R.I.P.: At the Movies (1986-2010)

Even though I haven't watched the show much in recent years -- well, OK, except  for the few times I appeared as a guest in 2008, during the short-lived heyday of Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz --  I could not help but wince a bit when I heard yesterday that, at long last, the ax had fallen on At the Movies, the weekly movie review program Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel began in 1986 (following in the tradition of their two earlier, similar series). It's always painful when a revered tradition comes to an end, even if that ending occurs long after much of the original reverence has dissipated. (Not that Roger or Gene had anything to do with that.). Still, as even Roger admits, the cancellation was inevitable:

At the Movies was one of the last survivors of half-hour syndication. It didn't fail so much as have its format shot out from beneath it. Don't blame Disney. Don't blame Tony Scott and Michael Phillips, the final co-hosts, critics I admire who still have five months left on the air. Don't blame Ben Mankiewicz. Don't blame my pal Richard Roeper, who didn't fancy following the show in a "new direction." Don't blame the cancer that forced me off the show. Don't even blame Ben Lyons. He was the victim of a mistaken hiring decision.

Blame the fact that five-day-a-week syndicated shows like Wheel of Fortune went to six days. Blame the fact that cable TV and the internet have fragmented the audience so much that stations are losing market share no matter what they do. Blame the economy, because many stations would rather sell a crappy half-hour infomercial than program a show they respect. Blame the fact that everything seems to be going to hell in a hand basket.

But don't despair: Rogert promises to soon launch yet another movie review program, one that "will go full-tilt New Media: Television, net streaming, cell phone apps, Facebook, Twitter, iPad, the whole enchilada. The disintegration of the old model creates an opening for us. I'm more excited than I would be if we were trying to do the same old same old." Good luck. We'll see you at the movies. But we won't forget the old show.

Siskel & Ebert: Together again. Now and forever.

Great news for fans of the late Gene Siskel and the recovering Roger Ebert: Starting tomorrow, over 20 years of televised movie reviews by the celebrated pair (and replacement Richard Roeper) will be available -- for free! -- at the At the Movies website. Says Ebert: "The archive will be searchable in various ways, but I imagine most users will want to look up reviews of specific movies." And, just as important, specific programs, such as "the entire show that Siskel and I devoted to Spike Lee, and especially his groundbreaking Do the Right Thing. Or the show we did in black and white, praising b&w movies. Or our early evaluations of laserdisc and DVDs, or our attacks on pan & scan and colorizing.

"Then there are the memorable disagreements, as when I couldn’t believe Gene didn’t love Apocalypse Now, and he couldn’t believe my thumb was down on Full Metal Jacket. He said I should have been wearing a Santa suit while giving thumbs-up to Cop and a Half. (One day the mail brought an autographed photo of Norman D. Golden II, the eight-year-old co-star of Cop and a Half, thanking me for helping his career. I thought that was nice of the kid, until I recognized something familiar about his handwriting.) A few years earlier, I told Gene (offscreen) that his praise for the awful family weepers Six Weeks and Table for Five might indicate sentimentality that was inspired because Gene and his wife, Marlene, were expecting for the first time. He handed me a note, 'to be read only when you are on the flight to Cannes,' telling me I was right."