Thomas William Shales (November 3, 1944 – January 13, 2024) was an American writer and television critic.
He was a television critic for The Washington Post from 1977 to 2010, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1988. Shales also wrote a column for the television news trade publication NewsPro, published by Crain Communications.
Early life and career
Thomas William Shales was born in Elgin, Illinois, on November 3, 1944, to Clyde Shales (who had once been Elgin's mayor) and Hulda Shales, and graduated from Elgin High School in 1962. He attended Elgin Community College His influence was such that shows he panned would sometimes include unflattering references to him as inside jokes. He was a guest co-host on the television show Roger Ebert & the Movies after the death of Gene Siskel. Shales was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1991 to 1996.
In 2006, Shales ceased to be a staff writer for the Post and went on contract, where he remained until 2010, when he was laid off entirely by the newspaper. From 2012 to 2014, he wrote a column for RogerEbert.com.
Books
Shales published four books, including two he co-wrote with James Andrew Miller. In 2002, Shales and Miller published Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, which covers the history of the sketch-comedy variety show, and provides a behind-the-scenes look at its stars and production process. The book was re-released in 2015 to coincide with Saturday Night Lives 40th anniversary. The updated edition contained over 100 pages of new material.
In 2011, Shales and Miller published their second book together, Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN, which chronicles the history of the network ESPN from its infancy in 1979 through 2010. In 2015, Focus Features optioned the book to adapt it into a film.
Death
Shales died from COVID-19 and kidney failure at a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 13, 2024, at the age of 79.