Car Talk is a
radio talk showTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
broadcast weekly on
National Public RadioNational Public Radio is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law...
stations throughout the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and elsewhere. Its subjects are automobiles and repair, and it often takes humorous turns. The hosts of Car Talk are brothers
TomThomas Louis Magliozzi is an American radio talk show host. He and his younger brother Ray Magliozzi, also known collectively as Click and Clack, The Tappet Brothers, are the hosts of National Public Radio's Car Talk....
and
Ray MagliozziRaymond F. Magliozzi is a co-host of NPR's winning weekly radio show, Car Talk. They are known as "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers"...
, also known as
Click and Clack, the TappetA tappet in mechanical engineering is a projection which imparts a linear motion to some other component within an assembly. Properly speaking, a tappet is only that part of a rocker arm which makes contact with an intake or exhaust valve stem above the cylinder head of an internal combustion...
Brothers.
Show
Car Talk is structured as a call-in radio show: listeners call with questions related to motor vehicle maintenance and repair. Most of the advice sought is diagnostic, with callers describing symptoms and demonstrating sounds of an ailing vehicle while the Magliozzis make an attempt at identifying the malfunction. While the hosts pepper their call-in sessions with jokes directed at both the caller and at themselves, the depth and breadth of their knowledge of automobiles is extensive, and they are usually able to arrive at a diagnosis and give helpful advice. Also, if a caller has an unusual name, they will inquire about the spelling, pronunciation, and/or origin of their name. They may also comment about the caller's hometown. The Magliozzis previously took a break at approximately the half-hour mark of the show. More recently, two breaks divide the show into approximately 20-minute segments referred to as the "three halves" of the show. Between segments a piece of music, usually related to cars in some way, will play. One example was "Fast Cars" by The Buzzcocks.
Car Talk was first broadcast on
WBURWBUR refers to two radio stations in Massachusetts, WBUR AM and FM, both owned by Boston University. WBUR is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, Massachusetts, along with WGBH_ and WUMB-FM, and the only one to focus exclusively on news and talk...
in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1977. It was picked up nationally by NPR ten years later. NPR reports that it is heard on more than 370 stations by an audience of more than two million weekly listeners. The show is also carried on Sirius XM Satellite Radio via both the NPR Now and NPR Talk channels. These two NPR stations rebroadcast the show throughout the weekend.
The show was the inspiration for the shortlived "George Wendt Show", which aired on CBS in the 1995-96 season. http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/george-wendt/201634
In May 2007, the program, which had only previously been available digitally as a paid subscription from
Audible.comAudible.com is an Internet provider of spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming.Audible sells audiobooks, radio and TV programs, and audio versions of magazines and newspapers....
, became a free podcast distributed by NPR, after a two-month test period where only a "call of the week" was available via podcast. The full show quickly became the top-subscribed program within the
iTunes StoreThe iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple Inc. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, it was as of April 2008 the number-one music vendor in the United States. As of January 2009, the store has sold 6 billion songs, accounting for 70% of...
's podcast directory upon its release.
The
Car Talk theme song is "Dawggy Mountain Breakdown" by
bluegrassBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has roots in Irish, West African, Scottish, Welsh and English traditional music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of immigrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland , and African-Americans, particularly...
artist
David GrismanDavid Grisman is a bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music....
.
Call-in procedure
Throughout the program, listeners are encouraged to dial the
toll-free telephone numberA toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, or 800 number is a special telephone number, in that the called party is charged the cost of the calls by the telephone carrier, instead of the calling party...
, 1-888-CAR-TALK (1-888-227-8255), giving the impression that real-time calls are being taken; however, that number actually connects to a 24-hour answering service. Although the approximately 2,000 queries received each week are pre-screened by the
Car Talk staff, the questions are unknown to the Magliozzis in advance as "that would entail researching the right answer, which is what? ...Work." Producers select and contact the callers several days ahead of the show's Wednesday taping to arrange the segment. The caller speaks briefly to a producer before being connected "live" with the hosts, and is given little coaching other than being told to be prepared to talk, not to use any written preparation and to "have fun." The show deliberately tapes more callers than they'll have time to air each week in order to be able to choose the best ones for broadcast. Those segments that do make it to air are generally edited for time.
Features
The show opens with a comedy segment, followed by eight call-in sessions. They run a contest called the "Puzzler", in which a riddle, sometimes car related, is presented. The answer to the previous week's "Puzzler" is given during the "second half" of the show, and a new puzzler is given during the "third half". The hosts give instructions to listeners to write answers addressed to "Puzzler Tower" on some non-existent or expensive object, such as a 26-dollar bill or an advanced
SLRA single-lens reflex camera is camera that uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system which permits the photographer to sometimes see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...
digital camera. This gag initially started as having the answers "on the back of a twenty dollar bill."
A recurring feature is "Stump the Chumps", in which they revisit a caller from a previous show to determine the effect, if any, of their advice. A similar feature began in May 2001, "Where Are They Now, Tommy?" Like "Stump the Chumps", a previous caller was revisited with the difference being, as described by Tom Magliozzi, "an excuse to talk to some of the previous whack jobs we've had on the show."
Celebrities have been callers as well. Examples include
Geena DavisVirginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist.-Early life:...
,
Morley SaferMorley Safer is a Canadian reporter and correspondent for CBS News. He is best known for his long tenure on the newsmagazine 60 Minutes, which began in December 1970.Safer was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
,
Ashley JuddAshley Judd is an American actress, well known for playing a number of strong women characters in films such as Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, and High Crimes.-Early life:...
,
Gordon ElliottGordon Elliott is an Australian reporter and producer, best known for his work on the syndicated 90's TV talk show program The Gordon Elliott Show.-Early life and early career:...
, former Major League pitcher
Bill LeeWilliam Francis Lee III , , is an American athlete and retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Boston Red Sox from - and the Montreal Expos from -...
and astronaut John Grunsfeld calling from the
space shuttleThe Space Shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System , is a spacecraft operated by NASA for orbital human spaceflight missions. It began operations in the 1980s and is scheduled to be retired from service in 2010 after 134 launches...
. There have been numerous appearances from NPR personalities, including
Bob EdwardsRobert Alan Edwards is a Peabody Award-winning member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was among the first broadcasters with a large national following to join the field of satellite radio...
,
Susan StambergSusan Stamberg is an American radio journalist who is currently a Special Correspondent for National Public Radio and guest host for Weekend Edition Saturday.Stamberg was born in Newark, New Jersey...
,
Scott SimonScott Simon is an American journalist and the host of Weekend Edition Saturday on National Public Radio.- Biography :Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons...
,
Ray SuarezRafael Suarez, Jr. , better known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist. He is a senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, an evening news program on the PBS television network. Suarez joined The NewsHour in 1999...
,
Will ShortzWill Shortz is an American puzzle creator and editor.-Early life:Will Shortz was born and raised on an Arabian horse farm in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Graduating from Indiana University in 1974, he is the only person known to hold a college degree in enigmatology, the study of puzzles, after...
,
Sylvia PoggioliSylvia Poggioli is an American radio reporter for National Public Radio. She is that network's senior European correspondent....
, and commentator and author
Daniel PinkwaterDaniel Manus Pinkwater is an author of mostly children's books and is an occasional commentator on National Public Radio. He attended Bard College. Well-known books include Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fat Men from Space, Borgel, and the picture book The Big Orange...
. On one occasion, the show featured
Martha StewartMartha Helen Stewart is an American business magnate, television host, author and magazine publisher. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
as an in-studio guest, whom the Magliozzis twice during the segment referred to as "Margaret".
Humor
Leading into each break in the show, one of the hosts leads up to the network identification with a humorous take on a disgusted reaction of some usually famous person to hearing that identification. The full line goes along the pattern of, for example, "And even though
Roger ClemensWilliam Roger Clemens, aka "The Rocket" is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, two more than any other pitcher. He played for 13 consecutive seasons in Boston, more than half of his career. In , he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays...
stabs his radio with a syringe whenever he hears
us say it, this is NPR: National Public Radio."
Other humor exists throughout. The end credits feature a rotating list of puns and wordplay. At some point in almost every show, usually when giving the address for the Puzzler answers, Ray will mention Cambridge, Massachusetts (where the show originates) at which point Tom reverently interjects "our fair city."
They are known for their self-deprecating humor, often joking about their poor advice (the "Stump the Chumps" segment is particularly full of this type of humor). They also comment at the end of each show: "Well, it's happened again - you've wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk." They also frequently lament that NPR still hasn't canceled their show after 20+ years.
At the end of the show, Ray warns the audience, "Don't drive like my brother," to which Tom replies, "And don't drive like
my brother." Earlier, this was phrased "Don't drive like a knucklehead." There have been variations—such as, "Don't drive like my sister,"..."And don't drive like
my sister" (a reference to their sister Lucille). The tagline was heard in a cameo for the
PixarPixar Animation Studios is a CGI animation production company based in Emeryville, California, United States. To date, the studio has earned twenty-two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards, acknowledgments and achievements. It is one of the most critically...
film
CarsCars is a American animated feature film produced by Pixar and directed by both John Lasseter and Joe Ranft. It is the seventh Disney/Pixar feature film, and the final film by Pixar before it was bought by Disney...
, in which Tom and Ray voiced anthropomorphized vehicles (Rusty and Dusty Rust-Eze, a 1963
Dodge DartThe Dodge Dart is an automobile built by the Dodge division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1960 to 1976 in North America, with production extended to later years in various other markets. The Dart was introduced as a lower-priced, shorter wheelbase, full-size Dodge in 1960 and 1961, became a...
V1.0 and a 1963
Dodge A100The A100 line was a family of compact vans and trucks produced by Chrysler and sold under the Dodge and Fargo brands from 1964 through 1970, competing with the Ford Econoline and Chevy Van, all inspired by the Volkswagen Type 2. It included a pickup truck and van, both with a "cab forward" design...
van respectively) with personalities similar to their own on-air personae. Tom notoriously once owned a green Dodge Dart, known as the "Dartre".
Hosts
The Magliozzis are long-time car mechanics. Ray Magliozzi has a bachelor of science degree in humanities and science from
MITThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research...
, while Tom has a bachelor of science degree in economics from MIT and an
MBAThe Master of Business Administration is a master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
and
DBAThe degree of Doctor of Business Administration is a research doctorate. The DBA usually requires coursework beyond the masters degree and research that results in a dissertation or journal publication and contributes to business theory or practice....
from the Boston University Graduate School of Management.
The duo, usually led by Ray, are known for rants on the evils of the
internal combustion engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases, which are produced by the combustion, directly applies force to a movable...
, people who talk on cell phones while driving,
PeugeotPeugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest European carmaker.Peugeot's roots go back to 19th-century coffee mill and bicycle manufacturing. The Peugeot company and family is originally from Sochaux, France. Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant and...
s, women named Donna who always seem to drive Camaros, the clever use of the
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
, and practically anything else, including themselves. They have a laid-back humorous approach to cars, car repair,
cup holderA cup holder is a device to hold a cup or other drinking vessel. It is a fixture in automobiles, trains, and other transportation, as well as in some movie theatres, sports arenas, etc.- Automobiles :...
s, pets, lawyers, car repair mechanics,
SUVA sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. Usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle, some SUVs include the towing...
s, and almost everything else. They often cast a critical, jaundiced insider's eye toward the auto industry. Tom and Ray are committed to the values of defensive driving and environmentalism; Tom does not drive and Ray's car is over 20 years old. In the late 1990s they pioneered an effort to rid the world of
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
pronunciations of words, intentionally pronouncing many words phonetically such as "Chev-ro-let" for
ChevroletChevrolet is a brand of automobile produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant in 1911, Chevrolet was acquired by General Motors in 1917...
.
The Magliozzis operate the Good News Garage in
Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
, just a few blocks south of the MIT campus. The show's offices are located nearby at the corner of JFK Street and Eliot Street in
Harvard SquareHarvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street...
, marked as "
Dewey, Cheetham & HoweDewey, Cheatem & Howe is the gag name of a fictional law firm, used in several parody settings. For example, a popular Three Stooges poster features the Stooges as bumbling members of such a firm...
", the imaginary law firm to which they refer on-air. DC&H doubles as the business name of Tappet Brothers Associates, the corporation established to manage the business end of
Car Talk. Initially a joke, the company was incorporated after the show expanded from a single station to national syndication.
The two were commencement speakers at MIT in 1999.
Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns
On July 11, 2007, PBS announced that it had greenlit an animated adaptation of
Car Talk, to air on prime-time in the summer of 2008. The show is entitled
Click and Clack's As the Wrench TurnsClick and Clack's As the Wrench Turns is an animated television series that follows the adventures of the brothers Click and Clack from their auto repair shop Car Talk Plaza. The program stars Tom and Ray Magliozzi , also known as the Tappet Brothers, from National Public Radio's Car Talk...
, and is based on the adventures of the fictional "Click and Clack" brothers' garage at "Car Talk Plaza". The first episode aired on July 9, 2008.
External links