PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Now, it is time to move on to our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as he or she can. Each correct answer worth two points. Carl, can you give us the scores?
CARL KASELL: Charlie Pierce has the lead, Peter, he has four points. Jessi Klein and Tom Bodett are tied for second, they both have three points.
SAGAL: Well, we have flipped a coin. Jessi has elected to go second. Tom, you're up first. Now, all of you questions are going to be about political denials. Fill in the blank. Defending himself in the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon held a press conference to say quote I am not a blank.
TOM BODETT: Crook.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In a press conference, President Clinton said that he had not had blank.
BODETT: Sexual relations with that woman.
SAGAL: Exactly right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: 18th century author Parson Weems is responsible for the apocryphal story in which George Washington says that he cannot blank.
BODETT: Tell a lie.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In 2009 South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford explained his mysterious absence by saying he'd been blanking.
BODETT: Hiking the Appalachian Trail.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: When he was accused of failing to pay taxes, New York Mayor David Dinkins said quote, "I haven't committed a crime. What I did was blank."
BODETT: Oh geez. What I did was what everybody does.
SAGAL: What I did was fail to comply with the law.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: After he was busted for soliciting an undercover cop in an airport bathroom, Senator Larry Craig blamed his blank.
BODETT: His wide stance.
SAGAL: Yes, indeed.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: When asked if a crotch photo on his twitter feed was him, blank initially said he couldn't say with certitude if it was or not.
BODETT: Hard to forget the name, Anthony Weiner.
SAGAL: Right.
When asked if he'd been the victim of stereotypes about Italian men, Silvio Berlusconi said yes, "I'm not a Playboy. I'm blank."
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
BODETT: Oh, I'm a god.
SAGAL: No. He said I'm not a playboy, I'm a playman.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Berlusconi went on to praise his comfy La-Z-Man recliner and talk about how much he loves the games on his Game Man.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Carl, how did Tom do on our quiz?
KASELL: Tom had six correct answers, for 12 more points. He now has 15 points, and Tom has taken the lead.
SAGAL: Well done.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: Jessi, you're up next. All of your questions are about celebrities and politics. Here we go. Fill in the blank. George Clooney and Sarah Jessica Parker were among those that held fundraising dinners for blank in 2012.
JESSI KLEIN: Barack Obama.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: After Marilyn Monroe sang Happy Birthday to him, President blank joked that now he could retire from politics.
KLEIN: Kennedy.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: To symbolize budget cuts he'd be making, in 2009 California governor blank released a video of himself brandishing a huge knife.
KLEIN: Schwarzenegger.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In an effort to appeal to voters, in 2003 a Russian regional governor changed his name to blank.
KLEIN: Oh god. I'm blanking on the blank.
SAGAL: Harry Yanovich Potter.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Country music stations across the country pulled the Dixie Chicks from their play lists after the group made negative comments about blank.
KLEIN: Bush.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In 2006 NFL star Drew Brees took legal action to stop blank from using his image in campaign ads.
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
KLEIN: Wait, in which year?
SAGAL: 2006.
KLEIN: Nixon. No.
(LAUGHTER)
KLEIN: 2006, Tom Wins, I don't know.
SAGAL: No, it was...
KLEIN: I mean, honestly.
SAGAL: Drew Brees took legal action to stop his mother from using his image in a campaign ad. Drew Brees' mother Mina was a Democratic candidate in Austin Texas, so why not use photos of her famous son to promote her campaign? Drew Brees was not amused, and issued a cease and desist order. Mina Brees complied, and said that in retrospect, she probably should not have used his naked baby pictures.
(LAUGHTER)
KLEIN: Well you do want to have an image of a baby out there somewhere.
SAGAL: That's true. Carl, how did Jessi do on our quiz?
KASELL: Jessi had just four correct answers, for eight more points. She now has 11. Tom Bodett retains the lead with 15 points.
SAGAL: And how many does Charlie need to win?
KASELL: Seven correct answers.
SAGAL: Here we go, Charlie, this is for the game. And all of your questions today are going to be about first ladies. Fill in the blank. After going public with her struggle with alcoholism, in 1982, former first lady blank opened her famous substance abuse clinic.
CHARLIE PIERCE: Betty Ford.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: As part of her "Let's Move" initiative, blank became the only first lady to dance "The Dougie" and "The Running Man" at an official appearance.
PIERCE: Michelle Obama.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: After marrying French President Nicholas Sarkozy, former supermodel blank became a dual citizen of France and Italy.
PIERCE: What the heck is her name? Carla Bruni.
SAGAL: Right
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: First Lady Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson got her unique nickname when her childhood nanny said she was pretty as a blank.
PIERCE: Lady Bird.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: To win the heart of future first lady Pat Ryan, Richard Nixon used to blank.
PIERCE: Drive her home from dates with other boys.
SAGAL: Exactly right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: In 2008 Governor Sarah Palin said if she took the White House, her husband would be known as the first blank.
PIERCE: Dude.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Patty Lupone and Madonna are among the actresses who have portrayed Argentina's former first lady blank.
PIERCE: Eva Peron.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: When Nancy Reagan asked jazz legend Miles Davis what he had done to merit an invitation to a White House dinner, he responded by saying blank.
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
PIERCE: He had painted some lovely sketches.
SAGAL: No. Nancy Reagan asks Miles Davis, what did you do to get invited to a White House dinner. And he said, I've changed the course of music five or six times. What have you done except sleep with the president?
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: When asked if she'd like to invite Miles Davis to future dinner parties at the White House, Nancy Reagan just said no.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Carl, did Charlie do well enough to win?
KASELL: He had seven correct answers, Peter, for 14 more points. So with 18 points, Charlie Pierce is this week's champion.
SAGAL: Well done.
(APPLAUSE)
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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