The Skating Rink (5 Feb. 1975)

Teenager with a stuttering problem overcomes his shyness to become a championship figure skater.

Director:

Larry Elikann

Writers:

Mildred Lee (novel), Bob Rodgers

Stars:

Stewart Petersen, Devon Ericson, Betty Beaird

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Stewart Petersen	...	Tucker 'Tuck' Holland Faraday
Devon Ericson	...	Lilly Degley
Betty Beaird	...	Ida Faraday
Rance Howard	...	Myron Faraday
Jerry Dexter	...	Pete Degley
Cindy Eilbacher	...	Elva Grimes (as Cynthia Eilbacher)
Billy Bowles	...	Tom
Robert Clotworthy	...	Clete
Tara Talboy	...	Karen Faraday
Molly Dodd	...	Mrs. Bayliss
Patricia Stevens	...	Tuck's Mother
Sparky Marcus	...	Young Tuck

Storyline

Teenager with a stuttering problem overcomes his shyness to become a championship figure skater.

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Plot Keywords:

stuttering | ice skating | after school special | based on novel

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 February 1975 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Martin Tahse Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

User Reviews

A Triple Lutz

"The Skating Rink" was one of ABC's Afterschool Specials... this one reminds me of the type of film I was forced to watch in school as a child. I was the only one in the class with a furrowed brow and open palms, hopelessly asking: "Why?"

This one is about Tuck, a stuttering misfit, born into a farm family and struggling to fit in. Tuck enjoys loitering around the construction site of the titular icehouse on his way to and from humiliation at school. One day the rink owner spots Tuck, taking the boy under his wing, and offering him free ice-skating lessons before the rink even opens. Will this skill help Tuck develop the much-needed confidence and self-esteem he sorely lacks? You do the math, jack.

This was a touching movie in that I actually found myself feeling for some of the characters. There's the depressed farmer Dad who will most likely throw himself into his own thresher one black afternoon, and the lead Tuck was very well-acted by Stewart Peterson. I couldn't find a moral to this one other than "Ice-skating is fun." Or maybe the lesson is that nothing succeeds like pancake makeup, flop sweat, and a woman paid to figure-skate. Yeah, that sounds good. But you're not missing much.