Talk:Car Talk

message: I've reversed the edit by 111.69.234.134 on 31 October 2010 that added the comment "Following the removal of speed limits in Montana, the two made hysterical denunciations of the reasonable choices of traffic engineers in that state."   — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meservy (talk • contribs) 09:15, 27 December 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Vandalism

message: According to The Cartalk FAQ, "Tommy graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering, class of 1958. Ray barely graduated with a degree in General Science. He was MIT class of '70... '71... and '72."
Clearly there's some jesting going on with the FAQ, but I'd believe the official FAQ's version of what degrees they earned over "humanities" and "economics" which as far as I know had never been confirmed and may have been jokes in the first place.  --ABQCat 06:12, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: graduation

message: I always thought I heard a slight "r" sound in the word "Tappet", so it sounds a little like "tar pit". Makes a little more sense. « alerante ✆ ✉ » 15:01:58, 2005-08-20 (UTC)
:They've got a pretty thick Boston accent, but it is indeed "Tappet." The copyright notice from their website:
::CAR TALK, DEWEY, CHEETHAM & HOWE, SHAMELESS COMMERCE, and WARPED DISCS and are registered trademarks of Tom and Ray Magliozzi and/or Tappet Brothers Associates d/b/a Dewey, Cheetham & Howe.
A 'tappet' is a rocker arm...part of the valve train in a car engine.  It's a word that is falling into disuse - but this is certainly what Click & Clack are referring too.  Furthermore, I would speculate that since poorly adjusted tappets make 'clicking and clacking' noises, that this explains the whole "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" thing. SteveBaker 18:16, 26 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pronunciation thingies 

message: According to this page on NPR.org the composer of the theme song is BJ Liederman, not David Grisman.  Car talk's web site states David Grisman is the composer as stated in the article and does not mention BJ Liederman.  While I listen to the show fairly regularly it's hard to say who is behind the music.  Can anyone with more knowledge than me clarify?  JohnCub 13:33, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the theme song is taken from Dawgy Mtn, but I could be wrong. That is, Grisman wrote the song and Liederman arranged it? Or did the song used to be different? I used to never pay attention to the show, so I only have a clear memory of the song from the last 7 years. -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 15:35, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I've seen the same discrepancy and either they used to have an NPR theme song (BJ does NPR themes, not bluegrass) and now use Dawgy Mtn, or they are just wrong and nobody's bothered to fix it.  The mandolin song at the beginning is definitely Dawgy Mountain. Gaviidae 14:37, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

text: Update, BJ does the music for "Stump the Chumps."   and the bluegrass is Grisman.  This link also talks about two other songs which I don't think I've heard: a Randy Newman song and a song called "Plastic Banana." Gaviidae 08:36, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Theme song 

message: I believe only Ray is involved with the day-to-day operation of the Good News Garage, while Tom's day job is consulting.  Somebody please verify.
:I recieved the Best and Second Best of Car Talk, a double CD, after donating to NPR.  It states inside the cover that indeed only one of them still runs the garage-- I can't remember which one, but I thought it was Raymie. Gaviidae 14:38, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Good News Garage 

message: What happened to the guy who developed many of the puzzlers.
They thought he was dead but then his son came on and said
he was still alive. --Gbleem 01:45, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Martin Gardner (but he was never affiliated with the show). AnonMoos 20:24, 11 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Martin Gardner is still dead.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.176.234 (talk) 10:37, 19 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Puzzler guy 

message: As I recall, when the show was originally produced at WBUR, the Puzzler was started in order to assess the listening audience size.  It also provided a way to publicize The Good News Garage, which was announced as the mailing address for responses.  Furthermore, in the mid-80s I think, listeners were invited to mail in car-related songs and music, which were then used to introduce the half-time break.  
Apparently, these measurements of audience size led to the decision to establish the program as a more substantial business, and its transition away from WBUR to a separate production company independent of of the station.  Any thoughts on how to verify this??  JXM 19:34, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Phone up and ask? SteveBaker 21:04, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

text: I think that would count as publishing original research (see WP:NOR), unless the org. change is reliably documented somewhere.  JXM 01:03, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Early history & interlude music 

message: The "1963 Dodge Dart" joke has been mentioned hundreds of times over the years. Is the citation needed for this or just the "Dartre" part? BTW, this should cover the first part: http://www-tech.mit.edu/V114/N42/cartalk.42n.html --Og-emmet 16:31, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  1963 Dodge Dart and citation 

message: Though the article says that listeners are encouraged to write the answers to Puzzler questions "on a $20 bill" or on nonexistent objects, lately the trend seems to be to suggest REAL objects -- typically expensive power tools -- complete with detailed descriptions of the features of those products. I have often wondered whether this is a form of sponsorship of the show, where companies pay to have their products described. Does anyone know? 71.198.65.9 17:53, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I haven't listened to the full show within the past few months, but I think they gave both the monetary and object options.  — AnnaKucsma   (Talk to me!) 16:04, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sponsorship? 

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thread_title: Fair use rationale for Image:Car Talk.gif

message: "In May 2007, the program, which had only previously been available digitally as a paid subscription from Audible.com, became a free podcast distributed by NPR after a two month test period where only a 'call of the week' was available via podcast."
This can't be true -- I listened to this show for free online (which is obviously "digitally") going back to 2001, maybe 2000.
Maybe it wasn't available in *podcast* form before 2007?
69.3.238.172 08:43, 7 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: fact?

message: The Car Talk Official Staff Credits (seen here) run to several pages. My personal opinion is that some of them require explanation, especially for readers or listeners whose first language is not American English, are not regular listeners of NPR, younger than thirty years of age, etc. I would like to create a separate article listing and annotating the entire list, with links to referenced persons, explanations of idiomatic expressions, and links to people associated with unusual names, e.g. Clare Booth Luce for Turner Luce. Cstaffa (talk) 16:59, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm in favor Catradar (talk) 07:30, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Case for separating end credits

message: Suggestion to add something to the effect that Car Talk is the greatest radio program in the history of the world. I have no verifiable, third-party reference to support this, but I'd be glad to post such references somewhere else on the web and site them in the article.
Thoughts? (Gwopy (talk) 22:47, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bias? 

message: They certainly don't have a stereotypical "Pahk the Cah in Hahvahd Yahd" or Kennedy-Quimby family accent; I doubt whether many people without first-hand Boston experience would be able to identify them as being from Boston based on their speech patterns alone... AnonMoos (talk) 00:55, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually, that's "Pahk the Car in Hahvid Yahd." The 'r' in car is pronounced because it comes before a vowel in the following word. The 2nd 'a' in Harvard is unstressed, so it becomes a sound close to short 'i'.Bostoner (talk) 00:47, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

text: As a west coast person, I think they definitely sound at least New England, if not Boston accented. 24.21.10.30 (talk) 19:35, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

text: I think they are about as Boston-accented as it comes for people who have college degrees. Softlavender (talk) 04:11, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Why would a college degree change your regional dialect? I have a degree and a key, and I have a very noticeable Boston accent.Bostoner (talk) 00:47, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: "Strong Boston Accent"?

message: I had understood that the Car talk guys had retired, as it says in this article.
But when I look at the Car Talk web site, it lists the date that shows were first broadcast, and there are dates in 2013 and 2014.  
Furthermore, they still broadcast the call-in number.  Wouldn't they have a disclaimer or something to say that the number no longer works?
Davidb0229 (talk) 16:45, 25 January 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: They're definitely still doing the show (I listen every week), but I can't find any RS saying "Hey, they're back!"...-- Brainy J ~✿~ (talk) 15:49, 6 February 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: As the article already states, the current broadcasts are recompilations of previous segments from the archives. Also, @Davidb0229, I'm not sure why you think it'd be necessary to state that the call-in number no longer works. In my part of the world anyway, the outgoing msg simply directs callers to the various website resources. Is that not the case elsewhere? jxm (talk) 18:18, 6 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Are they back live on the air again? 

message: Please add more details to the article about the production and broadcast of the ongoing re-mixed shows (as of the end of 2015).
These are sort of re-runs, yet not at all plain ordinary traditional simple re-runs. These are a small taste of the coming media future of famous people living on indefinitely in an eerie, ghostly way. Past recordings, including material never before broadcast, are being expertly re-mixed, perhaps with current fresh contributions from Ray, such that even tho the listeners know that Tom has been dead for years, it seems vividly that he is still here with us now, happily cackling away...
How are these shows produced, how are listeners experiencing this, what do media critics think, what other shows are moving in this direction, what is the technology and legal structure for keeping actors alive after death?-71.174.188.32 (talk) 18:48, 26 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  re-mixed shows continue to be produced and broadcast 

message: I'm fine with "Third Half" redirecting to this Car Talk article; I think the boys would be proud to make such an important contribution to our culture...
But it seems to me that folk not already familiar with the connection/explanation might be puzzled. Should there be more of an explicit linkage between the topnote and the relevant content, for the perplexed?-71.174.188.32 (talk) 18:57, 26 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Third Half 

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*Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20070403211725/http://www.cartalk.com:80/content/faq/faq-straight.html#17 to http://www.cartalk.com/content/faq/faq-straight.html
*Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20110725155344/http://articles.boston.com/2011-03-29/ae/29360749_1_wizard-bitterness-magliozzis to http://articles.boston.com/2011-03-29/ae/29360749_1_wizard-bitterness-magliozzis
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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: This section needs references -Classicfilms (talk) 20:22, 5 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  references needed 

message: Humor and wisecracking pervaded the program. Tom and Ray are known for their self-deprecating humor, often joking about the supposedly poor quality of their advice and the show in general. They also commented at the end of each show: "Well, it's happened again—you've wasted another perfectly good hour listening to Car Talk."
At some point in almost every show, usually when giving the address for the Puzzler answers or fan mail, Ray mentioned Cambridge, Massachusetts (where the show originated), at which point Tom reverently interjected with a tone of civic pride, "Our fair city". Ray invariably mocked "'Cambridge, MA', the United States Postal Service's two-letter abbreviation for 'Massachusetts"', by pronouncing the "MA" as a word.
Preceding each break in the show, one of the hosts led 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 went along the pattern of, for example, "And even though Roger Clemens stabs his radio with a syringe whenever he hears us say it, this is NPR: National Public Radio" (later just "... this is NPR").
At one point in the show, often after the break, Ray usually stated that: "Support for this show is provided by," followed by an absurd fundraiser.
The ending credits of the show started with thanks to the colorfully nicknamed actual staffers: producer Doug "the subway fugitive, not a slave to fashion, bongo boy frogman" Berman; "John 'Bugsy' Lawlor, just back from the ..." every week a different eating event with rhyming foodstuff names; David "Calves of Belleville" Greene; Catherine "Frau Blücher" Fenollosa, whose name caused a horse to neigh and gallop (an allusion to a running gag in the movie Young Frankenstein); and Carly "High Voltage" Nix, among others.  Following the real staff was a lengthy list of pun-filled fictional staffers and sponsors such as statistician Marge Innovera ("margin of error"), customer care representative Haywood Jabuzoff ("Hey, would ya buzz off"), meteorologist Claudio Vernight ("cloudy overnight"), optometric firm C. F. Eye Care ("see if I care"), Russian chauffeur Picov Andropov ("pick up and drop off"), Leo Tolstoy biographer Warren Peace ("War and Peace"), hygiene officer and chief of the Tokyo office Oteka Shawa ("oh, take a shower"), Swedish snowboard instructor Soren Derkeister ("sore in the keister"), law firm Dewey, Cheetham & Howe ("Do we cheat 'em? And how!"), Greek tailor Euripides Eumenades ("You rip-a these, you mend-a these"), cloakroom attendant Mahatma Coate ("My hat, my coat"), seat cushion tester Mike Easter (my keister) and many, many others, usually concluding with Erasmus B. Dragon ("Her ass must be draggin'"), whose job title varied, but who was often said to be head of the show's working mothers' support group.  They sometimes advised that "our chief counsel from the law firm of Dewey, Cheetham, & Howe is Hugh Louis Dewey, known to a group of people in Harvard Square as Huey Louie Dewey."  Huey, Louie, and Dewey were the juvenile nephews being raised by Donald Duck in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. Guest accommodations were provided by The Horseshoe Road Inn ("the horse you rode in").
 Classicfilms (talk) 20:22, 5 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title: Humor