The Daily Gamecock ● MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2010
PAGE 7
‘At the Movies’ to end in August ABC terminates weekly show after more than two decades due to ratings decline Scott Collins MCT Campus
LOS ANGELES — After a revolving door of hosts and much backstage drama, it’s fi nally a wrap for “At the Movies.” The weekly syndicated program, which made celebrities out of its original hosts, dueling movie reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, has aired on local TV stations since 1986. But on Thursday, Disney-ABC Domestic Television confi rmed that it would cancel the show in August. Its current hosts are fi lm critics Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune and A.O. Scott of The New York Times. “ T h is wa s a ver y d if f ic u lt dec ision , e sp ec ia l ly considering the program’s rich history and iconic status within the entertainment industry, but from a business perspective, it became clear this week ly, half-hour, broadcast syndication series was no longer sustainable,”
the company said in a statement. The move comes at a time when local TV stations and syndication companies face heightened competition and fi nancial pressure from cable outlets and the Internet. As many observers have pointed out, Web sites have made it possible for viewers these days to glean a wide diversity of opinions about the latest movie releases. But when Siskel — who died in 1999 — and Ebert premiered their original movie program, “Sneak Previews,” on a Chicago PBS station in the 1970s, many newspapers did not have their own fi lm critics. Eber t — who wa s forced to rely on on- c a mera substitutes for “At the Movies” after cancer surgery in 2006 made it impossible for him to speak, and who left the show entirely in 2008 — sounded a philosophical note about its demise in a blog post Thursday. “It isn’t only ‘At the Movies’ that died Wednesday,” he wrote. “It was a whole genre of television.” He revealed that he and his wife, Chaz, are “deeply involved” in talks with companies for a new moviereviewing show that will take advantage of social-media services as well as traditional TV. “At the Movies” was a one-time syndicated hit, but recent years had not been kind to the show. Siskel and
Ebert signed on with Disney after leaving a predecessor show (also called “At the Movies”) that had been produced by Tribune Entertainment. Chicago columnist Richard Roeper replaced the late Siskel in 2000. Then, in 2008, Disney decided to try to update the program by hiring two younger co-hosts, Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons. That move was harshly criticized by film fans, who dismissed Lyons in particular as a light weight. The following year, as ratings drooped, Scott and Phillips were brought in to return the show to its roots. But it evidently was too late. Tributes from fellow critics were rolling in Thursday. On his Time blog, TV writer James Poniewozik observed that reality TV may have helped kill “At the Movies,” adding: “It may be hard to remember now, but part of the appeal and novelty of Siskel and Ebert was the brash novelty of it — two smart guys willing to cut to the chase” and publicly criticize fi lms. “That was part of what made it special.”
Comments on this story? E-mail sagcketc@mailbox.sc.edu
WUSC 90.5 FM Would Like To Thank Their Sponsors:
Outspokin’ Bicycles Sid & Nancy Pecknel Music Company Salty’s Surf Shop Yesterday’s Restaurant Lionel Hahn/ MCT Campus
Film critic Roger Ebert left “At the Movies” in 2008 after complications from throat surgery left him voiceless. Gene Siskel, the show’s other founder, died in 1999.