NPR’s ‘Car Talk’ Ending After 25-Years This September

After 25-years, NPR’s “Car Talk” is handing over the keys. Brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi announced today that they will stop making new episodes this September. Reruns of the hit show will still run on NPR.

Ray said:

“We’ve managed to avoid getting thrown off NPR for 25 years, giving tens of thousands of wrong answers and had a hell of a time every week talking to callers… The stuff in our archives still makes us laugh. So we figured, why keep slaving over a hot microphone?”

Tom added:

“My brother has always been work-averse. Now, apparently, even the one hour a week is killing him…. We’re hoping to be like ‘I Love Lucy’ and air 10 times a day on ‘NPR at Nite’ in 2075.”

NPR said that Tom and Ray will continue to write their twice weekly column “Dear Tom And Ray.”

Doug Berman, the executive producer of “Car Talk,” said that Tom and Ray started out answering calls on Boston’s BUR Radio in 1977. The show is now broadcast on 660 stations around the country and draws 3.3 million listeners a week.

Berman said:

“The guys are culturally right up there with Mark Twain and the Marx Brothers… They will stand the test of time. People will still be enjoying them years from now. They’re that good.”

The Associated Press reports that the staff is currently putting together a “best of Car Talk” collection that will be re-purposed for future shows. Berman said that the most entertaining 12,500 or so calls will be re-played on NPR. According to NPR, those calls should last about 8 years without re-repeating material.

Here’s a clip of the “Car Talk” guys making a guest appearance on “Arthur.”