Ebert & Roeper

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Ebert & Roeper (formerly Siskel & Ebert) is a popular movie-reviewing television program starring film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, both of the Chicago Sun-Times. It airs in syndication in the United States and on CTV in Canada. It was formerly co-hosted by Gene Siskel until his death, when he was replaced by Richard Roeper.

Contents

1 Broadcast history
2 Review style
3 Special programming
4 Pop culture
5 External links

Broadcast history

The show originally starred Ebert and Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune, representing the two largest papers in Chicago. It began as a PBS program produced at Chicago's WTTW titled Coming Soon to a Theater Near You (1975), later Sneak Previews (1978), and quickly became a hit by public television standards. Eliot Wald (1946-2003) created the show. In 1981, when asked to agree to an unfavorable syndication contract, the pair decided to produce their own program under Tribune Entertainment titled At the Movies. After brief legal action, PBS continued Previews with different hosts. In 1986 the critics moved on once again to Buena Vista Entertainment, the television division of Disney, and changed the title to reflect the common nickname for their show, Siskel & Ebert & The Movies. A brief controversy flared questioning whether the critics would retain their integrity while working for a Hollywood studio.

Roger and Gene often had notable tastes in movies and directors, and as a result heated arguments and spats were what gave the series popularity. Many viewers considered such "fights" to be the highlight of the program. Despite their on-air debates, the critics maintained a mutual respect and friendship off screen, a fact visible in their joint appearances on the talk show circuit, especially on David Letterman's shows.

In 1998, Gene Siskel was hospitalized for treatment of a brain tumor. For a few weeks, the show was filmed with Siskel on the telephone and Ebert in studio. In February 1999, Siskel announced he was taking a leave of absence for further treatment of the tumor, fully expecting to return. Less than three weeks later, Siskel died from complications of the surgery.

Ebert continued the show, with the title, Roger Ebert At The Movies, frequently joined by guest critics.

This continued through the end of the 1998-99 season and into 2000 before Ebert named fellow Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper as his new permanent co-host. That led to the September 2000 name change to reflect the new partnership, Ebert & Roeper At The Movies, a title that paid homage to the original title of the Siskel and Ebert series after they joined Disney in 1986, but the show's name was shortened to the current name, Ebert & Roeper, in 2001.

In 2004, it was Ebert's turn to fight cancer. Despite debilitating radiation treatments for tumors on his thyroid and a salvary gland, he would write 274 reviews that year, plus 26 essays on great movies and 26 installations of his column "The Movie Answer Man." He even covered various film festivals (including Cannes) and the Oscars. Unfortunately, complications from that surgery lead to an emergency operation in 2006, one which has shelved a week of Ebert's print reviews. (Ebert's Ebert & Roeper appearances continued, having been taped in advance.)

Review style

The hosts review a number of recently-released movies per episode, taking turns providing a narrative critique interspersed with studio-supplied clips, moving into a back-and-forth debate over the merits, and beginning with the Siskel & Ebert incarnation, wrapping up the show with each critic giving each film a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to indicate an overall recommendation. This departed from longstanding tradition in the profession of portraying the recommendation to a number of stars. As the show became more popular, many movie studios would proudly proclaim that their movie got "Two thumbs up" in their advertising when Siskel and Ebert both liked their film. In response, the pair had the phrase trademarked to ensure against fraudulent use that would endanger its credibility.

In the later incarnation of the program, the new pair introduced a new gesture, "The Wagging Finger of Shame" to mark films that the film companies won't allow critics to have a standard advanced screening of, generally considered a clear sign of a production of seriously poor quality or of a low-confidence in the movie on the part of the producers. The Wagging Finger of Shame was introduced during the weekend on April 16-17, 2005. Examples of this are:

This segment has been since discontinued by Ebert because he felt that the studios weren't taking him and Roeper seriously, while Roeper has commented that too many films (11 in 2006 so far as of April 7, 2006, compared to two by that date in 2005) are being unscreened by critics. [link]

In addition, the show would recommend films coming on the home video market, which later also included comments on special features included in DVD releases.

Special programming

Occasionally, special shows are produced that focus on particular aspects of film or home video. The show gives the hosts a convenient soapbox to feature their opinions on such issues as film colorization, letterboxing, the MPAA film rating system, product placement, independent filmmaking, and social issues. Every year, they do an Oscar preview and lobby for their favorites; these shows do appear to have some influence in Hollywood. Also, at the end of every year, the two run down their top 10 films from that year, followed the week later by their rundown of their 10 worst films from that year.

In addition, when circumstances warrant, the regular episodes sometimes devote a few minutes for the hosts to give their opinions of a current issue or pay tribute to something.

Pop culture

Some films and TV episodes have included references to Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, and later, Richard Roeper:

In Big Fat Liar in 2001 a producer named Marty Wolf responded to a child's criticism about his movies by saying "Well everybody has a dry spell, Ebert."

Ebert appears as a constellation on South Park giving a thumbs down. Despite the fact that he has no other bearing on the plot, the episode was named "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods", referring to Ebert's weight issue.

The two-headed monster in the movie Willow was called the Ebersisk.

The 1998 movie Godzilla has a Mayor Ebert (played by actor Michael Lerner, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Ebert) and his assistant Gene. At one point, Gene gives Ebert the "thumbs-down". In his review of the movie, Ebert joked about this stating that "now that I've inspired a character in a Godzilla movie, all I really still desire is for several Ingmar Bergman characters to sit in a circle and read my reviews to one another in hushed tones."

An episode of Animaniacs had an episode featuring Hisskill & Eggbert, and they looked very much like their live-action counterparts.

An episode of the animated series The Critic featured Siskel and Ebert, who dubbed their own voices.

The Canadian TV series Royal Canadian Air Farce had a segment with Roger Abbott playing Ebert and Don Ferguson as Siskel. Abbott's Ebert mocked the real Ebert's weight, often eating fried chicken during the reviews. The catch phrase was "The balcony is closed, but the snack bar is always open." There is also a long running skit on Air Farce which involves Roger Abbott playing a character named Gilbert Smithe who judges movies and always hates them.

In the opening of an episode of The Simpsons, Homer and his family are watching a show similar to Siskel & Ebert, hosted by obvious parodies of the real critics, where the reviewers get into an argument over the latest McBain movie, to which Homer muses aloud, "I love watching the bald guy argue with the fat tub of lard," unwittingly parodying himself.

In another episode of The Simpsons, the family go see Siskel & Ebert: The Movie, which the marquee advertises being given "two thumbs up" by Siskel & Ebert themselves. The scene was later used as part of a trailer for THX.

The Bloodhound Gang song "The Bad Touch" includes the line: Yes I'm Siskel, yes I'm Ebert and you're getting two thumbs up.

Siskel & Ebert also appeared in person on a segment on Sesame Street. When asked by Big Bird about their opinions on Cinderella, they argued over the merits of the fairy tale and whether a "thumbs sideways" was a valid recommendation.

An episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm entitled "The Grand Opening" featured a food critic who gave Larry David's restaurant a poor rating. Larry then turned around and broke both of the critic's thumbs in a heated game of kickball (a takeoff on Ebert's two thumbs rating system). Larry David used this episode as retaliation for giving his movie, Sour Grapes, a zero star rating in his newspaper column.

The web comic Neglected Mario Characters contains a parody of the show Ebert and Roeper entitled "Q-Bert and Doppler."

In episode 4x14 of The X-Files, Mulder and Scully discover a severed thumb among some medical waste, and Mulder quips, "Siskel or Ebert?"

In an episode of Full House, while Stephanie and DJ are arguing, Danny comes in and says, "Siskel, Ebert! Stop yelling at each other's throats!"

In Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration, dinosaur hosts Rex and Herb (anthropomorphic versions of Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert) introduce several segments featuring clay animation and Christmas music.

SCTV parodied Siskel (Joe Flaherty) and Ebert (Dave Thomas) three times. The third appearance, in a 1989 HBO special, had Martin Short's Ed Grimley character dream of Siskel accidentally shooting Ebert during an argument.

In the Season 3 episode of Newsradio titled "Sleeping", Dave Foley imagines a comatose Stephen Root telling him that if he wanted to have a conversation about movies, he'd have "hired that guy Siskel Ebert to do your job."

In an episode of Bizarre, a series that appeared on Showtime pay-tv in the early 80's, comedian John Byner played Roger Ebert with another series regular playing Gene Siskel. The pair argue enough over a movie that it comes to blows, sending "Ebert" over the back of the theater seats.

A MAD Magazine article entitled "TV Predictions of the Future" (from the mid 80's) predicts that, in a future episode of Siskel & Ebert, a heated debate would "end in gunplay".

External links

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