'Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me' Judge Carl Kasell Retiring

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 4, 2014 9:40PM

Carl Kasell (left) with "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me" host Peter Sagal in 2010. (Photo credit: Melody Kramer)

Carl Kasell, the veteran National Public Radio news announcer who gained a greater measure of fame as the judge, scorekeeper and announcer of NPR game show Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me, announced his retirement Tuesday after a 50-year broadcasting career.

The North Carolina native Kasell’s rich baritone was a soothing morning welcome for generations of public radio listeners as the news announcer for NPR’s Morning Edition from its 1979 inception until 2009. The 79-year-old has been flying from Washington, DC to Chicago for the past 15 years to tape Wait Wait at the Chase Auditorium and NPR vice president for programming Eric Nuzum said Kasell was “ready for some R&R.”

Kasell became a celebrity when he was paired with Wait Wait host Peter Sagal. Playing off his straight-laced Morning Edition persona, Kasell would use weird voices for the “Who’s Carl This Time?” segment, read the show’s “Fill in the Blank” limerick challenge, kept score and provided the messages to thousands of listeners’ answering machines.

Kasell will retain the new honorific of “scorekeeper emeritus” and will make occasional appearances on Wait Wait. Sagal said Kasell will still be doing voicemail introductions as prizes and that Kasell will still be busy.