Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert actually agreed about films most of the time, but since they were best known for the feuds in between, the legend grew that the two were always at odds with one another. Considering all of the films that they reviewed in their years together, they only disagreed about 30% of the time.
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave negative reviews to Best Picture winners. Siskel disliked Le silence des agneaux (1991) and Impitoyable (1992) while Roger Ebert disliked Gladiator (2000).
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert flipped a coin to determine whose name was first in the title. They originally planned to switch the order of their names every two years. The title became so well-known that they decided not to change it.
The weekend following Gene Siskel's death, Roger Ebert devoted the entire half hour to his memory. It was a clip show with footage from show's past, as well their history together as journalists and on television.
Roger Ebert hired Richard Roeper as a guest critic based on his wife, Chaz Ebert's recommendation. According to Ebert, after Roeper's appearance, every member of the crew told Ebert to hire him. Ebert also considered two other guest critics, but neither of them wanted to move to Chicago.