Roger Ebert Memo Regarding Ebert & Roeper At The Movies

[Jaimoe]

I like Roger and do indeed miss him - he's still active in print however. I was a bigger fan of Gene though; I find Roeper to be pretty good as a Gene type. The new show without Roger is still entertaining and influential.

Statement from Roger Ebert:

After 33 years on the air, 23 of them with Disney, the studio has decided to take the program named "Siskel & Ebert" and then "Ebert & Roeper" in a new direction. I will no longer be associated with it.

The show was a wonderful experience. It was a great loss to me when surgery in July 2006 made it impossible for me to appear on the air any longer. Although I remained active behind the scenes, I feel that Richard Roeper and several co-hosts, notably Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott, have excelled at carrying on the tradition Gene Siskel and I began in 1975 with "Sneak Previews" on PBS.

Gene and I felt the formula was simplicity itself: Two film critics, sitting across the aisle from each other in a movie balcony, debating the new films of the week. We developed an entirely new concept for TV that has lasted all these years. Few shows have been on the air so long and remained so popular. We made television history, and established the trademarked catch-phrase "Two thumbs up."

The trademark still belongs to me and Marlene Iglitzen, Gene's widow, and the thumbs will return. We are discussing possibilities, and plan to continue the show's tradition.

Roger Ebert

[Jaimoe]

Roeper has walked too:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1066861,feder072108.article

[Hux]

Don't you live near rockstars?

[Freak By Night]

I really enjoyed watching "Siskel & Ebert" and later "Ebert & Roeper". There are many movies which I didn't end up seeing, but I still remember what these guys said in their reviews.