When did Siskel&Ebert At The Movies start airing on US TV???
On the website, they only go back to 1986! But I've seen reviews with them on youtube, that go as far back as 1982!
Posted by Lloyd_Dobler (Member # 7119) on :
I think they were local in Chicago beginning in about '75 or '76.
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
Yes, I think 1975 was the first year they worked together--a small miracle in its own right since for the prior decade they were basically at each others throats in their respective papers trying to, as Siskel once put it, kill each other in print.
Posted by JAY LEE (Member # 6345) on :
So far back? Cool, would love to see their initial thoughts on flicks like JAWS, STAR WARS, ALIEN, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS.... not that I (almost) ever agree with them, but its fun to see their reactions to classics, without the benefit of hindsight!
Posted by StevenHW (Member # 509) on :
[Reviving this thread, in light of the fact the "At The Movies" show is going off the air this weekend.]
As for Jay Lee's question:
quote:When did Siskel& Ebert At The Movies start airing on US TV???
On the website, they only go back to 1986! But I've seen reviews with them on youtube, that go as far back as 1982!
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert appeared together on a TV show called "Sneak Previews" on PBS, in the mid-1970's. Before, they used to appear separately on local (Chicago) TV stations. Because of a contract dispute, they left PBS in 1982, and got their own syndicated show later that year, called "At The Movies".
"At The Movies" ran from 1982 to 1990, when it was made by Tribune Media. And when Siskel & Ebert left again because of another contract dispute, Buena Vista/Disney created a new show for them with a slightly altered title. After Siskel died of a brain tumor in the late-1990's, several critics filled in for him. Then, Richard Roeper (a big fan of 80's movies, and particularly, John Hughes movies) was hired fulltime to take over Siskel's spot. Then it became "Ebert & Roeper."
When Ebert left due to this thyroid condition, several critics and filmmakers and actors filled in for him, until finally, A.O. Scott of the New York Times took over.
Then Disney made the stupid mistake of wanting to go for a younger demographic by getting rid of Roeper and Scott, and hired two 20-somethings named Ben Mankiewics and Ben Lyons. Lyons was horrible, completely clueless, and said that the Will Smith movie "I Am Legend" is one of the great movies of all time! And he did that only to get his name and quote in the advertising poster!
Anyway, the ratings with the two Bens were so low, that they got rid of them last year, and Disney brought back Scott and another critic, Michael Phillips (of the Chicago Tribune) for the next season.
But now, Disney had announced that, after 24 seasons, the show is going off the air for good this weekend. Ebert said that he would like to get involved in a totally new movie review show, but nothing has been produced yet.
I'm going to miss this show! :-(
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
And regards of what comes up, Ebert has sole use of the thumbs-up/thumbs-down rating, as he trademarked it personally a while back.
Of course, Sesame Street fans will remember the early incarnation of their show sparked that great running series with Oscar and Telly "Sneak Peak Previews," where they'd watch vintage film clips of various show segments from over the years (after Telly kept inadvertantly sitting in a broken seat and falling, spilling his popcorn everywhere) and rate it afterwards (with Phooeys and Wows).
Posted by xchazx (Member # 7158) on :
i wish someone would take every show they ever made together and put them out on dvd. i loved watching them talk about movies. they were on 7pm saturdays during the 80's and i'm pretty sure i never missed an episode. they are the only two reviewers who's opinions i ever cared about.
Posted by mamamiasweetpeaches (Member # 1715) on :
Next weeks show is the last one for the "two new guys". I still watched the show but never gave it as much serious regard as I did with Ebert, who is the best one EVER in my opinion. (I liked Siskel too, but if the two of them disagreed about something I usually took Eberts side).
I know you can find old clips of them reviewing movies on the AT THE MOVIES website but like XCHAZX said if they came out with box sets of their old shows Id watch them even though the reviews are for "old movies". Its still interesting to see what they have to say and watch them fight like an old married couple.
Posted by StevenHW (Member # 509) on :
Oops! My mistake! It turns out that NEXT WEEK will be the show's last episode.
This past weekend, they were discussing some of the more overrated and underrated musicals.
And Michael Phillips' choice for the most underrated musical happens to be an 80's movie! It's "Pennies From Heaven", with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. And I agree! I don't know why this film got criticized upon back in the early 80's. I guess the audience couldn't get used to seeing Steve Martin as a song-and-dance man in a 1930's Depression-era story, instead of being this "wild and crazy guy" persona.
Posted by mamamiasweetpeaches (Member # 1715) on :
I walked out of the room when they were discussing STEP UP 3D thinking they were gonna pan the movie and by the time I walked back in they were praising it! I have to go on the website and watch the whole review: Id love to know what made them rave about it!
I remember my father would watch Pennies From Heaven whenever it was on cable . Im gonna have to rent that.
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
I used to watch this all the time in the 80's and 90's on Sunday night where I was......but honestly Roeper always annoyed me and I never agreed with him....funny how his favorite movie was Ferris Bueller right? yet his opinion on others movies was always weird??
It is fun to look up on youtube old shows of theirs about classic movies......I actually started a post a long time ago about how they gave Better off Dead two thumbs down and ripped it a new one?? HA!
I just watched The Today show interview with Roger Ebert this morning....I knew he had thyroid cancer but hadn't realized he had lost his ability to speak. I've been following his twitter and check reviews on his website when i'm looking up movies.....not like I always agree....but he's fun to read.
He's chose to keep doing what he's always done so well and let nothing stop him.
Staying up late and watching Siskel and Ebert really is a great memory for me......I was always a movie nerd.
I just found the youtube site mentioned above.....for anyone that wants to have some fun reminiscing Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
Thanks for the links, MT. Roger has had to deal with some horrific health issues, but he's an incredible trooper--very inspiring that he keeps doing what he loves despite everything. (I may be a little biased in liking him because he used one of my submissions in his "Ebert's Little Movie Glossary" book. )
I would say that S&E were the two most influential critics ever for elevating the discussion of movies in the U.S. Sure, there were others who were more scholarly and literate--and better--like Andrew Sarris, J Hoberman, and Pauline Kael, but for the common filmgoer, nobody informed and educated like S&E. (They single-handedly got folks to see art films like "My Dinner with Andre.) I usually agreed more with Roger because he had a sensibility to realize that movies have to be judged individually, not against some platinum standard. Thus, he would praise stuff like "Class of 1984," recognizing that while it was an exploitation film, it was a well made and effective exploitation film. Gene Siskel was more of a traditional elitist film critic, but he was excellent too. (Both of them gave the original "Dawn of the Dead" the highest praise and said that it was one of the best horror films ever. Perfect!) And occassionally, each of them would get it so howlingly wrong that you had to laugh--Gene didn't like "The Silence of the Lambs" and Roger liked "Cop and A Half." Neither viewpoint is defensible! But they were terrific to watch in their heyday. (And I'd be willing to bet that a lot of their sparring and so-called "rivalry" was just a big put on. I think that after the shows they probably laughed all the way to the bank together.)
[ 14. September 2011, 12:11: Message edited by: Crash ]
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