September 19, 2016

Will Figure Skating Ever Make it to the Small Screen?


It got me thinking as I was watching the Emmy's yesterday.  While there have been more than a handful of figure skating movies out there, there haven't been many television shows - certainly no sitcoms or dramas in a series.

Perhaps no cast or crew wants to spend hours a day filming in an ice rink.  That would be a cold that seeps deep into the bones.  Ask any skating coach and they'll tell you - it's damn cold.

But that's the beauty of one of the two shows that are currently in the works.  Somewhere in the pilot phase, Caitlin McCarthy's "Free Skate" taps into both the competitive and ice show side of skating.

Any plot on figure skating has to have some element of the Olympics because that's what the general public thinks of when they think of figure skating.  But with the ice show aspect as well, much of the filming could be "backstage" or on tour buses or in hotels.  These would be easy sets to use and much warmer for everyone filming.

I would really love to see Free Skate make it to the networks!

The other television show, with Tara Lipinski producing, looks like a reality tv show in the same vein as the 2006 TLC Ice Diaries. That show featured the skaters Bebe Liang, Alissa Czisny, Danielle Kahle and Sandra Rucker trying to make the 2006 US Olympic team.  That was a fascinating series and I think having one of the two new faces of figure skating attached will bring in young viewers.  It could do really well.

But if you, like me, can't wait for either of these shows to land in your Netflix queue, I strongly recommend you start watching Dance Academy

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