"Siskel & Ebert & the Movies" (1986)TV series 1986-????

Director:

Don DuPree

Seasons:

unknown

Release Date:

13 September 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Talk-Show

Plot:

Chicago critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert rate new movies with a thumbs up, or a thumbs down.

Plot Keywords:

Video | Movie Review | Film Criticism | Film Critic | Film Discussion

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys.

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Aug. 9	7:00 PM	Fox
Sun. Aug. 10	6:30 PM	Fox

Cast

Richard Roeper

...

Himself - Host / ... (77 episodes, 2000-2008)

Also Known As:

Ebert & Roeper (International: English title) (new title)
Ebert & Roeper and the Movies (USA) (new title)
Roger Ebert & the Movies (USA) (new title)
Siskel & Ebert (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Buena Vista Television

Trivia:

There is a widely held belief and the Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert disagreed most of the time. This is, in fact, not true. Actually they agree most of the time on either a negative or positive review but since they were best known for the feuds in between, the legend has grown that the two were always at odds with one another. Taken from all of the films that they reviewed in their years together they actually only disagreed about 30% of the time.

Quotes:

Roger Ebert: You know, I'm giving this one a marginal thumbs-up...
Richard Roeper: Who are you, and what have you done with Roger Ebert?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gorgo (#10.9)" (1998)

Gene, you will be missed

I write this two days after the death of co-host Gene Siskel, and somehow, it doesn't quite seem real yet. I've been watching the show religiously since 1990. In addition to getting to see clips from a movie, and being able to check my opinion next to two critics I respected, it also made good television. Gene was well-known as a basketball fan (the Chicago Bulls in particular), and watching the show was like watching a half-hour one-on-one game every week, though since the movies always changed, it rarely got boring, and while they probably agreed more than they disagreed, the creative tension between them was healthy and made for a dynamic show, considering it's just two guys talking about movies.

Although I probably agreed with Roger more, I identified with Gene more, because he always let you know where he stood, whereas Roger was more objective. And while some may have sniped about him and Roger making appearances on talk shows like Jay Leno and David Letterman, I always thought it was good that he understood that while movies were worth taking seriously, as well as writing about them, there was nothing wrong with having fun with yourself. I'm sure Gene would want people to still watch the show, so I will, but I will certainly miss him.