Weeks ago, Roger Ebert warned that his syndicated movie-review program At the Movies was in dire financial straits and potentially would be pulled because he and wife Chaz -- who produces the program -- couldn’t sustain the show on their own much longer.
Now, that potential has become a sad reality. Ebert revealed on his blog that the show – which is co-hosted by longtime AP film critic Christy Lemire and Ignatiy Vishnevetsk – will “go on hiatus while we find necessary funding.” The cherished critic says that the decision had to be made so that the Public Broadcasting Service networks that carry the show have time to fill their schedules now that review program no longer will be available.
“People have been very supportive. We've spoken to the top executives of several channels and film distributors, charitable foundations, web delivery services, potential corporate sponsors, and crowd-funding sources. And we are still talking with them, but the time crunch has intervened. It is a complicated process, and so we are going on hiatus while we sort it out,” Ebert explained.
Don’t count Ebert’s show out, though. It has been around for decades, in various formats, and Ebert’s boundless passion virtually wills the program onto the air. So as in previous cycles, where At the Movies had to go off the air for creative or financial reasons, Ebert somehow finds a way to revamp the format and get it back on the air. As he says, the program was a “success,” And fans have been supportive, offering to launch a Kickstarter campaign to save the show. That still might work. But for the time being, time ran out.
