Trivia / Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

• Actor Allusion: When Tom Hanks guest-hosted in January, 2017, the first two callers were from Seattle and Philadelphia. The caller from Seattle even jokingly complained about all the tourists that come to the city specifically because of Hanks.
• Continuity Nod: The name of Doug Berman's production company, Urgent Haircut Productions, is taken from another NPR show Berman produced, Car Talk, where it was an Unusual Euphemism for needing to go to the bathroom.
  • Berman's job title at Urgent Haircut Productions really is "benevolent overlord," as announced at the end of each show; he gave himself that title so Mike Danforth could have the job title of executive producer.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: On two occasions, Paula has read bluffs about Walt Disney World but showed her hand by getting bizarrely simple facts wrong. Namely, the location of a ride based on Finding Nemo^note It's at Epcot, not the Magic Kingdom, and the existence of an Indiana Jones ride.^note While there's a ride in California, the story's specifically about Florida, where there's only a stage show.
• Permanent Placeholder: The show offered Carl Kasell's voice on listener's answering machines as a prize because they couldn't afford to offer cash or items. However, the recordings quickly became coveted items, so it stayed as the one and only prize until Kasell's health started failing and the prize was expanded to allow winners to choose the voice of any regular on the show.
• Old Shame: As revealed on This American Life, Peter Sagal wrote the script that would eventually become Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. His reactions to the final product are mixed to say the least.
• Referenced by...: The xkcd comic "Wait Wait" is a parody of the show's title, with a series of headlines based on the formula "Wait Wait, don't ____ me" covering the actions of an increasingly unhinged Peter Sagal.
• What Could Have Been: Lena Dunham was booked to appear in person for "Not My Job" but couldn't make it due to inclement weather. Stephen Colbert agreed to step in at the last minute and asked that the interview questions and quiz questions not be changed on his account. Colbert stepped in again after another guest pulled out, although the interview was revised to protect the original guest's identity.

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