A rather interesting video of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert bickering while filming a promo for Sikel and Ebert and the Movies back in 1987 came online today.
Highlights include Siskel saying, “Well said.” to Ebert, to which Ebert replies, “Oh, a compliment rarely paid to you.”
Not to mention Siskel saying, “All this this week on Siskel…and Ebert…and the movies…and the asshole(that’s Roger).”
Now, I’ll admit, I figure the guys were simply friends who were bickering because of some random debate they had just prior to shooting. It got me wondering, though, were these two friends or did the not like one another? I mean, the whole “fat short” and “tall thin” one became such a cliche, they needed each other for a show.
Were they friends?
Oh, here is the video. I believe the link is 100% safe for work, though there is a chance my adblocker blocks inappropriate ads. Mods, please delete link if it isn’t acceptable.
They were never friends. They were rival critics from rival newspapers. I’m sure they respected each other as professionals, but they weren’t going to be having each other over for Thanksgiving.
I’ll add that I found this nice article about Siskel, written by Ebert, that details that they had a love/hate relationship, but in the end they had deep respect and friendship.
1987 was sometime in their first year working together. They completely loathed each other back then. Man, those early shows had some good ssipes. That they were able to come back from THAT kind of animosity seen in the clip to the far more jocular he’s-fat-he’s-bald jokes they were known for later is astounding.
They were rivals, antagonists, uneasy colleagues, respected professionals and then finally friends.
Regarding when they started working together, I clearly remember watching them in the late 70s/early 80s. Wikipedia claims they started in 1975.
In any event, I’ll agree with Askia in that there seemed to be a progression from genuinely not liking each other to some level of mutual respect and friendship. Those are just my recollections from interviews they’d done over the years.
Their first series together ran on the Chicago PBS station, WTTW, and was called Sneak Previews. From their they jumped to WGN and a show called At the Movies. Finally they gave in to the obvious and named the show after themselves when it moved to the CBS afiliate (which might’ve been 1987).
That’s a rather oddly-worded article, especially for a professional writer. To summarise:
"*Gene and I used to hate each other. Man, we hated each other. I mean, holy crap. He stole stories and opportunities from me, and that sucked. Bastard.
Anyway, during his life, he did some other stuff that had nothing to do with me. Here’s some of the stuff he did. He liked sports. He knew a lot about the stuff he liked. He had some opinions, none of which had anything to do with me. So yeah, he did all that.
Then it grew into friendship and love. The end.*"
Ooooookay. Well, thanks for filling us in on the REAL story, Rog. It’s all crystal clear now.
LAAAATE. My favorite part is when they stop bickering and start going on, together, about Protestants (WASPs, to be specific). I love how everybody’s got their group on which they blame all of the world’s problems (I’m glad I escaped being the subject of someone’s candid rantings, for once).
I get the feeling that as their show took off and as they became America’s (presumptive) Favorite Movie Critics, with the attendant appearances on The Tonight Show and elsewhere, they learned to like each other at a rate directly indexed to the rise in their respective net worths.
