Pardon the Interruption: Encyclopedia II - Pardon the Interruption - Segments

Pardon the Interruption - Segments

The show is divided into several segments. Segments included in the vast majority of shows are:

• The Introduction, in which Kornheiser and Wilbon welcome viewers. They can be heard continuing to banter about trivialities as the show's opening music and titles play. This banter usually consists of jokes about topical subjects or one host playfully insulting the other.
• Headlines, the show opener where Kornheiser and Wilbon usually debate over five or six issues. Up to two minutes are allotted per topic.
• Five Good Minutes, Kornheiser and Wilbon interview a sports figure (often an analyst) for about five 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 below would usually take place. During Mondays in 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 June 8, 2005, Drew Rosenhaus, agent of such NFL stars as Terrell Owens and Willis McGahee, appeared as a guest during this segment. Kornheiser and Wilbon were so engaged in the interview that it actually ran eleven minutes and the following segment (Role Play) was canceled. The interview is usually slightly edited for broadcast
• Between Five Good Minutes and Happy Happy Time there is usually a different segment, including:
  • Mail Time (featured frequently), where they read and respond to viewer e-mail. When Wilbon is doing a remote for his part of the broadcast, Kornheiser complains about having to remove and read all the e-mails himself. "I do it for the kids!" he has said.
  • Toss Up (featured frequently), where they chose between two sides on a given topic. Kornheiser claims to have a perfect record in this game, often finishing with the words, "Wilbon... I win!" and Wilbon disagreeing.
  • Good Cop, Bad Cop (featured occasionally), a variation of "Toss Up" played in police officer costumes with one "Good Cop" who takes the side of the person, team, or item that is being discussed and the other one being the "Bad Cop."
  • Over/Under (featured frequently), where they argue whether a certain sports figure will go over or under a certain number (40 home runs, 60 wins, etc.). They will also argue very off-beat statistics, such as the duration of Britney Spears's marriage. Wilbon is often chided by Kornheiser and Reali here for choosing "push", as the name of the game stipulates that he must select either over or under. In an effort to prevent this, a decimal figure is sometimes used (2.5 touchdowns, 30.5 points etc.). At the conclusion of this segment, Kornheiser says, "That's it! Over/Under is over!"
  • Role Play (featured occasionally), loosely referred to as "Heads on Sticks," where they argue from the perspective of a sports figure while holding a picture of him or her in front of their faces. Ostensibly, each host does not know who he will be playing before the segment begins. The Heads on Sticks usually find themselves becoming part of the set's background in subsequent episodes.
  • Food Chain (featured rarely), where Kornheiser and Wilbon rank a set of teams or players (both current and historical) in order based on a given criteria (such as "Most Marketable Athlete", "Best NBA Point Guard" or "Biggest Disappointment of the Year"). Usually Wilbon and Kornheiser will have variations in their lists, which leads the main discussion points. Wilbon does his list first, then Kornheiser revises it, concluding with, "That's it! That's the list!"
  • Psychic Hotline (featured rarely), where Kornheiser and Wilbon field pre-recorded phone calls, making predictions for an upcoming sports event/tournament. Kornheiser wears a turban, in the style of Carnac the Magnificent and when he makes predictions he places his hand on a Van de Graaff electrostatic generator.
  • Oddsmakers (featured frequently), where Reali gives Kornheiser and Wilbon a possible outcome of a future sports event and they each state the percent chance that they think that will happen. A selection of "50%" is seen unfavorably, much like the "Push" option in "Over/Under". Kornheiser frequently ends the segment with the statement "Oddsmakers is 100% over!"
  • Sometimes, particularly when there are guest hosts with less rapport than Wilbon and Kornheiser, this segment is simply more headline-style discussion.
• Happy Happy Time, where they 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, in which case it's a "melancholy Happy Trails"). Recently, Korhneiser has opened this segment with an enthusiastic declaration of "Birthday Time!" while clapping his hands.
• Errors/Corrections, in which, if time allows, Reali (called "Stat Boy" at this point) corrects any factual errors that Kornheiser and Wilbon may have made. When Dan Le Batard is hosting, he refers to Reali as "Stat Face." Also, when Jay Mariotti is hosting, he calls Reali "Stat Man." Kornheiser or Wilbon will sometimes jokingly "fire" Reali during this segment.
• TV Picks, in which Wilbon and Kornheiser give their reccomendations for television viewing for the night. Wilbon will almost always choose a sports event or simply reccomend leaving the house and having fun, while Kornheiser will usually choose a pay-per-view movie or a humorous offering such as "When Animals Attack!"
• Sportscenter, Kornheiser bids farewell to Canadian viewers as Sportscenter begins.
• 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.
• The Big Finish, where for the final 60 seconds of the show, they make a few comments on stories they missed. Then they say goodbye with Kornheiser saying, "We're out of time, we'll try to do better the next time," and Wilbon calling the viewers "knuckleheads" while Kornheiser waves a show logo and whispers, "PTI."

It is not unusual for the last point or topic in each section to be about a non-sports related pop-culture event.

When the show debuted, Mail Time, Role Play, and Toss Up were the only regular "middle segments", with the others being added along the way. There was also a short-lived game in which two prominent athletes, often teammates, would be joined at the head in a cardboard cutout, and Kornheiser and Wilbon were forced to choose which head to "cut off".

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. This change seems to only occur on special occasions.

PTI debuted 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.

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 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 6:30 PM 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 [1], 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.

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," waving a Canadian flag as he says so. Recently, Tony has flipped to the other side of the continent, waving a Mexican flag and closing with, "Buenos noches, Mexico!" before the toss.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Segments", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki