Dion Waiters Award

Best short screen-time performance (heat check).

Dion Waiters Award has run in 249 episodes. The most recent 40 are listed below — open any episode at its timestamp to hear the segment.

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‘Pacific Heights’Bill Simmons

Beverly D'Angelo

‘2001: A Space Odyssey’Bill Simmons

Hal (the AI)

‘2001: A Space Odyssey’Sean Fennessey

Daniel Richter as Moonwatcher, the chief ape

‘2001: A Space Odyssey’Steven Spielberg

Vivian Kubrick, who wants a bush baby and whose father calls her a squirt (his number two pick)

‘Animal House’Bill Simmons

Offers multiple candidates: Donald Sutherland (two and a half scenes), Dean Wormer's wife, Otis Day, or Shelly (Flounder's roommate), without settling on one definitive pick

‘Animal House’Chris Ryan

Goes with Donald Sutherland as the classic Dion Waiters pick, noting Dean Wormer's wife as a close second

‘Borat’Bill Simmons

Pat Haggerty, the humor coach

‘Borat’Kyle Brandt

Weatherman on Channel 16 (the guy who 'barely can do the weather' during Borat's news segment)

‘There’Bill Simmons

Doesn't name a single specific actor; says the movie (There's Something About Mary) has essentially 10 Dion Waiters-type performances that all 'come in hot,' with Cameron Diaz singled out as becoming an A-plus lister after this movie.

‘Kindergarten Cop’Bill Simmons

Praises Arnold's performance in Kindergarten Cop as the rare successful example of an action star doing a family/kid movie, noting 'it's not a tumor' became iconic; discusses this at length but doesn't formally declare a category winner in this segment.

‘Kindergarten Cop’Kyle Brandt

Discusses Arnold Schwarzenegger's kid-interaction scenes in Kindergarten Cop as a heat check that pays off (unlike the later Junior 'heat check' that misses), praising his quotability ('it's not a tumor') and chemistry with the kids, but doesn't name it explicitly as the award pick.

‘Basic Instinct’Bill Simmons

Roxy (from Basic Instinct) gets the Dion Waiters award for a hall of fame heat-check performance

Episode	Host	Answer
‘Pacific Heights’	Bill Simmons	Beverly D'Angelo
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’	Bill Simmons	Hal (the AI)
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’	Sean Fennessey	Daniel Richter as Moonwatcher, the chief ape
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’	Steven Spielberg	Vivian Kubrick, who wants a bush baby and whose father calls her a squirt (his number two pick)
‘Animal House’	Bill Simmons	Offers multiple candidates: Donald Sutherland (two and a half scenes), Dean Wormer's wife, Otis Day, or Shelly (Flounder's roommate), without settling on one definitive pick
‘Animal House’	Chris Ryan	Goes with Donald Sutherland as the classic Dion Waiters pick, noting Dean Wormer's wife as a close second
‘Borat’	Bill Simmons	Pat Haggerty, the humor coach
‘Borat’	Kyle Brandt	Weatherman on Channel 16 (the guy who 'barely can do the weather' during Borat's news segment)
‘There’	Bill Simmons	Doesn't name a single specific actor; says the movie (There's Something About Mary) has essentially 10 Dion Waiters-type performances that all 'come in hot,' with Cameron Diaz singled out as becoming an A-plus lister after this movie.
‘Kindergarten Cop’	Bill Simmons	Praises Arnold's performance in Kindergarten Cop as the rare successful example of an action star doing a family/kid movie, noting 'it's not a tumor' became iconic; discusses this at length but doesn't formally declare a category winner in this segment.
‘Kindergarten Cop’	Kyle Brandt	Discusses Arnold Schwarzenegger's kid-interaction scenes in Kindergarten Cop as a heat check that pays off (unlike the later Junior 'heat check' that misses), praising his quotability ('it's not a tumor') and chemistry with the kids, but doesn't name it explicitly as the award pick.
‘Basic Instinct’	Bill Simmons	Roxy (from Basic Instinct) gets the Dion Waiters award for a hall of fame heat-check performance