The comic mechanics on NPR’s “Car Talk” are pulling into the garage.

Brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi said Friday they will stop making new episodes of their joke-filled auto advice show at the end of September, 25 years after “Car Talk” began in Boston. Repurposed versions of old shows will stay on National Public Radio indefinitely, however.

The show airs every Saturday morning and is NPR’s most popular program.

“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,” Ray Magliozzi said. “The stuff in our archives still makes us laugh. So we figured, why keep slaving over a hot microphone?”

The duo will continue writing their “Dear Tom and Ray” column twice a week, NPR said.

With their byplay and Boston accents, “Car Talk” was as much about laughs as motor advice. On last week’s show, a caller confessed that she had broken the clutches of some ex-boyfriends’ cars and was now worrying that she was damaging her own.

Advertisement

“That might be the reason none of your relationships lasted,” she was told.

The two men proved that public radio didn’t have to be stuffy, said Doug Berman, executive producer of the show. “Car Talk” began as a local call-in show on Boston’s BUR radio in 1977. It’s now on 660 stations across the country, with some 3.3 million listeners a week.

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

The staff has stored and logged some 12,500 phone calls since the show began, rating them in order of their entertainment value, Berman said. They will take the best and use them for the repurposed shows. Berman said he figured there was about eight years’ worth of strong material without the show having to repeat itself.

“I’m the producer of all their shows and I can’t remember most of” the calls, he said.

Berman said he knew the retirement was a possibility; Tom is 74. That didn’t stop Ray, 63, from mocking him: “My brother has always been work-averse. Now, apparently, even the one hour a week is killing him.”

Advertisement

Lohan involved in morning car crash, police say

Police said they are investigating a car crash involving actress Lindsay Lohan on a coastal highway near Los Angeles.

Santa Monica Police Sgt. Candice Cobarrubias said Lohan was involved a crash around 11:45 a.m. Friday on the Pacific Coast Highway.

Officers continue to investigate the accident and do not know the extent of Lohan’s injuries.

Cobarrubias said no one else was injured in the crash and that police would not immediately release any other details.

Calls to Lohan’s spokesman Steve Honig were not immediately returned.

Advertisement

Bieber may draw more than Beatle

The Bieber may outdraw the Beatle. That’s what Mexico City officials are saying as they prepare for Monday’s free concert by Justin Bieber.

Paul McCartney’s May 10 concert in Mexico City’s central plaza attracted some 200,000 people and city Tourism Secretary Carlos Mackinlay said organizers expect “a little more” for the Bieber event.

Officials are planning elaborate security arrangements, with nearly 6,000 police officers, two helicopters, 500 portable toilets and four rings of barriers. Checkpoints will limit the crowd in the plaza to 80,000, with others directed to watch the concert on giant screens on neighboring streets.

Beauty queen: Pageant rigged

The former Miss USA contestant who stepped down this week is standing by her claim the contest was rigged.

Sheena Monnin told NBC’s “Today” show Friday she firmly believes the top five finishers were determined before the show was broadcast Sunday.

The former Miss Pennsylvania claims a fellow contestant told her she saw the list of finalists hours before the pageant.

Pageant officials deniedy her allegation, saying she resigned over the decision to admit transgender contestants.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.