[1] At the time two of the most well-known film critics writing for Chicago newspapers (Siskel for the Tribune, Ebert for the rival Sun-Times), the two were first paired up as the hosts of a monthly show called Opening Soon at a Theatre Near You, airing locally on PBS member station WTTW.
[2] In 1978, the show — renamed Sneak Previews — was expanded to weekly episodes and aired on PBS affiliates all around the United States.
[8][9] Ebert continued with the series with rotating guest hosts[10] which included Martin Scorsese,[11] Janet Maslin, Peter Bogdanovich, Todd McCarthy, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Kenneth Turan, Elvis Mitchell, and the eventual replacement for Siskel, Richard Roeper.
[19][20]Siskel and Ebert's professional rivalry was noted in Matt Singer's 2023 book Opposable Thumbs.
Ebert responded saying: I don't know what he did as a child, but I spent a lot of my Saturday matinees watching science fiction movies and serials and having a great time and being stimulated and having my imagination stimulated and having all sorts of visions take place in my mind that would help me to become an adult and to still stay young at heart.
[23] Previously, Siskel and Ebert had separately agreed on Z and The Godfather before sharing the same opinion on Nashville, The Right Stuff, Do the Right Thing, GoodFellas, Schindler's List, Hoop Dreams, and Fargo.
Eight times, Ebert's top selection did not appear on Siskel's; these films were Small Change, 3 Women, An Unmarried Woman, Apocalypse Now, Sophie's Choice, Mississippi Burning, Eve's Bayou, and Dark City.
In 1985, Ebert declined to rank the Holocaust documentary Shoah as 1985's best film because he felt it was inappropriate to compare it to the rest of the year's candidates.
The pair also advocated for up-and-coming filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Steve James, Quentin Tarantino, Jane Campion, Michael Moore and Werner Herzog.
For example, in 1981, Siskel and Ebert had viewed Errol Morris' Gates of Heaven (1978) and reviewed the film twice on separate episodes on Sneak Previews.
[24] In 1990, they interviewed Scorsese, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg on a special titled "The Future of the Movies", highlighting the importance of film preservation.
[26] They especially decried the lack of an Academy Award for Best Picture for Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989), and James' Hoop Dreams (1994).
Normally, Siskel and Ebert would refuse to guest-star in movies or television series, as they felt it would undermine their "responsibility to the public.
At one point during a high speed chase, Captain Harris shouts: "Look out for Gene and Roger's fruit stand!
"[35] This was because Siskel and Ebert hated both the cliché of fruit stands being destroyed in movie car chases and the Police Academy film series.