Cheers to Richard Roeper and Michael Phillips for keeping their senses of humor. Even as their run on the syndicated At the Movies has come to an end — they're being replaced by Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz — the tireless Chicago critics continue their work, hilariously panning Vincent Chase's faux epic Medellin on the season premiere of Entourage. (Roeper says Vinnie's fat suit and bad prosthetics "make him look like the love child of Jiminy Glick and a box of Twinkies," while Phillips adds, "Al Pacino called: He wants his Scarface accent back.") Roeper promsies he'll continue the legacy of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel with a new syndicated series, and I give that idea — you guessed it — two thumbs up.• Share your own raves and rants about other shows on the Reader Cheers & Jeers discussion board.• We may feature your Cheer or Jeer on TVGuide.com or in TV Guide magazine!
read more
On the heels of the news that Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper no longer will be hosting the syndicated At the Movies review series, Disney Domestic Television has announced who will. Ben Lyons, the son of film critic Jeffrey and a reporter for E! News, will join Turner Classic Movies' Ben Mankiewicz in the balcony come September.The Bens' thumbs will be turned neither up nor down, however, as Ebert and former cohost Gene Siskel's widow own the trademark. — Matt Mitovich
read more
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...
read more
The ION Television network has inked a deal to air Boston Legal repeats on weeknights this fall.... WWE has narrowed the list of contenders to host its SmackDown series to MyNetworkTV and Tribune Broadcasting (as in Superstation WGN), says TV Week.... People and OK! are reportedly coughing up $6 million to share dibs on the first pics of Jennifer Lopez's forthcoming twins, says PageSix.com.... ReelzChannel has acquired second-run rights to At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, starting next week.
read more
The Ebert & Roeper series is no longer all thumbs, up or down, as Roger Ebert — who has been MIA from the show for 14 months (due to cancer surgery) — and distributor Disney hit a stalemate in contract negotiations. Ebert, however, denies demanding the removal of the thumbs-up/down rating system. "[Disney] made a first offer... which I considered offensively low. I responded with a counter offer. They did not reply to this, and... ordered the thumbs removed," Ebert writes on his website. "This is not something I expected after an association of over 22 years. I had made it clear the thumbs could remain during good-faith negotiations."In a statement, Disney wishes Ebert a full recovery and says they hope to have him back on the show as soon as he is able.Anyone else here date back to Siskel and Ebert's Sneak Previews?
read more
