‘Car Talk’ hosts announce retirement
“Click and Clack,” the mechanics-turned- comedians who launched one of the most unlikely – and most beloved – talk shows in radio history, have decided that 35 years at the wheel is enough. Brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi announced Friday that they will no longer record new episodes of the weekly call-in series, but it will continue to live on in syndication.
The loss of the popular public radio show is a blow to NPR and its listeners.
The show was one of NPR’s powerhouse performers, in part because it appealed to such a diverse audience.
“My brother has always been ‘work-averse,’ ” Ray Magliozzi, 63, said. “Now, apparently, even the one hour a week is killing him!”
“It’s brutal!” chimed in Tom Magliozzi, 74.
The pair said they decided it was time to “stop and smell the cappuccino.”
The brothers began making “Car Talk” in Boston 35 years ago. It captured audiences there and soon became a mainstay on NPR member stations – remaining so for 25 years.
Beginning in October, the “Car Talk” production team will unveil new shows built from “the best of” the archives, which include more than 1,200 shows. The brothers will still write their twice-weekly “Dear Tom and Ray” column.
Lohan uninjured in highway crash
Actress Lindsay Lohan emerged uninjured from a collision with a dump truck on a coastal highway near Los Angeles on Friday, returning to the set of her new movie hours after the accident left the sports car she was driving crumpled.
Santa Monica Police Sgt. Richard Lewis said there was no sign Lohan was driving while impaired and that his agency would continue to investigate who was at fault in the wreck. The truck’s driver was uninjured.
“We’re treating this as a regular accident,” Lewis said.
The accident at around 11:40 a.m. Friday on the Pacific Coast Highway occurred while Lohan was on her way to film scenes for the Lifetime movie “Liz and Dick,” which chronicles the love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Lohan’s publicist Steve Honig said the actress was taken to a hospital as a precaution but was released about two hours after the accident.
Lohan, 25, has been on probation since a 2007 conviction for driving under the influence. Since then she also has been convicted of shoplifting.
The birthday bunch
Actress Mona Freeman is 86. Actor Joe Santos is 81. Mystery author Patricia Cornwell is 56. Writer-producer Aaron Sorkin is 51. Actress Gloria Reuben is 48. Actress Natalie Portman is 31. Actress Mae Whitman is 24.