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Roger Ebert reflects on the Siskel & Ebert show
July 27th 2008 23:18
Roger Ebert has finally shut the book on the "Ebert and Roeper" show, the syndicated movie review show that started out as the "Siskel & Ebert" show, as I knew it, but went by the longer title, "Siskel & Ebert At the Movies".
Ebert has started writing a blog, which is a fabulous vehicle for him to compose his thoughts. After the surgery, he's unable to talk like he used to, but his mind is still acutely sharp, full of wit and penetrating lore. His reflections on the past really comprise the history of modern cinema.
One of his recent posts, "The balcony is closed", talks about the formation of the "Siskel & Ebert" show, a program that I grew up with and assumed had been on television for all of known time. I had no idea that the two hosts had such troubles as this:
Roger reflects on this video:
"Did Gene and I hate each other? Yes. Did we love each other? Yes. Somehow an outtake from a promo session has found its way on YouTube, where in a single take you can see us bitterly sniping at one another and then happily joking together. It was like that. "You have the entire staff in terror of you," I told him. "That's funny," he said. "That's what they tell me about you." We were both terrible to work with. And great to work with."
Great stories, too... like when they first appeared on "The Johnny Carson Show" and were told at the last second that Johnny would probably ask them what their favourite movie of the year was:
"Gene and I stared at each other in horror... Neither one of us could think of a single movie. Gene called our office in Chicago. "Tell me some movies we liked this year," he said. This is a true story."
I haven't owned a television in a long, long time, but if I did, I'd be upset if there wasn't reviewing on the same level of quality as the "Siskel & Ebert show", one of the only places, as Roger says, that would tell you if a movie was bad. Who else had the courage to stand up to the massive marketing machines?
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