Could the public radio show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” soon have a weekly perch on television? 
 
 The BBC America cable channel is giving the popular NPR quiz show a try-out of sorts. It’s going to tape a 2011 year in review edition of “Wait Wait” next month and televise it on Dec. 23. 
 
 For the BBC, it is a one-hour special, but it could turn into something more. Television channels regularly make pilots for possible shows by commissioning one-hour specials. 
 
 Asked whether that’s the case this time, an NPR spokeswoman said, “BBC and NPR are testing and learning. We’ll see how it goes and take it from there.” 
 
 
 
 Peter Sagal, the witty host of “Wait Wait,” answered the same question thusly: “No comment. (I’ve always wanted to say that to The New York Times.)” 
 
 The Times has a partnership with “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me” for a weekly news quiz in the Sunday Review section of the newspaper. 
 
 NPR is known to have contemplated a television version of “Wait Wait” once before, in 2008, when it worked with the CBS network on a pilot for such a series. The pilot did not go forward. 
 
 In an interview in 2009, Mr. Sagal said he valued the intimacy and the spontaneity of the current format on radio. ”We’re a bunch of guys who like joking around with each other,” he said. 
 
 The television special for BBC America, to be taped in Chicago on Dec. 2, seems designed to preserve the intimacy and spontaneity of radio. It will have Mr. Sagal, the official judge Carl Kasell and a panel like all other editions of the show. 
 
 Reflecting the relationship with the British broadcaster, it will include both an “American and British perspective,” according to a news release on Wednesday, “and will also include listener contests and celebrity guests from both sides of the pond.” 
 
 Doug Berman, the series creator, said in a statement, “It’s going to be pretty much what we do every week, except NPR has to add a budget line for pants.” 
 
 December’s one-hour special will be the first time NPR has partnered with BBC America. ||||| NPR's "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me" is coming to TV for the first time. 
 
 The comedic radio quiz show will debut on BBC America with a year-in-review special Dec. 23. Host Peter Sagal, scorekeeper Carl Kasell and a panel including Paula Poundstone and Alonzo Bodden will discuss 2011's biggest events. 
 
 When "Wait Wait" would ever make the leap to television has long been a point of conjecture. Now in its 14th season, the show draws 3.2 million listeners weekly on 595 NPR member public radio stations. 
 
 BBC Worldwide Americas General Manager Perry Simon calls the TV debut "long overdue." 
 
 "Wait Wait" creator Doug Berman says it would be a typical show, "except NPR has to add a budget line for pants." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 http://www.npr.org/waitwait
– NPR's popular Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me is heading for the bright lights of television. The quiz show will get a one-hour special that will air Dec. 23 on the cable channel BBC America, reports AP. The New York Times sees it as a "try-out of sorts"—if it does well, expect to see more next year. Host Peter Sagal wasn't divulging much: "No comment. (I've always wanted to say that to the New York Times.)" The shows draws 3.2 million weekly listeners on the radio.