Tom Shales, Pulitzer-Winning TV Critic, Dies at 79
The acclaimed Washington Post television critic Tom Shales has died, his frequent collaborator James Andrew Miller shared Saturday on social media. Shales was 79 years old.
Shales died following complications from COVID-19 and renal failure, according to his caretaker Victor Herfurth, the Washington Post reports.
Known for his incisive, often barbed criticism, Shales worked as a critic for the Post from 1977 until 2010, winning the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1988. He was just the fourth TV reviewer to earn the top journalism honor.
He took a buyout from the Post in 2006, staying on as a contract employee. But he left the institution in 2010 when the outlet told him it could no longer afford his contract. At one time, his importance to the Post meant he drew a $400,000 salary.
Shales cowrote iconic oral histories of “Saturday Night Live” and the behind-the-scenes world of ESPN alongside fellow Washington Post journalist Miller. Miller described Shales as “one of the country’s most brilliant writers” and added, “I loved him like a brother.”
Tom Shales passed away this morning. The Pulitzer Prize winning former critic at The Washington Post — and one of the country’s most brilliant writers — was 79. I loved him like a brother … he will be missed by many. @RealTomShales #TomShales pic.twitter.com/TVrZOtaWCh
— james andrew miller (@JimMiller) January 13, 2024
Shales received an outpouring of love on social media from TV critics, writers and fans.
The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay described the critic’s power, writing, “It’s hard to overstate Tom Shales’s impact; no television critic had the same influence and wicked talent, and no one will ever again. A titan.”
Shales “earned his spot on the Mt. Rushmore of TV critics,” Vulture’s Josef Adalian wrote.
“Reading Tom Shales’ columns in the Post, I learned so much about television, criticism and the art of writing,” media critic Brian Stelter shared.
If television criticism had a Roger Ebert character it would have been Tom Shales. He was brilliant, insightful, and profoundly witty. He loved TV and had little patience with those who abused the privilege of being on it. https://t.co/NKaawhm1mW
— Captain Renault
(@NotClaudeRains) January 13, 2024
Tom Shales was a spectacular TV critic. I recall Eleanor Randolph, his former Washington Post colleague who covered media before she moved to the NT Times, told me, "They wave to his copy as it goes directly to the composing room." That's how clean his copy was. RIP Tom.
— kevgold (@kevgold) January 13, 2024
Miller shared a school paper Shales wrote when he was 14 describing how he would reach his goal of becoming a syndicated columnist.
Shales’ pans of shows “The O.C.” and “The District” led to him getting referenced in an unflattering way in later episodes of each. “The O.C.” named an incontinent hospital patient after Shales, while on “The District,” a dog pees on one of Shales’ reviews.
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