# RIP Car Talk (NPR show) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511 "2012-06-08T15:40:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/21 "2012-06-08T22:13:01Z")
Ditto on their ages and on missing the show. I get a kick out of how much they crack themselves up. Also, the link that **kaylasdad99** posted was comedy gold! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/22 "2012-06-08T22:42:03Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > PHC isn’t going away yet. Keillor had said he would retire in 2013, but has since said he’s reconsidered and has no plan to retire. Even if he did, I believe the intention is to keep PHC running with “guest hosts.” How could that possibly work? He _is_ the show; he is very far from just being the “host”. The rest of it is just musical interludes. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/23 "2012-06-08T23:25:40Z")
The older brother (Tom) is 75 - the younger brother (Ray) is 64. Don’t ask me which is “Click” vs. “Clack”. I will miss them. While the humor is not the most subtle, their laughter is genuine, and they have always seemed like honest, decent guys. I’ve been listening to them since I was a kid. And while they would never admit it, they are both very smart and periodically fail to hide it. They both went to MIT. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/24 "2012-06-08T23:58:38Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > they have always seemed like honest, decent guys. ? They own a garage. ? ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/25 "2012-06-09T00:17:04Z")
I’ll miss them, too. I even heard useful info for a car I had from them. Besides, the cds of great calls are fun listening on long drives. Loved the call they got from the space shuttle. But at age 74, retirement probably doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/26 "2012-06-09T04:15:25Z")
I’ve been listening to these guys since before my son was born. On his birthday, this year, he will be 21. He listens to them every week. That says something about Click and Clack. They outlived Frick and Frack. An allusion that my son will never get, but Ray and Tom would. Certainly, the repeats will be nice, but radio won’t be the same without them. Every day, I hear this woman on Bloomberg radio give the business update and she says “This is Donna Wilson for Bloomberg radio” in a Jersey accent and all I can think is: She drives either a Camaro or a Firebird. Long-time listeners will get the joke. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/27 "2012-06-09T04:21:49Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > They both went to MIT. Yeah, and Tom went on to get an MBA and PhD as well. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/28 "2012-06-09T06:09:02Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Yeah, and Tom went on to get an MBA and PhD as well. That would possibly explain their love of puzzles. Puzzlemaster Will Shortz on Sunday’s ME always seems to pose word puzzles which aren’t as much fun for me and I’m hopeless at Bruce Adolphe’s weekly piano puzzler, but Car Talk’s logic/math based puzzles were always fun. Yeah, I listen to a lot of NPR. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/29 "2012-06-09T06:10:38Z")
Damn it. Monday mornings seemed less dire because I knew there were Car Talk and Wait Wait podcasts to listen to on the way to work. I’ll miss Click & Clack. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/30 "2012-06-09T09:42:14Z")
It will be interesting to see how the “recut” material does. I think they’ll be able to pull it off for a while–after all, who really remembers an episode from a month ago, much less ten years ago–but eventually it’ll get too obvious. It helps that they were the ones that came up with this “produced call-in” format, so I think they should be able to make it less obvious, seeing as how the show was never live to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/31 "2012-06-09T10:20:23Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#): > > Every day, I hear this woman on Bloomberg radio give the business update and she says “This is Donna Wilson for Bloomberg radio” in a Jersey accent and all I can think is: She drives either a Camaro or a Firebird. > > Long-time listeners will get the joke. I get it and I didn’t even catch the Car Talk reference 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/32 "2012-06-09T10:26:35Z")
They may be honest guys, but the people they hang around with sound like a bunch of crooks! I knew how old they were because “60 Minutes” did an interview with them awhile ago. They were discussing electric cars. [http://www.cartalk.com/content/we-knew-it-had-happen-cartalk-sixty-minutes](http://www.cartalk.com/content/we-knew-it-had-happen-cartalk-sixty-minutes) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/33 "2012-06-09T11:38:02Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > In tribute to the Tappet Bros., [their prior appearance on this site.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2570506&postcount=137) Wow. I must have missed that when I went through that thread long ago. That was awesome, even to someone like me who didn’t really listen to the show (as I don’t get NPR and never really did the whole online radio thing). They do have a column in my local paper, though–is that going away as well? Or has that been in reruns for a while? At least, I’m pretty sure it says Click and Clack on it–maybe I’m misremembering. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/34 "2012-06-09T11:49:46Z")
I enjoyed the show, but it was getting old and tired. In the last few years, it wasn’t about cars much-it was their anecdotes and stories. I will miss it though. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/35 "2012-06-09T13:37:34Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > How could that possibly work? He _is_ the show; he is very far from just being the “host”. The rest of it is just musical interludes. It would obviously require a format shift, but he’s apparently thought it through. It wouldn’t be the SAME show, but I can see something that would work. A mix of variety radio comedy (still character-based, but with different actors in the company stepping up to the main role more), music, and bits structured around guest hosts. I’m sure Keillor would stick around as a performer during a transition period, keep doing NfLW and popping in here and there. I’ve believe they’ve done a couple guest hosted episodes in the past couple years to test out the format. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/36 "2012-06-09T14:07:55Z")
Ah, shucks. I don’t even car much about cars, trucks, and other motor vehicles, but they were awfully entertaining, and a nice part of a Saturday morning. There is some killer programming on NPR in general, eh? I have recently discovered “Radio Lab” and it’s a total sit-down-and-listen hour. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/37 "2012-06-09T16:14:05Z")
It’s been my favorite car show since it came on in the 1980’s. The list of fictitious employees was a fixation of my father’s and hearing it every week was a nice reminder of him. I always try to guess what their diagnosis is going to be before they say it. I do ok for a non-professional. I can still do that with the reruns, but not having new problems will get old pretty quick. I will miss them. Here’s to hoping they and Keillor get someone who can fill their comedic and intellectual shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/38 "2012-06-09T20:56:18Z")
They don’t do it anymore but for years when they went to their mid-show break they would say “Don’t touch that dial or the end of your dipstick will fall off!” A stupid joke that nevertheless always made me laugh. They’ve had a good run. I guess now I’ll have to find something else to do on Saturday mornings. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/39 "2012-06-10T04:24:02Z")
You know what I’m going to miss most? _“And even though Corey Flintoff thinks wistfully of that offer to host ‘When Animals Attack’ whenever he hears us say it… This is NPR.”_ I love that they came up with at least one or two of those per show. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511/40 "2012-06-10T04:49:45Z")
Nooo! so sad! ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-car-talk-npr-show/624511.md?page=3)