Tom Hanks to Guest Host NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

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Special Episode Will Air Weekend of January 14/15 on Public Radio Stations Across The Country

December 14, 2016; Washington, D.C. — When Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! host Peter Sagal goes on vacation, there's only one person who can replace him: Tom Hanks.

The two-time Oscar-winning actor will guest host an episode of the NPR news quiz, taped in front of a live (and, let's be frank, very lucky) audience in Chicago.

This special show with Tom Hanks will air on NPR member stations around the country the weekend of January 14/15. Stations and broadcast times are available at NPR.org/stations, and many stations air the program more than once each weekend.

"Of course, I was excited to find out that in my absence, one of the stars of the classic sitcom "Bosom Buddies" would be hosting the show," says Peter Sagal. "I was disappointed to find out that it wasn't going to be Peter Scolari, but I'm sure this Hanks fellow will do fine. I hope he's been doing some useful preparation since "Bosom Buddies" went off the air in 1982, because this is a pretty high profile gig."

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NPR Media Relations, Allyssa Pollard

Email: mediarelations (at) npr.org

Each week, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! offers live audiences and listeners a comic review of the week's news. For this special episode, Tom Hanks and human-scorecard Bill Kurtis will guide panelists Paula Poundstone, Luke Burbank and Faith Salie, and a special "Not My Job" guest through a series of games designed to quiz them on headlines and showcase their wits.

Now in its 18th year, the Peabody Award-winning show has an audience of more than 3.9 million listeners weekly on 727 NPR member stations. The Wait Wait podcast is downloaded more than seven hundred thousand times a week. The radio show is a co-production of NPR and Chicago Public Media. All episodes are also available as a podcast in the NPR One app and wherever podcasts are available. To see a schedule of upcoming live shows, visit www.npr.org/waitwait.