TV Alert - Stars On Ice--On Now!!!

Started at 3:00 PM, CST.

That was great. Very well-edited, I thought. It was fun going back through the years with the Stars on Ice crew.

Kristi: "We were like a family. We put the "fun" in dysfunctional."

For all the lovely ice princesses we have seen over the years, I think Scott Hamilton was and remains the soul of the sport in the U.S.

One question, though. Why did Citizen's Watches keep showing their Paula Cramer (golfer) ad, instead of their Sasha Cohen one? ("Unstippable. Sasha Cohen is.")

I managed to catch some of this program - I thought for a moment is this the end of Stars On Ice as they (the skaters) kept saying Stars on Ice "was a great experience."

It was a good program.. the segment on Sergei really touched me.

Hikaru said:

It was a good program.. the segment on Sergei really touched me.

Click to expand...

Anything about Sergei and Katia leaves me reduced to kleenex. Just tragic.

Anyway, the show was good, but I wished they showed more SOI programs instead of repeats from worlds which NBC plays do death. (I love Evan, but how many times do we have to see his programs from last year?).

I think this is the first time they showed skater's competitive programs. I don't think that I had seen Sasha's Moonlight Sonata so that was a real treat. I was wishing they showed more of Alexei.

The section on Sergei and his great big smile was touching.

I was glad to see a no commentary version of Tanith & Ben's FD from last year's worlds on TV rather than on the computer!

I missed part of it—drat!—but saw enough to enjoy it hugely. I agree that Scott might just be the heart and soul of American skating. Of all the skaters who mounted "artistic" ensembles, with original choreography that had some substance to it, his was the one that lasted. Years ago, John Curry had a tour of beautiful skating, but I'm not sure it was meant to be permanent, and in any case it didn't last. Toller Cranston's lovely tour in the seventies also had a brief life. SOI, by contrast, has endured. The contribution that this company has made to skating is substantial. Imagine how many audience members it inspired to become skaters, as well as giving the skaters themselves a way to grow and improve after their eligible careers.

And clearly the skaters themselves matured as human beings, not just as artists. The way they all handled the death of Sergei Grinkov, which happened before their very eyes, was monumentally inspiring. These are people who know how to live, not just how to skate. As another example, look at how many former rivals skated together for years and became good friends.

One thing that always strikes me is how crucial Roz Sumners is to the mix. Compared to many of the others, she was not a superstar—and she didn't maintain her triple jumps or contribute any cutting-edge technique. But she plainly is a superb team player and was very important in the overall performance result. Also, whenever anyone is interviewed about SOI, Sumners frequently is the most articulate and insightful about both events and the evaluation of skating abilities. When she described Paul Wylie as "crisp," and "passionate," I sat up and smiled. That's exactly what he brought to skating. The emotional quality of his work is obvious, but it's his meticulous line and placement that Sumners captured with the single word "crisp." When I saw her face onscreen, I was always eager to hear what she had to say.

A tremendous program! I wish I had been able to tape it.

Sumners was "crucial to the mix" because it was her superrich boyfriend (at the time, now her husband) who was financing SOI.

While I really enjoyed seeing Kristi's "Doop Doop" again and the whole segment on Katia & Sergei, I was very disappointed that not one of Todd's programs from the last eight years (he joined the tour right after the 2002 SLC Olympics) was shown! I love Mike's "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" and Sasha's "Moonlight Sonata," and was very glad to see those two programs, but in fairness to Todd, who is still a current member of the tour, one of his programs should have been shown as well.

I just watched this and thought it was well done. I think it was nice exposure for ice skating, well any exposure is better than none.

Darn, I missed it!, too busy, but I'm going to try to catch any performances I can find on youtube later on tonight. Like what I read thus far!

I dunno - it seemed like it was a repeat of another SOI history recap with the new skaters spliced in.