Ebert on time with Siskel: The balcony is closed
I was surprised how depressed I felt all day Monday, when Richard and I announced we were leaving the “Ebert & Roeper” program.
To be sure, our departures were voluntary. We hadn’t been fired. And because of my health troubles, I hadn’t appeared on the show for two years. But I advised on co-hosts, suggested movies, stayed in close communication with Don DuPree, our beloved producer-director. The show remained in my life.
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Now, after 33 years, it was gone — taken in a “new direction.” And I was fully realizing what a large empty space it left behind.
Yes, we’re hoping to continue the traditional format in a new venue, and taking the thumbs along with us. I’m involved in that, and it will be a great consolation. But somehow I thought the show that Gene Siskel and I began would roll on forever. How many other TV formats had survived so long?
I sat in my chair and day-dreamed ...
