Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: Difference between revisions

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| caption1 = Taping of a 2025 episode at [[Tanglewood]], with panelists [[Mo Rocca]], [[Joyelle Nicole Johnson]], and [[Tom Bodett]]

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''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' premiered in 19961998 and was recorded in front of a live audience in the Chase Auditorium beneath Chicago's [[Chase Tower (Chicago)|Chase Tower]] on Thursday nights.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Ticketing|url=https://www.wbez.org/events/wait-wait-dont-tell-me-tickets |publisher=[[WBEZ]] Chicago}}</ref> Due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], episodes were recorded remotely beginning March 2020, largely from panelists' homes, with sound effects added for broadcast.<ref>{{Cite web |title=For this NPR host, the show goes on ... even during a pandemic |author=Ethan Bauer |work=Deseret News |date=1 May 2020 |access-date=6 May 2022 |url= https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/4/30/21238543/people-of-the-pandemic-peter-sagal-npr-wait-wait-dont-tell-me-coronavirus}}</ref> Live audience recordings resumed in August 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me' makes its return to live audiences in Philly |author=Peter Crimmins |work=WHYY |date=6 August 2021 |access-date=6 May 2022 |url= https://whyy.org/articles/wait-wait-dont-tell-me-makes-its-return-to-live-audiences-in-philly/}}</ref> In June 2022, the show moved to the [[Fine Arts Building (Chicago)|Studebaker Theater]] in Chicago's Fine Arts Building.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/05/17/1099627383/mandy-moore|title='Wait Wait' for May 21, 2022: With Not My Job guest Mandy Moore|publisher=NPR|date=May 21, 2022|time=0.47}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/06/07/1103508516/kenan-thompson|title='Wait Wait' for June 11, 2022: With Not My Job guest Kenan Thompson|publisher=NPR|date=June 11, 2022|time=1.00}}</ref> Episodes are periodically recorded on tour in venues across the United States.<ref name=":0" />

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 (producer)|Richard Sher]], [[Bill Radke]], [[Susan Stamberg]], [[Robert Siegel]], [[Brian Unger]], [[Drew Carey]], [[Tom Hanks]], [[Helen Hong]], [[Jessi Klein]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=35&prgDate=08-12-2006 |title=Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!- August 12, 2006|publisher=NPR |access-date=February 3, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/archrndwn/2005/aug/050827.waitwait.html |title=Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!- August 27, 2005 |publisher=NPR |access-date=February 3, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/archrndwn/2004/aug/040814.waitwait.html |title=Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!- August 14, 2004 |publisher=NPR |access-date=February 3, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Roti|first1=Jessi|title=Tom Hanks to guest host 'Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me' in Chicago|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chicagoinc/ct-tom-hanks-to-guest-host-on-npr-story.html |work=Chicago Tribune|date=December 14, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/519656715/wait-wait-for-march-11-2017-with-not-my-job-guest-neal-brennan|title='Wait Wait' For March 11, 2017: With Not My Job Guest Neal Brennan|website=NPR.org}}</ref> [[Maz Jobrani]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 15, 2021 |url=https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/996891102/wait-wait-for-may-15-2021-with-not-my-job-guest-elizabeth-warren |title='Wait Wait' For May 15, 2021, With Not My Job Guest Elizabeth Warren |website=NPR.org}}</ref> [[Negin Farsad]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/01/29/1076494413/wait-wait-for-jan-29-2022-with-not-my-job-guest-jeremy-o-harris|title='Wait Wait' for Jan. 29, 2022: With Not My Job guest Jeremy O. Harris|publisher=NPR}}</ref> Alzo Slade,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1157244228/rosie-perez-on-her-first-meeting-with-spike-lee|title=Rosie Perez on her first meeting with Spike Lee and her favorite Rihanna song|publisher=NPR|date=February 18, 2023}}</ref> [[Josh Gondelman]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2023/03/01/1160422137/malala-yousafzai-won-the-nobel-peace-prize-while-in-chemistry|title=Malala Yousafzai on winning the Nobel Peace Prize while in chemistry class|publisher=NPR|date=March 4, 2023}}</ref> [[Karen Chee]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2023/03/17/1164375148/sam-waterston-on-being-the-most-recognizable-pretend-lawyer-in-new-york|title=Sam Waterston on being the most recognizable pretend lawyer in New York|publisher=NPR|date=March 18, 2023}}</ref> and [[Dulcé Sloan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2024/10/26/g-s1-30019/wait-wait-for-october-26-2024-with-not-my-job-guests-sue-bird-and-megan-rapinoe|title='Wait Wait' for October 26, 2024: With Not My Job guests Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe|publisher=NPR|date=October 26, 2024}}</ref>

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=== 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.

=== Panelist Predictions ===

Each panelist is asked to give their prediction of a story that may appear in the following week's news, often being prompted with a question that relates to a previously mentioned story. Sagal (or the week's host) does not award points, but jokes that if any of the stories are correctly predicted, they will be asked about it on the following episode.

==Television==