Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Rollergirls (2006)

apparently airing for one season of 13 episodes on A&E, this is a decent show about banked track roller derby in Texas. 

it showcases four different teams from TXRD, which is based in Austin, TX.  we won't hold that against them.  naturally, being a "reality" tv show, they have to include drama from private lives of the various teams, which I have always found suspicious when cameras are rolling.  but perhaps that's just me being cynical.

the best parts are the bouts, of course.  the Holy Rollers are so far undefeated, and the rest of the league doesn't really care for them.  it'll be interesting to see how the season plays out.

now, I ref for a flat track league, which is a bit different than the way these girls skate.  I am not sure if the fighting and rolling around on the track is encouraged in here, but that's cause for ejection in my derby world. it doesn't look very professional, either.

the girls are all good to great skaters, but there are a certain amount of theatrics going on, a bit of a throwback to the 70s version of roller derby.

here's a shot of the way the announcers show the viewers how the game is played.  it's pretty well done, though they can't get beyond the "hot knife through butter" metaphor for the jammers. maybe in later episodes...

I think this is sort of a sequel to the movie "Hell On Wheels" which is about the start of roller derby in Texas back in 2001.  same teams and everything, just some different players.
this series is available on DVD from Amazon.com here.

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