Last night I settled down in front of my TV, turned on the set and the DVR, and started watching the latest episode of Whatshisname and Roeper. A little way into the first review I stopped it and asked myself “Why am I watching this crap?” I stopped it and deleted the show.
I’ve been watching this show, in its various mutations, for something close to 30 years. I don’t actually remember when I discovered it on my local PBS station, but I seldom missed it. When I bought a VCR, one of the thoughts that went through my head was that I wouldn’t have to miss At the Movies because I was going to see a real movie that night.
The show had a lot going for it. More than just reviews and clips. By putting two critics together, neither could pretend their opinion was the unquestioned truth. When they argued, you got different opinions. When they agreed, you had consensus. It helped that they were both knowledgeable, worked well together, and clearly loved movies.
I guess I’m a creature of habit, reluctant to give up something I have loved for that long a time. But time itself was the enemy. First we lost Siskel to cancer, leaving Ebert to twist in the wind and find a new companion. I didn’t care much for his final selection–Richard Roeper–but I stuck it out because of Ebert and because of habit.
When health problems took Ebert off the show last year, I stuck with Roeper and his various guests, hoping that Ebert would come back. Ebert is active today in many ways–he writes, he reviews movies, and, I believe, he works on the show behind the scenes. But he’s lost his voice in his own battle with cancer, and we don’t know if and when he’ll be able to talk, and host a TV show, again.
So now Roeper appears to have a new permanent host, Robert Wilonsky. Neither of them impresses me with insightful understanding of the medium. Unless Roger gets his voice back, my TV-watching habits have changed for good.
Bayflicks 