Two Thumbs...uh, I mean, we really liked this movie...

Well, now, THIS has gotta be the weirdest contract issue I've ever heard.

Granted, the whole "thumbs up" thing was invented by Roger, and trademarked by Roger AND Gene way back when, but you reach a slight impasse in negotiations and Disney STRIPS THE THUMBS from the show, just to be safe?

I mean, huh? Ebert's NAME is still attached to the show, but we can't have any thumbs on there until we get this settled? Even Roger seems to be amazed at the silliness of the whole thing. At least the Balcony Archive's content hasn't been affected by all this hooey...yet. (One imagines a WWE-esque editing job where any sign of the offending thumbs have to be blurred out for future usage.)

I can't let this pass without mentioning my favorite personal Ebert anecdote (forgive me if you've read this one before)...back in 1997, I bought Roger's book "Questions for the Movie Answer Man" and noticed that on the cover photo - a picture of Roger cupping his chin, Thinker-style - his hand seemed to be positioned to subtly suggest the classic "Thumbs Up" pose. I wrote to his then-active Movie Answer Man e-mail account to ask if this was intentional. He wrote back, "Someone FINALLY noticed the thumb! Congratulations!"

I responded, "Great! What do I win? :)"

Roger replied, "This: Thumbs Up! - Ebert"

So I can honestly say that, in my lifetime, I got a Thumbs Up from Roger Ebert.

And for right now, I have one more than the show itself does.