The criticism of Lyons surely stems from a combination of things, some of which you mentioned.

The unfair part comes from jealousy *and* a natural dislike of ANY new host of any show with beloved figures like Siskel/Ebert/Roeper (hell, just look at the youtube comments when Wes/R.J. or Michael Shure host TYT  alone). Mix in the fact that the new hosts are of a different mold and the show is in a new format and you have a real recipe for harsh critici sm.

And yes, there is probably some constructive criticism as well. The problem is that it's hard to weed out because of the unfair stuff noted above.

Finally, there is the snowball effect. I'm referring to the fact that once an early impression is set (positive or negative), it just snowballs. Unfortunately that means that people who've never really even seen the show develop an unfavorable impression based on what they've heard.

Worse yet, if they do eventually watch the show they view it through a preformed negative frame of reference, paying extra attention to things that fit their preconceived notions while ignoring and rationalizing away the things that contradict it.

by Tom Hanc on 01/05/2009 05:53:33 PM EST