Siskel & Ebert Season 3 Episodes

Episode 1

Moon Over Parador/Eight Men Out/Running on Empty/The Thin Blue Line/Crossing Delancey

Sat, Sep 3, 1988

Episode 2

Gorillas in the Mist/Patty Hearst/Sweet Hearts Dance/Miles from Home/Dead Ringers

Sat, Sep 24, 1988

Episode 3

Punchline/Heartbreak Hotel/Memories of Me/Bird/Kansas

Sat, Oct 1, 1988

Episode 4

Alien Nation/Elvira: Mistress of the Dark/Imagine: John Lennon/Salaam Bombay/Track 29

Sat, Oct 8, 1988

Episode 5

The Accused/Another Woman/Madame Sousatzka/Hotel Terminus/Clara's Heart

Sat, Oct 15, 1988

Episode 6

Things Change/Bat*21/Without a Clue/Mystic Pizza/Daffy Duck's Quackbusters

Sat, Oct 22, 1988

Episode 7

What's Right and Wrong on Home Video

Sat, Oct 29, 1988

Episode 8

Everybody's All-American/U2: Rattle and Hum/The Good Mother/Little Dorrit/A Cry in the Dark

Sat, Nov 5, 1988

Episode 9

The Movies That Made Us Critics

Sat, Nov 12, 1988

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert discuss the movies that helped make them critics and the movies that have made the most impact on them while critics. The first movie that made an impression on Siskel was Walt Disney's Dumbo (1941), particularly the scene in which Mrs. Jumbo is separated from her son and the one with the Little Engine That Could. The first for Ebert was A Day at the Races (1937), in which Harpo seemed to be smiling directly at him. Both critics make the same choice for the first adult movie to make an impression on them: A Star Is Born (1954). Ebert particularly remembers the suicide. The first movie that made them think of movies as an art form? For Ebert it was La Dolce Vita (1960); for Siskel, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). As critics, each found a movie that became a touchstone. For Siskel it was Last Tango in Paris (1972); for Ebert, Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Their most unpopular reviews were both pans for popular movies. Ebert's was for Blue Velvet (1986), a movie Siskel joined the majority in praising. Siskel's was for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), although Ebert points out that he and many other critics disliked it as well.

Episode 10

Last Rites/Oliver & Co./The Land Before Time/Far North/Child's Play

Sat, Nov 19, 1988

Episode 11

Cocoon: The Return/Full Moon in Blue River/Scrooged/Hanna's War/Buster

Sat, Nov 26, 1988

Episode 12

The Naked Gun/Dakota/Mississippi Burning/Vincent

Sat, Dec 3, 1988

Episode 13

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels/Tequila Sunrise/Twins/My Stepmother Is an Alien

Sat, Dec 10, 1988

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert review four new movies and recommend two videos. A split vote on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) about two comic confidence tricksters. Both agree the plot is predictable when it is pretending to be surprising, but Ebert thinks the two leads, Michael Caine and Steve Martin, are funny enough that they overcome this weakness. Siskel thinks they're funny individually but don't really mesh as as a team. Another split vote for the stylish modern film noir, Tequila Sunrise (1988). Ebert thought the plot was too confusing; Siskel thought it held up long enough to be worth recommending. Two thumbs up for _Twins (1988/I)_, a comedy with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger as unlikely brothers. The movie nearly falters in the last two-thirds with a standard movie chase, but recovers well enough to be worth seeing. A split vote on the sci-fi comedy, My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988). Both liked Kim Basinger's wacky performance, but Ebert thought the movie as a whole was uninspired, while Siskel thought it was funny enough to give a pass. For the video recommendations, Siskel chooses Stay Hungry (1976) with Schwarzenegger in a supporting role; Ebert picks Wise Guys (1986) with DeVito.

Episode 14

Working Girl/I'm Gonna Git You Sucka/Rain Man/Torch Song Trilogy/Haunted Summer

Sat, Dec 17, 1988

Episode 15

Talk Radio/Hellbound: Hellraiser II/The Accidental Tourist/The Boost/Pelle the Conqueror

Sat, Dec 24, 1988

Episode 16

The Best Films of 1988

Sat, Dec 31, 1988

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert each makes his choice for the ten best movies of 1988. The lists have only three movies in common, and the top choice of each does not even appear on the other's list at all. Siskel's list: #10: Working Girl (1988), #9: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), #8: Hôtel Terminus (1988), #7: The Thin Blue Line (1988), #6: Midnight Run (1988), #5: The Accidental Tourist (1988), #4: Little Dorrit (1987), #3: Bull Durham (1988), #2: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), #1: The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Ebert's list: #10: Running on Empty (1988), #9: Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987), #8: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", #7: Wings of Desire (1987), #6: A Fish Called Wanda (1988), #5: Salaam Bombay! (1988), #4: Shy People (1987), #3: "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", #2: "The Accidental Tourist", #1: Mississippi Burning (1988).

Episode 17

The Worst Films of 1988

Sat, Jan 7, 1989

Episode 18

Beaches/We Think the World of You/Dangerous Liaisons/The January Man/36 Fillette

Sat, Jan 14, 1989

Episode 20

Physical Evidence/Parents/Gone with the Wind (50th Anniversary)/The Dressmaker

Sat, Jan 28, 1989

Episode 21

Her Alibi/Three Fugitives/Lawrence of Arabia/Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects/Voices of Sarafina

Sat, Feb 4, 1989

Episode 22

Cousins/The Mighty Quinn/True Believer/Tap

Sat, Feb 11, 1989

In addition to reviewing four movies, Gene and Roger have a tribute to actor/director John Cassavetes.

Episode 23

Oscar Surprises for 1988

Sat, Feb 18, 1989

Episode 24

Chances Are/Paperhouse/The 'Burbs/Bert Rigby, You're a Fool/High Hopes

Sat, Feb 25, 1989

Episode 25

New York Stories/Farewell to the King/Lean on Me/Out Cold

Sat, Mar 4, 1989

Episode 26

Jacknife/The Adventures of Baron Munchausen/Skin Deep/Chocolat

Sat, Mar 11, 1989

Episode 27

Fletch Lives/Slaves of New York/Leviathan/Rooftops/Police Academy 6: City Under Siege

Sat, Mar 18, 1989

Episode 28

Video Treasures

Sat, Mar 25, 1989

Episode 29

The Dream Team/Sing/Troop Beverly Hills/Crusoe/Powwow Highway

Sat, Apr 1, 1989

Episode 30

They'll Do it Every Time: Part One

Sat, Apr 8, 1989

Siskel and Ebert share some of their favorite cliches that keep cropping up in film after film.

Episode 31

Winter People/Say Anything.../Field of Dreams/She's Out of Control/Dead Calm

Sat, Apr 15, 1989

Episode 32

Hidden Horror

Sat, Apr 30, 1988

On this special episode, Siskel and Ebert highlight some lesser-known horror films that get their seal of approval.

Episode 32

See You in the Morning/Disorganized Crime/Speed Zone/Checking Out/Little Vera

Sat, Apr 22, 1989

Episode 33

Miss Firecracker/K-9/Criminal Law/Scandal/84 Charlie Mopic

Sat, Apr 29, 1989

Episode 34

Lost Angels/The Return of Swamp Thing/Getting It Right/Listen to Me/La Letrice

Sat, May 6, 1989

Episode 35

Earth Girls Are Easy/How to Get Ahead in Advertising/See No Evil, Hear No Evil/For Queen & Country/The Rainbow

Sat, May 13, 1989

Episode 36

Hail, Hail, Black and White

Sat, May 20, 1989

This is not a show about how much Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert hate colorization, Ebert tells us, although they do hate it. No, this is a show about how much the two movie critics love black and white. And to show their love for this kind of cinematography, they fill the program with generous clips of black-and-white movies, old and new. In fact, even the critics themselves appear to us for the first time in black and white. They begin with clips of recent pictures from Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Each director had to earn the right to make his movie that way. Filming in black and white is something the critics believe that every movie director would love to do. They also compare scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938) with similar scenes from its color remake. And they compare Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in black and white to the same dancing duo in color. They show black-and-white clips from movies in various genres - horror, science fiction, comedy, etc. - and demonstrate how black-and-white photography enhances each one. Finally, each critic picks his three favorite black-and-white moments in the movies.

Episode 37

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Miracle Mile/Pink Cadillac/Road House/Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills

Sat, May 27, 1989

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert review Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Miracle Mile (1988), Pink Cadillac (1989), Road House (1989) and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989).

Episode 39

Star Trek V/No Holds Barred/Dead Poets Society/Let's Get Lost/Renegades

Sat, Jun 10, 1989

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert review Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), No Holds Barred (1989), Dead Poets Society (1989), Let's Get Lost (1988) and Renegades (1989).

Episode 40

Spike Lee

Sat, Jun 17, 1989

In this special episode, Siskel and Ebert look at three films from Spike Lee.

Episode 41

Batman/Honey, I Shrunk the Kids/Tummy Trouble/Ghostbusters II/Kung-Fu Master!

Sat, Jun 24, 1989

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert review current releases. They disagree on Batman (1989), which takes the superhero out of his camp world of the 1960s and puts him in a darker, more adult film. Siskel enjoyed the serious approach, while Ebert thought the movie was filled with hostile characters we can't care about. The critics mainly agree on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989). Ebert thought the special effects were terrific, but the storytelling was lousy. Siskel agrees about the storytelling and adds that the characters are not especially bright; but he doesn't even concede the movie looks good. Instead, it has that bland Disney look that he finds boring. "Honey" is preceded by the Roger Rabbit cartoon, Tummy Trouble (1989), which both critics liked, though they agree the cartoon alone is not worth the seven-dollar admission. Ebert adds in a side note the disheartening news that new Tom and Jerry cartoons will be made with the characters talking. Why make new cartoon shorts, he asks? There are hundreds already in existence, and they should appear in front of all family movies. Both critics are badly disappointed by Ghostbusters II (1989), a movie they believe doesn't even try to be good. Finally, the critics both like Kung-Fu Master! (1988), the oddly titled French film that takes a taboo subject (a romance between a 40-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy) and treats it with delicacy and real feeling.

Episode 42

Video Discoveries

Sat, Jul 1, 1989

Episode 43

Lethal Weapon 2/The Karate Kid Part III/Great Balls of Fire/Weekend at Bernie's/A Taxing Woman Returns

Sat, Jul 8, 1989

Episode 44

Licence to Kill/Peter Pan/When Harry Met Sally

Sat, Jul 15, 1989

In addition to reviewing Licence to Kill, Peter Pan, and When Harry Met Sally..., Siskel and Ebert pay tribute to Sir Laurence Olivier, who had recently passed away.

Episode 45

UHF/Valentino Returns/Shag

Sat, Jul 22, 1989

Episode 47

Sex, Lies, and Videotape/Young Einstein/Parenthood/The Music Teacher

Sat, Aug 5, 1989

Episode 48

New Faces of 1989

Sat, Aug 12, 1989

In this special episode, Siskel and Ebert examine actors that made an impression on them in 1989.

Episode 49

Casualties of War/Rude Awakening/Uncle Buck/The Abyss/A Chorus of Disapproval

Sat, Aug 19, 1989

Episode 50

The Package/Wired/Cookie/Little Monsters/The Little Thief

Sat, Aug 26, 1989