GSN feels it has winner in 'Anything'

The Network for Games decided about two years ago to broaden its coverage and expand to cover competitors. If CNN and ESPN have multiple channels, and Bravo airs poker games, why shouldn't GSN spread out?

To that end, the cable network started airing card games, reality shows, and documentaries. After the success of ''Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal," executives decided that more documentaries about more scandals might mean more viewers. So the network created ''Anything to Win," a 13-episode series beginning Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. with a two-hour episode on ''Rosie Ruiz and the Boston Marathon." The other documentaries are each an hour long and air Tuesdays at 9 p.m., with encores during the week.

After ''Big Bucks," the network started to look at the ''wealth of stories about people with such competitive drive that they literally did almost anything to win," said Rich Cronin, president and CEO of GSN.

The series will look at professional athletes (Tonya Harding), amateur athletes (soapbox derby racers), athletes turned actors turned politicians (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the Breeders' Cup scandal, and high-profile people such as lawyer Johnnie Cochran and automotive designer John DeLorean.

The shows are a blend of A&E's ''Biography" and E!'s ''True Hollywood Story."

''We wanted to look at competitors ranging from the famous to the infamous," Cronin said. ''Their life story had to involve controversy that was widely known. We examine the story. Many people don't know Tonya's beginnings, how she was always driven to succeed; all they know [of] Ruiz is if indeed she didn't run the Marathon, how did she cross the finish line?"

Matt Liston, who wrote and directed the episode on the 1980 Boston Marathon, said he knew little about the scandal or Ruiz.

''I'm just 30 years old, so all I knew was the legend of the subway ride," Liston said.

Anyway, he knew he was at a disadvantage since he had trouble getting in touch with Ruiz, who has never granted an on-camera interview.

''So I just planned on treating the episode around the events of that day, and not using Rosie," he said. ''For me, I went into it pretty open-minded, and just wanted to get all the facts first. Then when I heard [women's winner] Jacqueline Gareau's and [men's winner] Bill Rodgers's story, I knew we had a good episode, whether we got the Rosie Ruiz interview or not."

Former marathoner Kathrine Switzer, who was in a pace car next to Gareau, said she never saw anyone who could catch Gareau. Liston also interviewed the Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont and Bud Collins, as well as the late Will Cloney of the Boston Marathon, the late Fred LeBow of the New York City Marathon, and a New Yorker who met Ruiz on the subway and walked with her to the finish of the New York marathon. Ruiz got her qualifying time for Boston at the New York race.

''So I had gotten pretty far down the road without having Rosie," Liston said.

Then Liston, who had met friends and colleagues of Ruiz, was told Ruiz would talk to him.

''After countless e-mails and phone calls, she finally agreed to do the interview and I give her a lot of credit for agreeing," he said. ''She was very brave to come forward and speak to us. So I really appreciate and respect her for that. At the same time, the people at the Boston Marathon were so supportive of this project; they gave us access they had never given anyone . . . archival access."

Ruiz offered her own archives.

''She gave us old family photos, and really opened up to us to get her side of the story out," Liston said. ''And yet, at the same time, she knew that the [Boston Athletic Association] and those in Boston were going to have their piece and their say as well. So both parties were very gracious with their time and resources. They all knew it was their time to tell their story, 25 years later.

''We really wanted for the first time to tell the whole story," Liston said.

Cronin is confident the Ruiz documentary and the ensuing episodes in the series will give the network a new identity.

''I think people will think of us in different ways in terms of games, and the way we look at the competitors," said Cronin, whose staples on the network have been reruns of ''Match Game" and ''Jeopardy!"

''This gives us a chance to broaden our coverage," he said. ''Game shows have been the staple of TV, and so have documentaries."