BOSTON — Tom and Ray Magliozzi, aka Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers of NPR’s “Car Talk” fame, are just two low-ego lugs.
That’s why — familiar self-deprecating shtick aside — the boys’ ambivalence about their new public television series rings seriously true.
“I hope that people look at it mercifully,” said the younger, stockier, talkier Ray (Clack) about “As the Wrench Turns,” a half-hour series that wraps social and environmental messages inside an animated sitcom.
Premiering at 8 p.m. July 9 (check local listings) on PBS, the show follows Click and Clack’s exploits co-hosting a nationally syndicated radio show and running a car repair shop that mirrors their real-life Good News Garage in Cambridge, Mass.
The show will air in two-episode blocks for five weeks.
But will the humor of “As the Wrench Turns” compare to what we’ve come to expect from Tom and Ray’s hugely popular radio franchise — the most listened-to entertainment program on NPR?
“It’s lame enough that people will laugh at some of the lame stuff,” Ray said between bites of lunch on the patio of radio station WBUR-FM in Boston, where the Magliozzis tape “Car Talk.”
“There will be some chuckles and wry smiles,” he said as brother Tom (Click) looked on, cigar-smoking and chortling gently.
Tom and Ray voice their animated selves in the TV series, executive-produced by Howard Grossman.
But “As the Wrench Turns” deviates from “Car Talk’s” successful format. No phone calls from distressed car owners, no long bouts of brotherly banter, no silly signature “Puzzler” or “Stump the Chump” jokes.
Instead, the show plays out like a family-friendly “Family Guy” or “The Simpsons.”
Story lines include Click and Clack’s loony fundraising efforts for their bankrupt radio network — which involves their joint run for the White House — plus outsourcing their radio show to India and creating the first-ever pasta-fueled motor vehicle.
And unlike their NPR series, which is definitely a two-personality affair, “Wrench” turns on an expanded cast of characters, including oddball auto mechanics Crusty, Fidel and Stash; perky young radio producer Beth; and the brothers’ chunky female garage receptionist and bookie, Sal.
“Car Talk” executive producer Doug Berman, who runs the “Car Talk” parent company called (for real) Dewey, Cheetham &Howe, has worked with the Magliozzis for more than 20 years.
His thoughts mesh so thoroughly with them that he seems like a third brother.
And he knows his “Wrench,” since he wrote nine of the show’s 10 episodes.
“It’s cute,” Berman said.
Click &Clack ON TV
What: “As the Wrench Turns”
When: 8 p.m. July 9 on PBS (check your listings)
Online: www.pbs.org
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