PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Panelists, it is time for a new game that we're calling...
BILL KURTIS: 2021? More like 20-20-Fun.
SAGAL: So we all got used to hearing terrible news all the time in 2020. But now it's 2021. Things are going to get better, right? So we've put together a game to help you get used to hearing good news again. Bill Kurtis is going to read you the start of a headline for an actual good news story we've seen in 2021. You finish it in 2021 fashion. Finish it correctly, get a point. Here we go. Joel, you're up first. Complete the headline.
KURTIS: Escaped hamster faces freezing temperatures...
JOEL KIM BOOSTER: To get back home.
SAGAL: Close - the actual headline was...
KURTIS: Escaped hamster faces freezing temperatures to get to candy store.
KIM BOOSTER: Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: The hamster successfully made it inside a candy store in Scotland. It was safely retrieved there by happy employees. Unfortunately, the candy store did not have its favorite, hard brown pellets. All right, Amy - finish this headline.
KURTIS: Hawaii's Mount Kilauea erupts. Lava flows...
AMY DICKINSON: Gently to the sea.
SAGAL: Oh, even better. Bill?
KURTIS: Lava flows inside volcano's crater.
SAGAL: Yes, the lava is flowing not into a nearby village, but safely inside the volcano's crater, exactly where you want lava to be. All right, Maeve. Tell us the end of this headline.
KURTIS: Wendy's manager spreads...
MAEVE HIGGINS: (Laughter).
SAGAL: OK, Maeve - what did the Wendy's manager spread?
HIGGINS: The toilet code so that you don't need to buy anything if you want to use the restroom.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: No. The...
HIGGINS: Yeah, I think - oh.
SAGAL: The headline finished this way. Bill?
KURTIS: Wendy's manager spreads positivity, one I love you at a time.
HIGGINS: Oh.
SAGAL: A Wendy's manager in Washington state and started telling every single customer, I love you. Unfortunately, so far, every customer has responded, oh, I love spending time with you, too.
HIGGINS: (Laughter).
SAGAL: Thank you, 2021. We couldn't be happier that you are finally here.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANDRE RIEU AND JOHANN STRAUSS ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF AGER AND YELLEN'S "HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.