Show
Car Talk is structured as a call-in radio show: listeners call with questions related to motor vehicle maintenance and repair. Most of the advice sought is diagnostic, with callers describing symptoms and demonstrating sounds of an ailing vehicle while the Magliozzis make an attempt at identifying the malfunction. While the hosts pepper their call-in sessions with jokes directed at both the caller and at themselves, the depth and breadth of their knowledge of automobiles is extensive, and they are usually able to arrive at a diagnosis and give helpful advice. Also, if a caller has an unusual name, they will inquire about the spelling, pronunciation, and/or origin of their name. They may also comment about the caller's hometown. Previously, the Magliozzis would take a break at approximately the half-hour mark of the show. More recently, two breaks divide the show into approximately 20-minute segments referred to as the "three halves" of the show. Between segments a piece of music related to cars will play.
Car Talk was first broadcast on WBUR in Boston in 1977. It was picked up nationally by NPR ten years later. As of 2012, 3.3 million listeners hear the show each week on about 660 stations. The show is also carried on Sirius XM Satellite Radio via both the NPR Now and NPR Talk channels. These two NPR stations rebroadcast the show throughout the weekend.
The show was the inspiration for the short-lived The George Wendt Show, which aired on CBS in the 1995-96 season.
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.
In June 2012, NPR announced that the Magliozzi brothers will be retiring in Fall 2012, after their 25th anniversary as a national show. The show will continue to air after their retirement, with shows built from material from the archive of past shows.
The Car Talk theme song is "Dawggy Mountain Breakdown" by bluegrass artist David Grisman.
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