Posted on 03/25/2010 6:48:06 AM PDT by Borges
The balcony is closed.
This is the last season of "At the Movies," the long-running syndicated review show made into a hit in the 1980s by dueling Chicago critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.
The show's roots go back to 1975's "Sneak Previews."
Here's a statement from distributor Disney-ABC Domestic TV:
After 24 seasons with us in national syndication, the highly regarded movie review show "At the Movies" (formerly known as "Siskel & Ebert" and "Ebert & Roeper") will air its last original broadcast the weekend of August 14, 2010. This was a very difficult decision, especially considering the program's rich history and iconic status within the entertainment industry, but from a business perspective it became clear this weekly, half-hour, broadcast syndication series was no longer sustainable. We gratefully acknowledge the outstanding work of the program's current co-hosts A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips and top-notch production staff, and it is with heartfelt appreciation that we extend very special thanks to the two brilliant, visionary and incomparable critics that started it all, Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel.
Online reviews and aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic have made finding knowledgeable opinions movies easier than ever for fans, yet have also evolved the consumption of criticism in such a way that made the half-hour review show seem dated. "At the Movies" also never again found a critic pairing with the chemistry that matched the breakout pairing of Siskel and Ebert.
Tweeted Ebert: "RIP At the Movies."
2 thumbs down
nobody cares
If they cared, they’d have been watching.
Nope,
I don’t care.
Who cares what those two blowhards think?
I’ll make my own decisions.
No one was stopping you from making your own decicions. But a good critic teaches you something you didn’t see before.
He can’t talk.
Geeze...someone hand me a Kleenex,please.
I remember when they reviewed Raiders. 29 years ago.
Ebert is a jerk, so I’m glad it’s cancelled.
It is rather dated as well.
Ebert hadn’t been on it for years.
He had cancer. Not really something to be catty about.
I just put down 29 years ago. I know for sure this show was on prior than 86.
“It’s Spot the Wonder Dog with our ‘Dog of the Week!’”
ha! - I guess I haven’t watched it for years either...
It was on under various names since 1975. 1986 was when Disney bought it and syndicated it.
When someone has earned my contempt I can't feign sympathy for that person.I'm not that talented an actor.Sorry.
Agreed. While I often disagreed with Ebert, and detest his politics, I hold his movie reviews in esteem because they are built on well-informed history and insights of movies developed over many more viewings than I have. You don’t have to agree with someone to respect him.
The show was stupid. Almost everytime I went to see a “two thumbs up” film I walked away thinking “What the hell was that crap?”
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