Tom of "Car Talk" has joined his mom and his Dodge Dart

http://www.npr.org/2014/11/03/35742...are&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

I imagine this will make Saturday's show different, but I hope they continue to do the reruns.

Very sad news.

Lots of discussion on this board two years ago when they "retired" about a possible health problem with one of the brothers.

They had seemingly been using lots of old material in the months leading up to the retirement, then the quietly slipped away without a public party or last thoughts.

The speculation was confirmed today; Tom had Alzheimers. The board was right.

This is very sad ... I rarely had an opportunity to listen to them but their show was one of the best on radio for years (commercial or non-commercial). What personalities.

Tom usually acted dumb, but he had a doctorate so we know that was just an act. With this news, though, you have to wonder if it was a sign ...

But a science professor at the college near where I live was an "absent-minded professor", and he later had to go to a nursing home because he, too, had Alzheimer's. When I went to his memorial service I found out how truly brilliant he was.

vchimpanzee said:

http://www.npr.org/2014/11/03/35742...are&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

I imagine this will make Saturday's show different, but I hope they continue to do the reruns.

Click to expand...

Last I heard, the reruns continue. I'm sure they'll do a nice tribute this week. The show was one of a kind.

Just posted my condolences on NPR's web site; described Tom Magliozzi as "a mensch with a wrench." I hope the reruns go on forever, laughter as genuine as his and Ray's should never go away completely.

Tom will be missed on NPR and in the WBUR community. What a legend. NPR weekends won't be the same.
I used to listen to that show a lot, but it's on early in the morning now, so mostly my NPR weekend listening consists of Peter Sagal on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! and maybe the occasional Prairie Home Companion. WWDTM is one of the funniest shows on NPR, it's a hilarious quiz show.

-crainbebo

I happened to be listening when it was stated that "Wait Wait" would not exist without Tom. I don't hear everything because by that time I'm usually in the other room, but I wanted to pay close attention this week and making lunch would have distracted me. But "Car Talk" changed the way people viewed NPR, or at least the way they could view NPR.

There were a lot of laughs on the show this week. The show was obviously put together form many different shows, because this time I would get interested in something and the show would quickly go to something else. We heard the start of a puzzler, for example, but not the finish. And I was curious what that puzzler was. But of course the most important thing was to hear whatever Tom did. Tom also did all the "And even though ... this is NPR". I guess Ray did all of the new ones of those after the show was "retired".

Ray handled himself well, though a couple of times it sounded like he might start crying. He even joked, saying "I guess he really couldn't remember last week's Puzzler." But he came on just at the start and at the beginning of different categories of highlights. They had the music and "even though" before each break, and there were breaks giving the show three halves. The guys did one of the songs. They can actually sing. I did recognize a few highlights as having aired since their retirement. The electric brake gag came up several times.

There were no credits of any kind, and the line about wasting time didn't come at the end this week. I thought they had to identify the sponsors at least, and I'm sure we would have iked to hear serious credits because someone put together that hilarious tribute.

I'm hoping we'll be back to normal next week (though more highlights would be nice), but they will surely have to identify each episode as a rerun from now on.

With Tom's passing, the title of the radio shows has immediately been changed to "The Best of Car Talk;" this info as posted by Ray at their web site. The memorial show that aired this weekend was a sort of "greatest hits" collection of some of Tom's best bits and break-ups, rather than the usual assembly of complete calls.

Reading the "Click & Clack Talk Cars" column in the local newspaper that same morning was a bittersweet experience; realizing that with the nature of Tom's illness, Ray must have been writing both sides of the "conversation" for at least two years now, perhaps with Doug Berman or someone else contributing as a ghostwriter.

Thanks, Tom and Ray.

JeffM said:

Reading the "Click & Clack Talk Cars" column in the local newspaper that same morning was a bittersweet experience; realizing that with the nature of Tom's illness, Ray must have been writing both sides of the "conversation" for at least two years now, perhaps with Doug Berman or someone else contributing as a ghostwriter.

Thanks, Tom and Ray.

Click to expand...

I hadn't even thought of that.

I guess Ray can continue on his own. It seems funnier when it's both of them.

A library I go to gets three of the papers that run the column. The Charlotte Observer that I get at home hasn't run it since the automotive section was changed to have only Wheelbase Media articles. Recently they changed to cars.com, which cartalk.com used to be part of.

Ironically, I used to look at the Atlanta paper at the library and the section I was looking for had the same color at the top of the page as the one these guys were in. Not having heard the show yet, I hated seeing their ugly faces because it meant I was about to look at the wrong section. I mostly remember looking at their comics and Lewis Grizzard. Can it really be 20 years since he died?

I still have not seen the words "Best of Car Talk" except for here. I checked the web site and I didn't see this title anywhere. But I heard it Saturday and Sunday. Ray said "Support for the Best of Car Talk" at the beginning and the end. Also, the local host who came on during breaks used that name.

As for the newspaper column, I saw two November 8 papers that run the column yesterday. I could have seen another but I didn't have enough time to see all the papers I wanted to see. But these two were enough. Classic and archival material, we were told, will continue for a while. It didn't say Ray would answer questions himself.

Maybe Car Talk will start original episodes again with Ray and a Boston area medium who will channel Tom. Harry Houdini will be a guest on the first new show.

With 25 years of material, no need for that.

It might be interesting to hear some really old shows, and they can get away with that now.

I just remembered Tom still tells us some fo the sponsors. I guess that's allowed. There was a time when network TV didn't seem to want someone doing commercials after he died. But Orville Redenbacher commercials made a comeback.

vchimpanzee said:

I still have not seen the words "Best of Car Talk" except for here. I checked the web site and I didn't see this title anywhere. But I heard it Saturday and Sunday. Ray said "Support for the Best of Car Talk" at the beginning and the end. Also, the local host who came on during breaks used that name.

As for the newspaper column, I saw two November 8 papers that run the column yesterday. I could have seen another but I didn't have enough time to see all the papers I wanted to see. But these two were enough. Classic and archival material, we were told, will continue for a while. It didn't say Ray would answer questions himself.

Click to expand...

The column as it appeared in the local paper here last weekend has been retitled "Car Talk with Ray Magliozzi," the Car Talk logo replaced the familiar caricature of the brothers; and Ray is indeed now answering the questions as himself. I assume it took a couple weeks for existing columns to make their way thru the distribution system. While I realize it can never be the same, I'm sure you also wish Ray nothing but the best luck and a long run.

I'm sure he can answer the questions just fine. Without his brother it just won't be quite as funny.

Indeed; though I mentioned earlier that Ray (perhaps with help) has probably been writing both "sides" of the column for a while, Tom's death makes it necessary for him to write as a single "voice." And you're right that he, like his late brother, is a real automotive maven; it just can't be as much fun any more.

(No matter what though, Ray as a solo will always be more entertaining than "Under The Hood" or other similar car-advice shows.)

I finally saw a column written just by Ray. Some humor there, and apparently good advice, but just not as entertaining. I'm amazed it happened this soon.