THE SISKEL & EBERT THREAD! Pics/vids/memories/etc. of all series (Roeper too).

[retrorussell]

Hey folks!
I've been binge-watching the old S&E episodes, from their humble beginnings in the 70s up to the death of Gene Siskel in the late 90s; even a little bit of Ebert & Roeper (who wasn't bad but not great).  Love S&E and their sometimes heated debates on certain films, their "Dog Of The Week" in which they each picked the worst movie of the week, with a little dog sitting with them.  They even later had a skunk with them!  Both were brilliant and especially the Pulitzer-winning Roger Ebert.  I miss them both terribly.  Here is a thread to remember them by and point out certain films you agreed with them over or disagreed.  Or maybe point out specific episodes!

Gotta go back to work; I'll add more entries later.  Have fun with this!

[Rev. Powell]

This site hosts most of their output: https://siskelebert.org/

No indication that it's official. It's only been up for about a month.

I just recently watched their "two thumbs down" review of WALKER, a movie I really liked that's now in the Criterion Collection. I was shocked how badly they treated it. Part of Siskel's argument seemed to be biased by the way the film was marketed: Marlee Matlin had just won an Academy Award and so Universal apparently tried to sell it as a new Marlee Matlin film even though she was barely in it. Deceptive marketing, sure, Gene, but don't criticize the movie because she only has a small part!

[retrorussell]

S&E's very humble beginnings back in 1975, then called OPENING SOON AT A THEATRE NEAR YOU (check out Gene's stache!)
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Followed by SNEAK PREVIEWS:
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I love the "Dogs Of The Week" segment; you can clearly see how much fun they both have picking on the really bad movies.  Spot the Wonder Dog is a serious cutie.  Dig the creepy old PBS closing from the 70s/80s! 

[retrorussell]

Timeline rundown:
1975-77: COMING SOON TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU
1977-82: SNEAK PREVIEWS


I did not yet mention that SNEAK PREVIEWS actually continued on, with three different reviewers!  If you have memories/pics/vids you want to share of them, feel free!  They were Neal Gabler, Jeffrey Lyons, and Michael Medved.  This non-S&E version of SNEAK PREVIEWS continued on until 1996. 

S&E returned later in 1982 with a new show, AT THE MOVIES.  This was produced by Tribune Entertainment and the two stayed on until 1986.  Other reviewers that appeared afterwards were Rex Reed, Bill Harris and Dixie Whatley.  This series lasted until 1990.  Again, post memories/vids/pics of these reviewers if you like.

S&E then starred in AT THE MOVIES in 1986, produced by Disney and ABC Domestic Television for syndicated markets.  Siskel stayed on until his death in 1999 of complications from brain tumor surgery (age 53), and Roger stayed on till 2008.  And yes, more reviewers appeared on the show: Richard Roeper from 2000-2008, Ben Lyons from 2008-2009, Ben Manciewicz from 2008-2009, Michael Phillips from 2009-2010, and A.O. Scott from 2009-2010.  The show was alternately called SISKEL & EBERT & THE MOVIES and AT THE MOVIES: EBERT & ROEPER.

Lastly, there was a final review show with Ebert called EBERT PRESENTS: AT THE MOVIES and was syndicated through American Public Television in 2011.  The producers were Ebert himself and his wife Chaz.

Roger Ebert died of various mouth cancers at age 70, in 2013.

[Sitting Duck]

S&E's very humble beginnings back in 1975, then called OPENING SOON AT A THEATRE NEAR YOU (check out Gene's stache!)

Combined with the brazenly Seventies wardrobe and he looks like he came off the set of a porn film.

Siskel and Ebert were practically the only film critics at the time who liked Popeye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPgNuzK5Y9A

[retrorussell]

AT THE MOVIES:
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SISKEL & EBERT & THE MOVIES:
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Dogs Of The Week on Sneak Previews, with Spot the Wonder Dog!  There were other (actual canine) dogs but Spot IMHO was the cutest and best-behaved (IIRC Sparky would not stay still).  The dogs would be prompted offscreen to bark to herald the introduction of the Dogs Of The Week.  The critics keep each other in stitches with their hilarious descriptions of the inane plot, dialogue, acting, etc.
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[Sitting Duck]

So far, there have been three MST3K movies that were selected as Dogs of the Week (at least among episodes available on YouTube). They are At the Earth's Core (Ebert, 12/21/76, technically a Dog of the Month), City on Fire (Siskel, 10/4/79), and Killer Fish (Siskel, 11/15/79). At this point, only one MST3K movie got a full review (a Double No obviously). It's Hangar 18, on which they put emphasis on the bait-and-switch tactics of the TV ad campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExFLzCqIt-c