Has-beens meet head trauma on ‘Skating’

Opting out of audience participation robs “Skating” of the opportunity to build the kind of overinvested out-and-out fan weirdness that has driven inexplicable phenomena like Clay Aiken and Constantine Maroulis, and that has undeniably contributed to the “Idol” mystique. On the other hand, despite the existence of a core group of power voters who devote their lives for months to advocating for a particular contestant, most people who watch “Idol” or “Dancing” don’t actually vote, and they may not care.

Still, consider the fact that Master P has survived two weeks of “Dancing” based on viewer voting, despite being not only the worst dancer on the show, but undoubtedly the first man to ever do a quickstep that could be described as “grudging.” That offers a refresher course in a lesson “Idol” has taught many times: viewers have a strange fascination with very, very bad performers.

People may similarly tune in to “Skating” to see extravagantly incompetent people landing on their faces. Unlike Master P, those people cannot be saved by diabolical fans. If party-pooper judges send the train wrecks packing in the first week or two and we’re left watching bad — but not disastrous — beginner figure skating, the show could find itself in trouble.

But there is an X-factor of sorts at play here that “Dancing” and “Idol” do not share: the serious possibility of physical harm. Far from hiding this fact, Fox is running with it: the promos feature an injury to Swanson that leaves her bleeding. While this may seem like a dramatic hook, it could easily backfire. Humiliation is one thing, but audiences don’t actually want to see anyone seriously hurt — quite possibly the reason this show is not live.

The greatest challenge may be perfecting the choreography so that the celebrity skaters are seriously challenged — not looking like bored insurance executives skating around the pond on a Sunday morning — without either falling down every 10 seconds or landing in the emergency room. The worst thing that will happen if your rumba is too difficult, after all, is that Lisa Rinna will sprain something. But ask Bruce Jenner to throw you around when he’s not ready, and you’re looking at a body cast.

Fox has made a habit of cannibalizing popular shows on other networks (“Trading Spouses,” “My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss,” and others) and simply testing whether it can go along for the ride. And if you’re the kind of person who thought that only broken bones could have made Kenny Mayne’s cha-cha any better, this may just be the ride for you.

Linda Holmes is a writer in Bloomington, Minn., and a regular contributor to MSNBC.com.

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