RollerJam


RollerJam is an American television series featuring roller derby that aired on The Nashville Network from 1999 to 2001. It was the first attempt to bring roller derby to TV since RollerGames.
RollerJam was derived from the original roller derby, but newer skaters used inline skates to modernize the sport. The program was taped at Universal Studios Stage 21 in Orlando, Florida, known as RollerJam Arena and now the Impact Wrestling Zone, for the first and second seasons and the former American Gladiators arena in the show's final season. The first few weeks of the show's second season, which ran from August to October 1999, were taped at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

Creation

RollerJam was the brainchild of Knoxville, Tennessee-based television impresarios Ross K. Bagwell, Sr. and Stephen Land. Land, a fan of roller derby in boyhood, was inspired to bring the sport back to television by an obituary for roller derby legend Joan Weston that he had read in The New York Times in May 1997, and shared his idea with Bagwell, his mentor, who gave him a positive response. Between January 1999 and January 2001, Bagwell and Land, under the name Pageboy Entertainment, collaborated with CBS to stage this new televised revival of roller derby.
In May 1998, Bagwell and Land pitched their idea to The Nashville Network. The network agreed to air the show but wanted it ready by the new year, forcing Bagwell and Land to create a league, recruit skaters, build a track, design logos and uniforms, hire a television crew, and record the program all in a span of about seven months. In an attempt to build continuity between RollerJam and previous roller derby incarnations, Bagwell and Land hired Jerry Seltzer, the son of roller derby creator Leo Seltzer, to be commissioner of their new league. The first episode of the show was taped in November 1998, a week after Thanksgiving.

Overview

RollerJam featured several teams of skaters competing in the fictional World Skating League. Jerry Seltzer served as on-screen WSL commissioner, although he only made a few appearances. The initial teams, each consisting of seven men and seven women, were the New York Enforcers, California Quakes, Florida Sundogs, Nevada Hot Dice, Texas Rustlers, and Illinois Riot. Two notable veterans from Roller Games, "Rockin'" Ray Robles and "Latin Spitfire" Patsy Delgato, were featured in the second season of RollerJam. Despite strong funding and four seasons of broadcasts on TNN, the venture never became a "live" attraction. Fabricated storylines and characters in the mode of professional wrestling were being featured more than actual competitive skating around season 3 and 4, raising the ire of many skaters and fans of true roller derby.

Rulesheets

Periods

Games were played in four 6-minute periods with as many 60-second jams as possible; women skated odd numbered periods, and the men skated the even-numbered periods. Jams began and ended on the referee's whistle, and a buzzer sounded to reinforce this.

Skaters

Whereas traditional derby employs a pivot skater, RollerJam did not use one. Instead, each team had three blockers, each wearing a white helmet, and two jammers, each wearing a black helmet with red stripes. In-line skates were legalized in attempt to modernize the sport, but certain skaters opted still to use the quad skates.

Jams

In seasons 1-2, the game was played like traditional derby in that the first jam began from the black start/finish line, while the skaters had to continuously skate until a time-out was called or the period ended. In seasons 3-4, this changed to every single jam starting from a standstill start from the black line. In either case, jammers had to start from the back of the pack and work their way through, with the first jammer to break out winning the status of lead jammer. The skaters then got one point for every opponent they successfully lapped. The lead jammer could cut off the jam early by placing their hands on their hips.
The last jam of the last period always went the full minute regardless of what the period clock showed.

Penalties

At the referee's discretion, skaters would sit in a penalty box for violating the rules for various reasons, from 1-2 jams, or face immediate disqualification from the game. Skaters frequently racked up these penalties and were willing to take it if they felt it would bring them a moral victory.

Winning

The team with the most points won the game. If the game was tied in regulation, originally the genders would continue to alternate in sudden death overtime periods until there was a clear winner. As this could go on for a considerable and indefinite period of time, it was soon replaced one skater from each team facing off in a "Tiebreaker Match Race", five laps around the track and whoever crossed the finish line first won the game for their team.

Special features

In addition, special features which were not directly part of the matches would occasionally pop up:
Another unique concept was that RollerJam held special games, races and competitions in certain episodes, such as:

Actors

Three of the most notable actors featured in RollerJam were veteran movie actor Tom Nowicki, Cindy Maranne, former ESPN and current CBS Sports Network play-by-play commentator James Bates, and stage actress and former Mouseketeer Lindsey Alley. Other characters included Julie Amazon, Canine and Disable,Devo, Lil' Nasty and El Numero.
The most points ever scored in one jam was 28 in Period 3 of a game between the New York Enforcers and the Illinois Riot. The Riot came back from a 20+ point deficit to win 46-43 in the highest scoring game in RollerJam history. Roller Derby legend Ann Calvello, best known for her brutal feuds with Joan Weston, skated a match race with Kenneth Loge III in RollerJam's finale. She emerged victorious.

Criticism

Ron Buffone, a producer for Extreme Championship Wrestling, called RollerJam "That stupid roller blading show". Buffone believed that TNN treated ECW on TNN, which aired prior to RollerJam on Friday nights, as a lead-in for RollerJam rather than a show in its own right, despite the fact that the ECW broadcast generated the network's highest ratings. Nevertheless, some cross-promotion between the two programs did occur, notably when ECW wrestlers such as Axl Rotten and Tommy Dreamer appeared on RollerJam as "enforcers" for the Florida Sundogs against the New York Enforcers.

Key players

Men

A game based on the show was developed by BLAM! and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation The Rollerjam game made an appearance as an IGN preview. according to Neoseekers, the RollerJam video game was set for a release in the 2nd quarter of 2002, but contrary to IGN release date, as the game was supposed to be released on 2001. But no other trace of information came through about the game being released or canceled without a confirmation.
The video game itself became featured in Rollerjam as a feud, where the game was announced by EA's Steve Sims, around the halftime of the Nevada Hot Dice vs. New York Enforcers game on March 21, 2000, during Rollerjams 3rd season

Revival attempts, failures, and legacy