Matt Singer presents a detailed history of the various iterations of the movie review TV show where Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel debated film quality. The show started out on a Public Broadcasting Station in Chicago and later morphed into a national syndicated weekly program.
Matt Singer documents the hostility Siskel and Ebert had for each other over many years of working together. Both men were competitors: Ebert reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times (winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1975) while Siskel was the film critic at the Chicago Tribune.
From the start, the Siskel and Ebert relationship was antagonistic. But, over time, the relationship mellowed. Of course, the money factor impacted Siskel and Ebert. Starting at earning a few hundred dollars per week at the local PBS station, the Siskel and Ebert show grew in popularity and secured multimillion-dollar contracts for a national syndicated series.
Sadly, the Siskel and Ebert partnership ended in 1999 when Gene Siskel died of brain cancer. Ebert died in 2013 after a long battle with salivary gland cancer, thyroid cancer, and cancer of the jawbone.
Despite their differences, both Siskel and Ebert loved movies and their movie review show–with its famous “Two Thumbs Up!”–helped to promote cinema and changed film criticism. Were you a fan of Siskel and Ebert? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: Coming attractions — 1
Ebert before Siskel — 15
Siskel before Ebert — 35
Opening soon at a theater near you — 57
The first-take show — 79
Rompin’ stompin’ film criticism — 103
Two thumbs up — 127
Across the aisle — 147
Hooray for Hollywood –165
Get to the crosstalk — 185
The future of the movies — 201
The balcony is closed — 217
Ebert & Roeper & Lyons & Mankiewicz & Phillips & Scott & Lemire & Vishnevetsky — 233
Epilogue: Until next time, we’ll see you at the movies — 261
Appendix: Buried treasures that Siskel and Ebert loved — 277
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 297
NOTES — 301
PHOTO CREDITS — 331
INDEX — 333