complex elements (such as the death spiral that both of the other teams had done), and their scores were knocked down accordingly.
- Bruce Jenner was criticized for letting Tai Babilonia do all the artistic tricks while he merely supported her from move to move. The team's scores were knocked down accordingly as well.
- Jenner and Babilonia and Barberie and Zimmerman participated in the final skate-off; the judges selected Barberie and Zimmerman to move on, and Jenner and Babilonia were eliminated.
Scoring
Lowest two scores compete in skate-off
Scores (Nicks/Hamill/Lund/Total)
| Pair | Technical | Artistic | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swanson-Eisler | 9.5/9.5/9.8/28.8 | 9.8/9.6/9.8/29.2 | 58.0 |
| Barberie-Zimmerman | 9.1/9.3/9.2/27.6 | 9.3/9.3/9.2/27.8 | 55.4 |
| Jenner-Babilonia (eliminated in skate-off) | 8.9/9.2/9.0/27.1 | 9.0/9.2/9.1/27.3 | 54.4 |
Episode 6 Finals, Part 1 (Featured Skill: Multi-jump sequence, Spin with 4 revolutions, Above-shoulder lift)
Notable Moments
- The teams skated to music of their own choice.
- The four eliminated teams returned to skate several exhibitions as time-fillers between the two competitive routines.
- Barberie and Zimmerman had a major slip-up coming out of a complex above-shoulder lift (Zimmerman lost his grip on Barberie as he was supporting her in a forward-roll dismount and she landed on her bottom rather than on her feet; they recovered just in time to avoid hitting the sideboard); though they recovered to skate the rest of the routine nearly flawlessly, their artistic scores were marked down significantly, putting them into second place at the end of the first part of the finals. Despite this, they still received the highest score they had ever received in the competition.
- John Nicks made a point to praise Lloyd Eisler for "finally learning to extend your leg" during a pairs glide element in the routine. Eisler responded good-naturedly that it had only taken "one year of retirement" for him to figure out how to do it.
Scoring
Scores (Nicks/Hamill/Lund/Subtotal)
| Pair | Technical | Artistic | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swanson-Eisler (leader) | 9.7/9.8/9.7/29.2 | 9.8/9.9/9.8/29.5 | 58.7 |
| Barberie-Zimmerman | 9.7/9.8/9.6/29.1 | 9.6/9.8/9.8/29.2 | 58.3 |
Episode 7 Finals, Part 2 (Free Skate -- no required technical elements)
Notable Moments
- The teams skated to music of their own choice.
- Before their final competitive programs, each team skated an encore of their favorite routines from the series.
- Lloyd Eisler managed to lift Kristy Swanson into a one-handed "detroiter" lift-spin as part of a near-flawless final routine that gave them a score of 59 out of a possible 60 points, the highest score in the competition.
- Jillian Barberie attempted a single-axel jump but fell on the landing, effectively ending their chances to take the lead. The judges praised the effort and gave them high technical marks, but not enough to overtake Eisler and Swanson's lead. Barberie later said in a joint appearance with Mark Lund that she'd successfully landed 22 axels during practice, most of them in a row as they practiced their final routine, so her fall during the routine itself surprised and disappointed her.
- During their victory lap, as Eisler went to lift Swanson overhead, John Zimmerman (who was still on the ice being interviewed by Scott Hamilton) had to duck out of the way to avoid being hit by Swanson's skates. Both teams laughed about the close scrape afterward.
Scoring
Scores (Nicks/Hamill/Lund/Subtotal)
| Pair | Technical | Artistic | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swanson-Eisler (winner) | 9.8/9.9/9.8/29.5 | 9.8/9.9/9.8/29.5 | 117.7 |
| Barberie-Zimmerman | 9.8/9.8/9.7/29.3 | 9.9/9.8/9.8/29.5 | 117.1 |
Criticisms
A number of critics in both the media and on Internet boards noted the wide disparity of experience between the celebrity skaters. Jillian Barberie in particular was dubbed a "ringer" because she was a competitive figure skater as a youngster and thus her skill set was significantly higher than the others (for example, while most of the other celebrities struggled to do simple revolutions on the ice in their first routines, Barberie did a layback spin as her required element in one of the programs). Other observers have noted that Barberie's skills may have worked against her, as judging and public expectations may have been higher for her and thus any mistakes magnified. Barberie herself noted in interviews that Swanson had previous skating experience as well, but it was deliberately downplayed in the final editing.
Another criticism came from reviewers who noted that Swanson and Barberie were paired with male skaters (former Olympians Lloyd Eisler and John Zimmerman) who are known for both their excellent pair work and sheer physical size and strength, enabling the pairs to do flashier, more professional-like stunts (Eisler, for example, performed an upright spin with Swanson wrapped around him, a move he used to do with his former pairs partner Isabelle Brasseur). By contrast, the other four celebrities were matched with either singles skaters (Deborah Gibson and Kurt Browning; Dave Coulier and Nancy Kerrigan) or the female half of a pairs team (Bruce Jenner and Tai Babilonia; Todd Bridges and Jenni Meno), significantly hindering the level of stunt work the team could pull off. This did not stop some of the other teams from trying more difficult things, however. Todd Bridges learned to lift Jenni Meno over his head (after some tutoring from Meno's husband and skating partner Todd Sand), and Bruce Jenner learned how to support Tai Babilonia in a basic death spiral move, one of the more complicated pairs stunts for a novice to learn.
Criticism of another sort emerged as the first season headed toward its climax: Lloyd Eisler's wife Marcie told Star Magazine that while the series was being taped in the late summer and early fall of 2005, Lloyd and Kristy Swanson had begun a romantic relationship, straining the Eislers' already strained marriage (the couple had been separated since early summer 2005 but were, according to Marcie, still "working on the relationship") to its breaking point. Reportedly Swanson forwarded "steamy e-mail" [1] to Marcie as a confirmation of the affair, and the Eislers formally filed separation papers on November 30, 2005. Representatives for Eisler and Swanson have confirmed the pair had indeed begun dating, but denied that the two of them became involved until after the Eislers had separated for good. Swanson and Eisler are now married.
The show also drew ire from fans of the critically acclaimed but ratings deficient television series Arrested Development, because Skating With Celebrities, a reality show, took over the time slot occupied byArrested Development just weeks after the latter show was cancelled.
Cancellation
The show wasn't renewed for a second season, in striking contrast to the fortunes of Dancing on Ice, which remained one of the highest rated programmes on British television for several years, as well as hit versions of the same concept in several other countries. Dancing on Ice avoided the blunders outlined above, i.e. unfair selection of professional partners, "ringers", and sex scandals. It was broadcast live so that the audience could vote on the performances, and in Torvill and Dean's presence as co-presenters, showcase performers and coaches, it had a celebrity trump card, in terms of domestic popularity and fit with the concept of the show, that the U.S. version could not match.
International broadcast
The US version aired in Australia on Network Ten in early 2006, and in New Zealand in October, 2008.
External links
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