In the fall of 2000, Roger Ebert introduced a new show and a new co-host.

I'm Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun Times, and I'm Richard Roper, columnist for the Chicago Sun Times.

In a taken Roger more than a year to find his new partner.

After Jean Siskel died in February 1999, Roger hosted a few episodes of Siskel and Ebert by himself.

But as Chaz Ebert remembers, he was never comfortable going solo.

He loved the back and forth between Jean and Jean, and he realized that that was something that he missed a lot.

And he said, let's find someone to replace Jean. It's going to be very difficult.

At first, Roger taped episodes with a series of rotating co-hosts.

Some more established newspaper critics, like Tom Shales, Kenneth Taran, and Wesley Morris.

Roger also recruited filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, who sat in during the show's best of the 90s episode.

Scorsese had heat and Malcolm X tied for number 10 on his list, which is kind of cheating.

But finding the right person to fill Jean's seat permanently was a tricky task.

Some long time fans, like David Letterman, thought it was a mistake to even try.

The show is worth doing. That is the only show on television.

Do your own show. Just do your own show. You have to have somebody else. Jean and I made a format, I think, that is important.

And it's the only show on national television that really seriously considers movies.

Tells you if they stink or not, and talks about little movies.

Well, that's all that's a big one. That's right. And you got to be...

One of Roger's most frequent guest hosts was Richard Roper, a Chicago newspaper writer.

Richard had been a Cisco and Ebert fan for years.

As a college student, he'd even audition for sneak previews when Jean and Roger left the show in 1982.

Like an idiot. I'm like, I could do that. So I sent in a VHS.

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