Replacing Ebert & Roeper Won't Win New Audiences

By Katey Rich

When something like thyroid cancer and even the death of his co-host didn't keep Roger Ebert away from the TV show he founded, it seemed nothing could separate Ebert and "At the Movies." But now Disney's television unit has decided to take the show "in a new direction," and Ebert, along with his current sideman Richard Roper, will be leaving the show. Presumably they'll be taking their thumbs with them, which are almost certainly pointing down.

Ebert, who hasn't been in the show in some time due to his illness, only quit after Roeper's contract was not renewed, and it appears that there's some bad blood involved. And now that the replacement hosts, Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, have been chosen, it seems clear that the new direction is "about 30 years younger." Roger Ebert may be beloved almost universally, but he certainly isn't hip with the kids.

But will Disney's move, equivalent to treason in some circles, actually pay off? Does anyone actually turn on their television for their movie information these days? I know we're in an era when CNN covers Brad and Angelina, but I'm not sure that same prurient interest translates to discussion of actual movies. For kids these days who are into movies, they can head to IMDB and spout off about whatever they like, or, without too much effort, get their own movie blog. (See! Look how easy it is!) On the Internet, as they say, no one knows you're not a movie critic.

It seems maybe a better plan would have been to take Ebert & Roeper online, which they already were to some extent, and reach out to the connected Internet users who know and trust Ebert's opinions. Mankiewicz and Lyons already have their own followings in their work so far, but I imagine it'll take a while to build up the same kind of reputation Ebert has had for years. Movie criticism is struggling in some ways to stay relevant given the rise of "everyone's a critic" online culture, but this seems like one particularly hysterical example of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.