Gene Shalit And "Critic's Corner" Gone After 40 Years On NBC Today

Gene Shalit, the New Yorker with the horn-rimmed glasses, handlebar mustache, and all around look of a bespectacled afro-haired puffer fish, has closed the door on the production of bombs to throw at movies from his segment "Critic's Corner" on NBC's Today Show.

The "Critic's Corner" lasted for 40 years on The Today Show. According to The Huffington Post, Today Show Executive Producer Jim Bell said that such a span of time on one show is "a feat unlikely to ever be matched."

Given the volume and flow of media today, he's right.

Gene Shalit was given a great sendoff on Thursday's Today Show, as he walks into a comfortable retirement fitting for an 84-year-old giant of the entertainment industry.