A Pre-Show Primer For "Ebert on Oprah"

By Karl Klockars in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 1, 2010 8:00PM

The Ebert-centric media blitz that has engulfed the world in the wake of his Esquire profile comes to a head tomorrow, as the Almighty Rog takes to the Oprah stage to reveal his new "voice" and do his first on-camera interview since the surgery that took his true dulcet tones. It's the perfect storm of press - the cool Ebert-loving kids who follow him on Twitter and read his Journal, mashed up together with the teeming masses of Opraholics to make one big audience melting pot, coming together to watch the debut what is essentially a new take on the soundboard.

So, in advance of tomorrow's show, we've found one of Ebert's (along with Siskel's) appearances on the Oprah stage, from back in 1996 where they were onhand to rate the summer's biggest blockbusters. If not for the time-travel back to Roger's mid-90's television presence, it's worth watching just to wonder who the hell greenlighted a movie version of "The Phantom?" Yikes.