Discourse markers are among the basic building blocks of spoken language. This study gauges the use of the discourse marker I mean in spoken English, specifically in the talk show setting, with the aim of providing a comprehensive description of the pragmatic functions of I mean. After extracting large quantities of extended conversations from various talk shows, a corpus for fur?ther extensive discourse analysis will then be established. Our small-scale yet fine-grained study proposes that the core functions of I mean includes reformulation, elaboration, lexical search and interpersonal management. The wide use of discourse markers in TV talk shows serves to promote the logic and organization of interviewing language as well as the overall discourse setting whereby the talk shows proceed smoothly with the interlocutors'dynamic devotion into conversation.