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Change is the Only Constant, as Jim Gardner Shaves His Mustache 

By Matt Schultz

Published: Sep 2nd, 2026 · 11:13 AM EDT

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Change is never easy. As humans, we are all drawn to familiarity, to routine, to safety – and with Cecily Tynan signing off with her final Action News broadcast on Monday, countless Philadelphians are now left scrambling, trying to reorient themselves to a new, unfamiliar, Cecily-less world. And sadly, the change doesn’t end there. 

News has just come across my desk that Jim Gardner shaved his mustache: 

Jim Gardner (retired 6abc anchor) being mustacheless is newsworthy. 🤣 #Philly pic.twitter.com/ISUwJeHxqN

— Emily Cooper (@emmcooper42) September 1, 2026

We all know that change is inevitable, but still, actually seeing the literalization of time’s constant, indifferent march forward is rattling nonetheless. Jim is supposed to have a mustache. He is meant to. I know this to be true the same way I know the moon is round and the sun is bright and hurts to look at. I have constructed a worldview based on these facts, and I feel at home in this worldview:

But now things are different. Jim has no mustache, which unsettlingly prods at my mind with the knowledge that, eventually, everything can and will change. The moon’s shape could become tube-like. The sun’s brightness may be replaced by a soft, dim glow, like a reading lamp. Anything can happen, and given enough time, all of it likely will.

It is terrifying. I do not like it. And I am not alone in my shock and dismay:

I don't think he's allowed to do that???

— Suzie Hunter ⚾️ (@TheSuzieHunter) September 1, 2026

pic.twitter.com/DePA3kkB8X

— Lyle K (@Philthies) September 2, 2026

No, thats illegal. He needs to grow that shit back lol

— Alice Napalm • アリス•ナパーム (@AliceNapalm) September 2, 2026

I was traumatized when I saw him last night on the news! I’ve never ever seen that man without a mustache it was just… wrong! 😂😂

— Denise (@Wheelz38) September 2, 2026

Nothing is sacred

— chewna (@beansanchewna) September 2, 2026

I hate this. So much.

— Tom Levy (@JustTomLevy) September 1, 2026

But lest we forget, with change comes rebirth, too. The lobster outgrows its shell. The cicada leaves behind its exoskeleton upon the tree bark. And so, too, does Jim Gardner leave his shaved white mustache hairs in his bathroom sink. Change is natural. Perhaps change is good. Maybe, when it comes right down to it, change itself isn’t even the problem — rather, it’s resistance to the change that causes our inner turmoil. Yes… Perhaps…

Congratulations on your mustache evolution, Jim, and thank you for this lesson: Change is the only constant. Shaving our white mustaches is simply the circle of life. It’s not the end; it’s the beginning. It is hopeful. It is spring. Shaving our old white mustaches merely creates room for something even more interesting to grow in its place.