Rollergirls

I'd like to offer not only a review, but also a description about what I consider to be an excellent and fun show.

The actual time of coverage for each episode's roller derby bout exceeds a quarter of the show (a bout, by the way, is 32 minutes long, four 8-minute quarters). Besides the bout itself, viewers can expect a great deal of pre-bout set-up, a brief but decent explanation of the rules of the game for new viewers, and brief clips of past derby action from previous bouts of that episode's teams and individual players. The announcers really help to understand the game and what's going on, play by play.

The rest of the show is all about the roller-derby's players and its league, each episode focusing on one or two players' out-of-ring lives. These are almost always entertaining, and moreso than the standard reality-show fare; it helps that the sport in which these women participate is a real labor of love, to which they're all very committed (all of the funding and organization comes from the Rollergirls themselves). Showing the contrast of their day-to-day lives and their derby lives (at least one of them compares it to "getting to be a superhero for a night") is interesting, letting the viewer get this sense of their normal lives being punctuated by this pretty extreme, unique extracurricular excitement. The women themselves are an interestingly varied bunch; everywhere from mature and dedicated, to bratty and melo-dramatic, to creative and anarchistic; and with the backdrop of the roller-derby, it all makes for some great entertainment.

The action on the ring is not only athletic, but passionate and theatrical: you'll see some serious action, some playfulness, some fights, some hammed-up faux-hostilities, some friendships, and grudges, all mixed together. It's fun stuff, and the people I've shown it to have usually become rather addicted to the show. As you can probably tell, I love Rollergirls, and have from the get-go. I don't watch a lot of TV, and when I do, it's usually the small number of series that I think are genuinely well-done (examples: Lost, The Office (UK & US), Battlestar Galactica, Arrested Development, The Daily Show, etc.). I completely recommend watching at least one episode.

It's not about roller derby, it's not reality TV, but it is about the girls who do roller derby in Austin, Texas...and, it's a documentary about their trials and tribulations, their daily lives, their pains and pleasures...genuine human stuff. You could use the same documentary techniques on the WWF guys or folks who do origami and I bet it would be interesting to watch because it's all about living life large.

Yeah, if you're just looking for skin, something akin to mud wrestling, then this isn't it. It's not speed or figure skating, either.

However, if you're interested in how other people live, you don't much care for stereotypes, and wish to get to know some folks who may just be not all that different from yourselves, then I think you'll really enjoy ROLLERGIRLS.

I was hooked on the first show. The girls are fascinating, not what I expected, and they're real.

I assumed that a series like Rollergirls would contain some roller-derby...

Alas, so far only a little...

What IS the deal with this show? The director follows around a bunch of ordinary women who happen to skate in a (all women) roller-derby league in their spare time. The viewer is privy to the team members trials and tribulations including but not limited to: feelings of self doubt, physical weariness, group in-fighting, frustrations regarding each other's integrity (or lack of), friendships, rivalries and so on, ad nauseum. Why would we care? They are ROLLERGIRLS, Baby! Only you would hardly know it from watching...

Actual track time during a roller derby match is limited to a surreal video collage that lasts no more than 3 minutes (and seems like MUCH less) per episode. It is impossible to figure out what is happening during the match without the narration which is provided by editing the track announcer's comments. The cameras are NOT set up to really give the viewer a grasp of the action. Absolutely the opposite. Then there's the gaffs like the announcer talking about a 5 point lead while the scoreboard reads 16 to 22. Excuse me, TV is a VISUAL MEDIUM!!!! If you can not tell the story with pictures you should give up! Without the context of the actual match to ground it, the interaction of the characters is irrelevant.

Another really annoying thing about this show is the way that the director takes you to the curtain but does not really let you see behind it. What is the deal with roller derby? Is it fake? Is it real? Is it a show? What is it? Rollergirls is no help even though the director devotes a lot of air time to the team practices. Mostly you get to see skating, stretching and exercising. You do not get to see how to punch, how to fall and the various tricks (that the girls OBVIOUSLY know) for making fake violence look real.

Having said all that, the series has its moments. In 3 episodes that have been shown so far, a rollergirl's real first name is used exactly once. I understand the realities of a performer not wanting her real name used and would not have it any other way. But seeing "Lunatic" who only gets to skate on a "day pass" from the "State Mental Institution" at her day job in an office is hysterical. Then there is halftime at the Rollerderby where each team (of dedicated amateur athletes) goes outside and sits in the team school bus smoking cigarettes until the match starts again. Or anything that "Miss Conduct" does or says.

All in all, a mixed bag. Do not tune in if you are expecting to see roller-derby matches.

In case you're wondering, my title is a quote from Star Trek, and I have no idea what it means.

This show is without a doubt the greatest thing I've seen on TV in decades. Don't judge it by its seemingly vapid premise; it's a lot more than a bunch of chicks on skates beating the snot out of each other. It's a very creative & unusual program.

The first half focuses on the ordinary life & extraordinary drama of a particular set of characters (it changes). We witness everything from roommate quarrels to bizarre love triangles to art gallery showings--whatever enters into the orbit of these people.

Yadda yadda, you're saying. How is this different from any other drama queen reality show? The difference is in the 2nd half when they strap on skates and beat the snot out of each other.

The dynamic is powerful. This show is one half sports, one half melodrama, and of course one half hot chicks. The confluence of these 3 engaging themes comes together in a rousing, physical, adrenaline-pumping climax that's sure to have you cheering, even if you've never seen roller derby before, like me. I'm not even a sports fan by nature, but when I'm given a reason to care about the athletes--to recognize the faces under the helmets as ordinary people like us, to realize the poetry & emotion that goes into body-slamming a chick over the rail in a dazzling display of wheels, limbs, skin & sometimes blood--then I have to say 'wow'.

It also helps that one of the roller girls resembles my ex girlfriend, and I get a certain satisfaction out of seeing her pummel people and get pummelled in the rink. My shrink says it's 'transference' or some dookey like that. In any case, this show is great entertainment and great therapy.