RIP Tom Shales

[Melissa P]

Longtime Washington Post TV critic

[Mark Jeffries]

His Post obit:

https://wapo.st/4aT2Pvr

Mark Jeffries
spotl...@gmail.com

On Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 2:41 PM Melissa P <takingup...@gmail.com> wrote:

Longtime Washington Post TV critic

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[PGage]

He was a high impact writer, on television, and in the earlier years of this list. His books were interesting, but also infuriating. My problem with him was not so much that I frequently disagreed with him, but that he often seemed like the stereotype of a critic who cared more about his own ego and rhetorical turns of phrase than he did about the work he was writing about. 

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[David Bruggeman]

Presumably Craig T. Nelson was unavailable for comment.

David

[Kevin M.]

It’s been years since I even heard his name. As I recall, he tried to use television criticism as a form of social criticism, but he didn’t seem to like television (or society) very much. 

Kevin M. (RPCV)

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[Tom Wolper]

I remember reading him in the Washington Post decades ago when I lived in the DC area. He took TV seriously as a cultural force and not just mindless entertainment.

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[PGage]

That’s right, for people like those who participate in a list like this, Shales was a net positive force. He believed television should and could be better than it was when he started in the 70s and 80s, and, despite the ever presence of a thick layer of slime, the top layer of television is better, and deeper than it was when he started his career. That is not due only or mostly to Shales, but I think it is in part a function of the sensibility and expectations that Shales contributed to. Still, also true that for for someone who made his mark in a career in popular entertainment, he did not often seem to be having a good time.

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