The Roger Ebert segment states he gave the film three stars initially, then circled back 12 years later and upgraded it to four stars.
The quoted later review says tomorrow will come whether or not it is always February 2nd, that we can learn to be better people, and that the point is not that Phil has come to love Rita but that he has learned to see the angel.
The do-over is called forgivable because rewatching is the premise of the movie and the film seems deeper with each viewing; many first treated it as a silly Bill Murray romantic comedy. — Sean Fennessey
Comedies are said to be unfairly dismissed as unserious; early reactions saw Bill Murray being funny rather than the writing and directing.
William Goldman is cited as complaining that comedies get the shaft, arguing There's Something About Mary deserved a best film nomination.
Seeing it in a Massachusetts theater, one host thought it really good but did not expect it to be discussed 27 years later; comedies reveal their rhythm over repeat viewings while dramas hit hardest the first time.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

How long Phil was stuck; what Phil's next day is like; whether Phil and Rita stay together

In the discussion (10)

Approx. transcript time · 00:25:29Read transcript

An old ESPN.com mailbag answer of 27 months is called a huge miss; Ramis is said to have given 10 years on the DVD and later 30 or 40 years; the final answer offered is 18 years.
Because he gets so good at the piano, the guest goes slightly above the 18-year answer and says 20 years. — Issa Rae
The Buddhists are said to put it at 10,000 years, the time for a spirit to be reborn; the answer given is 32 years. — Sean Fennessey
A stage-by-stage estimate: six or seven months trying to win Andy McDowell over, three or four months of suicide attempts, and perhaps 60 years for languages, ice sculpture and piano.
No filmmaker settled on an answer: the studio reportedly wanted two months, Ramis moved from 10 years to about three decades, and the co-screenwriter suggested about a hundred years; the ambiguity makes it fun to debate.
Asked what they would conquer in such a loop, one answer is a musical instrument.
The guest rejects ice sculpture, would put piano on her list, and would try her hand at crime after the money-stealing scheme. — Issa Rae
On Phil's next day, one view is that it is a huge letdown for Rita once he no longer knows everything; another asks whether he parlays his knowledge into becoming the Dosecci's guy.
One view predicts PTSD from new experiences after 10,000 repeated days; the reply is that he would be delighted by uncertainty on February 4th.
Asked whether he and Rita stay together, the answer is no: once he says he lived the same day for 38 years she would sleep at her friend's house, which is called reasonable.

Casting What-Ifs

Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton as Phil; Tori Amos as Rita

In the discussion (10)

Approx. transcript time · 00:38:46Read transcript

The hosts say Ramis originally wanted Tom Hanks rather than Bill Murray but decided Hanks was too nice; Eddie Murphy is guessed first, and Hanks would have been great.
Michael Keaton is said to have turned it down as too confusing, regretted it, and ended up in Multiplicity with Ramis and Andy McDowell.
Eddie Murphy would have wanted the part in the mid-to-late 80s but not by 1993 after Boomerang; a circa-1990 Murphy would have been really good, Keaton also would have been good, but Bill Murray ended up perfect.
The hosts say Andy McDowell almost did not get the role because it was going to Tori Amos, amid a groundswell, before they played it safe; Sex, Lies, and Videotape is named as her breakthrough.
Asked who instead, the answer is not Tori Amos but Susan Sarandon. — Sean Fennessey
The Sarandon case: more mustard on the fastball playing off Bill Murray, the right age, and believable as an ambitious TV producer.
The Sarandon idea draws pushback that she always feels older and was probably too old in 1993.
Meg Ryan is floated and described as very sweet and so blonde.
If Eddie Murphy were the lead, Whitney Houston is floated; the early 90s are called a tough era for actresses, Sandra Bullock too young though great, and Julia too big a star; the role is called a prop.
After the break, the guest's Eddie Murphy idea is revisited as an awesome 80s Eddie Murphy, with doubt he pulls it off in the 90s.

Recasting Couch

Bill Hicks in Rick Ducommun's part

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 00:58:54Read transcript

Rick Ducommun's part could have been better; Bill Hicks, a much better stand-up comedian, is proposed and called a good call.
Buscemi is floated as possibly good as a down-on-his-luck type doing the glass half full bit.
It is a Randy Quaid part, but he had done it too many times; a bigger actor was wanted.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Groundhog bites and rabies shots; the groundhog-lair idea; good Phil or bad Phil; stopped diner clocks; Woodstock, Illinois filming; script origins; 25 takes of the ending; religious readings

In the discussion (13)

Approx. transcript time · 00:59:41Read transcript

Bill Murray was reportedly bitten by the groundhog two or three times and needed anti-rabies injections after a bad bite right after the groundhog-stealing scene.
Bill Murray and groundhogs are called the greatest actor-animal connection, across two iconic groundhog movies; Turner and Hooch is offered as a rebuttal.
Research is cited that, either in the movie shoot or the original script, the kidnapping went further, with him entering the groundhog's lair to blow it up, which was realized to be too close to the earlier Murray groundhog material.
According to Ramis, Murray would ask only "good Phil or bad Phil"; the research also says the diner clocks are all stopped and the film was shot in Woodstock, Illinois, about 50 miles from Murray's hometown, with plaques for the puddle curb and Ned's corner.
The hosts say the original script opened with Phil already mid-loop and that Ramis changed it, which is judged the right call.
The hosts say writer Danny Rubin's big break came from reading Interview with the Vampire and thinking about living forever.
Tobolowsky is quoted that it was a mediocre Bill Murray movie until shooting turned it into a classic.
The hosts say they shot 25 takes of the closing wake-up and Ramis polled cast and crew, who voted to keep them in their clothes; one host would rather have implied sex, calling the movie chaste apart from the Nancy Taylor love scene.
The woman dressed as a maid at the movies with the man-with-no-name costume is questioned as a possible call girl who is simply dropped.
The hosts say Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Christians all found significance: mitzvahs before returning to earth, and purgatory with winning Andy McDowell's character's love as heaven.
Such interpretation is rare for a popular comedy; the filmmakers likely did not expect religions to claim it, similar to The Big Lebowski.
Ramis's earlier films were direct comedies, while Multiplicity reflects a man in crisis; the film may have tripped a wire for its makers.
Multiplicity is called polarizing: a mid-90s roommate named Ricky loved it, and it resembles the mediocre Bill Murray movie Tobolowski described, starring Michael Keaton.

Picking Nits

Why he never stays awake; what happens in time after each suicide

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:19:37Read transcript

The stay-awake nit is repeated and said to cover the movie's nits.
Whether he wakes up immediately after each suicide or time passes is unresolved; if immediate, he could bang out 10 days in about five hours.