Does anybody know if the ladies' skating or the men's skating was a clear favorite category in US in the 80's when Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano were around?
I think Brian and Scott were the big stars in the U.S. skating world in the 1980s and into the 1990s -- and still are.
Both Brian and Scott headlined their own tours in the 1980s-early 1990s -- that is, they were the ones who created the tours and were the driving force behind those tours. Yes, both were thought to "need" a big-name female to co-star with them, but Brian and Scott were the stars of their tours -- it wasn't Rosalynn Sumners' Stars on Ice or Debi Thomas', nor was it Katarina Witt's Skating tour -- it was Scott Hamilton's Stars on Ice and the Boitano-Witt Skating tours (which were created by Brian, who asked Kat to be his co-star). And both Brians starred with Katarina in Carmen on Ice and all three won Emmys. And from the time Boitano started competing at Landover, the men's competition at that event was the wrap-up of the night of competition -- in its first prime-time foray (I think they showed an hour of the tech programs on a Thursday or Friday night before showing the artistics the next day), Torvill & Dean and Boitano were the featured skaters. Brian and Scott were, I think, the biggest U.S. draws in skating during those years (Dorothy Hamill was ALWAYS a big draw, but even she, I don't think, trumped Brian and Scott from about 1984 through about 1994 or so).
Boitano has had, what, nine or 10 straight years of headlining his"show in the Disson group of shows (well, it started before Disson was really involved, but it's been "Brian Boitano's Skating Spectacular" all along) and he had a whole series of shows that his production company did that he was the headliner for (the Skating Romance series, Three Masters that featured three guys as the stars, Skating Kicks Back, etc..) and Scott had his own Scott Hamilton and Friends show for several years. Brian had his own TV special (Brian's worked with ABC directly, before they were Disney-owned, and they put up the money for him to skate on a glacier in Alaska and go over to what was then still East Germany to film stuff with Katarina over ther), and Scott did later on, too. In both cases, those guys were the stars (it was Brian Boitano's Canvas of Ice and Scott Hamilton Upside-Down). Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill had had TV specials before, but these were the first specials starring male figure skaters. And Scott had a special when he returned to the ice after his cancer treatment ("Scott Hamilton Back on the Ice). Both have also done commentary, both have produced shows as well as skated in them. Brian headlined Tommy's tour for several years, as well.
I think Brian and Scott were pretty big figure skating "stars" in their time (and still are, for that matter) -- they could get a project out in front of people by the power of their own names. Maybe they haven't had all the same opportunities that Kristi, Nancy and Michelle have had, but they've got pretty impressive resumes behind their names, and have certainly accomplished as much or more than any of their female contemporaries. And I think they're recognized, respected and loved for who they are and what they've done. Yes, there is that problem with "perception" of male figure skaters that has probably kept them from accomplishing even more (after all, Scott was dropped from Ice Capades because they didn't think a male headliner was what they wanted -- but he proved them wrong, didn't he?), but overall, I think those two guys were two of the biggest draws, if not the biggest draws, in U.S. figure skating through that heyday of skating of the mid-80s to mid-90s.
There hasn't been another "big" male star in the U.S. since then that matched the accomplishments and charisma those two guys have. But still, Paul Wylie and Todd Eldredge both became pretty big names. Johnny and Evan are still in the getting-to-know-you stage and have as yet not had the accomplishments of some of the other guys -- but give them time.
For me, men's skating has always been my favorite -- it just has more excitement. I like ladies and pairs and to a point, dance, but men's is my favorite.
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