Sounds like they could benefit from a dose of Old Reliable:
Posted on 01/12/2005 9:24:16 AM PST by raccoonradio
Now in its 18th year of syndication, "Car Talk," the weekly National Public Radio show starring Cambridge homeboys Tom and Ray Magliozzi, a.k.a. Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, has never been more popular -- or better positioned to win new fans, with an animated TV show in the works and more merchandise for sale than you can shake a stick shift at. What makes "Car Talk" run? Let's peer under the hood of a show that deftly cross-wires auto tips with improv comedy:
Contrary to what many listeners assume, the show is not broadcast live. It's taped at WBUR studios in Boston 10 days in advance. However, the calls are live -- sort of. Callers who have left funny or interesting messages during the previous week's show get a return phone call from a "Car Talk" producer. About a dozen callers are invited to phone in the following Wednesday while Ray and Tom are in the studio. The hosts do not rehearse their responses, however, and have only a vague notion of what topics they'll be asked to address. Calls are screened for topicality and variety so that, for instance, the hosts do not field four questions in a row about brake linings.
"What gets listeners most upset is wondering if the guys get the answers in advance," says "Car Talk" executive producer Doug Berman during a recent Tuesday morning production meeting. "And what the guys say to that is, 'If we did, would we be as wrong as often as we are?' "
Point taken.
From the control room, via computer and headset, Berman regularly feeds Tom and Ray information about car makes, models, safety records, and other useful stuff that may not be at the hosts' fingertips while they chat with callers or rag on each other.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
This show is at least ONE good thing about NPR (but we all know about the news coverage though!)
I enjoy(ed) listening to them, but they're huge anti-Bush-GOP lib-dems. Heard one of them comment on the 2004 election, back in late November; seems they can't keep their politics out of their work, like the Keillor putz.
Yeah--Laura Ingraham says "Shut Up and Sing". I say,
"Shut Up and Fix My Car, You DUmmies!" :)
The show can be funny. In the Boston/Cambridge area there is another car radio show, hosted by Junior Damato, that gives out MUCH better info on car problems. The host is online with the Mitchell on demand diagnostic system and can let callers know about known problems and factory recalls and factory service bulletins, while he speaks with them. He isn't as funny as the Car Talk guys and he doesn't askl what color their car is, but he gives much better advice.
Lieberals and with a politico-economic agenda. they're empty-hats and mouthpieces for the major 'American' mfgrs. Try to get them to be just even-handed about the VW TDIs, for instance. Ping and Clatter, the Collapsed-tappet Buddies.
Agreed.
I have heard them, more than once, go on tangential anti-2A rants. Seems the comic duo have problems with Americans exercising their rights to keep and bear arms. Suffice it to say that their industry kills far more people every year by accident than any legally owned weapons ever have.
They're nothing more comical wrench-turning socialists and no different than any others in Hollywood...except that they still have a day job. In fact, as strict comics, they wouldn't last a week - their entertainment value is that they can tell you something about your car along with a couple of jokes.
IMO, not worth funding through public dollars.
NPR ping.
bump for later.
I'm not affiliated with them, and have no personal experience, but there is a neat gadget at www.autotap.com for your car. $200 buys you a hardware tap that goes in your USB on the laptop or out the window from your PC, and the software reads the car's computer like a book. If you have ever wondered what EXACTLY is behind your "check engine", this thing is great. Only problem is I think the car has to be 1996 or newer for the cable to work.
They are typical of NE libs. They live in low-crime areas, pay $10k property taxes, have good schools because they live in a low-crime area and wonder why everyone else can't be just like them.
It's easy to be anti-gun when you don't have to worry about getting robbed outside the wine shoppe that has a really good selection of Danish cheeses.
But... They never tell a regular guy how to fix a darn thing. Its always inane chatter with some dweeb who could get better car advice from Dear Abbey...
I always wondered why they had so many inept callers. The screening and call back gives the producers an ability to put so many "car repair ignorant" people on the air. Although I would suspect that is the case with your average NPR listener.
I think the Bobby Lykis Car Clinic Network show (national network) on Saturday mornings is one hundred times better information for the average driver. Lykis knows car mechanics and his show is very informative with no BS. His manner of dealing with folks comes across as quite sincere and he manages to make listeners think, "hey, I like this guy and I can do business with him".
Go to: http://www.carclinicnetwork.com/home.html
The only 'accent' these guys have is 'NPR-East Coast lib.' You don't listen to their show to learn anything (much) about a car. You DO learn a lot about 'girly-men' and enviro-wackos. Their politics suck but there are others who push the agenda a lot farthter than these two. They are definitely out of the income tax bracket and live at a leval that is out of reach of anyone who doesn't own at least three very profitable auto shops. Their cheap and relatively harmless entertainment for a Saturday morning.
Let's be compassionate conservatives and understand that they have grown up reading the Boston edition of the Hanoi Globe all their lives. Add in the Boston and national TV outlets, they don't have a chance of knowing what's right. The whole area is infected. New York and Long Island are just as bad with the NYT, Newsday and the Daily Snooze, all lefty garbage.
So, get beyond that. Get beyond that it's not really a car repair show. It's comedy and they're funny.
Bostonians speak the King's English.
We don't talk funny ... the rest of you hear funny.
Sounds like they could benefit from a dose of Old Reliable:
Gimme Jr. and Sr. and The American Chopper any day.
National Public Radio -- The Dodge Dart of broadcasting.
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