Althouse: Goodbye to Gene Shalit.

June 13, 2026

Goodbye to Gene Shalit.

I never watched the "Today" show — or any of the other morning news shows — but I knew he was over there, carrying on, sporting a giant mustache, summing up movies with terse wisecracks.

He made it to 100.

14 comments:

Wilbur said...: I never watched those morning news shows either.

I did see him recently on some early 70s What's My Line shows as a panelist. His terse wisecracks played poorly there, like he was not enjoying being on the show.; 6/13/26, 3:47 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Jerry Colonna was the prototype.; 6/13/26, 4:06 AM
rehajm said...: The Today Show would be on at my grandparents house and I recall his reviews pre Siskel and Ebert. He hung on a long time, gaining historic preservation status. For some reason he gave off that golden age of nbc 30 rock vibe to me. Great hair game…; 6/13/26, 5:35 AM
n.n said...: The unforgettable... centenarian, with a flashy moustache. RIP; 6/13/26, 6:19 AM
Temujin said...: He was part of the culture of another era. I didn't pay much attention to his movie reviews, but maybe I did, subconsciously. Still...that mustache made him famous.; 6/13/26, 6:37 AM
Jaq said...: I remember watching him because we only got three channels, and NBC was one, and even as a kid his shtick seemed pointless to me, and kind of an insult to the intelligence, but apparently some people somewhere liked him, or was the whole country just too polite?; 6/13/26, 6:45 AM
Eva Marie said...: One wife, six kids, kept that moustache till the end. Well done Mr.Shalit. RIP; 6/13/26, 7:00 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I wanted to know how much money Gene Shalit got paid for doing a two minute routine but the best I could do was learning that Gene Shalit's net worth was about $1 million as of March 2026 so I'm going to guess there was a lot of estate planning going on.; 6/13/26, 7:38 AM
MadTownGuy said...: I liked him, enjoyed his repartee, corny as it might be at times. He, and Andy Rooney, were always entertaining even if mildly so. I also liked Charles Kuralt's road stories, though it became obvious after a while that he had the same agenda as everyone else at CBS. Then there was that double life thing. Still, my dream job would be touring the US in an RV and interviewing the locals. Kuralt's RV was at The Henry Ford Museum, last I knew.; 6/13/26, 8:08 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I remember him well but didn't know he had still been alive for a very long time.; 6/13/26, 8:28 AM
William said...: I remember him but just for his mustache. Well, most of us pass and are forgotten. but he is remembered. As memorable people go, however, he isn't all that memorable. Most people have never thought of him until just now and tomorrow will never think of him again.; 6/13/26, 8:56 AM
Dagwood said...: Sounds like he was as congenial in real life as he was in front if the camera.; 6/13/26, 9:58 AM
Aggie said...: Shalit was probably the world's only case of a guy that wore a bow tie and nobody noticed.; 6/13/26, 10:57 AM
Lazarus said...: I forgot about the mustache, but I remember the giant head of hair.

Back then, morning shows were a national institution. They may have been stupid, but the rest of us watched anyway and thought the hosts were somehow substantial people. Now we don't.; 6/13/26, 11:07 AM