* What a shocker that Siskel is way more upset about it than Ebert.
* Ebert was smarter and more self-aware than Siskel.
* Siskel comes off as unhinged, irrational, and completely emotional about it. While Ebert seems to be trying to be light about it, Siskel seems dead serious.
* I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. This “Jew + Catholic gang up on the WASPs” stuff used to be so normal—friendly banter among three diverse peoples, equal in dignity and self-confidence in late 20th century America.
Heaven help anyone who tried this today…
* That was my initial thought, too … Poor Siskel is probably suffering from his brain tumor.
But then I looked it up:
“Siskel was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor on May 8, 1998. … Siskel died from complications of another surgery at the age of 53 on February 20, 1999.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Siskel
But in this clip Ebert mentions the President is Irish (i.e., Reagan), so this was almost a decade before Siskel’s diagnosis or more.
* I remember the Roger Ebert separate interview. Roger said that on their show, before they went on the air, Gene would make a show of getting upset with Roger about some thing or the other. Roger had the insight to realize that this was a pretend put-on by Siskel, designed to raise his own emotional energy level for the show. Joan Rivers responded that Roger was a nice guy. I realized that Siskel was a manipulative asshole.
* Siskel’s favorite movie—I shit you not—was Saturday Night Fever. He even went so far as to buy Travolta’s disco suit from the movie. I lost all respect for the man when I heard that.
Either Siskel had a secret attraction to men or he had a weird longing to hang out at an Italian-ghetto version of 54, but either way, he let that cloud his judgment on what was a silly little movie.
It’s amazing that these two guys who essentially did product reviews got such cultural cache.
* Ebert seems to be more relaxed and chatty, but Siskel stays in character and is the better comic talent, IMHO.
It’s a type pairing as old as American TV and double act comedy. The angry, earnest, slightly dim guy and the relaxed, smart, smiling counterpart. Ed McMahon to Johnny Carson, Jerry Hubbard to Barth Gimble and the Smothers Brothers are three random examples.
* Ebert is more intelligent than Siskel but Siskel is very aware of his act and knows how to work it.
Ah, for the days when ethnic groups could just vent off steam about each other right in public. Makes for a better world.
* Ebert was the best movie reviewer of his time, possibly ever. When I was a kid I had a bible-sized compilation of Ebert movie reviews, and eventually I think I read the whole thing, many reviews more than once. The quality of Ebert’s writing was very high, but you had to read a lot of him to realize this. He does not show off with obscure words or obscure references like WF Buckley or Dennis Miller as extreme examples of these annoying techniques.
In terms of simply enjoying his prose, my favorite Ebert reviews were probably his rare “no stars” reviews, generally for movies that were both really bad and morally offensive.
Even now, when I feel like watching a movie, I just go to the online archive of Ebert reviews and read through a few 4-star reviews until I see one that seems to be worth reading.
For TV, however, Ebert is usually too quiet and low energy to sustain one’s attention, which you can see by watching clips of Ebert alone v. with Siskel. They had great chemistry and Siskel knew how to bring out the best in his partner.
* All in the Family was pretty great in its era, five years straight at #1, but it’s not watchable today. I’m not sure why.
* From the perspective of someone younger seeing shows from the 50s to early 80′s in reruns:
The best of the wacky sitcoms have aged pretty well: I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Mr. Ed, Bewitched, Green Acres, Dennis the Menace
The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents had big budgets and very talented writers and actors and completely transcend their era.
The Dick Van Dyke show had two of the best comedians at their prime and a lot of witty writing.
The Donna Reed Show, Little House on the Prairie and My Three Sons all had traditional, positive moral messages while still being entertaining.
In general I wish Americans, especially children, would watch older shows like these more, as they invariably depicted white Americans as a fundamentally good people, just the opposite of how we are now portrayed on television.
* There was an oddball (and offensively hilarious, since it is unusual to see popular media types put on the spot and out of character) interview of Siskel and Ebert by Howard Stern that might still be found somewhere. Stern was good at antagonizing his “guests” to elicit a rabid response and with Siskel and Ebert he was true to form.
In the interview, Stern starts off with friendly enough banter but soon begins interrogating Ebert about having a black girlfriend, questioning Ebert about his “jungle fever”. Then Stern remarks that he was shocked and surprised that Ebert had a black girlfriend, not because the woman was black, but because he thought Ebert was gay.
Ebert, visibly shocked, then weakly counters that he thought Stern was gay, and the interview deteriorates from that point on into pointed attacks back and forth.
Ebert soon cleverly shifts the subject to Howard Stern’s behavior and character, stating that “this is not the real Howard Stern that we are seeing with his abusive and derogatory manner.” Stern, being the narcissistic fellow that he is, takes the bait and the discussion becomes all about Howard Stern, leaving Siskel and Ebert to quickly vacate.
You can imagine the two media pundits Siskel and Ebert openly walking into what they think will be an easy and amusing time, only to be broadsided with abuse and calumny, all in the name of ratings and dubious taste.
* No less an unz.com luminary than the Derb has gone to the mat for the brilliant greatness of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. It is very much in the same vein as ON THE WATERFRONT — a film about working-class white people making consequential choices about their lives. The kind of people Hollywood doesn’t make films about anymore. The kind of people who are waking up this year, in case you haven’t been reading this blog.
* Siskel graduated as a philosophy major at Yale in 67, when Yale meant something besides being PC Central. He’s no dullard. And he’s likely the equal or superior to Ebert IQ wise too.
He was also a regular at Bulls games in late 70′s until his death. He was far more eclectic in his tastes than was Ebert.
