I've watched the first two episodes.
The judges aren't trained as judges. Do ISI and USFSA let judges work for money outside ISI and USFSA?
Surprising that Johnny Wier and Dick Button nonetheless scored skaters pretty consistently.
The judges should get real judge-like training, and be trained to provide more consistent results with each other.
By the second episode, choreographer Laurieann Gibson became more consistent with the others. Did Johnny and Dick give her a lecture? The show also spelled out what they were looking for, perhaps to make it easier for her.
There are quite a few criteria by which some types of land dance and ice skating (including Pairs and Dance, which this mostly is) are different. Not just spotting. A Ballet or Modern or Theatrical Dance choreographer is used to choreographing the whole body, whereas skaters are expected to hold certain parts of the body still (more like Ballroom or Irish step dance), and should isolate motions more to the hip joint, and for some skating styles, to rotations at the base of the spine. Skaters should also hold poses for longer. There are some differences in the way jumps are done - e.g., while gliding, and the timing of rotations (off-ice dancers generally finish rotating before leaving the floor; I guess on ice skaters are supposed to jump from a neutral spine, and delay rotation. Differences in the ways and directions toes can point (e.g., many Ice Dancers point outwards in front and back, but move the foot to be parallel in the middle). I may be a bit wrong in those things, and I'm sure there are others that some of you could point out - I'm not that knowledgeable a skater. If Laurieann didn't get a lecture, she won't know how to judge skating well enough to run a good show.
All of the judges are functioning more like coaches or choreographers than judges - mostly making encouraging comments, and going easy on them, rather than making hard-core criticism like a judge would. I think the producers and judges need to learn how to run this show better. Maybe they need suggestions?
I also feel that 5 weeks was not enough preparation for the skaters. Some are having too much trouble staying balanced. They need 10 or 15 weeks! Yes, that is hard on a celebrities, who have other commitments, but I see little choice. Dancing with the stars required less time because everyone already knows how to move on land, and most people have danced on land at least a little.
As with Dancing with the Stars, it's not fair to pit non-athletes and chubby people against trim athletes. Maybe they shouldn't try?