Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly news radio panel show produced by WBEZ and National Public Radio (NPR) in Chicago, Illinois. 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, and typically broadcast on weekends by member stations. The show averages about six million weekly listeners on air and via podcast.
Taping of a 2010 episode at the Chase Auditorium, with panelists Adam Felber, Roxanne Roberts, and Keegan-Michael Key
Regular Wait Wait... panelists (l–r) Roy Blount Jr., Amy Dickinson, and Mo Rocca sign autographs following a 2010 taping in New Orleans.
Kurtis and Sagal, 2017
Peter Sagal (third from left) and the crew of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me at the 67th Annual Peabody Awards
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 Match Game and Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. The genre can be traced to 1938, when Information Please debuted on U.S. radio. The earliest known television panel show is Play the Game, a charades show in 1946. The modern trend of comedy panel shows can find early roots with Stop Me If You've Heard This One in 1939 and Can You Top This? in 1940. While panel shows were more popular in the past in the U.S., they are still very common in the United Kingdom.
A recording of radio panel show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, featuring, from left, announcer and scorekeeper Carl Kasell; host Peter Sagal; and panelists Adam Felber, Roxanne Roberts and Keegan-Michael Key before a live audience.
Panellists and host John Charles Daly on What's My Line?, in 1952