At the Movies Returns!

This news is actually about a week old...I just haven't had a chance to blog about yet.

About a month or so ago, like a lot of movie geeks, I was lamenting the loss of At the Movies, that classic movie review show started by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert all those years ago, and known as Siskel & Ebert during its heyday.  After 35 years on the air in one form or another, it was canceled this past August due to declining ratings.

Well, for over a year now, Roger Ebert has been mentioning at his blog that he was seeking other avenues to resurrect the show and bring it back to its roots.  Ebert, and many others agree, that in this growing age of digital downloads and pay-per-view and so many ways to get your movies, there still exists the need for some kind of program that tells you if movies are good or not. 

And so, last week, Roger Ebert announced the creation of his new TV show, Roger Ebert presents At the Movies.  He really is going back to his roots.  Just like the very first seasons of the show, it'll be produced by and air on PBS. 

The new critics on the show will be Christy Lemure of the Associated Press and Elvis Mitchell of NPR.  Regular contributors and occasional guest hosts will be film bloggers Kim Morgan and Omar Moore.  Ebert himself will appear in a regular segment called "Roger's Office," in which Ebert will geek out over one of his favourite films...either something new, or an overlooked classic. 

In addition to movie reviews, there'll be regular segments classic films, on-demand viewing, and genre films.

The series will also the return of the classic "Two Thumbs Up" rating system made popular by Siskel & Ebert.  The whole "Two Thumbs Up" system is actually owned by and a registered trademark of Roger Ebert and the Estate of Gene Siskel.  The original At the Movies program stopped using it when Ebert and Disney (the produers of At the Movies) got into royalty dispute.  Others say Ebert stopped letting Disney use it when Ebert didn't like the direction of the new show.  Either way, Two Thumbs Up is back.

The new show will be premiering on PBS stations all across the USA this January.

Here's Ebert's official announcement from his website.