http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/talking_pictures/2010/04/at-the-movies-canceled-michael-phillips.html
The show will conclude its Disney-ABC incarnation doing well in the ratings in the larger markets with the better time slots. And it will go out struggling in Birmingham, Ala., for example, where "At the Movies" airs at 3:05 a.m. Sundays. This is the problem, surmised EW TV critic Ken Tucker. In recent seasons, "At the Movies" has been "shunted off to lousy time periods in many markets around the country. The energetic, articulate discussions between Scott and Phillips was a rare thing to see at a time when Rotten Tomatoes-style aggregation of reviews reduces everything to my-opinion-is-as-valid-as-yours; the latest hosts faced hurdles that Siskel and Ebert never encountered." Well, who doesn't have it tough these days? Doing television, especially nerd television two nerds, talking about film culture high and low means working in a suspended Willy Loman state of feeling "kind of temporary" about yourself (Arthur Miller's indelible phrase) and your future. The contract says 13 weeks at a time. The marketing chief promises "a soft launch" in terms of promotion, with the implication that "soft" will be the operative word with the promotional follow-through.
