Movie critic Roger Ebert, who after cancer could have retired, has become a billboard of the man who refuses to quit. In that spirit, Ebert is returning to his roots by reviving his At the Movies program on PBS.
The revived series will be shot in Chicago – where it began with Ebert and cohost Gene Siskel – and will be broadcast nationally. It will be hosted by AP critic Christy Lemire and NPR critic Elvis Mitchell. Ebert will produce along with his wife, Chaz Ebert, and will contribute new segments to the program via a computerized voice.
Regular contributors and occasional co-hosts will be Kim Morgan of Los Angeles and Omar Moore of San Francisco, both respected and popular film bloggers.
The new program will air in January 2011, and in addition to reviewing new movies will expand into coverage of New Media, special segments on classics, on-demand viewing and genres, and an extended website. It will use the copyrighted “Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down” format made famous by Siskel & Ebert.