NBC to show 2 hour commemorative of American skating Sunday afternoon at 2 PM EST

[beebee]

I saw this show as a two hour promo for US Nationals and am ok with that. There are dozens of permutations and combinations of what performances they could've/should've shown but I don't really care all that much. That is, with the exception of one memorable program that was omitted imo. It represents the most memorable moment in my long history at US Nationals--based on the performance as well as the circumstances. It's the unforgettable Long Program of a very young Johnny Weir at 2001 Nationals in Boston. I feel fortunate that I got to see it in person.

 

[Frau Muller]

....
This "special" combined with what happened at Skate America its clear they are setting up Mariah for a run away victory if they can. You can almost describe it as Alysa getting dropped. And no Braide at all here and Skate America tells you where she stands with them and it isn't good for her either

Thanks for pointing out that Bradie was not mentioned...except for the 5 seconds that her name appeared on list of recent past ladies champs (along with Karen Chen, also ignored). Wow. Yet, among current US ladies competitors, Starr was selected. Wow again.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if Bradie or Karen end up winning? Hmmm? Or Amber or...

 

[tony]

I saw this show as a two hour promo for US Nationals and am ok with that. There are dozens of permutations and combinations of what performances they could've/should've shown but I don't really care all that much. That is, with the exception of one memorable program that was omitted imo. It represents the most memorable moment in my long history at US Nationals--based on the performance as well as the circumstances. It's the unforgettable Long Program of a very young Johnny Weir at 2001 Nationals in Boston. I feel fortunate that I got to see it in person.

Those were the ABC days, and NBC wasn't going to get any of those rights because then there are many famous skaters that would've been omitted. But I agree that his debut was very memorable- final group! Beatrisa Liang was also in the final group that year as a 12 year old in ladies.

Someone could always compile a 'best of' playlist on YouTube, I'm sure users like @floskate, @Braulio and 3Axel1996 have provided enough hard work that we can find the majority of absolute top performances.

 

[Sylvia]

I would've loved to see Abbott's 2014 SP again

Me too!

BTW, Cain-Gribble/LeDuc were shown by NBC yesterday after some assumed they were being 'dropped' by USFS based on the judging/results of Skate America.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if Bradie or Karen end up winning? Hmmm? Or Amber or...

It could happen. All the skaters still have to SKATE at Nationals in Las Vegas despite the belief by some of certain ones having 'favored' status.

 

[MacMadame]

I finally watched this and I really enjoyed it. Now I would have maybe picked different performances for some of the skaters but the ones that were picked were excellent. Also, after all the carping here about how an event about the last 100 years of skating should have older performances, I realized that the title of the event wasn't 100 Years of Skating but 100 Year anniversary. And I found the way the event was packaged was consistent with that and made sense.

 

[Frau Muller]

COMMEMORATING

There was “Commemorating 100 Years...” in title.

It should’ve been titled “PREVIEWING Nationals 2021” because that’s what it was. End of story.

 

[Japanfan]

COMMEMORATING

There was “Commemorating 100 Years...” in title.

It should’ve been titled “PREVIEWING Nationals 2021” because that’s what it was. End of story.

Not exactly, as some of the skaters shown in the show will not be competing at Nationals.

It was more like a recent review of champions. However, still very underwhelming.

 

[VGThuy]

People always talk about so and so skaters being promoted by USFS and definitely winning Nationals and oftentimes it doesn't pan out that way.

Not exactly, as some of the skaters shown in the show will not be competing at Nationals.

It was more like a recent review of champions. However, still very underwhelming.

Not to be all aftershocks, but I feel like this is just an opportunity to bash what really were some of the best skaters/performances at U.S. Nationals past. I don't know how a retrospective of the past ten years at Nationals would have been less underwhelming for you since that's how you feel about it. I'm sure if it was Canadian skaters you wouldn't be saying that.

 

[Carolla5501]

I think leaving out Evan was the biggest slight, but I guess that since this was Johnny's HOF year, they went with him as a compliment to his induction.

As I understand it the sideshow act picked the skates shown and IMHO Johnny made no secret that he didn’t really like Evan, he would’ve much preferred Plushy to win. To me Weir was always rather "catty" about Evan.

 

[Lemonade20]

I thought it was sneaky of them to say it’s 100 years when there was no mention of what happened 100 years ago. Was it the first Nationals?

 

[Sylvia]

Peacock Premium now has the U.S. Figure Skating 100th Anniversary Special on demand (1 hour 30 mins.) and the description reads:
"Tara Lipinski,1998 Olympic gold medalist, and three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir celebrate the 100th anniversary of U.S. Figure Skating by reliving top performances from the U.S. Championships over the past decade."

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

Was Ashley Wagner always that obvious about turning her head and finding her spot in the rink before going into a jump? I know that they have to be aware so they aren't running into the wall but it seemed to be really exaggerated with her in the performance they showed. It just didn't feel like there was anything at ease about her skate.

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

This "special" combined with what happened at Skate America its clear they are setting up Mariah for a run away victory if they can. You can almost describe it as Alysa getting dropped. And no Braide at all here and Skate America tells you where she stands with them and it isn't good for her either

Boy your jealousy is almost overwhelming!! (Right Caro? LOL)

 

[Carolla5501]

I expect they are looking at who’s going to be at worlds to give them someone to hype, and as I understand it Alysa is not eligible for worlds . I think Brady is a wonderful skater but unfortunately she doesn’t have the it factor on television when being interviewed that Mirah has . That doesn’t mean anyone is going to win nationals, based on that logic here Alysa wouldn’t have won the last couple of years. So we’ll see what happens

I’ve never felt like the NBC or ABC or CBS hype had a whole lot to do with what happened. I mean after all based on hype Nathan is an Olympic gold medalist and Michelle never lost a national title to anyone oops

Media hype and politicking are not always related at USFS

And jealousy is when you have to trash the skater just because she’s cute LOL
After all she should be held responsible for being born cute, obviously she should’ve arranged to be born ugly

 

[misskarne]

I don't know how a retrospective of the past ten years at Nationals would have been less underwhelming for you since that's how you feel about it.

The thing is though, it wasn't even a retrospective of the last ten years. The only pre-2014 program was Weir's.

 

[beebee]

A little off topic, so if inappropriate please ignore me. This broadcast brought something to mind and I'm curious as to what others think.

Maybe I need to lighten up but I have a pet peeve about standing ovations where the audience rises before the program has ended. There seems to be a lot of that at US Nationals based on the videos we saw here. I think the audience should wait until the program is finished. An exception to my rule was the LP of Shen/Zhao at 2003 worlds in Washington, DC. The magnificence and emotion of their skate just pushed everyone up from their seats well before their skate was over--it was a surreal experience. But as a matter of course, I don't like it.

Are there more important things for me to worry about? Once again, should I lighten up? (And stay on topic!)

 

[manhn]

I am surprised posters here were surprised that they only saw perfs from the past decade when that was discussed here in this thread days before the airing.

I actually like the idea of the performances selected by Johnny and Tara. Reminds me of Toller’s special on performances of the 80s. No wonder Evan was not included, heh.

 

[Japanfan]

Not to be all aftershocks, but I feel like this is just an opportunity to bash what really were some of the best skaters/performances at U.S. Nationals past. I don't know how a retrospective of the past ten years at Nationals would have been less underwhelming for you since that's how you feel about it. I'm sure if it was Canadian skaters you wouldn't be saying that.

I am not bashing the performances at all. But I would have liked to have seen performances/skaters I'd not seen before.

I would feel exactly the same had the show been Canadian. For example, I would have like to have seen Toller.

 

[tony]

I am not bashing the performances at all. But I would have liked to have seen performances/skaters I'd not seen before.

I would feel exactly the same had the show been Canadian. For example, I would have like to have seen Toller.

There's always YouTube. At any time. Not just a Sunday afternoon of broadcast network skating.

 

[Japanfan]

There's always YouTube. At any time. Not just a Sunday afternoon of broadcast network skating.

Um, I'm entirely aware of that. I have watched a lot of skating on YouTube.

Just saying that I misunderstood what the show would be about and was therefore disappointed.

 

[Frau Muller]

The thing is that a title as grandiose as “Commemorating 100 Years of US Figure Skating” (or similar) makes many of us think about the wonderful Magic Memories on Ice ABC retrospectives of the past. Those were hosted by Dick & Peggy.

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Maybe a public TV (PBS) affiliate station - perhaps in Boston or Colorado - will be inspired to produce an American Masters-type documentary show, tied to this 100th anniversary? Such a show should be replete with archival footage. Tip: Consult the film collection at the USFS Museum, incl the Howard Cracker collection. The actual anniversary is in 2021. Let’s not lose hope.

 

[Frau Muller]

Adding to the above:

There’s also the 3-DVD set of 2005, Skating Through Time: Great Performances from the U.S. Figure Skating Ch’ps -

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This is a magnificent set of complete routines, covering the ABC Years (mid-60s on), with about a dozen performances per disk. I agree with most selections, although I would‘ve added Roz Sumners in ‘82 and Debbi Thomas in ‘86. Also, I would have presented the routines chronologically but at least the DVDs have chapters, thus easy to navigate.

 

[tony]

Um, I'm entirely aware of that. I have watched a lot of skating on YouTube.

Just saying that I misunderstood what the show would be about and was therefore disappointed.

‘Um’, you said that you wanted to see performances/skaters you’d never seen. You can add those to your YouTube queue and cast them to your TV if possible, just as if they were part two of the Tara and Johnny special.

 

[Sylvia]

Tara's surprise announcement - Johnny has been elected to the USFS Hall of Fame (Class of 2022 2021) - congrats!
ETA: Current plan is for an in person induction ceremony to be held during 2022 Nationals in Nashville.

Here's Johnny's tweet of gratitude and a clip of his parents congratulating him on camera that was shown on the NBC broadcast : https://twitter.com/JohnnyGWeir/status/1343392407912656897