NPR's "Car Talk" Glides To a Halt 148
Posted
by
timothy
from the not-actually-a-complete-stop-mind-you dept.
from the not-actually-a-complete-stop-mind-you dept.
stevegee58 writes "After 25 years on the air, Tom and Ray Magliozzi (aka Click and Clack, The Tappet Brothers) are calling it quits in September. With their nerdy humor, explosive laughter and geek cred (both MIT alums) Tom and Ray will be sorely missed by the average NPR-listening Slashdotter." How many garages have names as cool as "Hacker's Haven"? I've long thought that someone should assemble a compilation featuring nothing but hours of their laughter. (Which will be available for sampling, since they will continue to play archived material for a long time yet.)
Thanks for all the laughs (Score:4, Informative)
I first listened to them on WBUR, before they were picked up by NPR. "Cartalk Plaza" was located on Commonwealth Avenue, not in "Hahvuhd Squayah", and "our fair city" was Boston, not Cambridge. Been a long time since I wandered those haunts. Click and Clack weren't going to last forever, guess it's that time to move on.
Re:Hacker's Haven??? (Score:5, Informative)
Back in the 70s when they had said garage, a "hack" was someone who was unskilled or at least an amateur at whatever it was they were trying to accomplish. Hackers were just dedicated hobbyists. Their Hacker's Haven was a shop for DIY shade-tree mechanics to rent space at to work on their project cars. It wasn't until sometime into the 80s that "hacker" started taking on a different meaning.
In any case, TSA and DHS didn't exist yet, they weren't yet on the air so the FCC wouldn't give two shakes. The most they might have to worry about is ending up in a Bufile at the FBI, which seems unlikely.
Re:Sadness. (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.cartalk.com/content/time-get-even-lazier [cartalk.com]
Re:They Were Actually Frauds (Score:5, Informative)
You sir have no idea how tv or radio production works. Sorry to ruin your world.
A real diagnosis would be everybit as horrible as helping a relative on the phone with a computer problem-- most the call is trying to communicate and often does not properly describe what is going on then you look like some git when it doesn't work and it was actually THEIR fault. If they really did know their stuff it would be a typical production to have them do the work upfront and NOT on the air where it could easily take most of the show to properly handle problem besides being BORING to listeners/viewers. It is not a "speak with a sex therapist" show where the topic is the only thing holding it together.
I was actually on the show! (Score:5, Informative)
Here's how it worked:
- You call the 800 number, describe your problem, if it sounds interesting the producer (Doug Berman) called you back and scheduled you for the show. So the problem is already known.
- About Thursday afternoon before the weekend broadcast you called in to essentially a conference call a few minutes before your slot and got to hear the end of the previous caller. I suppose this is to get you in the mood, all it did is make me come down with a bad case of flop sweat.
- You're on, you talk to the guys for five or ten minutes. They (correctly) guessed the solution to my problem pretty fast, primarily I think because they saw it before in their garage. My time was edited down a bit, but it was mostly verbatim.
- They do not send you a copy of the broadcast, the only way I have one is because I recorded it off my local NPR station when it hit the air.
That's the scoop. This is Tom from Michigan with a mysterious oil leak in his Z28 Camaro signing off.
Re:All the anti-NPR vitriol this story incites (Score:4, Informative)
Very little of NPR funding comes from the government. /., I think I can fairly say that I find NPR to be among the most balanced and honest media organizations.
http://www.npr.org/about/aboutnpr/publicradiofinances.html [npr.org]
As you can see, it's actually supported by individuals donations and corporate sponsorship. And as someone who often takes issue with many ideas presented by self-ascribed progressives and liberals on
Actually, that's entirely false (Score:5, Informative)
I called in once to see about getting a diagnosis on a car issue. They took the info, and said they would get back if they found it interesting, but if they did, then the whole phone call would be essentially scripted. They would do (or have done) a diagnosis off air, then pretend to figure it out all in the span of a few hyena-larious moments on air.
Experts my ass.
Sorry, that's a lie. I was the assistant chief engineer for WBUR for 8 years, and I sat in on the recordings of many of their shows. I've also consulted for Car Talk, fixing their network and computers, and have stayed at one producer's house in New Hampshire.
The producers screen the calls (they get hundreds each week), but Tom and Ray know nothing about each call. They're presented with the person's name, city, and car type, and that's it.
Mind you, the recording of the show is over 2 hours, and then gets edited down, but no - the calls are not scripted, they haven't pre-diagnosed the problem, and yes, they figure it all out during the phone call. That call may be edited from 20 minutes down to 5, but it's still their first (and only) crack at the problem.
I'm not sure why you'd lie about something like this, but it's probably some sort of mean joke like your sig, because of your own personal insecurity and desire for attention. Just as I hope others don't believe this, I hope your wife sees your posts.