Jobs in Reviewing: The Regular Guy
In the annals of movie review history, a few names loom large: Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, two newspaper movie reviewers - Siskel from The Chicago Tribune and Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times - who came together in various televised review shows (Sneak Previews, At the Movies) for many years, between 1975 and 1999. The duo was incredibly well-known while also being uniquely Chicago.
But what’s in a name?
After all, you don’t always agree the stuffed shirt Bozos of the world, do you? Sometimes you just want a recommendation from someone normal, someone true, just a no-nonsense regular guy.
Well thanks again, Chicago, because you brought us Going to the Show with a Regular Guy.
Who’s Dis Guy?
In reality, the Regular Guy is a character created by Marty Lennartz, longtime producer/host/Creative Assistant to Programming of Chicago’s WXRT (ahem- Chicago’s Finest Rock).
According to multiple interviews, Lennartz states he was producing Terri Hemmert’s morning show in 1984, which carried a syndicated minute long Roger Ebert movie review/news segment. When the segment suddenly ended, leaving a programming space to be filled.
Here’s Lennartz on the dilemma:
I thought, wouldn’t it be funny if on that first morning without Roger, in his place would be just some guy reviewing a movie. So, I reviewed Mel Gibson’s remake of “Mutiny On The Bounty”. I did it in the same format as Roger’s except instead of “At The Movies”, I called it “Goin’ To The Show and I’m Just A Regular Guy” and did a little minute and a half thing.
The “Regular Guy” that Lennartz invented that morning speaks in a heavy Chicago accent, and talks about movies in a everyman style. It’s the type of conversation you might overhear waiting to ask the attendant to put $20 on pump #3.
Instead of Ebert’s Pulitzer Prize-winning style, Lennarts says “it’s a blue-collar look at the movies, as well as a way to satirize film reviewers,” and even if you aren’t from Chicago, The Regular Guy’s reviews make you feel like you’re listening to a friend.
Here’s just a snippet I’ve transcribed of what he said about Avengers: Infinity War:
It’s the culmination of 10 years, 18 movies, multiple post-credit teases, and over 30 characters. And just about everybody in the Avengers universe is here. Gotta tell ya, they should sell scorecards outside the show to keep it all straight!
See, but they gotta band together to take on this Thanos character, he’s the Mad Titan and they been teasing this guy at the end of movies for years. And his bid to collect all the Infinity Stones?- which I guess he can then redeem for valuable prizes like… all the power in da universe - is the reason that all a’these Avengers are here.
Even Avengers who ain’t even Avengers are here, like the whole Guardians a’the Galaxy crew, AND Rubber Band Man, too. I mean the song, by the Spinners; when the Guardians show up, that’s what they’re playing.
It’s relaxed. It’s not serious. It sidewinds as it tells its story, and that’s why it works. The Regular Guy has been going to the show regularly since his inception up to, well, the start of the pandemic. It’s not easy to go to the show when there’s no show to go to, especially for a Regular Guy.
Will he return? I suppose time will tell.
But until he does, his past reviews can be enjoyed in podcast form HERE, in bite-size two-minute episodes.
Even if the Regular Guy has officially turned in his popcorn bucket, he is a testament to the power that every regular person has, no matter how regular their voice. If you think you’re silly, boring, or unspectacular, forget that. Take it from the man who is the Regular Guy:
People liked it. I said: `Whoa! It was like a one-time thing. You want me to do this all the time?
You never know; people might like exactly what you’re bringing to the table, improvised, silly, or otherwise.
PS: If we were getting paid, we might say something like “WXRT is an Audacy radio station, and you can listen on Audacy at any time HERE.” But we’re not getting paid. So we’ll just say “Audacy used to be called Radio.com, but now it’s not. Weird. Kind of a lateral move if you ask us.”
