Gotta Dance 2 on W network

[Artemis]

There was some confusion about whether it would be on Friday the 29th or Saturday the 30th ... it's now confirmed that it's Saturday, 7-9 pm (all time zones), repeating at 1 am.

And of course if you don't get W, it's on Sunday Dec. 1 on NBC, 4-6 pm.

[jcspkbfan]

The W Network also plans to rebroadcast Gotta Skate between 2 and 4 p.m. on Nov. 30, which is very good news for those of us who live in an area where the W Network's original Gotta Skate broadcast directly conflicts with Ice Wars and are too lazy to program their VCRs in the middle of the night to tape both. ;)

The afternoon W Network Gotta Skate broadcast also ends just before the NBC broadcast...in case the two broadcasts might be different from each other.

[Artemis]

Originally posted by jcspkbfan
The W Network also plans to rebroadcast Gotta Skate between 2 and 4 p.m. on Nov. 30, ...

Actually, W is repeating on December 1 (Sunday) 2-4.

And the chances of it being a different broadcast than NBC are virtually nil. Last year the NBC and Global broadcasts were the same. Also, it costs far to much, and there's no way W has any kind of finance (or expertise!) to do an original version.

[maruko]

That really s*cks big time. I heard on the W network, they chacked B&S's Elvis vs. Marilyn number, while showing both solo numbers of everybody else including Steven and Lu Chen. That is making me sick. Are they telling us that they think Canadian viewers just don't want to see B&S, huh? All B&S's post-Olympic performances in front of Canadian audience told us exactly the opposite.

[memememe76]

And the chances of it being a different broadcast than NBC are virtually nil. Last year the NBC and Global broadcasts were the same. Also, it costs far to much, and there's no way W has any kind of finance (or expertise!) to do an original version.

I don't know. After watching it tonight, NBC's version could be different. For one thing, there was absolutely no commentating during the performances. I can't imagine NBC doing that! Also certain programs were chacked that I can't see NBC wanting to chack in favour of some of the programs that were shown (like B&S' Elvis program--they showed their Chaplin number instead, although we have seen it a gazillion times).

We'll see.

BTW, it was okay. I hated Anti-Gravity though. Steven Cousin's "Wicked Game" was probably my favourite.

IIRC, the only person who we saw more than once were Kurt (obviously) and Lu Chen (only because she skated to live music for her second number).

[KatieC]

Did anybody else notice the sound quality wasn't particularly good on the W network? I'm not usually fussy on sound quality, but I did think the sound from Copps wasn't good.
Other than that, I did enjoy the show.

[jcspkbfan]

Oops, you're right, Artemis--the W network is rebroadcasting Gotta Skate this afternoon instead of yesterday afternoon!

I didn't get to see the full W network broadcast last night because it coincided with the first hour of Ice Wars in my area, but I was very impressed with what I did see. I can't remember the last time I saw a skating show TV broadcast which actually showed the numbers in the exact same order they were skated during the live show! ;)

There also didn't seem to be as many "cut away from the skaters for 30 seconds to show a closeup of the singer" shots as there usually seems to be during shows featuring skaters performing to live music. This might have something to do with the way the stage was set up--we got to see lots of shots of the musicians doing their thing in the background while the skaters were up front, so they probably didn't feel the need to zoom in on the singers as often as usual! :D

I'm also happy there was only one major fluff piece during last night's broadcast--basically a series of backstage shots of the skaters rehearsing while Kurt is voicing over how each of the performers in his show is special to him. Very touching. :)

maruko, if it's any consolation to you, W did show B&S' Chaplin number towards the end of the show, but I think they chacked Josée's and B&E's second performances (grr!) I'm not 100% sure Josée and B&E were chacked since I couldn't watch the whole thing last night, but it doesn't sound like the decisions on which numbers to chack were based on national bias alone! But if they had to chack one of B&S' numbers, I would have rather seen their brand-new program than one I've already seen at least half a dozen times before!

I also could have lived without seeing Antigravity's second performance (not the one they did with Kurt and Sonia--I thought that one was interesting--but I thought their "solo" performance stretched out a little too long and I would have rather seen one of the chacked skating performances instead).

memememe76, I don't think most of the Disson shows NBC broadcasted last year included much commentary during the actual performances, either. I guess they figured having the skaters themselves host the show was enough!

I didn't think the sound quality of this show was that bad, but I remember some people commented the sound quality of last year's live Gotta Skate show in Vancouver wasn't very good, so maybe the same thing could have happened this year??

Even though there were a few things I would have changed, I thought the quality of this broadcast was better overall than last year's show (well, at least the first half of the show--after reading other people's comments, I have a feeling I'll have more complaints about the second half!) I hope the NBC broadcast won't be much different for the sake of fans south of the border, but if they manage to chack Antigravity's second number in favor of some of the programs W chacked, I won't complain too much! ;)

BTW, I'm not sure how big TVA's (French-language channel which usually broadcasts most pro/pro-am events) budget is, but last year, they managed to broadcast their very own version of Kurt's Gotta Skate show, including most of the numbers chacked from the NBC/Global version. I think the only numbers not included in either broadcast were Nicole's "Music" number and an in-between performances conversation between Sonia and Ed Robertson. :)

[maruko]

jcspkbfan, thanks for your consolation. However, I still can't believe they chacked B&S's brand new program in favor of "The Kid" which most people have seen a million times. Totally don't make sense. I am not sure if W network purchased their telecast from Disson Skating. I hope they didn't.

[jcspkbfan]

Well, after finally getting the chance to watch the entire broadcast (both versions), now I know the decision on which programs to chack wasn't based on national favoritism. Not only did they chack B&S' new program, they also chacked Josée's, B&E's and Brian Orser's second programs...and to add insult to injury, NBC showed a clip of Brian's second number while announcing the next skater to take the ice after the commercial break would be--Steven Cousins! :roll:

There weren't a whole lot of differences between the W Network and NBC broadcasts. The only major changes I noticed were:

I don't think NBC showed Lulu or Steven's first numbers, but W did. I found it ironic the two skaters who had both their numbers included in the broadcast (other than Kurt himself, of course!) are probably the two skaters in the cast who the general Canadian public would be least familiar with!

NBC aired a SOI promo (narrated by Kurt) and a cute fluff piece with Kurt reading to and eating with some kids from the local Boys and Girls Club (similar to the one included in last year's Gotta Skate broadcast with a few added quotes from Kurt about the importance of literacy). Neither of these was included in the NBC broadcast, but I didn't think either was long enough that they had to chack two skating routines to fit them in.

Again, I could have lived without seeing Antigravity's second program, but I don't really have any other major complaints as to what was chacked and what wasn't. Hopefully we'll get to see most of the chacked routines in other skating shows later on this year...hopefully!

[Suzanne]

Count me as one who generally did not get excited about a lot of the show.

Watched the WTN airing of it, and there weren't too many programs I got excited about.

I particularly liked Orser skating to that song from Shrek, and I liked seeing Sonia & Alex doing Swan Lake. I also got a kick out of Scott Hamilton on stage trying to do ballet! LOL, that was good, as was his Don Quixote routine.

Most of the other programs though I could take or leave.

I'm finding I really don't get too excited about seeing skaters perform to live music, even when it's a musician/singer I enjoy. Anyone else like that?

[jcspkbfan]

I agree with you on the "skaters performing to live music" thing, Suzanne...but I think that's mainly because of those annoying "cut away from the skaters to show a 30-second closeup of the singer/band" shots! No disrespect to any of the singers who perform on these shows, but I'd much rather see the skater's entire routine than closeups of the singers every 10 seconds. After all, you can always just switch to MTV/Muchmusic to get closeup shots of singers! ;)

I'd probably appreciate these kinds of shows more if I had the opportunity to see one of them live, though (or if the TV networks were smart enough to use a split-screen during performances like this--see Kurt Browning's 1992 CSOI performance of Bring Him Home with Michael Burgess singing live for a perfect example of this!)