Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser have built an incredible legacy at ESPN with Pardon the Interruption. But according to Wilbon, it almost never happened.
PTI has enjoyed a two-decade plus run at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN and has set the template that has been copied by almost every sports show since and even beyond. While others have tried to imitate or replicate debate-style television, the chemistry and camaraderie that Kornheiser and Wilbon have could never be duplicated anywhere else.
Even though lead-in Around the Horn is coming to an end after a lengthy run of its own, PTI is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. And with its influence on the industry etched in stone, Wilbon shared a surprising story that it took some convincing for himself and Kornehiser to do the show in the first place.
Michael Wilbon appeared with TNT basketball analyst Jim Jackson on his podcast The Jim Jackson Show to talk about his career in print journalism and television. And he admitted that he had to be talked into doing Pardon the Interruption with Tony Kornheiser by two influential people in the basketball world close to him – former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams and longtime friend Charles Barkley.
“Gary [Williams] was one of those people, you know you have to have people say to you, get in your ear, when someone wants you to do something different. People get in your ear at times and say, ‘hey, are you paying attention!’ Your comfort zone is not important. This other thing, the world is moving, it’s evolving… Gary’s voice was important to both Tony Kornheiser and me,” Wilbon said.
When talking about Barkley’s influence, Wilbon said that the Inside the NBA star was even more direct. When elaborating on the conversation, Wilbon said that television was never a goal or objective of his. But as hindsight has proven, it sure was the right decision.
“Charles took me to dinner and said, ‘What do you mean you’re thinking about not doing this show, what are you talking about?'” Wilbon said.
“I just wasn’t thinking about, I was comfortable. I was at the time, to be fair, being compensated in a way I never thought I would when I was 18, 20, 25, 30 years old. And then ESPN said, ‘We want you and Tony to bring what you do as journalists to the screen. We’re like, ‘Right, get out of here,” he added.
Charles Barkley agreed to be the very first guest on Pardon the Interruption if Wilbon and Kornheiser went through with the program. And more than two decades later, the rest is television history.
“He said, ‘You’ve got to talk this through, you can’t just say no. The world is changing.’ So I said, finally after several of these conversations that Charles had with Tony and me, I said, ‘Ok fine, if we do this, you’ve got to be the first guest. You’ve got to help out.’ And if you go back and look at the first show, Jim, Charles was the first guest. First day,” Wilbon said.