''At the Movies'' (also known as ''At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert'') is an American movie review television program that aired from 1982 to 1990. It was produced by Tribune Entertainment and was created by

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

and

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

when they left their show ''

Sneak Previews ''Sneak Previews'' (known as ''Opening Soon...at a Theater Near You'' from 1975 to 1977 and ''Sneak Previews Goes Video'' from 1989 to 1991) is an American film review show that ran for over two decades on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It wa ...

'', which they began on Chicago's PBS station,

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). The ...

, in 1975.

Background

For ''At the Movies'', Siskel and Ebert adopted the same format they had used in their previous series, ''

'': two critics from opposing newspapers view clips from the week's new movies, discuss them, then pass judgment expressed in thumbs up (to approve) or thumbs down (not worth seeing). During this run, they would adopt several elements that would make the show lively. For example, they would bring on an animal called "Spot the Wonder Dog" to help lead into a segment called "The Dog of the Week," covering the week's worst movie. Later, they used another animal, "Aroma the Educated Skunk." Siskel and Ebert would also occasionally feature an "X-Ray segment," in which they discussed current trends happening in the movies. None of these features were carried over when Siskel and Ebert left Tribune/PBS in 1986 over a contract dispute and created '' Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'' with Buena Vista Television, whose title was later shortened to simply ''Siskel & Ebert''. (The show re-adopted the ''At the Movies'' portion of the title in 2007.) They were replaced on ''At the Movies'' by film critics Rex Reed and Bill Harris, the latter a gossip correspondent for ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...

'' (''ET''). Under Reed and Harris, the show expanded beyond movie reviews, adding show business news and gossip. Harris left in 1988 and was replaced by former '' ET'' host Dixie Whatley.

References

External links

* 1982 American television series debuts 1990 American television series endings English-language television shows Film criticism television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Gene Siskel Roger Ebert Television series by Tribune Entertainment Siskel and Ebert {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub