Pro Skaters Will Glide Into Enviable Ratings
Landover, Md., is the site of this year’s “World Professional Figure Skating Championships.” You can catch coverage - taped in December - tonight and Saturday night at 8.
Among the pros taking part are Nancy Kerrigan, Viktor Petrenko and Brian Boitano as well as pairs skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, and Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novotny.
We’ve certainly come to know this fraternity of skating greats. Although it would seem that the networks have reached the saturation point, skating events still pay off in strong ratings.
Skating is particularly well-suited for television. It’s a sport that both men and women enjoy watching, and it always has the potential for excitement and controversy. Witness last weekend’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., which featured a stunning upset in the men’s finals and a dramatic turn of events in the women’s competition.
The World Professional championship remains something of a glorified exhibition, at least when compared with the national, world and Olympic amateur events. But don’t tell that to the skaters, who can prove they still have what it takes with a strong showing in this competition.
Highlights
“Due South,” CBS at 8: In a repeat from last season, Ray (David Marciano) deals with a mobster who was once his boyhood playground nemesis. Fraser (Paul Gross) tries to lend a hand but is distracted when Ray’s sister (Ramona Milano) decides she’s ready for a Royal Canadian romance.
“Space: Above and Beyond,” FOX at 8: The 58th Squadron mishandles a routine resupply mission and finds itself the target of a diabolical Chig weapon that turns crew member against crew member. “Strange Luck” returns to its regular time slot next week.
“Step By Step,” ABC at 9: Frank (Patrick Duffy) is in an unenviable situation when his mother (guest star June Lockhart) and his wife (Suzanne Somers) lock horns on child-rearing philosophy.
It’s the series’ 100th episode, a milestone I never imagined this weak link in the “TGIF” lineup would ever reach. Its range is from silly to dumb.
“The X-Files,” FOX at 9: Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson) investigate a series of murders that the residents of a small town believe to be the work of a cult. The answer may not be in men but in the stars.
“Dateline NBC,” NBC at 10: You’ll be shocked by this report on Florida’s rash of so-called “smash-and grab” robberies.
Parents’ Pick
“Family Matters,” ABC at 8: In another episode with both laughs and a message, Urkel (Jaleel White) accidentally gulps down diet pills that Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams) has been taking to take off a few quick pounds. The pills put Urkel into overdrive, but the half-hour slows down for a few hard realities on the dangers of diet pills. It’s a message young viewers need to hear.
Talk Time
“Tonight,” NBC at 11:35: From Phoenix, actor Tom Arnold, comedian Paula Bel and singer Diana Ross.
“Late Show With David Letterman,” CBS at 11:35: Conan O’Brien, Lori Loughlin (“Hudson Street”) and music group Seven Mary Three.
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” NBC at 12:35 a.m.: Musical guest Lloyd Cole.
xxxx CABLE CALLS New York Times Syndicate “The Hustler” (1961), AMC at 3 and 9: Paul Newman, in perhaps his greatest role, plays pool shark “Fast” Eddy Felson, who falls in love with a pathetic alcoholic played elegantly by Piper Laurie. George C. Scott is a shady gambler who backs Eddy in an attempt to defeat the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). “Murder in the First” (1995), MAX at 8: Christian Slater and Kevin Bacon star in this atmospheric but flawed tale of a man (Bacon) jailed for a petty crime who ends up killing a prison guard.