Tuesday saw Tony Kornheiser make his long-awaited return to the Pardon The Interruption studio for the first time since before the Coronovairus pandemic. After three years away, Kornheiser joined his longtime co-host Michael Wilbon in-studio in Washington, D.C.
Tony Kornheiser returns to the PTI studio for the first time since 2020! (H/T: @paulsen_smw) pic.twitter.com/QznNyRVfRt
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 5, 2023
PTI has been a staple of ESPN’s evening programming for over 20 years, with Kornheiser at the forefront. But like everything else in the world, the show has looked a bit different over the past three years; it’s not that it lost its luster, it was just different. Tuesday marked a return to normalcy, which he discussed Wednesday on his The Tony Kornheiser Show.
“I went in and did PTI yesterday; I just thought I’d drop that out there,” Kornheiser said. “I went in. I was excited to go in. I’m excited to see if in three days, I get COVID because that’s my great fear. It was fun to do. I have to say, it was fun to do for those people.”
“And I had a lot of people who know me and have my phone number. I don’t look at social media ever, so I don’t know what people are saying. And it’s OK, whatever you say, you say. It’s fine. But friends of mine — or people I would consider at least acquaintances into friends — were basically unanimously happy that it happened. And I tried to answer each one of those things that I will do this occasionally.”
Kornheiser made it clear that it’s not gonna become something that happens more than occasionally. He said it’s not weekly, nor will it happen 2-or-3 times a week.
“First of all, Mike has to be there,” Kornheiser said of his longtime co-host. “Second of all, I gotta want to do it. And I’m not gonna do it every day. And if somebody thinks I’m gonna do it every day…I’m familiar with the phrase, ‘Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.’ I understand that’s going to happen, so I’m saying right now, I’m stressing occasionally, not regularly. Occasionally, I will go in there. If that’s not good enough, we know where the doors are.”
“But it was great fun,” he added. “Glad I did it. I was sort of surprised at the reaction…I had a very good time. So let me say this again: this will perhaps occasionally happen.”
Kornheiser’s return to studio was met with overwhelming positivity, highlighting the enduring appeal of PTI and the dynamic duo at its best. Even if it only happens occasionally, which Kornheiser could not stress more, it’s still a win for viewers everywhere.
