Thumbs Up for Siskel, Ebert

THE SHOW

Siskel & Ebert, 6:30 p.m. Sundays on ABC.

THE SETUP

Fashion critics “Wolfgang Jones” and “Bubba Versailles” review their counterparts in film and video, Gene Siskel (right) and Roger Ebert (left).

THE LOOK

Jones: There certainly is a level of clothing coordination here that I haven’t seen since the do-wop groups of the ‘60s.

Versailles: Definitely. What do we have? Two pairs of chinos, two black sport jackets, two sweaters, two open-collar sport shirts.

Jones: I see a trend forming. That kind of consistency isn’t fate, of course. Could it be some David Lynch-esque message of decay in the Heartland? A loss of individuality?

Versailles: I doubt it. What they’re saying with their clothes, I believe, is that “Even though we disagree on some movies, we’re the same.”

Jones: True, Bubba, there is a universality about it. A cosmic message, almost. Thumbs up or thumbs down, we are all the same in our clothes.

Versailles: But what about the open shirts and no ties, Wolf? Is it another element in the cosmic message or is the goal a casual contrast to the harshness of their movie reviews? Is it a message that gets muddied or are they simply expressing some joie de vivre? Jones: Ebert may be, but Siskel, with the chest hairs popping out of his collar is going for a hard-edged masculine ideal: “I may review movies, but I can also handle power tools.”

Versailles: Ebert’s glasses carry his carpe diem theme even further, don’t you think? I mean, could they get any bigger? Siskel is using this color statement to play with us.

THE LABELS

Versailles: These clothes are beyond labels.

Jones: And most better department stores.

THE RATING

Jones: Thumbs up, most assuredly.

Versailles: I agree. I just wish I had more than two thumbs to give them.