Talk:Car Talk

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Contents

[edit] graduation

According to The Cartalk FAQ, "Tommy graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering, class of 1958. Ray barely graduated with a degree in General Science. He was MIT class of '70... '71... and '72." Clearly there's some jesting going on with the FAQ, but I'd believe the official FAQ's version of what degrees they earned over "humanities" and "economics" which as far as I know had never been confirmed and may have been jokes in the first place. --ABQCat 06:12, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)


Doug Berman biography

[edit] copyright for credits?

The list of (humorous) credits seems to be from the cartalk web page http://www.cartalk.com/content/about/credits/credits.html. Is this fair use?

I would argue that this particular list may not be, however, what if I were to listen to the radio program (broadcast on the public airwaves) and transcribe the list of credits read at the end? I think at that point, you start pushing the limits of fair use. Cartalk would own the copyright to the list, but it's fair use to list the credits as read on-air. --ABQCat 01:34, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
The broadcasts are also copyrighted. Being broadcast over "public airwaves" in no way diminishes the copyright of the owners of that content. If you list a few examples of the the credits as a representative sampling, THAT might qualify as fair use, but using the entire listing, whether taken from the website or transcribed from a broadcast would be a bit more difficult to justify as fair use. older≠wiser 03:12, Apr 3, 2005 (UTC)
Personally I think that talk of copyright is ridiculous in this case as it is billed as "credits", regardless of whether they are fictional or not. We certainly wouldn't claim that an alphabetically ordered list of characters from "The Simpsons" was subject to copyright restrictions such that it would be unlawfull to reproduce it. Furthermore the effect of this is most likely beneficial to the ostensible holder of the copyright, and not for profit, which heavily leans this publication towards fair use. Furthermore the website suggests that it is listeners who submit the names for the credits, and thus cartalk has no claim on copyright, and submitters acknowledge permision of use by submitting. Nevertheless I have emailed "Car Talk" and will have explicit permission probably within a day or two. Certainly Bkonrad could have done the same instead of yanking it.
Catskul 03:31, 2005 Apr 4 (UTC)

[edit] Video of Car Talk guys

There is a free video of Car Talk guys that I put on some of the hydrogen related pages. I have never seen a TV show about them even after hearing them on the radio for so long. I'm putting this link here so you too can see what they long like and maybe learn a little about hydrogen cars:

[edit] Pronunciation thingies

I always thought I heard a slight "r" sound in the word "Tappet", so it sounds a little like "tar pit". Makes a little more sense. « alerante ✆ ✉ » 15:01:58, 2005-08-20 (UTC)

They've got a pretty thick Boston accent, but it is indeed "Tappet." The copyright notice from their website:
CAR TALK, DEWEY, CHEETHAM & HOWE, SHAMELESS COMMERCE, and WARPED DISCS and are registered trademarks of Tom and Ray Magliozzi and/or Tappet Brothers Associates d/b/a Dewey, Cheetham & Howe.

A 'tappet' is a rocker arm...part of the valve train in a car engine. It's a word that is falling into disuse - but this is certainly what Click & Clack are referring too. Furthermore, I would speculate that since poorly adjusted tappets make 'clicking and clacking' noises, that this explains the whole "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" thing. SteveBaker 18:16, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

I live near Cambridge and I noticed this window in Harvard Square that says "Dewey, Cheetham & Howe." I think it is their office for the radio show or something because I looked it up in the phone book and they gave me a phone number and an address in Harvard Square. I called it and I got an answering machine with them on it. I just thought you guys would like to know this, they aren't lying when they say they have an office in Havard Square. BenWhitey 01:01, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

I live in the Boston area, and it sounds to me like they've totally lost their Boston accent. In fact, I noticed that all hosts on WBUR programs speak with that neutral Standard American Broadcasting English. I'm almost certain that they got trained in the standard, when the show went national. I and most of my relatives still have a heavy Boston accent, so I can tell the difference.

[edit] Theme song

According to this page on NPR.org the composer of the theme song is BJ Liederman, not David Grisman. Car talk's web site states David Grisman is the composer as stated in the article and does not mention BJ Liederman. While I listen to the show fairly regularly it's hard to say who is behind the music. Can anyone with more knowledge than me clarify? JohnCub 13:33, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

I think the theme song is taken from Dawgy Mtn, but I could be wrong. That is, Grisman wrote the song and Liederman arranged it? Or did the song used to be different? I used to never pay attention to the show, so I only have a clear memory of the song from the last 7 years. -- Ipstenu (talk|contribs) 15:35, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
I've seen the same discrepancy and either they used to have an NPR theme song (BJ does NPR themes, not bluegrass) and now use Dawgy Mtn, or they are just wrong and nobody's bothered to fix it. The mandolin song at the beginning is definitely Dawgy Mountain. Gaviidae 14:37, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
Update, BJ does the music for "Stump the Chumps." [1] and the bluegrass is Grisman. This link also talks about two other songs which I don't think I've heard: a Randy Newman song and a song called "Plastic Banana." Gaviidae 08:36, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Good News Garage

I believe only Ray is involved with the day-to-day operation of the Good News Garage, while Tom's day job is consulting. Somebody please verify.

I recieved the Best and Second Best of Car Talk, a double CD, after donating to NPR. It states inside the cover that indeed only one of them still runs the garage-- I can't remember which one, but I thought it was Raymie. Gaviidae 14:38, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Puzzler guy

What happened to the guy who developed many of the puzzlers. They thought he was dead but then his son came on and said he was still alive. --Gbleem 01:45, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Martin Gardner (but he was never affiliated with the show). AnonMoos 20:24, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Early history & interlude music

As I recall, when the show was originally produced at WBUR, the Puzzler was started in order to assess the listening audience size. It also provided a way to publicize The Good News Garage, which was announced as the mailing address for responses. Furthermore, in the mid-80s I think, listeners were invited to mail in car-related songs and music, which were then used to introduce the half-time break.

Apparently, these measurements of audience size led to the decision to establish the program as a more substantial business, and its transition away from WBUR to a separate production company independent of of the station. Any thoughts on how to verify this?? JXM 19:34, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Phone up and ask? SteveBaker 21:04, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
I think that would count as publishing original research (see WP:NOR), unless the org. change is reliably documented somewhere. JXM 01:03, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] canned laughter / editing?

What is the point of the paragraph about adding laughter via loop? The program is clearly edited like any other professionally produced radio show. Barring any specific detail about the production of the show (like when (and where) it is taped, when it airs, etc) it sounds less like an impartial statement of fact and more like an editorial comment. You'd might as well say "the jokes are regardess as funny by some listeners, but recognized for what they really are by smarter people."

On the same topic, has anyone seen or heard any background info on the production details? I'm curious about how (periodically) someone like a Magliozzi family member or an MIT "friend of the show" will call in seemingly in response to a comment made on the air earlier in the same show.

[edit] 1963 Dodge Dart and citation

The "1963 Dodge Dart" joke has been mentioned hundreds of times over the years. Is the citation needed for this or just the "Dartre" part? BTW, this should cover the first part: http://www-tech.mit.edu/V114/N42/cartalk.42n.html --Og-emmet 16:31, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sponsorship?

Though the article says that listeners are encouraged to write the answers to Puzzler questions "on a $20 bill" or on nonexistent objects, lately the trend seems to be to suggest REAL objects -- typically expensive power tools -- complete with detailed descriptions of the features of those products. I have often wondered whether this is a form of sponsorship of the show, where companies pay to have their products described. Does anyone know? 71.198.65.9 17:53, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

I haven't listened to the full show within the past few months, but I think they gave both the monetary and object options.  — AnnaKucsma   (Talk to me!) 16:04, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Car Talk.gif

Image:Car Talk.gif is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 06:14, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] fact?

"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."

This can't be true -- I listened to this show for free online (which is obviously "digitally") going back to 2001, maybe 2000.

Maybe it wasn't available in *podcast* form before 2007?

69.3.238.172 08:43, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Case for separating end credits

The Car Talk Official Staff Credits (seen here) run to several pages. My personal opinion is that some of them require explanation, especially for readers or listeners whose first language is not American English, are not regular listeners of NPR, younger than thirty years of age, etc. I would like to create a separate article listing and annotating the entire list, with links to referenced persons, explanations of idiomatic expressions, and links to people associated with unusual names, e.g. Clare Booth Luce for Turner Luce. Cstaffa (talk) 16:59, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm in favor Catradar (talk) 07:30, 13 April 2008 (UTC)