# "At The Movies" cancelled by ABC/Disney **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787 "2010-03-25T19:26:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/1 "2010-03-25T19:26:20Z")
Disney/ABC announcement: > [@](#): > > “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.” There wasn’t much point in continuing after Roger left. The new hosts simply didn’t have the charsima or chemistry to carry the show. Besides, there are a million places to get reviews online these days, anyway. Ebert reminisces and talks about his plans for a new (!) show: [See you at the movies](http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/03/see_you_at_the_movies.html) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/2 "2010-03-25T19:49:09Z")
That’s too bad, but not entirely surprising to see it dying. Disney totally botched it when they revamped it without Ebert and Roeper. The two new guys weren’t up to snuff and the video screen cross talk with the 4 or so other critics was just plain stupid – so stupid they should have seen how bad of an idea it was before they even first aired it. (And yes I know Ebert wasn’t in any physical condition to continue with it at that time). The two guys they brought in to replace the other two weren’t bad and it’s too bad that they couldn’t stick. A show like that can’t be too expensive to produce and I would imagine it makes some money and is good for the studios. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/3 "2010-03-25T20:06:00Z")
Yeah I pretty much stopped watching after they lost Ebert and Roeper (I even watched it when it was Roeper and guest-of-the week). Sad, but I can see why there’s not really a market for this kind of show anymore when you have entire cable channels devoted to new and upcoming movies, not to mention internet reviews and trailers. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/4 "2010-03-25T21:08:05Z")
It was long in coming. Actualy once Siskel left it wasn’t any good. Neither Siskel or Ebert were very entertaining on their own but put them together. OK granted alone they made intellegent, thoughtful commentary, but they came across as overly intellectual and dull. Put the two in front of a camera and you had chemistry and entertainment. I never felt Ebert had the nearly the same chemistry with guest host or Roeper. It seemed Siskel was on equal ground with Ebert but the rest were awed of him. I guess with the Internet and the ability to have a online reviews too, that didn’t help the show any ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/5 "2010-03-25T21:15:53Z")
Dang it, I’m still watching this show. What’s a good replacement? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/6 "2010-03-25T21:39:10Z")
I actually still really liked it. Sure there is a glut of film review and commentary on the web… but sometimes you just want to hear so smart folks talking about movies. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/7 "2010-03-25T21:46:54Z")
At first I felt that Richard Roeper came off as an arrogant know-it-all, but after a while I actually started to enjoy listening to his opinions. He was a guest on Jay Leno’s show after the Oscars a couple of weeks back, and he was intelligent and funny in his conversation with Jay, and seemed to have good insight into the various Oscar winning films. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/8 "2010-03-25T22:05:34Z")
I would love for them to go back to PBS where it started, now that ABC is dumping them. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/9 "2010-03-25T23:58:28Z")
Anyone here watch the Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current? It cobbles together random people’s webcam reviews of movies and I find it quite entertaining and informative. I always get a pretty solid idea of what a movie is like from it. Also, they do some fun comedy bits that I enjoy. Oh, and one of the hosts - Ellen Fox - is pretty hot. So there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/10 "2010-03-26T00:37:37Z")
When Siskel and Ebert left their original program, Sneak Previews, they were replaced with Jeffrey Lyons and Michael Medved. Dear god but that was horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/11 "2010-03-26T04:11:14Z")
I loved Siskel and Ebert. After a couple of years of watching them, I knew I would enjoy a movie if they gave it 2 thumbs up. Even if they disagreed, or completely hated a movie, I could tell by their descriptions of it if I would like it. No other reviewers or reviews have ever been able to give me such a comfort level in deciding if I would like to see a movie. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/12 "2010-03-26T05:34:39Z")
Damn! The show has really been excellent recently, it’s a shame that so many people haven’t been watching it. The version that **Intergalactic Gladiator** mentioned really was dire, but the version with the Michael Phillips and A.0. Scott has been great. They didn’t just review movies, they had features about actors, directors and genres. I don’t want to watch reviews on the web, I want to watch a TV program in bed. Sure, I can build a box that will allow me to put web content on a TV, but nothing as easy as recording a TV show via a DVR. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/13 "2010-03-26T05:59:56Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > Anyone here watch the Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current? It cobbles together random people’s webcam reviews of movies and I find it quite entertaining and informative. I always get a pretty solid idea of what a movie is like from it. Also, they do some fun comedy bits that I enjoy. > > Oh, and one of the hosts - Ellen Fox - is pretty hot. So there’s that. Yeah, that’s a pretty good show. I love their new Antisipatron segment. Although it’s weird when the hosts pan a movie only for it to have a high rating. ---
**Author:** ![Oscalo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Oscalo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oscalo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/14 "2010-03-26T14:18:45Z")
I’m surprised it was still on. It was never quite the same after Siskel left, but it was able to coast pretty well for a long time on Ebert’s personality and knowledge. Still, Roeper always struck me as kind of a douche, and, as Markxxx said, most of the other people they tried partnering with Ebert never came across as his equals. Rather it was like watching the younger actors in some of the later Brando flicks. They weren’t doing anything wrong _per se_, but you could always tell they were more excited about just being in the same room with the guy than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/15 "2010-03-26T19:05:09Z")
> [@Oscalo](#): > > I’m surprised it was still on. > It was never quite the same after Siskel left, but it was able to coast pretty well for a long time on Ebert’s personality and knowledge. Michael Phillips and A.0. Scott are in the same league as Ebert - serious, knowledgeable film critics. Hopefully someone will pick them up and launch a new show. I like being able to see the same people review new films. It allows me to calibrate my tastes to theirs. For instance, I’ll like almost anything Ebert likes, but he’s unreliable on comedies (hated _Raising Arizona_), so I’ll check other critics. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/16 "2010-03-26T19:11:15Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Michael Phillips and A.0. Scott are in the same league as Ebert - serious, knowledgeable film critics. Hopefully someone will pick them up and launch a new show. I like being able to see the same people review new films. It allows me to calibrate my tastes to theirs. For instance, I’ll like almost anything Ebert likes, but he’s unreliable on comedies (hated _Raising Arizona_), so I’ll check other critics. I have watched Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott’s show several times, and it’s actual reviews are generally pretty good but that A.O. Scott seems like Queen Bitch of the Grande Cinema, with one of the most smug, condesending TV personas I have EVER seen—I actually enjoy watching him as he is SUCH a pompous, nelly jackass… ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/17 "2010-03-26T19:26:46Z")
Markxxx’s post reflects my feelings precisely. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/18 "2010-03-26T20:00:36Z")
I’ve stayed with this show since it was Siskel & Ebert on PBS, through all its various incarnations. I think Phillips & Scott are worthy successors, and I’m really sorry to see it go – hopefully it finds a home somewhere else. Just a few weeks ago, Tony Scott got off the funniest line I have ever heard in a movie review, in his review of “Remember Me” > [@A.O.Scott](#): > > If this film is playing “at a theater near you”, you may want to think about moving to a different neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/19 "2010-03-26T20:33:26Z")
The current show is OK, but I just wish that Phillips wouldn’t talk over Scott so much. Phillips constantly interrupts and I find that annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787/20 "2010-03-26T23:03:24Z")
We’ve been watching since Sneak Previews also. We stopped when the bozos were on last year, but started again when they put on people who knew what they were talking about. It is interesting to hear the same lines A. O. Scott uses in his Times reviews some times. The Tines article said that it is still making money, just not enough for Disney. Not surprising, since they seemed to have publicized the new version by whispering in the middle of a cornfield at the dead of night. I hope someone picks them up. This isn’t Gene and Roger, but it is about as close as they’ve come since Siskel’s death. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-the-movies-cancelled-by-abc-disney/533787.md?page=2)