As the Wrench Turns
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on WKAR-HD
Saturdays at 11 p.m. on WKAR-23
The Boys Have a Whole New Gig!
Here’s hoping that Tom and Ray Magliozzi can keep their engines started during their new animated PBS series, As the Wrench Turns, which debuts on WKAR-HD on Wednesday, July 9, at 8 p.m. The program is also seen every Saturday night at 11 p.m. on WKAR-23, beginning July 12.
Each week two episodes will be aired back-to-back. Check WKAR.org for various repeat times on WKAR-HD.
This animated sitcom spins off from the long-running NPR show Car Talk and follows the on- and off-air escapades of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers (the alter-egos of real-life program hosts, the Magliozzi brothers), as they try to fix cars, fend off disgruntled customers, and seek out increasingly creative ways to goof off.
The episodes take place primarily at Car Talk Plaza, a fictional building that houses their radio studio and their famed garage in Harvard Square in the fair city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition to Click and Clack, an assortment of quirky characters will join them throughout the series including:
- Beth Totenberg, the producer of their radio show who is hyper-anxious to please her superiors and climb up the corporate ladder;
- Fidel, a garage mechanic who thinks of himself more as an automotive consultant than an actual “under the hood guy,” and prefers never to stain the spotless Armani suits he wears to work;
- Crusty, who one should be thought of as an automotive “Pig Pen” from Peanuts who is continually covered in axle grease, filth, and yesterday’s lunch;
- Stash, a grubby, burly and monosyllabic speaker who hails from Coleslawvania and can construct a car part from anything;
- Sal, an amply endowed Bostonian who is employed as the garage’s receptionist, and everyone, including Click and Clack obeys her orders. She also runs a bookie operation on the side;
- Dave, the studio’s radio engineer, is a master at keeping things running by multi-tasking at warp speed and is known to wear a football helmet to project himself from falling tape reels, random electrical emissions, and Beth; and
- Zuzu is everyone’s favorite dog and the garage’s mascot. No one is quite sure who adopted who but she’s here to stay. In addition to her talent of knowing friend from foe, she’s also good at sorting out the good ideas from the particularly bad ones that flow freely around the garage.
NPR’s Car Talk is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year on public radio stations nationwide. Car Talk is aired on 90.5 WKAR on Saturday at 10 a.m., and on WKAR/AM 870 on Saturday at Noon and on Sunday at 3 p.m.
published: July 8, 2008
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