Ricki Lake: Gloria Gaynor

She did survive, and continues to.

Ricki Lake: Gloria Gaynor
Syndicated
1993 or '94
Talk Show
VHS
C+

While it's nice to see Gaynor perform "I Will Survive," the idiot director decided to do some annoyingly '90s special effects, like one where the images stutter.  (It's not my VHS, it's a technique from that time.)

The Arsenio Hall Show: Siskel & Ebert and Miranda Richardson

The Arsenio Hall Show: Siskel & Ebert and Miranda Richardson
Syndicated
March 26, 1993
Talk Show
VHS
B-

Arsenio gets boxing gloves for Gene and Roger since this is right after the spoiler debate about The Crying Game, which Miranda has an opinion on of course.

Siskel & Ebert: The Worst of '92 [fragment]

Siskel & Ebert: The Worst of '92 [fragment]

Sperm bank comedy

Syndicated

January 4, 1993

Movie Review

VHS

B

Stallone is tagged again for Stop or My Mom Will Shoot, while this time Goodman is tagged for The Babe and Long for Frozen Assets, which is both Gene and Roger's pick for worst of the year, but it was watching Roger crack up trying to describe Shining Through (a WW II drama with Melanie Griffith as a bilingual strudel-baking spy and Michael Douglas as the spy who fakes a throat injury to avoid speaking German) that pushed this up from B- to B.  I left out a couple of the movies when I taped this, but I should note that I liked Toys with Robin Williams when I saw it a few years later.

Siskel & Ebert: Enchanted April

Siskel & Ebert: Enchanted April
Syndicated
August 8, 1992
Movie Review
VHS
B

Gene and Roger fall under the enchantment of the movie, which I gave an A-: http://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2015/02/enchanted-april.html.

Siskel & Ebert: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

Siskel & Ebert: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
February 1992
Syndicated
Movie Review
VHS
B-

Roger and Gene review what they both consider one of the worst movies ever.  Includes shots of Stallone's naked butt that somehow made it onto TV.

Siskel & Ebert: Guilty Pleasures [fragment]

Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man

Siskel & Ebert: Guilty Pleasures [fragment]
Syndicated
May 2, 1992
Movie Review
VHS
B-

I omitted the horror movies the guys recommended.  Roseanne is tagged because Roger again recommends She-Devil.  And Emma Thompson is tagged for The Tall Guy, another Roger recommendation, which Gene can't fathom, nor Earth Girls Are Easy, but then he recommends Lambada!  This is the 900th B- I've given, but it is the default grade.

Siskel & Ebert: "Stella" and "Men Don't Leave"

Siskel & Ebert: "Stella" and "Men Don't Leave"
Syndicated
February 3, 1990
Movie Review
VHS
B

Sisbert reviewed other movies but these are the only ones I taped that week.  As they note, that Roger likes the former and Gene the latter highlights a lot of their differences.  For the record, I still haven't seen either movie.  This is the 2100th TV show I've reviewed, and we've barely started the '90s.

Siskel & Ebert: "You Blew It!"

Siskel & Ebert: "You Blew It!"
Syndicated
May 12, 1990
Movie Review
VHS
B-

While it's interesting to see what Roger and Gene thought the other was wrong about, or they both thought the audience was wrong about it, and why, I had to mark this down because none of the movies sound at all appealing.  Begley and Barr are tagged for She Devil, Murray for Scrooged.

Siskel & Ebert: The Worst of 1989

"Mood slime"

Siskel & Ebert*: The Worst of 1989
Syndicated
Early 1990
Movie Review
VHS
B-

Gene and Roger organize the movies into trends, although these overlap.  The movies that the tagged stars were in:

• Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray for Ghostbusters II
• Tony Danza for She's Out of Control
• Shelley Long for Troop Beverly Hills 
• Richard Pryor for Harlem NIghts
• Burt Reynolds for Physical Evidence

*As near as I can tell "& the Movies" was dropped from the title by this time, maybe earlier, but this was the first I noticed.

The Phil Donahue Show: Jane Fonda [fragment]

The Phil Donahue Show: Jane Fonda [fragment]
Syndicated
September 1972
Talk Show
VHS
B

Phil's hosting has improved in the couple years since the previous episodes and this feels overall more balanced, politically and otherwise.  "Hanoi Jane" would still be controversial 45 years later, but even the woman in the studio audience who thinks that the Communists are going to take over the world recognizes that Fonda is earnest and sincere.  Jane also looks impossibly young at 35 and she does come across as naive, although many of her points, particularly about Nixon, are valid.  (She references Watergate and gets little response.)  This is the 500th B I've given to a TV show.

The Phil Donahue Show: Rev. Bob Harrington and Madalyn Murray O'Hair

The Phil Donahue Show: Rev. Bob Harrington and Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Syndicated
March 1970
Talk Show
VHS
B-

"The Chaplain of Bourbon Street" debates "the most hated woman in America."  It may be just my own biases, but Harrington comes across as smarmy and O'Hair as likable.  As in the Jerry Rubin episode, Phil is an awkward host, at one point facepalming over a simple phone call.  This is an edited together version of two episodes, one with a surprisingly good-natured one-on-one conversation between the two guests, and the other with the callers and studio audience.  Harrington is still a believer (he has a Facebook account); O'Hair was murdered, along with a son and grandson, in 1995, by a typesetter who worked for her organization, American Atheists.

This is the 1000th program I've reviewed from the 1970s!  And it won't even be the last.  But I promise I will get back to the '90s soon.

The Phil Donahue Show: Jerry Rubin

The Phil Donahue Show: Jerry Rubin
Syndicated
April 1970 (see below)
Talk Show
VHS
C+

As Phil himself says in the end, this is disappointing and could've been an interesting discussion.  This re-aired in 1988 as part of a "Golden Oldies" week, but, except for a brief introduction, the episode is basically intact from eighteen years earlier.  Rubin, a few years before he would indeed take the advice to cut his hair and put on a suit (he eventually became a multimillionaire and a Republican), spends most of his time ranting and not listening to other people.  It's clear this is a performance piece, and Phil, a relative newcomer, doesn't know how to balance the guest, the studio audience, and the callers.  The irony that Rubin sees Donahue as "plastic" is rich in retrospect of course, and certainly Phil by '88 had more left-of-center cred than Jerry did.

Out of This World: I've Got a Secret

Out of This World: I've Got a Secret
Syndicated
May 28, 1988
Sitcom
VHS
B-

This is another episode I thought came later in the run, not realizing till I watched the whole thing again that Evie revealing the truth is all a dream.  Her father does a nice rendition of "Dream a Little Dream" at the end.  As with IGSS, I don't have every episode by a long shot, but what I taped earned 3 C+s and 2 B-s.  It's a cute little show but not an undiscovered gem by any means.

Kirk Findley played an unknown character here and in the "Mosquito Man" movie episode.  Jay Ingram, who plays Lt. Col. South (think Oliver North) would be Sidney Caldwell on Who's the Boss? the next year.  Buzz Belmondo, Steve Burton, and Christina Nigra return as Buzz, Chris Fuller, and Lindsay Selkirk respectively.

Relatively Speaking: Roger and Louie Anderson

A different episode of
the short-lived series

Relatively Speaking: Roger and Louie Anderson
Syndicated
First half of 1989
Game Show
VHS
B-

This is the "celebrity" portion of the program, with the stars trying to guess what other star is related to the person answering yes-or-no questions, with help from host John Byner.  Besides Farr and Martin, the panel includes Sally Strothers and an actress I want to say is named Melody but I don't know.  I laughed a few times but I can see why this wasn't a hit series as the set-up is a bit clunky.

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies
Syndicated
January 7, 1989
Movie Review
VHS
B

A sometimes laugh-out-loud look back at Gene and Roger's bottom-of-the-list movies.  Willow makes Gene's list, although unlike Pauline Kael, he and Roger don't mention the character named after them (Sisbert of course). Hanks and Field's Punchline is on both lists.

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Hail, Hail, Black & White

Exhibit A

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Hail, Hail, Black & White
Syndicated
May 20, 1989
Movie Review
VHS
B-

Gene and Roger discuss the beauty and power of black & white films.

At the Movies; Bright Lights, Big City and Beetlejuice

At the Movies; Bright Lights, Big City and Beetlejuice

Syndicated

Early Spring of 1988

Movie Review

VHS

C+

Rex Reed and Bill Harris in Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel's old show, here an abbreviated version with just the two movies, BLBC released on April 1st of that year, and Beetlejuice on March 30th.  I've never really had much interest in seeing either movie, but this certainly is a period piece, including the animated opening credits.

Siskel & Ebert 500th Anniversary Special

Siskel & Ebert 500th Anniversary Special

Rough beginnings

Syndicated

June 3, 1989

Movie Review

VHS

B-

While it's undeniably interesting to take a look at fourteen years of Sisbert's teamwork (it's their 500th episode, obviously not 500 years), I'm not sure how well this all holds together, especially in front of a live audience.  My favorite part is probably the segment on their experiences growing up at the movies, particularly now that I've read Ebert's biography.  And there's a different sort of poignancy to Roger asking Gene in all earnestness "if we really hate each other or really like each other."  Gene teasingly promises to answer next special, but we know, especially now, that they loved each other like brothers.

Of particular note in retrospect are their comments on not having any influence on the issues of changing the ratings system and letterboxing.  They thought in the '80s that they had lost, but NC-17 came along in 1990, and the shift from VHS to DVD (and later Blu-Ray) helped make letterboxing more acceptable.  Danny Thomas and Bob Hope appear in one of the many parodies sprinkled throughout the show, while the other three men I've tagged are from late night talk show appearances.

The Wil Shriner Show: Dr. Science Interview

The Wil Shriner Show: Dr. Science Interview
Syndicated
1987 or '88
Talk Show
VHS
C+

I'm sorry but Shriner is just not a very interesting host and his audience seems apathetic.  I recall Science's show as quite funny, but little of that comes through here.

Siskel & Ebert & The Movies: Oscar Nomination Surprises for 1987

Siskel & Ebert & The Movies: Oscar Nomination Surprises for 1987
Syndicated
February 20, 1988
Movie Review
VHS
B-

What it says on the tin.  I'm tagging Barbra because they show a clip of her in Nuts, although they don't think she deserved a nomination but they thought she might get one.