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« Today's News: Our Take
Ebert and Roeper Part Ways with Movie Review Show
Roger Ebert by John Sciulli/WireImage.com and Richard Roeper by Rosemary Goldhar/WireImage.com
This news definitely gets two thumbs down. Roger Ebert, the Chicago Sun-Time critic who has been telling TV viewers how they should spend their money at the box office for more than 30 years, has announced he is parting ways with his nationally syndicated show.
Ebert, who has been unable to co-host At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper for the last two years because of health issues, told the AP that Disney-ABC Domestic Television had decided to take the show "in a new direction" that he would rather not be associated with. This announcement comes just a day after co-host Richard Roeper announced he would not be renewing his contract.
Ebert made the show popular by bickering with Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel, whom Roeper replaced permanently in 2000, after Siskel died of a brain tumor in 1999. While Ebert has not announced his future plans, Roeper says he plans to "to proceed elsewhere... as the cohost of a movie review show that honors the standards established by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert more than 30 years ago."
So, what do you think is so off-putting about Disney's new direction? Do you have someone whose name you’d like to see on either side of the ampersand? — Adam Bryant
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Jul 21, 2008 4:16 PM
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Maybe they're only allowed to review Disney-related movies. Probably not it, but that's all I could come up with. 
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Jul 21, 2008 4:23 PM
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I caught an episode a week or so ago with Roeper & I think it was Michael Phillips from the Trib and there were some changes from the last time that I'd see the show, which admittedly was several months before. No more "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" ratings. It was something totally forgettable like "see it" or "skip it." That ratings system is classic now. Why change it? I actually thought at the time that if they were trying to overhaul the show now that Ebert's been away for so long, it's a big mistake. And now I see this...
All I can say is I have a lot of respect for Richard Roeper to walk away and for Ebert to prevent them from using his name any longer.
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Jul 21, 2008 4:49 PM
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Actually Roger Ebert is responsible for them not being able to use the Thumbs Up/Down thing anymore.
I like Roeper on the show...I'm interested in what they're going to do.
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Jul 21, 2008 4:54 PM
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I haven't watched this very much since Ebert has been gone. I actually stopped watching it consistently after Siskel was gone.....
I find Roeper to be very boring, and the constantly rotating second chair never gives the hosts time to build a rapport together.
But..... Thumbs up to him for the compliment he paid to Siskel and Ebert and the dis to Disney!
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Jul 21, 2008 5:17 PM
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I wonder if the 'new direction' has anything to do with politics deciding which movie gets a thumbs up/down. As in suits decide instead of the on air critics? I know, I probably just have a suspicious mind.
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Jul 21, 2008 5:31 PM
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I could see them wanting to turn this into another info-tainment show and have fluffy interviews. Yuck. If that is it - I would definitely pass. There's enough garbage like that out there.
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Jul 21, 2008 5:36 PM
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I watch the show every week. I don't agree with Roeper a lot, but I do like to hear his views. I'll watch his new show.
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Jul 21, 2008 5:48 PM
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ems823 - I was thinking the same thing. They probably want some sort of Access Hollywood rip off which is a rip off of Entertainment Tonight. And LuvGems could be on to something too.
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Jul 21, 2008 5:54 PM
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Actually Roger Ebert is responsible for them not being able to use the Thumbs Up/Down thing anymore.
I had heard that too but, a few weeks ago I read a comment by Ebert where he said that wasn't true. He and Siskle trademarked it to protect the integrity of it but, he didn't ask them to quit using it. Disney made that decision on their own.
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Jul 21, 2008 6:15 PM
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Kind of bums me out. I really thought that Michael Phillips would be taking over for Ebert. He's been on pretty much every week for a while and he and Roeper are a pretty good pair.
See it / Skip it - thumbs up/down that doesn't matter. I just like them sitting in the theater together. I miss Ebert, he was always a good guy, and I liked his thoughts on the movies. Roeper isn't bad and wish he'd continue with the same set up that Ebert left with
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Jul 21, 2008 7:35 PM
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I loved when Kevin Smith was in the "rotating review chair". His reviews were always entertaining and he didn't care who he reviewed...he spoke his mind.
I give Richard a lot of respect for pulling out of the franchise due to Disney's mismanagement.
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Jul 21, 2008 7:36 PM
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Why do I get the feeling that Ryan Seacrest's name will be on the short list?
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Jul 21, 2008 7:50 PM
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"So, what do you think is so off-putting about Disney's new direction?"
Several people already beat me to it -- they're going to tacky it up into another Hollywood Access Extra Insider Entertainment Report (as they say on The Soup).
It'll probably become a publicity clearinghouse, with studios shoving money under the table to get airtime for canned interviews and behind-the-scenes reports on their latest unwatchable swill.
Call me an old fuddy duddy, but the show has NEVER (not once) worked since Siskel's death.
The magic was Siskel and Ebert, and once Siskel was gone, so was the magic.
I've never been a fan of Roeper. He always struck me as the Ted Baxter of movie critics.
In fact, as a willful act of denial and an overt sign of nonacceptance, I continue to call it Siskel & Ebert to this day.
I continued to sporadically watch the show with Ebert and Roeper -- if I could figure out when my local affiliate was airing it -- but, once Ebert ceased his involvement, I pretty much gave up on it. I couldn't take the parade of lightweights they tried to palm off as suitable replacements.
This is too bad. In today's entertainment universe, I really can't imagine that there will ever again be a comparable show dealing with film in such an intelligent, scholarly way.
It's truly the end of an era.
God bless Roger Ebert, and may he live many more years -- though, sadly for all of us, not on our TV screens.
(By the way, for anyone who might be interested, here is a fascinating profile of Roger Ebert.)
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Jul 21, 2008 8:25 PM
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Another screwup by the suits and "their" new direction...whatever that might be. And whatever happened to "if it ain't broke don't fix it" theory??
I loved Siskel & Ebert...haven't watched it much since Roger has been sick. So who am I to complain?!?
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Jul 21, 2008 8:32 PM
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