kurt browning

'Battle of the Blades' is the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup of reality competitions. It takes athletes from two sports, figure skating and hockey, and combines them into one surprisingly addictive treat. Premiering Sunday, September 18 on CBC, the series will once again find former NHL players paired with prominent figure skaters to perform choreographed skating routines, with one couple being eliminated every week.

At Etobicoke's Mastercard Centre, recruited hockey stars Cale Hulse, Wade Belak, Curtis Leschyshyn and Brad May, along with figure skating pros Marie-France Dubreuil, Marcy Hinzmann-Harris and Anabelle Langlois, are participating in some on-ice boot camp. It's the first time the hockey players have slipped into figure skates, so it's with mixed (and often hilarious) results. Poor May landed flat on his butt multiple times and Belak took a sudden dive, face first, during a lap around the rink.

Laughing it off, the professionals' humor and determination warmed the chilly building. AOL TV Canada was on-hand to discover seven things 'Blades' fans should know for the third season of 'Battle of the Blades.'

First, ABC danced with the stars, and now, they'll skate with them, too.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, BBC Worldwide Productions and ABC will take to the ice to create a new reality-competition series, in which six celebrities team with a professional figure skater to perform in front of a panel of judges. (Memo to the contestants: Watch out for the French judge.)

Izzie Pick will executive produce the series, with a title yet to be announced.

Part 6 of 7? You know what that means... we aren't going to find out who the winner is until Thursday next week.

This episode was really a drag. And when I say "drag", I mean that they really dragged this one out to fill an entire hour without actually announcing the winners. The episode began with a recap of who got voted off when, and then all the skaters returned for encore performances. Todd Bridges is awkward and mechanical on the ice, reminding everybody why he was the first one to be booted off this competition. Kurt Browning is sporting a bald head? In the middle of the show all the teams resurrected previous routines that they skated, an element otherwise known as a time suck.

We're down to three teams: Kristy Swanson and Lloyd Eisler, Jillian Barberie and John Zimmerman, and Bruce Jenner and Tai Babilonia. I think it's pretty obvious who the weak skaters are here, but we'll see what happens on the ice.

Just a quick recap: last week we bid farewell to the not-very-graceful Dave Coulier and Nancy Kerrigan. Before that, Deborah Gibson and Kurt Browning were out, and the first team eliminated was Todd Bridges and Jenni Meno.

Before we begin, I have a couple of notes about the contestants on this show:

Isn't it sad how the announcer refers to Dave Coulier as being from Full House? I guess it could be worse. He could say, "Dave Coulier, allegedly the subject of Alanis Morrisette's very bitter You Oughta Know." I actually think he may be more famous for that.

Anyway... on with the show.

Now that I can finally watch more than one channel at a time, I decided to start watching Skating with Celebrities. Why, you ask? Sick fascination, I guess. It's like Dancing with the Stars with an added element of danger. And facial mutilation.

Here's what you need to know about the show, if you're joining me in adding this show to your viewing schedule: