Disney cancels At the Movies

I loved Siskel & Ebert as a kid. I wanted to replace one of them when I grew up. In fact, once it was announced that Richard Roeper was the replacement, I watched him a couple times and thought, "Crap, that SHOULD have been me! I've been reviewing movies longer than him." Granted it's always been free via high-school and college newspapers and then J.E.R.M.S. and websites and however else I let people know what I've thought of what I've seen.

But I got used to Roeper, and he got better, and when Ebert couldn't return, Roeper had some really good guest-hosts that I thought would have made good permanent replacements.

Then Disney trashed the balcony, ditched Two Thumbs Up, and put in E!'s Ben Lyons and TCM's Ben Mankewicz. Now Mank, I think, had he been paired with someone credible, would've been okay in that second chair. But Ben Lyons was a gigantic joke. Lyons was an insult to anyone who's ever reviewed a movie, getting the job because his dad was a film critic (Jeffrey) and he's worked on TV before.

Phillips & Scott, I thought, were a welcome return to what the show should have been. I DVR it and watch it every week. But Disney execs still didn't want the Thumbs to return. "Two Thumbs Up!" still means something in movie advertising. No one boasts "Two See Its!"