SCP-1756
rating: +271+x

Item #: SCP-1756

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1756 is to be kept in a locked safe in the Audiovisual Wing of Site 73. A television, compatible remote control, and compatible cables and power adapter are to be provided in Room 346 for testing by researchers Level 2 and higher. All playbacks produced by SCP-1756 are to be filmed and archived for future analysis. A complete video archive of Siskel and Ebert At the Movies, and its predecessor programs, is to be maintained on site for comparison of SCP-1756 recordings to existing episodes. Testing involving SCP objects in optical disc format or any other Foundation-produced recordings shall require approval from the site director.

Description: SCP-1756 is a Panasonic RV31K Region 1 DVD player manufactured in 1999, serial number [REDACTED]. SCP-1756 is externally identical to all other DVD players of its model and production date. Internal examination indicates that SCP-1756 has undergone aftermarket modification to allow it to play non-Region 1 DVDs; attempts to replicate SCP-1756's anomalous properties by similarly modifying standard DVD players of the same type have been unsuccessful. SCP-1756 is capable of accepting and producing its primary effect with all 12 cm optical discs regardless of format or region coding, including DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, music CDs, and proprietary optical disc formats used in video game consoles.

SCP-1756's anomalous properties manifest when it is powered on and connected to a television, and an optical disc is inserted into the disc tray and played. Instead of playing the video or audio content encoded on the disc, the television will display a recording, from 6-11 minutes in length, appearing to be a segment from the American television program Siskel and Ebert At the Movies.1 In all documented cases the recording resembles the format of the original television show, in which Chicago-based film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert discuss and debate movies currently in theatrical release and offer their individual opinions about whether the film is worth seeing with a "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" gesture. Examination of the recordings indicates that the set seen therein is identical to the set used by the television series during the 1992-1996 seasons, and that Siskel and Ebert appear to be approximately the same age as they were during the same time period.

When the disc inserted is a motion picture that was reviewed on the original series, the content of the review will be identical to the original review featured on the program. When the content of the disc is a movie not featured or released after Siskel and Ebert's deaths in 1999 and 2013, respectively, is a visual recording other than a theatrically-released motion picture (e.g. television shows, news broadcasts, amateur films or home movies, video games, etc.), or is not a visual recording at all, an original recording will be produced in which Siskel and Ebert review the material as if it were a theatrically-released motion picture. In these reviews, the critics will speak in a manner similar to the tone affected by the critics on the original series, with Siskel often critiquing individual aspects of the content (such as animation, acting, sound quality, etc.) and Ebert analyzing the content from a more emotional, collective perspective.

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