Ebert & Roeper Move On / New Hosts Announced (1 Viewer)

Lyons, Mankiewicz named 'At the Movies' hosts - CNN.com

Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz will be the new hosts.

One thing the news story doesn't mention is that Jeffrey Lyons (Ben's dad) was, along with Michael Medved, the first to replace Siskel and Ebert back in the early 80's when S&D left PBS.

This is certainly the end of an era, but also reminds me that this show has gone through many, many transitions for the better part of 30 years now.

It's sad to see the final end to Siskel and Ebert's show. But I've not seen Ebert on air in five or more years. And when I was last watching, it was on at midnight! Aside from graduate students, who stays up that late for movie reviews?

I like Roeper. I was pretty dubious about his choice, and didn't understand why Ebert chose him as the new co-host at first. But they had a good dynamic, and I thought Roeper's practicality balanced Ebert's "oooh! shiny!" attitude towards thumbs-upping otherwise sucky movies.

Oh well. The show's relevancy plummeted years ago, when it was relegated to the late-late slots, if even aired.

I understand what you are saying....it can be hard to find, if you can find it at all. I have been watching the online presentations instead...the shows are updated on Wednesdays of each week - and they have an archive feature that allows you to look up any review...

Ebert & Roeper

Well, I'm done with it.

At the Movie was one of my all time favorite shows. I love movies, and watched the show like clockwork since the early 90's. It was tragic when Siskel passed on(his last apperance on the show was excruciating to watch) and I was very sad to see Ebert go. I was hoping for a suitable replacement for him alongside Roeper.


Mankiewicz may be alright, but Ben Lyons......no. I've seen him on the E! network, and his movie reviews are quite possibly the worst I have ever seen. Most if his comments about movies are used in a slick urban dialect(much like rappers) that unless your of his generation, you won't know what the hell he's saying.

Nice try Disney, but this is a horrible decision.

I agree wholeheartedly. I used to watch this show every week, but must admit that I have only watched in occasionally in the last couple of years. I started to lose interest when Roger left the show, but really stopped watching when they had to give up the thumbs gestures.

Speculation has been that since Disney lowballed Ebert in initial renegotiations (he even took away the rights to use Thumbs Up/Down from the show for awhile since he felt Disney was not negotiating fairly) they were looking to dump the current incarnation and retool as more of an advertisement for movies than strictly a review show.

Given that Ben Lyons reviewed I Am Legend as "One Of The Greatest Movies Ever Made", I think Disney found their guy. I don't know about Mankiewicz.

By the way, that's not meant as a slam on I Am Legend - I thought parts of it were quite well done, but I didn't like where they took the story at the end - but calling it one of the greatest ever made is a desperate plea to become a quote whore.

I forgot years ago that this show existed since it was always on at some weird time.

What show is Roeper talking about?

Interesting that Ebert has a trademark on thumbs up/down. I didn't know you could trademark a gesture.

Off to trademark the middle finger...

The trademark is actually co-held by Ebert and Siskel's widow.

I lost a lot of interest in the show when Gene Siskel died. I lost more interest in the show when Ebert became ill (no slam on Roeper, but the show was Siskel and Ebert to me). No plans for Ebert (or even Roeper) to come back? I've 0 interest. I'll read Ebert's on-going reviews in the Chicago Sun-Times.

As someone who has barely missed an episode since the PBS days in the 1970's, I'm not THAT worried about the new show.

Yes, it is sad to see the show go, but Ebert has been gone for a few years now. The show really ended when he left.

While I've grown to like Roeper, I think it is safe to say that most of us posting here know more about film than he does. He wasn't a movie fan, but a guy talking about movies on TV.

While I'm unfamiliar with Lyons (other than seeing him once on his fathers show REEL TALK), Roeper has also become a bit of a blurb whore recently, each week saying at least one film on the show is "one of the best of the year".

Mankiewicz is a smart guy, so that is a safe choice.

And, the new format, with a "Critics Round Up" could in fact give more of a voice to the dwindling number of film critics than Roeper and Phillips could ever have.

As mentioned, most people aren't even aware the show is on the air now. It airs at midnight Sunday nights in my area. It was either retool it this way or cancel it altogether.

I'm willing to give it a chance.

But then again, I think I've given every critics show a chance, from FX to AMC, to Nickelodeon, they've all tried.

I think Jon makes some good points, but I think I will still be more interested in the new show with Roeper and hopefully with Ebert involved in some capacity. That is if I can find it on the air anywhere. I'll give the new "At the Movies" a try and the "Critics Round Up" concept is intriguing, but I have my doubts about Lyons in particular.

I've been a fan since it began on PBS as Sneak Previews. I'll check out the new Disney show, as well as whatever Ebert and Roeper develop. I miss my thumbs!

From The Onion:

"And thus the sun sets on the golden era of opposable-digit-based art criticism."

Jon

Not that I've been able to find it for a while, but I haven't really searched at all since Roger became ill though I trace my roots back to the Late 70's Sneak Preview era when my college roomie and I used to watch it regularly. The show lost a lot without Gene and I have never regarded Roeper as anything more than awful. If Lyons is worse than RR then the show needs to be put out of its misery.

The show doesn't have any magic since Ebert left. I never understood Roeper. Here is a guy that seems to love great films, but I'm still confused by his "taste" of movies in general. I'm sure if he looked hard enough he could have found a better film than Superbad for his 10 best of the year list.

Very sad to see this effectively ending. "Ebert & Roeper" (even sans Ebert) has been a staple of my Sunday-morning viewing for years, and yes, I watched it pretty religiously back in the PBS days of Siskel and Ebert.

I'm afraid that this is going to go the way of Jeffrey Lyons' "Reel Talk," which I truly dislike. The big problem I have with that show is the interviews -- are they really going to be brutal about a big movie they don't like if they're trying to get its star to give them an interview? If that's where Disney is planning on taking this show, I'm done with it, and look forward to seeing whatever Ebert and/or Roeper develop in the future.

That's what I'm saying. Lyons is horrible. He is the equal of a drunken college frat boy with his movie reviews. "See this joint, it's tight". He recommends seeing films that Ebert, and Roeper would put on their worst of the year list.

I am a movie fan. I remember being just a few years old and watching Siskel & Ebert talk about movies. I've tried my best to watch every week's episode since then. I miss Ebert on there, but I understand if he and Roeper don't come back. I like the current reviewer, Michael Scott a little. I hope that that Roeper does develop his own show and that At the Movies stays on TV. Now that I have the Reelz Channel and have Dailes things are looking up for the movie fan who likes to watch a tv show about them. ;0

There is speculation that Roeper and Phillips will go to Reelz. However, most of the country doesn't get the channel so I don't know if that would be a good thing.