Richard Roeper Blog

Gooped up on DayQuil and caffeine, having just arrived from Los Angeles, while standing outside a soundstage in Albuquerque, a couple of days away from going to Las Vegas, I was on the phone with my agent in Chicago when I got an email from Howard Stern’s producer in New York. For a quick second, I thought my head might actually explode. Well, not actually, but you know what I mean.

This was last week. While I was “on vacation.” (From my job as a columnist for the Sun-Times, that is.)

My travels began with a flight from O’Hare to Los Angeles for the Oscars and an appearance on “The Tonight Show” last Monday. After blogging and Twittering and “column-ing” about the Academy Awards on Sunday night, on Monday afternoon I headed over to the NBC studios in Burbank for a taping of “The Tonight Show.” A buddy of mine from Chicago happened to be in L.A. on business, and he was able to join me backstage and hang out as I went over the segment with producer Steve Ridgeway and chatted about movies with Jay. We were also able to enjoy a Stella Artois, thanks to the courtesy cart. Love the backstage courtesy cart.

I’ve been on “The Tonight Show”  more than 20 times over the last decade—-all thanks to my partnership with Roger Ebert. Roger and Gene were frequent guests on the Tonight Show, starting with the Johnny Carson days and continuing through the Leno era. They were also great favorites of David Letterman. On Letterman’s show, the first guest always departs before the second guest comes on. Once Julia Roberts asked Dave, “If the first guest doesn’t stick around, what are the two chairs for?”

“Siskel and Ebert,” replied Letterman.

After I was named as Roger’s permanent co-host and we had been on the air for about a year or so, the call came to do the “Tonight Show.” With Roger as the buffer, the appearances were always fun and exciting. We’d go out there and kick around the movies of the day, and the eight-minute segment would go by in a blur.

When Roger was sidelined, Jay Leno was the first guest co-host on “Ebert & Roeper.” After I did a guest shot on “Tonight,” we went across the lot to a makeshift balcony set and taped a full review show. Jay did this purely out of respect to Roger and the show.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been a solo guest on “Tonight” a handful of times. It’s never going to be the same without Roger there, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to talk movies with Jay and to promote this site and other projects, including my latest book. When I’m backstage, I always think about Roger and his wife Chaz, and all the great times we had before and after our “Tonight Show” appearances. (I’ll never forget a post-Tonight dinner with Roger and Michael Moore. At one point during a discussion of politics, Moore said to Roger, “And I thought I was a liberal!”)

Last Monday, the first guest was Simon Cowell, who sported an alarming display of man-cleavage and welcomed his fiance.

Simon Cowell on the Tonight Show

Then it was my turn. I think the segment went pretty well; got a lot of nice feedback. I never watch these appearances, because once they’re over, they’re over, and the idea of Tivo’ing myself or actually watching it in ‘real time’—-I don’t know. As it is I’m writing an extended blog entry about me-me-me, right? I don’t need to watch myself on television. But here’s the link anyway

RR on the Tonight Show

When we cut to a commercial break, Simon was very complimentary about my segment and also asked questions about the book and whether I had thought of turning it into a reality series. (The answer would be yes.) He talked about how much he loved Chicago and wished me success with the book. He was nothing like the guy who reduces contestants to puddles of despair on “American Idol.”

On Tuesday I was off to Albuquerque to tape a month’s worth of  segments for the Reelz Channel, including a piece with Casey Messer, host of “Movies & Music.”

Which brings us to that moment outside a soundstage in Albuquerque…

As I was locking in the deal to become Roe Conn’s co-host on WLS (890-AM), I was hearing from Howard Stern’s producer, Gary Dell’Abate, asking if I could join Howard in-studio in early April. With the blessing of the WLS brass, I confirmed the Stern appearance (as well as a number of other radio, TV and in-person promotional opportunities for the book). My official start date for the radio gig is April 12, which gives me time to honor my commitments to promote Bet the House and take care of some other business before we launch the show.

Phil Rosenthal column re: WLS gig

Robert Feder column re: WLS

Sun-Times story on WLS gig

As I leaving Albuquerque, I was doing interviews about the radio show and the book, powering off the iPhone just before I boarded a plane to Las Vegas, where I planned to play in the Wynn Classic, catch a Sox/Cubs exhibition game, share some good times and maybe even get some sleep.

It all worked out, and then some. I ended up finishing sixth in a tournament at the Wynn Classic, and I won’t punish you with details of the two-day experience other than to say I was the only non-pro at the final table, I ran very well and played pretty solid poker—and if my KK hadn’t gotten cracked by AQ, who knows, maybe I would have the whole thing. (I certainly would have been the chip leader.) It was still pretty exciting to mix it up with guys who have career winnings in excess of $1 million and to hang tough.

Now I’m back in Chicago, looking at a crazy-busy March and early April, followed by a new adventure that I’m really excited about. If you live in the Chicago area, I hope you’ll tune every day from 2-6 p.m. (Well, if you tune in every day from 2-6 p.m. I will come to your home and hug you. I’d be thrilled if you tuned in from time to time.) If you’re outside the listening arena, you can catch the show on podcast.

I’m still going to be writing the column, doing this blog, reviewing movies, appearing on Reelz Channel and writing books. Given the economy and the ever-dwindling number of opportunities for film critics, opinion journalists, radio hosts, et al., I feel insanely fortunate these days. If you look at the Comments sections under those stories about the WLS gig, you’ll see that a few people have worked themselves into a lather of hatred and envy over this latest news. That’s OK. Have at it. I always look at this way—-would you rather be the guy who has the jobs, or the guy who’s lurking anonymously on media message boards, spewing bile about someone else instead of working on his own career situation and obvious personal issues?

All I can do is work my ass off. Always have, always will.

Cheers!

RR

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 1:31 pm and is filed under In the News, Movies, Sports, TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.