Pardon the Interruption

Pardon the Interruption
File:Pti.gif
Starring	Tony Kornheiser Michael Wilbon Tony Reali
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	1185 (as of 4/11/07)
Production
Producer	Matt Kelliher
Running time	30 minutes + ~3 minutes (SportsCenter segment)
Original release
Network	ESPN
Release	October 22, 2001 – present
Related
The Sports Reporters Around the Horn

Pardon the Interruption (also known as PTI) is a sports television show on ESPN filmed in Washington, D.C., and airing on various ESPN TV channels, XM and Sirius satellite radio services, and is also distributed as a podcast. It stars Washington Post columnists and longtime friends Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss — and frequently argue over — the top stories of the day in "sports... and other stuff" (as Kornheiser put it in the channel's original promo).

Either Tony Reali (host of ESPN's Around the Horn) or the uncredited "producer over the loudspeaker" serve as moderator for parts of the show.

Similar in format to CNN's Crossfire, PTI is known for its humorous and often loud tone, as well as the "rundown" graphic listing the topics yet to be discussed down the right-hand side of the screen. The show's popularity has led to the creation of similar shows on ESPN, and similar segments on other series. It is produced by ESPN Original Entertainment.

PTI debuted on October 22, 2001. It airs daily at 5:30 PM Eastern Time (if not pre-empted by live events such as golf), and is repeated at 6:30 PM Eastern Time on ESPNEWS. Since April 17, 2006, ESPN has also offered a free audio podcast which cuts out commercials and includes all segments.

The set

File:Ptiset.jpg

PTI set

The show is also known for its set, featuring a "wall" full of cut-out heads of athletes and celebrities that have previously been used in the "Role Play" segment, bobblehead dolls of the show's hosts and Reali, Etch-A-Sketch art of Kornheiser and Wilbon, and several other toys and trinkets they have received, such as Kornheiser's beloved "Leg Lamp" from A Christmas Story.

For different American holidays, the set will also be decorated with other props to match the theme of the day. For example, on Halloween, carved Jack-o'-lanterns of the host's heads are also present. The color of the rundown graphic is also changed to mesh with the holiday theme (e.g. red, white, and blue to represent Independence Day, green for St. Patricks Day, red and green for Christmas).

Segments

The show is divided into several segments. It is not unusual for the last point or topic in each section to be about a non-sports-related pop-culture event. Occasionally the show will stray from its basic format, such as on August 9, 2005, when baseball commissioner Bud Selig was the guest at the very top of the show for an extended interview. A similar situation occurred two days later on August 11 with Terrell Owens and his agent Drew Rosenhaus. Another similar occurrence happened December 22, 2005, following the news that coach Tony Dungy's son, James, had committed suicide. This change seems to only occur on rare occasions.

Other than the pop-culture topics, most topics discussed involve the "Big 3" of American team sports: Football, basketball and baseball. Both hosts are avid fans of tennis and golf, and discuss events in both sports frequently. However, other sports such as hockey and especially auto racing receive much less coverage, and the hosts do little to hide their lack of interest or knowledge on those topics.

Segments included in the vast majority of shows are:

The Introduction

Kornheiser and Wilbon welcome viewers to the show with opening banter.

Wilbon usually opens the show with the line, "Pardon the Interruption... but I'm Mike Wilbon." Wilbon will then put a question to Kornheiser concerning one of the day's sports or pop culture issues. Kornheiser often responds with a slightly inappropriate joke, such as one week in the spring of 2006 when he spent an entire week mocking the pronunciation of the planet Uranus. Guest hosts will use a similar script to introduce themselves. For example, Dan Le Batard will often welcome the viewers by pointing at the camera and yelling "BAM!".

If Kornheiser is in the studio, he will greet the audience after the opening title card. Kornheiser's greetings vary greatly, from "Welcome to PTI, boys and girls" to "Welcome to PTI, you little weasels" or "Welcome to PTI, my brothers from another mother," unless the lead story is a death, in which case, he says simply, "Welcome to PTI." Wilbon rarely greets the audience with anything other than "Welcome to PTI" whenever Kornheiser is on the road or has the day off.

Headlines

The show opener where Kornheiser and Wilbon usually debate five topics. Each issue is listed in chronological order on the right side of the screen, and a countdown timer is shown indicating how much time is allotted to discuss a particular issue. Most topics are less than 1:30, but major news stories can run two or three minutes. If there is no guest for "Five Good Minutes," about four additional headlines will run during the second segment.

Five Good Minutes

Kornheiser and Wilbon interview a sports figure (or often an analyst) typically for anywhere from three to five and a half minutes. If there is no guest to be interviewed, either "Headlines" continues, or they'll move onto one of the segments below. "Five Good Minutes" may also be held to the slot where one of the segments listed below would usually take place. The interview itself is actually recorded prior to the rest of the show and then trimmed down for broadcast. According to PTI's remote producer, with some exceptions, guests are booked the day of the show as they try to obtain the most relevant news of the day. Other times, there are two "Five Good Minutes" segments with two different guests; there are also shows where two related guests appear during one segment, such as Joe Buck and Tim McCarver of Fox MLB broadcasts. There have also been occasions where Kornheiser or Wilbon, while on vacation or in another city to cover an event and not hosting the show, have been the subject of "Five Good Minutes" themselves.

On Mondays during the football season, ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski, a former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback (a.k.a. "Jaws" and "the Polish Rifle"), is usually the guest, to offer analysis of the previous day's games and a prediction for the Monday Night Football game that night.

On rare occasions, "Five Good Minutes" runs long, such as on June 8, 2005 when NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus's interview ran 11 minutes, forcing the cancellation of the following segment (Role Play), and on March 23, 2007 when USC basketball coach Tim Floyd's interview ran long as he talked about O.J. Mayo.

Featured segments

After "Five Good Minutes", or after extended "Headlines" if there is no guest, PTI uses a variety of different segments to talk about other sports news and make predictions. These featured segments often end with a pop culture topic.

"Mail Time" and "Toss Up" are featured at least once for every full week of episodes. During Mail Time, the hosts read and respond to viewer e-mail that they take out of a talking mailbox. Early in PTI's run, an intern named Josh read the mail to the hosts. When the show changed over to the talking mailbox, Wilbon would express disgust at the mail voice, demanding it be omitted. For Toss Up, the two hosts choose between two sides of a topic announced by the producer over the loudspeaker.

Other frequently used segments are "Odds Makers" and "Role Play". Odds Makers is featured weekly and involves the hosts giving their prediction in the form of a percentage about the likeliness of a future event occurring. Reali gives the topics and keeps track of responses on a chalkboard, to which he refers at the end of the segment in order to declare a winner. A selection at either extreme of 100% or 0% is well-respected, with the latter being coined by Reali as "squadoosh". Role Play, featured in almost every week but less so than earlier in PTI's run, is referred to as "Heads on Sticks" because the hosts alternate speaking as a sports figure with the person's picture on a stick in front of their faces. After a picture is used, it is usually stuck somewhere in the background of the set until it is replaced. Recently, the sexual nature of the title of this segment has been noticed, as a suggestive musical cue leads the segment.

"Psychic Hotline" and "Good Cop, Bad Cop" are segments where the hosts take on different roles to discuss the given topics. The set is decorated with candles and a plasma lamp for Psychic Hotline, the latter of which a host will touch to hear the question in the form of a pre-recorded phone call. The question asks the hosts to predict what will happen in regards to an upcoming sporting event. Kornheiser wears a turban, in the style of Carnac the Magnificent, while Wilbon does not dress up at all. In Good Cop, Bad Cop, however, both hosts dress in police hats and sometimes sunglassses. This segment is featured rarely, and unlike Toss Up, the hosts must take an opposite stand on each topic, saying it is either good or bad.

"Over/Under" is a segment that alternated weeks with Odds Makers when they were first introduced, but is now featured rarely. The hosts argue over whether a certain sports figure or team will go over or under a certain number (e.g. 40 home runs, 60 wins). Reali also announces the topics for this segment, holding cards up with the statistic, as well. In order to help prevent a "push", a decimal figure is sometimes used (e.g 2.5 touchdowns). "Food Chain", where the hosts rank a top five list of teams, has also fizzled out as a segment. Kornheiser and Wilbon usually have variations in their lists, with Wilbon posting his as each team is introduced. Wilbon refers to his as "A real man's board!", but when Kornheiser switches to his, he claims, "Thats it! That's the list!"

After the hosts read an email and began repeating the words "Fair or Foul" for a few episodes, the game was introduced on February 28, 2007 and has not been seen again since. The hosts discussed a variety of topics and decided if each was fair or foul (acceptable or not). If a host believed a topic was "foul", he could threw a yellow football penalty flag and/or blow a whistle.

Additionally, during the early run of PTI, a "Doctors" segment was featured rarely, in which the hosts had to choose which head to cut off and throw in the trash out of two that were stuck together. The hosts dressed up as doctors for this segment, using coats and assorted accessories.

Happy Happy Time

This segment usually starts with Kornheiser saying, "It's time to get happy." The hosts send someone a "Happy Birthday," a "Happy Anniversary" (generally an "on this date," not a marriage anniversary), and a "Happy Trails" (a departure of some sort, such as a firing, an injury, a retirement, or a death). When a death occurs (called a Melancholy Happy Trails), the music is turned off and the tone of the reader becomes more serious).

Errors/Corrections

If time allows, Reali (formerly called "Stat Boy") corrects any factual errors that Kornheiser and Wilbon may have made. When Dan Le Batard is hosting, he refers to Reali as "Stat Face," while Jay Mariotti calls Reali "Stat Man."

TV Picks

Kornheiser and Wilbon give their recommendations for television viewing for the night as the last discussion segment of the show before SportsCenter.

Wilbon usually chooses a sporting event. However, it isn't uncommon for him to give a pick of Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, The Sopranos or Ugly Betty, either via first-run or TiVo playback. Often, Wilbon will simply recommend leaving the house and having fun, especially on Friday nights. He often mentions taking in a local sporting event or festivities of a city, if he happens to be on location.

Kornheiser, on the other hand, will often opt for specials on the E! Network, such as an E! True Hollywood Story. He is also a huge fan of American Idol and former fan of 24, which he says jumped the shark in Season 6. He rarely states that he will watch a sporting event, saying that they are on past his bedtime. On July 18, 2006, Wilbon stated that all he watches in the summer is Will and Grace and Frasier.

Goodnight

This concludes the half-hour broadcast of the show, where Kornheiser bids farewell to foreign viewers. The segment during SportsCenter is not shown in Canada, where the program airs on TSN, so when Wilbon makes the toss to Bristol, Connecticut, where ESPN's studios are located, Kornheiser usually says "Goodnight, Canada," or "Goodnight, Hosers," while waving a Canadian flag, while Wilbon mentions the upcoming SportsCenter segment. Kornheiser usually adds a humorous tag after the "Goodnight". He also says "Goodnight" to other people and places from time to time. Le Batard will often parody Kornheiser by mentioning other countries.

PTI on SportsCenter

On July 25, 2005, the format of the show was altered to merge the final part of the show with the beginning of the 6:00 PM ET SportsCenter. The show runs from 5:30-6:00, ending with Kornheiser and Wilbon making TV show recommendations for the night. After the opening segment of SportsCenter (normally 7-9 minutes), they return to debate an additional sports-related topic, then end with The Big Finish. The Big Finish topics are actually listed in the run-down, which was not the case before the format change. For the re-air on ESPNEWS, the show moves straight to the post-SportsCenter topic after the third commercial break, skipping the happy time and TV picks. According to ESPN research, PTI has been drawing higher ratings than the 6:00 PM SportsCenter, and the format change is an attempt to increase SportsCenter's audience by tying it with a more popular program.

Since Kornheiser has been a Monday Night Football analyst, Monday editions of PTI are taped in the host stadium and air in the pre-2005 (30-minute) format.

Additional Topic

Kornheiser and Wilbon discuss one additional topic, or augment earlier discussion on the same topic, for approximately one minute. This segment may also be used to address a breaking story that ties in with SportsCenter.

The Big Finish

For the final 60 seconds of the show, they make a few comments on stories they missed, usually ending with Wilbon picking a winner in a sporting event later that night. The segment (and show) ends with Kornheiser saying, "We're out of time, we'll try to do better the next time," and Wilbon saying "Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads." Kornheiser sometimes waves the show logo (on a stick) in front of his face and whispers "PTI!" similar to the closing graphic as the show signs off.

Running gags

Main article: Running gags on Pardon the Interruption

The longevity and popularity of the show has led to numerous running jokes between Wilbon and Kornheiser that longtime viewers will recognize. Some of these include such gags as The Bald Brotherhood, Beatdown!, The Yanks and the Sawks!, The Penguin Dance, and The Trampoline Bear.

Kornheiser and Wilbon in other media

The short-lived CBS show Listen Up was based on the life of Tony Kornheiser. In it, the main characters Tony Kleinman (Jason Alexander) and Bernie Widmer (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) co-host an off-beat sports show titled "Listen Up!"

Kornheiser and Wilbon appeared as themselves on PTI in the 2004 film Mr. 3000, including doing a Role Play segment with Kornheiser posing as Stan Ross (Bernie Mac) at one point.

On February 8, 2006, it was announced that Tony Kornheiser would join Mike Tirico and Joe Theismann in the broadcast booth during Monday Night Football beginning in the 2006 NFL season. Kornheiser has continued to host PTI, and Wilbon joins him on the road as they broadcast PTI each Monday from the site of the MNF game. In the months leading up to the 2006 NFL season, Kornheiser would often offer self-deprecating comments on the PTI show, saying that he'd be horrible for the MNF job or that he wished that certain people that are topics on the show would ride the bus with him to the game, as he has an admitted fear of flying. On the April 6, 2006, edition of PTI, the same day that the upcoming NFL season's schedule[1] was released, Tony gave a humorous insight into how he felt about his upcoming travel schedule, sarcastically commenting about how there weren't any East Coast games on the schedule. He also took the time to apologize to fans in Jacksonville, Florida, whose city Tony described in his Washington Post column as having only Waffle Houses, since there was a Monday Night game in Jacksonville on September 18, the second week of the NFL season. Kornheiser recently said on the show that if at all possible, he would like to avoid traveling to the city of Seattle again since each time he has gone there, the weather has been atrocious (such as the downpour and wind that was constant in week 9 against Oakland and the snowstorm in week 12 against Green Bay).

PTI will be featured on future EA Sports video games due to the contract between ESPN and EA. The first game to have the feature is NBA Live 07 for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

Beginning in 2007, Wilbon appears weekly as an analyst for GMC NBA Countdown show Sundays on ABC.

Guest hosts

When one of the normal hosts is sick or on vacation, they have a guest host, usually another prominent sportswriter. The months of July and August are usually full of guest hosts, as Kornheiser and Wilbon tend to take their vacations during those months.

Current

• Dan Le Batard
• Bob Ryan
• Mike Tirico

Former

• David Aldridge
• Skip Bayless
• Norman Chad
• Josh Elliott
• Max Kellerman
• Jackie MacMullan
• Jay Mariotti
• Jon Saraceno
• Michael Smith
• Stephen A. Smith
• Michele Tafoya
• Jason Whitlock

Other versions

In 2004, Crackerjack Television started producing an Australian version of the show[2], which airs weekly on the Australian ESPN channel and features former Australian Rules footballer Sam Kekovich. ESPN Australia also broadcasts the American version of PTI editions before SportsCenter

The ESPN Deportes show "Cronómetro" (Spanish for "stopwatch") is modeled after PTI and Sports Reporters, in that it features personalities talking about sports subjects for a set amount of time. Unlike PTI, there are four panelists instead of two, and segments such as Role Play are not used: Five Good Minutes is kept, as a discussion of one subject between the four analysts.

Trivia

• The theme song and commercial outro music thematically reference the song "Cut Your Hair" by Pavement. This is probably meant as a joke, as both Kornheiser and Wilbon are bald.
• When the show first debuted, there was also a Sunday evening edition, which was short-lived.
• On the March 27, 2006, show, Kornheiser, for the first time in four years, hosted the show away from the studio while Wilbon remained back at the set, as he was in Orlando, Florida, covering the NFL owners' meetings. Commonly, Wilbon is the host that leaves to cover the major sporting events while Kornheiser stays at the set. This fact was occasionally used by Wilbon to tease Kornheiser. Since Kornheiser now works for Monday Night Football and needs to be away from the set, this is seldom referenced.
• Michael Wilbon provides the voice of the mailbox for "Mail Time!"
• For a time, the show was rebroadcast on ESPN Radio at 7:00 PM ET. This airing was replaced by the ESPNEWS airing on satellite radio a half-hour earlier.
• The only airing of the show that airs in its entirety is the "normal" 5:30 PM airing. Most replays of the show, including those on ESPNEWS and satellite radio, omit Happy Time and replace that segment with the SportsCenter topic and The Big Finish. Initially, the internet podcast closed with Happy Time but had occasionally used the Big Finish in its place. As of August 2006, the podcasts have been including both Happy Time and The Big Finish.
• During a phone interview on the August 15, 2006 edition of The Dan Patrick Show, Tony revealed that he was recovering from skin cancer surgery, which would explain his absence from PTI for virtually the entire month of July.
• In a show that aired in November of 2006, both Kornheiser and Wilbon were away from the studio -- in different locations.

External links

• Official Site from ESPN.com
• Podcasts from ESPN.com
• Internet group for PTI, featuring daily write-ups of every show of 2006