Eugene Shalit (born March 25, 1926) is an American retired journalist, television personality, film and book critic, and author.

After starting to work part-time on NBC's The Today Show in 1970, he filled those roles from January 15, 1973,[1] until retiring on November 11, 2010.

[2][3] He is known for his frequent use of puns, his oversized handlebar moustache and fuzzy hair, and for wearing colorful bow ties.

[7] Shalit has been involved in reviewing the arts since 1967 and has written for such publications as Look magazine, Ladies' Home Journal (for 12 years), Cosmopolitan, TV Guide, Seventeen, Glamour, McCall's, and The New York Times.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) responded by stating: Shalit's "baseless branding of Jack as a 'sexual predator' merely because he is romantically interested in someone of the same sex is defamatory, ignorant, and irresponsible" and that he "used the occasion to promote defamatory antigay prejudice to a national audience.

[15][18] Another child is Peter Shalit, a physician and recognized authority on gay men's health and living with HIV.

[17] Shalit guest-starred as the voice, and was portrayed in the form of a fish food critic named "Gene Scallop" in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "The Krusty Sponge".