Applied before in history to anything. the phrase two thumbs up was not in use. people said thumbs up. so today when people say i give it two thumbs up, they re quoting us. that s what we trademarked. because we didn t want every film critic in the country to start doing that. reporter: in 1999, siskel died from complications stemming from a brain tumor operation. the show s title was changed to roger ebert and the movies. a short time later richard roeper became permanent co-host of the show. you have all of these great actors. reporter: ebert also published annual collections of his film reviews as well as several film guides. not one to be left behind, ebert embraced social media, actively tweedin tweeting, never losing his voice. my legacy f there is one, will have to do with supporting films that people might not have seen, supporting directors