Washington Post television critic Tom Shales dies at 79

Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic for The Washington Post, Tom Shales, died on Saturday at age 79.

He passed away at a hospital in Fairfax County, Virginia, and the cause of death was complications from renal failure and COVID, his caretaker said according to Deadline. 

In 1988, he won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism, making him the fourth TV critic to earn that prize in journalism.

Other outlets he worked at included TelevisionWeek and the Huffington Post (now HuffPost). 

He started as the chief TV critic at The Washington Post in 1977, where he covered multiple genres including documentaries, sitcoms, talk shows and dramas.

He was also a big advocate for cable TV. 

He authored books including oral histories of "Saturday Night Live" and ESPN.