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'Skating With the Stars': Brian Boitano calls it 'uncomfortable,' a 'misjudge'
"Skating With the Stars" is probably not on Brian Boitano's DVR. "I was able to watch a little bit of it, but it was very uncomfortable," the Olympic figure skating gold medalist tells Zap2it.
On Monday (Dec. 6), ABC premieres the third episode of "Skating With the Stars," in which six celebrities -- now five, since "Blade Runner" star Sean Young was the first celebrity eliminated -- are teamed with pro skating partners to do ice-dance routines in what amounts to an ice-rink version of ABC's hit ballroom-dancing competition "Dancing With the Stars."
"Skating With the Stars" premiered after the blockbuster final performance night of "DWTS" on Nov. 22. But, it has not come close to the ballroom show in the ratings and may not fare any better in the future than its FOX predecessor, "Skating With Celebrities," which had a short run in 2006.
Professional figure skater Boitano has transitioned to starring on TV-skating shows of his own. The next one, "Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular," airs Sunday, Dec. 26, on NBC. It tapes on Dec. 16 in Sioux City, Iowa, and features a performance by Heart (which, coincidentally, also performed on a "Dancing With the Stars" results show).
Asked about "Skating With the Stars," he says, "Oh, my God. But Jonny Moseley [an Olympic gold-medal skier who's competing on the show] was skating in the same rink as me. He was pretty good.
"But I think there's a misjudge there. Skating is just too hard. You can't learn how to do that in five weeks. You can't learn how to do the basics in five weeks.
"I think that people think they're going to be jumping and spinning and stuff like that, and that takes you years to do that. I was able to watch a little bit of it, but it was very uncomfortable, because I didn't want to see people struggling to stand up.
"If you fall on the ice, it's really hard. So I was like, 'All right, this is even a step worse than "Dancing With the Stars."' At least the judges were nicer than they are in 'Dancing With the Stars.'"
Steve Disson of Disson Skating, which produces many skating-oriented TV specials -- including Boitano's upcoming show -- decries the lack of big-name celebrities and big-name skaters as competitors on "SWTS."
"Truthfully," he says, "it would be more interesting to see [U.S. Olympic skater] Johnny Weir (pictured right) skating in the show than judging it. But it's interesting because it gets people talking about skating."Although Olympic gold-medal skaters Kristi Yamaguchi and Evan Lysacek have competed on "Dancing With the Stars" -- with Yamaguchi winning, and Lysacek making the finals -- don't expect to see Boitano in the ballroom.
"Me?" he says. "No, I wouldn't do 'Dancing With the Stars.' .... People would expect me to go be good, and I wouldn't be as good as people would want, so I'd be disappointing to them."
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Brian Boitano can kiss our xxxxxxs. I don't care what he thinks and I think he is wrong about Johnny Weir being a judge. He is fantastic. He is the best thing about it...Boitano can take a flying leap and mind his own business. I would like to see him try and get on Stars on Ice. I forgot, he's not considered family-friendly either. If he is really going to speak nicely about Johnny then tell the Stars on Ice producers that they made a big mistake by not inviting Johnny on that show. But, he won't will he? All these people who won't even stand up for someone that is a figure skater like Johnny don't deserve to critize the show he is on SWTS.
He's right, that show is horrible. I was only able to watch the first couple of performances of the first show before I had to change the channel or risk throwing up. There's no way these people can learn to skate in such a short amount of time, add that to the obvious failed attempt to clone DWTS, the older judge being about as comfortable on TV as a bird sitting on a pointed egg and the fact that it's just plain boring and it's obvious that it's time to cancel this show.
Boitano is definitely right that skating is too hard to learn in five weeks. Anyone can fake dancing a little bit... But skating takes a tremendous amount of skill. You need to learn the basics before rushing into lifts and actual skating elements. SWTS is quite uncomfortable to watch & it gives me a new respect for the high level skaters that we see on TV in competitions and in shows that make it look much easier than it is and are able to perform while doing complicated technical tricks!
Why aren't Kristi and Evan on Skating with the Stars? I am really disappointed about that. The British host is terrible.
Deborah, Brian never said anything negative about Johnny. He just said he'd rather see him as a skater than a judge. That's really neither a compliment or an insult. Then after that, he goes on to say "But it's interesting because it gets people talking about skating." And I think what he meant by that was that on the other hand, having Johnny as a judge is good in a way too.
Hmmmm, interesting that Brian can't see past the fact that these celebs are no different than other reality shows competing in challanges outside of their comfort zone. Hey, dude, how do you think Emeril Lagassee and Paula Deen feel about you passing yourself off as a cook???? Do you think they feel uncomfortable?
I tried watching two episodes. The first one suffered for being on the same night as the finale of Battle of the Blades (Canadian show that paired *name* female skaters with hockey players). On BotB, they had difficult lifts, throw jumps, and one hockey player actually attempted a single axel (although it was a mess). By going with hockey skaters, they know the guys are starting with an expected basic level in athletics and skating ability, so it's easier to teach them a tricks.
So, I tried the second episode, which wouldn't be a direct comparison.
It was boring. I worried that it might be a train wreck, but it was just dull, dull, dull. Tanith is pretty, but her 'color commentary' made me hit mute. The host is a 'what the $@*&#?'. The only thing worth watching is Johnny Weir and **** Button as judges (who the heck is the woman?).
But as a skating fan, I've never heard of any of the skaters. None of them got anywhere. And the stars are equally blah.
Gave it two shots. Will not give it a third.
And for the love of Pete, why does this board automatically blank out Mr. Button's first name. It's the name he goes by, including on the show!!!!
(The stars in the comment above blank out a name that is short for Richard, and is apparently verbotten because it can also refer to a part of the male anatomy)
This show is just embarrassing. Low budget, no stars, no top skating talent. Contrast Battle of Blades which is classy, engaging and thrilling. Check out the Monster Mash with Shae & Patrice (who should have won!)- I forgot I was watching a pro-am tv competition and just delighted in it.
Interesting that Steve Disson says he'd rather see Weir skating when it took Disson four years to finally invite Johnny to skate in one of their shows and even now, he's only been invited to skate in one show this year where other skaters have been in three or more shows each year.