Out-of-his-depth Jenner cut on ‘Skating’

< Prev | 1 | 2

Television video

TODAY

No wedding for Kourtney Kardashian, sisters say
Dec. 8: Sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian talk to the TODAY hosts about their reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and give a sneak peek of the show's fourth season.

‘Biggest Loser’ to be crowned tonight

Bill Cosby on new hip-hop album

Reality star featured in new holiday movie

‘SNL’ spoofs D.C. party crashers

Swanson steadily improves
Surprisingly, Swanson and Eisler performed a very pretty routine, even if it was to the horribly dated "I'll Be," which wasn't even cool when it was cool. This was the first performance of the entire competition to be pleasant enough to watch even if it did not involve a (sort of) famous person, and it was the first one in which emotional heft could be felt.

In the first week or two of competition, Eisler seemed impatient and grouchy, and Swanson seemed defensive and a little clumsy, but they've improved in subsequent outings. Their partnership has gotten warmer and more effective, probably in part because they have had to survive a couple of near-eliminations.

While Swanson and Eisler had fewer fancy tricks than Barberie and Zimmerman, they ultimately skated better, and they earned significantly higher scores. That meant that it would all come down to, technically speaking, a "skate-off" between Jenner and Babilonia and Barberie and Zimmerman. And if you didn't know how that one was going to end, you hadn't been paying attention.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

A couple of quick skate-arounds to "Walking On The Sun" (this show knows no music that is less than five to 10 years old) confirmed that Barberie and Zimmerman would advance to the finals against Swanson and Eisler, while Jenner and Babilonia would go home to soak their feet.

All hail Jenner
The show sent Jenner off with a preposterously overblown tribute to his amazing spirit — a promotional package worthy of actual Olympic coverage, come to think of it. Bruce is wonderful! Bruce is a go-getter! Bruce inspires the knees of his peers!

The show did a fairly effective job of narrowing the field to the two skaters (out of six) it ever had who had skating ability. It also showcased Barberie's ringer quality early without giving away that Swanson, too, knew her way around the ice, so the best of both worlds was possible. One early favorite, one unpredictable underdog. It looks like the show is taking next week off in a bow to the actual Olympics, but it will be back soon enough. Sadly, it will be back without Bruce Jenner to kick around.

Linda Holmes is a writer in Bloomington, Minn.

< Prev | 1 | 2