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]