Cue the closing credits of “At the Movies’ co-hosts Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, who has suffered a year of caustic comments on his performance as film critics.
Replacing them next month in the long series will be syndicated film critics AO (Tony) Scott of The New York Times and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, ABC Media Productions announced Wednesday.
The abrupt shift reflects a move back to the show’s quarter-century-old roots after a year dismissed his detractors as too light and fast.
Lyons, a Hollywood reporter and film critic for E! ABC Network and “Good Morning America” with special warmth for hobnobbing with Hollywood, and apparently those who seek glory in the film propaganda ads.
“We tried something new last season,” said Brian frons, who heads the unit that oversees Disney ABC Media Productions. The co-hosts out “did everything we asked of them, and they have been completely professional.
“However, we have decided to return the show to its original essence – the two film critics debate the current cinema and on DVD.”
Scott and Phillips seem to follow a tradition of criticism of co-hosts that reaches all the way back to the first incarnation of the program in 1975, an effort called “Sneak Progress,” which pairs rival Chicago newspaper film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.
The entry of Scott has spent nearly a decade as a film critic at The New York Times. Sunday Newsday was the book critic and independent contributor to publications like The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Review of Books.
Phillips is the film critic of The Chicago Tribune. He has written about entertainment and the arts as a critic and staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune, among other publications.
The couple, who in the past have appeared in the Chicago-based “At the Movies” as guest critics, will take over when the new season starts the weekend of September 5th (check local listings for day and hours).
In an interview Wednesday said that outgoing Lyon looks back on his years with the show with satisfaction and no regrets.
“I’m very proud of the work Mank (Mankiewicz) and I did on the show,” said Lyon. He has been able to make complaints about it in perspective, though not offended by “malicious” attacks leveled by those who “hide behind a computer screen.”
In an interview, Mankiewicz said her soon-to-be-former co-host “took most of the heat” directed at the fair, “and I think it was unfair and petty.
“But we are film critics – and we can not really go ballistic when people criticize us,” he reasoned. “I loved working on the show, all of it. It sounds hokey, but it really was an honor to continue the legacy passed on to Roger and Gene created.
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‘At the Movies’ co-host of the turnover is announced
by benny on August 5, 2009
Cue the closing credits of “At the Movies’ co-hosts Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, who has suffered a year of caustic comments on his performance as film critics.
Replacing them next month in the long series will be syndicated film critics AO (Tony) Scott of The New York Times and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, ABC Media Productions announced Wednesday.
The abrupt shift reflects a move back to the show’s quarter-century-old roots after a year dismissed his detractors as too light and fast.
Lyons, a Hollywood reporter and film critic for E! ABC Network and “Good Morning America” with special warmth for hobnobbing with Hollywood, and apparently those who seek glory in the film propaganda ads.
“We tried something new last season,” said Brian frons, who heads the unit that oversees Disney ABC Media Productions. The co-hosts out “did everything we asked of them, and they have been completely professional.
“However, we have decided to return the show to its original essence – the two film critics debate the current cinema and on DVD.”
Scott and Phillips seem to follow a tradition of criticism of co-hosts that reaches all the way back to the first incarnation of the program in 1975, an effort called “Sneak Progress,” which pairs rival Chicago newspaper film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.
The entry of Scott has spent nearly a decade as a film critic at The New York Times. Sunday Newsday was the book critic and independent contributor to publications like The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Review of Books.
Phillips is the film critic of The Chicago Tribune. He has written about entertainment and the arts as a critic and staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune, among other publications.
The couple, who in the past have appeared in the Chicago-based “At the Movies” as guest critics, will take over when the new season starts the weekend of September 5th (check local listings for day and hours).
In an interview Wednesday said that outgoing Lyon looks back on his years with the show with satisfaction and no regrets.
“I’m very proud of the work Mank (Mankiewicz) and I did on the show,” said Lyon. He has been able to make complaints about it in perspective, though not offended by “malicious” attacks leveled by those who “hide behind a computer screen.”
In an interview, Mankiewicz said her soon-to-be-former co-host “took most of the heat” directed at the fair, “and I think it was unfair and petty.
“But we are film critics – and we can not really go ballistic when people criticize us,” he reasoned. “I loved working on the show, all of it. It sounds hokey, but it really was an honor to continue the legacy passed on to Roger and Gene created.
Related posts:
Tagged as: Abc Network, Abrupt Shift, America, at the movies co-host, at the movies former co-host, Ben Lyons, Ben Mankiewicz, Book Critic, Brian, Brian Frons, Caustic Comments, Chicago, Chicago Tribune, critic, Current Cinema, Diego Union Tribune, film, Film Propaganda, former at the movies cohost, former co-host of at the movies, Gene, Gene Siskel, Good Morning America, Guest Critics, Hollywood, Hollywood Reporter, host at the movies, Journal, Los Angeles Times, Lyon, Michael Phillips, New York, New York Review Of Books, Phillips, Roger, Roger Ebert, San Diego Union Tribune, Scott, show, Times, Tony, Tribune, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal