Oh, Canada, your TV bounty knows no bounds: Degrassi, Slings & Arrows, Being Erica…So we want to trust you when we hear from this NPR Read the full post.
Nov 3
2009
04:24 PM ET
'The Cutting Edge' as a reality show? Some pop culture gifts just keep giving...
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As an American, I haven’t seen the show yet, though I’m awaiting a copy from some Canadian friends, and have heard nothing but raves from them.
As Jamie above points out, the reason Battle of the Blades works where Skating with Celebrities didn’t is that hockey players actually know how to skate, so it wasn’t weeks of just teaching them how to glide around with blades strapped on their feet. With Dancing with the Stars, not everyone knows how to dance, but everyone on the show at least knows how to stand on their own and walk around. Also helps that all the girls are pairs or ice dancers so they can actually do partner work.
I don’t know if this concept would work in the US since we don’t particularly care about hockey – though maybe doing a Skating with Celebrities where the celebrities are required to have a minimal level of skating ability would be somewhat better?
That said, I mainly wanted to point out – I’m fairly certain the CBC site is geo-blocked for those outside of Canada, so you can’t watch the full episodes on your link unless you’re in Canada…
Not true – I just watched the “final four” episode. Thanks, EW, for spotlighting this! As a long-time figure-skating fan, I love that this show is respectful of the sport and demonstrates just how difficult it actually is. The hockey players are all excellent skaters, so you can really tell how hard it is to do footwork, spins, lifts and especially jumps.
I should have mentioned that I’m in Virginia. So yes, you can go to the site and watch full episodes even if you’re in the US.
“Skating with the Celebrities” didn’t work because it was a poorly executed concept unlike “Battle of the Blades”. On Skating with the Celebrities, half of the “celebrities” barely knew how to skate before the show started and were just struggling to just stay on their feet during the routines. That’s not very exciting to watch. And the pairings were so uneven, you had professional pairs skaters mixed in with singles skaters so if you were lucky enough (Kristy Swanson)to get a pro male pairs skater (ex: Lloyd Eisler) you were already at a significant advantage because they could lift and throw you around properly and make you look better than you actually are.
In “Battle of the Blades”, the pairings are even and fair. The women are all professional pairs skaters, and all the NHL hockey players are retired and in almost the same age range. But the most important thing is that these guys CAN already skate very well so it’s not painful to watch. I wish you guys would’ve posted a better clip, instead of that Tie Domi clip because it fails to showcase just how good these guys really are. I went in expecting a trainwreck but it has been such a surprise. It’s such a fun, feel-good show, and I love that everyone is having a blast but at the same time, it isn’t a joke and the hockey players are all taking it seriously and are very competitive. And I love how all the money is going to charity, very classy
Maybe it’s different in LA, but I come from Michigan, and, let me tell you, hockey is every bit as much of an obsession as football and baseball here.
Jennifer Armstrong – I just re-read your review of Cutting Edge 2 (I still remember reading it in the magazine the week it came out a few years ago). It is still one of the funniest things I have ever read in EW. It made me laugh again as I re-read it. Thanks!
Here are some better clips. Shae Lynn Bourne & Claude Lemieux
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaU_vTB4KFU
You’re right, Reeny. That is a better clip. I’m not a Claude Lemieux fan, but he did a good job. And he was wearing figure skates. (Tie Domi wasn’t!) I’d watch this…
Another great Shae Lynn Bourne & Claude Lemieux performance from this week. Lemieux doing Swazye from Dirty Dancing had me worried, but I think he did fine =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXyb9TlHhwg
Jamie Sale & Craig Simpson are awesome together and will likely go to the finals with Shae & Claude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RkH872Wk5A
Group Skate With the Final Four (required elements include a side by side footwork sequence and one rotational lift, please ignore Tie Domi LOL)
Toe pick!
I live in the American south (Georgia), and I have to say – I think you’d be taking a BIG chance by translating this to the states. Hockey is huge in certain parts of the country, but in all the areas where you rarely have ice? It’s fun to go to the games (we have two pro teams close by – the Thrashers & the Gladiators), but you don’t have the same kind of emotional attachment to the sport as you do to things you grew up actually playing.
But props for featuring a video Of Christime Hough, who was actually IN The Cutting Edge. “And what is big problem coach? Smilkov and Brushkin. Who? SMILKOV and BRUSHKIN.”
Oh my God, I love everything about this, right down to the host wearing a suit and SKATES. So hilarious. I love Tie Domi, I love hockey, and I am prepared to love this reality show. PLEASE bring this to the US.
Not everyone is (was) cheering for the goon Domi. I was at a taping at the Gardens and we booed him. I definitely think this is a Canadian thing. There have been many discussions on whether or not we think this would work south of the border (decision: probably not).