Format
The show featured two critics who would present short clips of movies in current release and then debate the merits of the films, energetically defending their remarks if the other critic disagreed. A designated "dog of the week" was also featured, with "Spot the Wonder Dog" barking on cue as an introduction. Episodes from the first seven seasons ended with one of the hosts saying "See you at the movies." Many episodes from season eight through fourteen and again from season seventeen through twenty-one ended with the hosts' reminder to "save us the aisle seats." Episodes from season eighteen through twenty (when it was known as ''Sneak Previews Goes Video'') ended with the hosts reminder to "don't forget to rewind that tape." Some episodes were known as ''Take 2'' shows which replaced the review of recently released films with themed topics such as "Women in Danger", and slasher films of the 1970s and early 1980s. On one occasion, Siskel and Ebert invited the viewer into a day in their lives as they screened films.History
The show first aired in 1975 in television, 1975 on a monthly basis under the name ''Opening Soon at a Theater Near You'' and, after two successful seasons, was renamed ''Sneak Previews''. The show originally featured Roger Ebert, a film critic from the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', and Gene Siskel, a film critic from the ''Chicago Tribune''. The two newspapers were competitors, and so were Siskel and Ebert. As Ebert wrote after Siskel's death in 1999: The tension between the two men made the show's production difficult and time-consuming at first: Over time the two men became close personal friends while remaining professional rivals, and Ebert described their relationship before Siskel's death as "no one else could possibly understand how meaningless was the hate, how deep was the love".Post-Siskel and Ebert
The success of the show led WTTW to decide to syndicate it to commercial television. Siskel and Ebert left ''Sneak Previews'' in 1982 in television, 1982, citing contractual differences with WTTW. They indicated that they were offered a contract and asked to "take it or leave it", and they chose the latter option. The two critics were soon featured in ''At the Movies (1982–1990 TV series), At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert'', a similar show created with Tribune Company, Tribune Entertainment and replaced in 1986 by a Buena Vista Television, Disney-produced long-running show first known as ''At the Movies (1986 TV program), Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'' (later adopting the title ''At the Movies'' in 2008). After Siskel and Ebert left the show, more than 300 critics auditioned to become their replacements, among them being legendary film critic Pauline Kael. Ebert's future co-host on ''At the Movies (1986 TV program), At the Movies'', Richard Roeper, auditioned while still a college student, for which he was obviously turned down. In 1982, WTTW signed Neal Gabler and Jeffrey Lyons (television), Jeffrey Lyons as replacements for Siskel and Ebert on ''Sneak Previews''. Because Siskel and Ebert had trademarked the phrase 'Two Thumbs Up', Lyons and Gabler would simply give a 'yes' or 'no' judgement to a movie they reviewed. Each post-1982 episode (with the exception of 1989 to 1991) ended with the catch phrase "Don't forget to save us the aisle seats." Neal Gabler left ''Sneak Previews'' in 1985 in television, 1985, citing philosophical differences with the direction of the show,"A Siskel & Ebert & Roeper timeline"Cancellation
Although ''Sneak Previews'' continued on PBS for 14 years after Ebert and Siskel left, the program did not maintain the popularity it enjoyed during their tenure. In 1983, Tom Shales of ''The Washington Post'' negatively said of the two critics hosting at the time (Jeffrey Lyons, Lyons and Neal Gabler, Gabler) as "two New York yokels...Jeffrey Lyons, to whom the notion of insight or analysis is more foreign than Jupiter, and Neal Gabler, who talks down to viewers as if they were all 3 years old and looks into the camera the way Dracula regards a vacant neck." The show's title was changed to ''Sneak Previews Goes Video'' in 1989, and concentrated on home video releases, but returned to its original title in 1991. PBS continued to broadcast the program until the spring of 1996, when it was cancelled. The final episode (which aired on May 24, 1996) included reviews of ''Dragonheart'', ''Spy Hard'', ''The Arrival (1996 film), The Arrival'', ''Homage'', and ''Welcome to the Dollhouse''. It was then followed by reruns of their "Back to the Beach Special" (which aired on May 31, 1996) and "Female Bonding" (which aired on June 7, 1996) specials from 1995.In popular culture
In the early-to-mid eighties to the early nineties, ''Sesame Street'' had a recurring parody sketch, "Sneak Peek Previews", which illustrated differences of opinion. In a run-down movie theater, Oscar the Grouch and Telly Monster together watched a short video segment, usually from the Sesame Street archives. After the video, Oscar invariably disliked it, and Telly enjoyed it, and they each told why. Siskel and Ebert appeared in one sketch in 1991 in which they instruct the hosts on how their thumbs up/thumbs down rating system works.Sesame Street - "Sneak Peek Previews" with SISKEL & EBERTReferences
External links
* * {{SiskelandEbert Film criticism television series 1975 American television series debuts 1980s American television series PBS original programming Television series by WTTW 1996 American television series endings English-language television shows Chicago television shows Gene Siskel Roger Ebert Siskel and Ebert