6A - Monday, November 29, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 'Skating With the Stars' is reality TV crap on ice a No one will care about ABC's excuses for celebrities By LINDSAY HURD DailyArts Writer Even if winter seems like the perfect opportunity for a show about ice skating, "Skating with the Stars" proves that, once again, Skating Wth British reality TV knock-offs The Stars are not the way Mondays to win any sort of at 8 p.m. medals. AB ABC's lat- est desperate attempt at big-hit reality TV pro- gramming has led to the atrocious idea to make celebrities ice skate. Riding on the success of "Danc- ig with the Stars," the format of "Skating" mirrors that of its pre- decessor. Each so-called celebrity is paired with an expert partner to perform a routine each week, and voted off the next day. But don't be fooled - this show is a million times worse than "Dancing with the Stars," which itself is pretty annoying. There are two major issues with "Skating" that make it unbear- able to watch. First, the celebrity contestants are not celebrities at all. ABC has clearly lowered their standards with the D-list lineup, which includes Johnny Moseley, Vince Neil, Bethenny Frankel, Rebecca Budig, Sean Young and Brandon Mychal Smith. Who are any of these people? According to the show, their claims to fame range from "Disney superstar" to "rock legend." It's pretty sad when Bethenny Frankel, a "Real House- wife," is the show's biggest talent when "Dancing with the Stars" has had at least a few recognizable stars on all of its seasons. Issue number two: Inherently, there's a giant problem with the idea of making people skate who never have before - skating is just plain difficult. Learning the moves for Yost Ice Arena's open skate night is one thing, but doing it on TV is another. It's hard to even stand up, let alone try and do spins and jumps. As a result, the "perfor- mances" from the celebs consist of them gliding around doing bumpy child-like tricks and hand motions that supposedly count as routines because they are on TV. Not only is it awkward to watch, but you can tell all of the celebs are thinking they have reached the lowest point of desperation as soon as they get out on the ice. The rest of the show attempts to make up for the lack of compel- ling on-ice content - in the most in the studio, something that isn't reallyused in the world of television today. Most modern shows are edit- ed in post-production rather than filmed live. Students still value the experience, though. "I like it. It's very hands-on, there's a lot of action on the set. It's not a traditional classroom experi- ence. We aren't just being lectured," LSA junior Tracey Zane said. "The students in the class allhave different interests," Sarris said. "While live camera may not really be practiced, what the students learn is broad enough that it's rele- vant to anyone. It's a stepping stone to another medium. Here, students can get their feet wet, get creative and then move on to what interests Ice to meet you. stereotypical and obnoxious way possible. The camera swoops gra- tuitously over the performances and quickly cuts to different angles ish, as reality TV custom dictates) of the skating to try to heighten tries to crack witty jokes about how the action. Host Vernon Kay (Brit- See SKATING, Page 7A 0 ARGUS From Page 5A buttons and mysterious levers. They mumble directions into their headsets until, suddenly, a hush falls over the set: "Let's slate this scene," someone in the control room says. "Ready? And, action." Class has started. "This isn't a typical studio here," Hoffman said. "If you were to go out to L.A., you'd see that they have whole stages for a show. What we try to do here is mimic that." The students work with the cam- eras and have to find a way to bring the different shots together in a way that viewers will find believable. This is harder than it seems - some- times shirts show up as different colors in different shots, sometimes people aren't in focus. "It's overwhelming to look at the screen and make choices about a shot, but there's alot of practice and it's rewarding to see how much bet- ter (my students) get," Sarris said. "When you wttch a show on televi- sion, it's easy to forget how much of it can be illusion. Like here on this set, that wall is just held up by some weights and that staircase goes nowhere." However, what students learn in class might be a bit like that stair- case that goes nowhere. The stu- dents do a lot of live-action work them." sion and single-camera work and University alum Alex Ebel, who I filmed a pilot in the studio," Ebel currently works as a writing assis- said. "It was a great creative (outlet) tant on NBC's upcoming "The Paul and a way to think of TV as writery' Reiser Show," agrees with Sarris. and to get to see that reflected in the "It was always fun to see my content and aesthetic of a show is peers' talents," Ebel said. "You ' important - you can definitely see it can really get a sense of how much with Tina Fey on.30 Rock.'" work it is. There is definitely an art The Argus studio has a pull on to multi-camera work that doesn't the students who have worked get much recognition these days. there. 'U' alum Mark Cendrowski, There's a stigma that television is a director of the hit sitcom "The Big less-quality medium, compared to Bang Theory," recently came back film. But there is an art to it that a lot to work with students. of people don't recognize and that's "Our program has been reason- important to have today." ably supported over the years. We Ebel acknowledged that the stu- have a good budget, and I've learned dio helped her, as a writer, appreci- how to get a few more years out of ate what the director does. the equipment than most people "I did my thesis about televi- do," Hoffman said. Still, some feel that the studio deserves more visibility on campus. For these individuals, the studio's planned relocation to North Quad may boost its profile. "It's a really incredible place, and I really wish it was given more cred- it," Heider said. "Hopefully the move will help us get the name out there, to make stu- dents mire aware of the incredible work their peers are doing here," Sarris added. But there is something sad about leavinga building with so much his- tory and character. "I personally will feel I've lost something in the move," Hoffman said. "But it'll be nice to be in a place where the floors are even." PARKING ARBOR PROPERTIES. 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