Gene Shalit, 1926 – 2026

TV film critic Gene Shalit, 100, died on June 12. Remember when each local news show had its own film and theater critic? Now half the broadcasts are taken up with sports, and YouTube clickbait (“the heartwarming surprise students gave a teacher!”). Shalit—who looked like an endearing caricature of himself—reviewed films and books on the Today Show from 1970-2010, also writing for Look, Ladies' Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, TV Guide, Glamour, McCall's, and The New York Times. He became such a public figure that he parodied himself on The Critic and SpongeBob SquarePants (as” Gene Scallop”).