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Carl Kasell Retiring From NPR's 'Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'
March 4, 2014 at 1:02 PM (PT)
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NPR and CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA noncommercial News-Talk WBEZ/CHICAGO have announced that CARL KASELL will be retiring as scorekeeper for weekly comedy news quiz "WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME!" this SPRING after celebration shows planned for CHICAGO and WASHINGTON. KASELL, the former NPR "MORNING EDITION" news anchor, joined the quiz as Official Judge and Scorekeeper in 1998, and his voice on winners' home answering machines (later, voice mail) was the standard prize for home contestants on the show. He will serve as "Scorekeeper Emeritus" and will continue to record voice mail messages for winners while making occasional appearances on the show.
Executive Producer MIKE DANFORTH joked, “All of his imitations sounded exactly the same, but the audience loved it. Everyone from VLADIMIR PUTIN to ZSA ZSA GABOR sounded exactly like our beloved CARL KASELL.”
Host PETER SAGAL noted that when the show goes on the road, "whose autograph do they line up for after each show? CARL’s. The 50-year-old computer programmers are in my line telling me C++ jokes, and the 20-something women are beside themselves posing for pictures with CARL.”
NPR VP of Programming ERIC NUZUM said that as "MORNING EDITION" newscaster, KASELL's "was the voice people woke up to. They opened their eyes, and for 30 years, CARL KASELL was there, reassuring them the world was still in one piece.”
KASELL said, “My favorite time at NPR has been WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME! It was loads of fun and gave me a chance to meet and talk in person to the audiences that I felt I had known for so many years on the air. I can honestly say I am the luckiest man around to be able to have worked at a job I love for so many years. It's truly been a joy for me.”

