Farewell To At The Movies

Last night I watched the final episode of At The Movies. The show is going off the air after 35 years. The show began as a simple idea way back in 1975. Two critics with a love of film, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert got together and discussed the merits of films in current release. The show was called Sneak Previews and was broadcast on PBS stations. I think I began watching it in 1978. The show morphed and changed names and was eventually purchased and produced by Buena Vista Television (Disney) and ABC Broadcasting co.

Gene and Roger made film criticism accessible to everyone. their lively discussions encouraged people to think about movies in a different way. They championed great movies that would have disappeared without their recommendation.

They invented (and trademarked) the "Thumbs up/Thumbs down" method of movie rating and soon became celebrities in their own way.

After Gene Siskel died in 1999 Roger continued with a new partner Richard Roeper. Roper brought a younger, more hip point of view to the program and also engaged Roger in lively discussions.

When Roger became ill Richard Roper continued with alternating guest host, including the current host Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott. When it was clear that Roger was not going to return to the show Disney fired both Roper and Ebert and revamped the show for the 2008 season. They brought on two new hosts Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz to star and take the show in a fresh, new direction that would appeal to younger audiences. The show was a disaster. Lyons a  former host of Nickelodeon and E!TV had no film background and said the stupidest and most insipid things about film. Frequently Mankiewicz would sit there looking dumbfounded at what his co-host had just said. They tried to introduce all sorts of gimmicks that would appeal to the short attention spans of today's youth, but none of them worked.

In 2009 the show returned for it's final season with Micheal Phillips of The Chicago Tribune and A.O. Scott of The NY Times in the critics chairs and the film once again became an intelligent discussion about movies. The show used the "See it, Rent it or Skip it" format to determine if a movie was worth investing your time. Both Phillips and Scott were educated in film and they had lively discussions and were building the same kind of camaraderie that Gene and Roger once had.




But in 2010 Disney announced that it was pulling the plug because the show was not profitable enough. So it was making a profit, just not enough so after 35 years a television institution has been cancelled.

Roger Ebert has announced that he will be working on producing a show with the same format so hopefully lively conversations about movies will continue. In the meantime I will always have fond memories of Gene, Roger and the rest of the critics discussing good and bad movies alike. They all deserve a big thumbs up.