Watch Siskel & Ebert Do Karaoke

Every few years Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert go viral. The compilations of their outtakes — which inevitably devolve into shouting matches and brutal insults — are all the time good for amusing. So is their evaluate of the comedy Cop and a Half, the place Siskel was completely gobsmacked (and presumably a bit of offended) that Roger Ebert gave the movie, which stars Burt Reynolds as a no-nonsense cop who groups up with an all-nonsense eight-year-old baby to unravel a homicide, a thumbs up evaluate. (“Wow! Where’s your big red suit and beard, Santa? You just gave them a gift!”)

It doesn’t matter that Siskel handed away virtually 25 years in the past, or Ebert has been gone for over a decade now; their bluntly trustworthy and typically hysterically humorous opinions stay completely shareable on-line clips. But there’s one clip that appears extraordinarily shareable that has, no less than to my data, by no means discovered the massive on-line viewers it deserves. And that’s the time that Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert … sang karaoke.

This fateful second within the historical past of tv (to not point out movie criticism) got here in 1989, as a part of one of many duo’s annual “Holiday Gift Guide.” For years within the Nineteen Eighties and ‘90s, Siskel and Ebert would host a bonus episode of their show that aired outside Siskel & Ebert’s common syndicated time slot, the place they might attempt to evaluate all the newest cinematic and technological toys and devices new for that yr’s vacation season.

Unlike the Holiday Gift Guides that may air on cheerful daytime discuss reveals, Siskel and Ebert did not merely current the merchandise with a fast phrase and a smile; they tried every little thing out — and in the event that they thought a selected merchandise sucked, they mentioned so. These weren’t infomercials; this was one thing nearer to a TV model of Consumer Reports blended with a Martin and Lewis routine.

Take, for instance, Gene Siskel’s cruel pan of a VHS tape referred to as Lady Lovelylocks and the Pixietails in 1987. The gimmick of the cassette: It allowed the purchaser to insert their very own image into an animated characteristic. Siskel tried it and was … nicely, let’s simply say he was underwhelmed by the outcomes. (And primarily based on the footage proven right here, rightfully so!)

READ MORE: George Lucas and Steven Spielberg Predicted Streaming Movies 30 Years Ago

Imagine getting that VHS tape underneath the tree for Christmas. Bah humbug.

The period of the Siskel & Ebert Holiday Gift Guide additionally coincided with the explosive rise of Nintendo and different dwelling consoles, and so Gene and Roger’s fumbling makes an attempt to grasp the newest gaming tech turned an annual spotlight of those episodes. In 1993, they used the notoriously crappy “Sega Activator” controller to show their perennial verbal sparring into an precise (online game) fist battle.

But all of these memorable moments pale earlier than the magic and majesty that’s Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert warbling a duet of the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreaming.” That passed off in 1989, throughout a prolonged section devoted to the sudden rise in recognition of karaoke at bars all throughout the nation. Finally, the second of fact arrived, when Gene and Roger themselves check out the Pioneer LaserKaraoke Player. And the one strategy to correctly attempt it out is by singing.

(Dogged movie critics that they’re, additionally they spend a number of the track critique the video that accompanies the lyrics.)

While I’m not positive I’d give Siskel and Ebert’s singing voices wildly optimistic opinions, I would give two enthusiastic thumbs up for his or her willingness to do karaoke, not simply in a Chicago bar, however on nationwide tv to an viewers of tens of millions. It’s one of many causes I really like Siskel & Ebert a lot;  they had been severe movie critics, however they didn’t take themselves too severely — and clearly they acknowledged that attempting out these merchandise, typically awkwardly and all the time competitively, made for nice tv. They didn’t comprehend it on the time, nevertheless it made for nice viral video too.