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At The Movies, that started with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, and then continued on with Richard Roper after Siskel’s death, is going through a major change.
According to Chicago Tribune both Roeper and Ebert are no longer with the show and after 33 years Disney is going to take the show in a different direction.
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. 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.”
Roger Ebert issued the following statement:
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. 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
I wonder when we will find out the reasons these two decided to leave. What “direction” have they decided to take the show, that has brought about the ire of these two men?
Pulitzer Prize-winning American film critic, Roger Ebert’s Ninth Annual Overlooked Film Festival opens Wednesday night at the University of Illinois at Urbana. In spite of his battle with cancer, Roger will be in attendance.
 This year I won’t be speaking, however, as I await another surgery.
I have received a lot of advice that I should not attend the festival. I’m told that paparazzi will take unflattering pictures, people will be unkind, etc.
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. As a journalist I can take it as well as dish it out.
So let’s talk turkey. What will I look like? To paraphrase a line from “Raging Bull,” I ain’t a pretty boy no more. (Not that I ever was. The original appeal of “Siskel & Ebert” was that we didn’t look like we belonged on TV.)
What happened was, cancer of the salivary gland spread to my right lower jaw. A segment of the mandible was removed. Two operations to replace the missing segment were unsuccessful, both leading to unanticipated bleeding.
A tracheostomy was necessary so, for the time being, I cannot speak. I make do with written notes and a lot of hand waving and eye-rolling. The doctors now plan an approach that does not involve the risk of unplanned bleeding. If all goes well, my speech will be restored.
So when I turn up in Urbana, I will be wearing a gauze bandage around my neck, and my mouth will be seen to droop. So it goes.
I was told photos of me in this condition would attract the gossip papers. So what?
I have been very sick, am getting better and this is how it looks. I still have my brain and my typing fingers.
Although months in bed after the bleeding episodes caused a lack of strength and coordination, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago restored my ability to walk on my own, climb stairs, etc.
I no longer use a walker much and the wheelchair is more for occasional speed and comfort than need. Just today we went for a long stroll in Lincoln Park.
We spend too much time hiding illness. There is an assumption that I must always look the same. I hope to look better than I look now. But I’m not going to miss my festival.
source: suntimes
Gilbert Gottfried has won a dubious honor, presented by a newspaper you’ve never heard of.
Comedian Gilbert Gottfried, the voice of the Aflac duck in television commercials for the insurer, was crowned “unsexiest man in the world” by an alternative newspaper Tuesday. “The parrot-voiced, pickle-faced comic is to sexy what Kryptonite is to Superman,” The Boston Phoenix wrote.
New York Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson came in second followed by film critic Roger Ebert, television psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw and Fox television co-host Alan Colmes. Even actor Brad Pitt made the list, as the newspaper’s 100th-least sexy man. Osama bin Laden clocked in at number eight.
George Steinbrenner, owner of the Yankees — arch-rivals to the Boston Red Sox — also made the list. “Come on, we live in Boston, you knew it was coming,” the Phoenix said.
Others included pop star Michael Jackson and nasal-voiced rapper Mike Diamond (Mike D) of the Beastie Boys.
I’ve never given much thought to Gottfried’s sexiness, although am not surprised that it is considered minimal. He is certainly among the world’s most annoying people, though.
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