Autoblog

Tom and Ray Magliozzi might be the first to admit that most people on the radio have faces that suit the medium, to put it delicately. There's no place to hide when you make the jump to television, but the Tappet brothers have avoided that with their new animated sitcom PBS will be rolling out next summer. The show is not yet named; a contest soliciting names from fans of the pair's radio show will be announced soon. Plots will center around the oft-discussed hijinks that the brothers snort and chortle over between calls. The fictional Car Talk Plaza, located in Cambridge Massachusetts' Harvard Square, will be coming to life, and the cast is fleshed out with a variety of supporting characters, most of which seem to be based on real individuals, or composites of several people.

For all their self-deprecating humor, Car Talk is one of the most popular shows on NPR, and their producer, Doug Berman, is on board for the TV series as well. The Magliozzi's animated series will be the first primetime animated show aimed at a general audience for PBS. There's a talented team behind the show, and it may even bring new eyeballs to sometimes fusty PBS. In addition to the show, there's a partnership with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators in which the animated stars deliver safe driving messages to drivers while they suffer in line at DMVs, as well as on educational materials and on the web. We wonder if that effort will be called "Don't Drive Like My Brother."

Car Talk is celebrating 20 years on NPR, and the self-effacing, often goofy show is now available in iTunes. It's exciting to "play along" and see if you come up with the same answer as brothers Tom and Ray, an now you can do that at your leisure. We have our local NPR station's schedule memorized, but sometimes it's just not possible to catch the show when it airs; throwing a tantrum won't always get you your way. The show certainly has its detractors, and some of the content can tend toward softballs, but the Magliozzis have built vast appeal and recognition, not to mention a little merchandise empire. If you want to hear hearty guffaws and try to solve the puzzler on your time, check out the Car Talk website, or iTunes and subscribe to the feed.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

National Public Radio has a quirky quiz show called "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." GM Vice chair Bob Lutz was a guest on Saturday's show. And he said something interesting... in the spirit of the show, we're not going to tell you. Instead you have three choices:

• A. His own personal transportation will be the next car featured on "Pimp My Ride"
• B. He secretly likes the break room at Chrysler more than GM's
• C. He ranks the soon-to-be Volt over the legendary Viper he helped create. Not only does he like it better, it's his dream car.

According to Lutz's blog, the show was "an absolute hoot to do."

Give it a listen for yourself here.

Thanks, Christina, for the tip!

Thursday, former secretary of labor and current NPR Marketplace contributor Robert Reich claimed in an American Prospect Online article that he had been approached by a General Motors' public relations representative with a monetary offering, in exchange for the financial pundit's endorsement of GM's employee buyout plan. Richard Strauss, head of Strauss Radio Strategies (the PR firm in question), denies Reich's claim, referring to it as "an honest misunderstanding". Read into those last three words what you will; some would say that translates into "my lawyer thinks there's nothing here that will hold up in court".

As it relates to the buyout offer itself, Reich doesn't seem quite sure what to think of it, other than that it's probably a good deal for the workers who accept it if indeed GM goes bankrupt (the ol' a-bird-in-the-hand-beats-two-in-the-bush thing, basically).

[Sources: American Prospect, Detroit News]