"Time to Get Even Lazier"

[sonnymax]

Tom (left) and Ray Magliozzi have dished out advice on cars and other things since 1977.

While driving with my dad yesterday, I was shocked and saddened to hear that Car Talk, NPR's long-running radio program featuring Click and Clack (aka Tom & Ray Magliozzi), will cease making new shows in September.

"We've managed to avoid getting thrown off NPR for 25 years, giving tens of thousands of wrong answers and had a hell of a time every week talking to callers," Ray Magliozzi said. "The stuff in our archives still makes us laugh. So we figured, why keep slaving over a hot microphone?"

The two men proved that public radio didn't have to be stuffy, said Doug Berman, executive producer of the show. "Car Talk" began as a local call-in show on Boston's BUR radio in 1977. It's now on 660 stations across the country, with some 3.3 million listeners a week.

Berman said he knew the retirement was a possibility; Tom is 74. That didn't stop Ray, 63, from mocking him. "My brother has always been work-averse," he said. "Now, apparently, even the one hour a week is killing him."

Ap story

[Tim McG]

I love their newspaper column...read it every week!

[JSngry]

They have a schtick, and it is past being well-worn now. But I don't care. Those guys can still crack me up - and give good advice.

I'd be hard-pressed to think of any time in my life that I've laughed harder than the time a caller started telling a story about how a horse tried to eat her truck because it was green. Tom & Ray let her tell her story and then started asking "analytiocal" questions, trying but failing to keep a straight face...it was beyond surreal.

They'll be missed, for real.

[Chuck Nessa]

Yup.

[sonnymax]

I especially like the story of "the missing dog food". Apparently, mice had gotten into the family dog's stash of dry food, and then proceeded to store their ill-gotten booty for safe keeping in the ventilation system of the caller's car. When she turned on her fan/AC, kibbles and bits spew forth from the vents, much to the delight of the dog.

When I conduct couples therapy and I hear the words: "I need you to settle a disagreement between me and my spouse", I think of the many calls Tom & Ray received from people who were convinced that their partners were wrong, ill-informed, or just plain nuts. If only I could resolve arguments as quickly as they do and use words like "whacko" and "bo-o-o-o-gus" when appropriate.

Sadly, it will be all over soon. Me? I'm still waiting for the third half of the hour.