TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 13: Film critic Roger Ebert arrives at “Damsels In Distress” Premiere at The Elgin during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2011 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
The film critic’s revamped television show will be canceled at the end of the season, he says, unless an underwriter steps in. Ebert and his wife, Chaz Hammel-Smith, have been personally backing the show since January, and they can no longer afford to foot the bill. (Explains Ebert, on his blog: “We paid for the pilot. We paid for the titles. We paid for the set, the lighting, and all of the salaries … lunch on taping days, everything.”) Ebert and Hammel-Smith are still looking for last-minute investors; they have until the end of the month to make new arrangements. One word, guys: Kickstarter.
