Siskel & Ebert

Siskel & Ebert was an influential American television program where film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert reviewed movies. Their signature "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" judgments significantly impacted films' critical and financial success, guiding millions of moviegoers.12

The program began in 1975 as Opening Soon at a Theater Near You on local public television. It later moved to PBS as Sneak Previews and then to commercial syndication, eventually becoming known as Siskel & Ebert. The show's popularity stemmed partly from Siskel and Ebert's spirited, often argumentative discussions and diverging opinions. Gene Siskel was a critic for the Chicago Tribune, while Roger Ebert was the chief film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. Ebert was the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1975.123