''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' is an hour-long weekly news radio

panel show A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on '' The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

produced by

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the tri-state region of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is owned by Chicago Public Media and is f ...

and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(NPR) in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. On the program, panelists and contestants are quizzed in humorous ways about that week's news. It is distributed by NPR in the United States, internationally on NPR Worldwide and on the Internet via

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, and typically broadcast on weekends by member stations. The show averages about six million weekly listeners on air and via podcast.

Format

''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' premiered in 1996 and was recorded in front of a live audience in the Chase Auditorium beneath Chicago's Chase Tower on Thursday nights. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, episodes were recorded remotely beginning March 2020, largely from panelists' homes, with sound effects added for broadcast. Live audience recordings resumed in August 2021. In June 2022, the show moved to the Studebaker Theater in Chicago's Fine Arts Building. Episodes are periodically recorded on tour in venues across the United States. The show is hosted by playwright and actor Peter Sagal. When the program had its debut in January 1998, Dan Coffey of '' Ask Dr. Science'' was the original host, but a revamping of the show led to his replacement in May of that year. The show has also been guest-hosted by Tom Bodett, Luke Burbank, Adam Felber, Peter Grosz, Tom Papa, Mike Pesca, Richard Sher, Bill Radke,

Susan Stamberg Susan Stamberg (born September 7, 1938) is an American radio journalist. Stamberg was co-host of NPR's flagship program ''All Things Considered'' from 1972 to 1986. In that role Stamberg was the first female host of a national news broadcast. She ...

, Robert Siegel, Brian Unger,

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey gained stardom in his own Situa ...

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

, Helen Hong, Jessi Klein, Maz Jobrani, Negin Farsad, Alzo Slade, Josh Gondelman, Karen Chee. and Dulcé Sloan. The announcer, also serving as judge and scorekeeper, has been Bill Kurtis since 2014, though Chioke I'Anson, Lakshmi Singh,

Andy Richter Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on O'Brien's talk shows: '' Late Night'' and ''The Tonight Show'' on NBC and '' Cona ...

Helen Hong, Ayesha Rascoe, Joshua Johnson,

Tim Meadows Tim Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for 10 seasons from 1991 to 2000. For his work on ''S ...

and Alzo Slade have substituted. Carl Kasell preceded Kurtis, who often filled in for him. ''Wait Wait...'' listeners also participate by telephoning or sending emails to nominate themselves as contestants, or as of January 9, 2024, followers of the show's official Instagram account can click a link in the bio which will take them to a form to fill out and register to be a contestant. The producers select several listeners for each show and call them to appear on the program, playing various games featuring questions based on the week's news. Prior to October 21, 2017, the usual prize for winning any game was to have Kasell (named "Scorekeeper

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

" following his retirement) record a greeting on the contestant's home

answering machine An answering machine, answerphone, or message machine, also known as telephone messaging machine (or TAM) in the United Kingdom, UK and some Commonwealth countries, ansaphone or ansafone (from a trade name), or telephone answering device (TAD), ...

voice mail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows callers to leave a Voice recording, recorded message when the recipient has been unable (or unwilling) to answer the Telephone, phone. Calls may ...

system; after Kasell's death in 2018, the prize was changed to have a host or panelist of the contestant's choice record a greeting.

Panelists

In addition to the regular panelists listed below, the show also occasionally features one-off guest panelists. WaitOctaviaMoRSigningADRB3PanelistsCrop

Regular * Cristela Alonzo * Brian Babylon * Roy Blount Jr. * Alonzo Bodden * Tom Bodett * Joel Kim Booster * Luke Burbank * Adam Burke * Eugene Cordero * Amy Dickinson * Negin Farsad * Adam Felber * Bobcat Goldthwait * Josh Gondelman * Peter Grosz * Maeve Higgins * Helen Hong * Maz Jobrani * Jessi Klein *

Hari Kondabolu Hari Karthikeya Kondabolu (born October 21, 1982)Beem, p. 38 is an American stand-up comedian and writer. His comedy covers subjects such as race, inequity, and Indian stereotypes. He was a writer for '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' and ...

* Laci Mosley * Tom Papa * Paula Poundstone * Roxanne Roberts * Mo Rocca * Faith Salie * Alzo Slade * Dulcé Sloan Past panelists * Sue Ellicott (1998–2007) * Aamer Haleem (2005–06) * Margo Kaufman (1998–1999) * Angela Nissel (2006–2007) *

Patt Morrison Patt Morrison is a journalist, author, and radio-television personality based in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles and Southern California. Media Morrison is a writer for the ''Los Angeles Times'', with the weekly '' 'Patt Morrison Asks' '' ...

(2000–2001) * Kyrie O'Connor (2004–2015) *

P.J. O'Rourke Patrick Jake O'Rourke (November 14, 1947 – February 15, 2022) was an American author, journalist, and political satirist who wrote twenty-two books on subjects as diverse as politics, cars, etiquette, and economics. '' Parliament of Whores'' ...

(2001-2020) * Charlie Pierce (1998–2015) * Greg Proops (2015-2017) * Paul Provenza (2006–2010) *

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...

(2004–2006) * Peter Sagal (1998) * Alison Stewart (2008–2009) * Julia Sweeney (2009–2010) *

Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He and Jordan Peele co-created and co-starred in the sketch series '' Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) for which he received one Primetime Emmy Award from ...

Reza Aslan Reza Aslan (, ; born May 3, 1972) is an Iranian-American scholar of sociology, writer, and television host. A convert to Evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity from Shia Islam as a youth, Aslan eventually reverted to Islam but continued to wr ...

On-air segments

Though there are some deviations from time to time, episodes of ''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' feature the following format:

Opening tease

As with other NPR programs, ''Wait Wait'' offers a one-minute top-of-hour billboard teasing the program that will follow the network's hourly newscast (which traditionally starts at one minute past the hour). In this minute, the host offers a humorous comment on the week's news, mentions the identity of the week's interview guest, and sets up an out-of-context reading by the announcer of a quote or game title from the episode.

Who's Bill This Time?

The contestant is asked to identify the speaker or explain the context of three quotations from that week's major news stories as read by the announcer (usually Bill Kurtis). Each answer is followed by a humorous discussion of the story by the host and the panelists. Two correct answers constitute a win for the contestant. Prior to Kasell's retirement, the segment was known as "Who's Carl This Time?" and he read the quotations. Whenever Kurtis is absent, his first name is replaced by that of the person filling in for him in the game's name.

Panel questions

In two separate segments each week, the host asks the panelists questions regarding less serious stories in the week's news, awarding them one point for each correct answer. The questions are phrased similarly to those featured on ''

The Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game, panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebr ...

'' or ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'', later stylized as ''H2: Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a ...

'' to allow the panelists to offer a comedic answer in addition to their real guess as well as a hint from the host if needed. The answer is often followed by a discussion of the story.

Bluff the Listener

Each panelist reads an unusual story, all sharing a common theme. Only one of the three stories is genuine; the contestant wins the prize by choosing it. A sound bite from a person connected to the genuine story is played to reveal whether the contestant's guess is correct. Regardless of the outcome, the panelist whose story is chosen scores one point.

Not My Job

A celebrity guest calls in (or occasionally appears onstage) to be interviewed by the host and the panelists as well as take a three-question multiple-choice quiz. In ''Wait Wait''s early years, "Not My Job" guests were mainly pulled from NPR's roster of personalities and reporters; the pool of guests later expanded to include guests of greater celebrity. As the segment's title suggests, the guests are quizzed on topics that are not normally associated with their field of work. For example, former U.S. Secretary of State

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...

was asked questions on the history of

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine, while author

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

was asked about the history of Pez candy. Often, the subject matter of the quizzes serve as an oblique yet comic juxtaposition to the guests' fields of work, such as when ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' creator/producer

Matthew Weiner Matthew Hoffman Weiner (; born June 29, 1965) is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series ''Mad Men'', and as a writer and executive producer on ''The Sopranos''. ...

was quizzed on ways people try to cheer others up ("Glad Men") in a March 2015 appearance.

Listener Limerick Challenge

Kurtis (or the announcer) reads three limericks connected to unusual news stories, leaving out the last word or phrase of each. The contestant wins the prize by correctly completing any two of them. The limericks are written by Philipp Goedicke.

Lightning Fill-in-the-Blank

In the Lightning Fill-in-the-Blank, each panelist has to answer as many questions as they can in 60 seconds with each correct answer earning the panelist 2 points. At the end there is a question whose answer gets an expanded clarification by Peter or whoever is guest hosting; this question usually deals with an especially odd or obscure news story from the week.

Television

In 2008, National Public Radio reached an agreement with CBS Entertainment to create a television pilot of ''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell would be in the pilot, and Doug Berman would be the executive producer. On November 16, 2011,

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is owned by AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary series). Unlike the BBC's ...

announced that the show would make its television debut with a "2011 Year in Review" special airing on December 23, to be retransmitted by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

stations on the 24th and 25th. The taping included two American panelists—''Wait Wait'' regulars Paula Poundstone and Alonzo Bodden—and British newcomer Nick Hancock. In December 2018,

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

announced it was developing a television version of ''Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!''

Live cinema

On May 2, 2013, an episode was performed at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City and was streamed live via satellite as a Fathom Events presentation to hundreds of cinema theaters throughout the United States and Canada. The show included host Peter Sagal, announcer Carl Kasell, and panelists Mo Rocca, Paula Poundstone, and Tom Bodett. Celebrity guest

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

won in the ''Not My Job'' segment.

Awards

In April 2008, ''Wait Wait'' won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

. The program website was nominated for a

Webby Award The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

for Humor in 2008.

References

External links

*
''Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!''
s

site
Show Details and Statistics

"Wait, Wait... It's Peter Sagal and Doug Berman"
��October 28, 2019

Commonwealth Club of California The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to ...

interview and discussion of the show and its origins {{NPR 1998 radio programme debuts 1990s American comedy game shows 1990s American radio programs 2000s American comedy game shows 2000s American radio programs 2010s American comedy game shows 2010s American radio programs 2020s American comedy game shows 2020s American radio programs American radio game shows Peabody Award–winning radio programs Chicago radio shows Radio programs adapted into television shows American satirical radio programs