Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns

Amazon.com When it’s good, which is often, Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns represents some of the best that PBS has to offer in the way of children’s programming. Based on Car Talk, the popular NPR call-in show, this series finds brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi supplying the voices for their animated alter-egos, Click and Clack Tappet, who offer callers sound, if somewhat wacky, advice on car repair (in addition to maybe-not-so-good advice on a variety of unrelated topics) while they and their cohorts operate a Boston-based garage. Offered on two discs (there are no bonus features), the ten episodes manage to both entertain and enlighten; unlike a lot of mass-produced animation, it doesn’t talk down to its young audience but rather seeks to gently raise it to a higher level, and the educational content is surprisingly high-minded and not a bit perfunctory (a mechanic who reads Camus and spouts poetry? He’s right here, in the form of ex-Harvard professor Crusty). In "Campaign," a political satire, Click and Clack run for president (against major party candidates "Phil Lander" and "P. Varicator"), hoping to raise enough money to earn matching federal funds and thus save public broadcasting. In "Outsourcing," the guys, always looking for way to avoid work, decide to have their show produced in India, where they’re be replaced by spot-on impersonators (there are also amusing impersonations of Rush Limbaugh, Garrison Keillor, and Howard Stern). And in "Pasta Wars," we learn about alternative fuel sources (electricity, hydrogen, vegetable oil) as Click, Clack, and company invent a car that’s both built from and fueled by pasta. Some episodes are simply silly ("Gotcha!" is nothing more than an escalating battle of puerile practical jokes), and the show’s animation is very limited, with minimal character expression and largely static backgrounds. But any program that makes fun of its own network--at PBS, we’re told, "our Number One concern is keeping you from complaining to your senator about us," while references are made to "Antiques Roadkill," "This Old Hovel," and several other shows--definitely has its tongue in the right cheek. --Sam Graham Product Description Click and Clack's As The Wrench Turns takes us behind the scenes of Car Talk, the world famous radio show from NPR, where "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" (aka Tom and Ray Magliozzi) answer listener's questions about their cars with humor, empathy, and occasional useful information. The animated sitcom takes place in their garage, where they fend off disgruntled customers and do everything in their power to goof off more. They have help, if you can call it that, from their band of misfit mechanics, while their radio show producer fights a winless battle to get them to shape up and be more professional.
ASIN: B001AZIRZY
VSKU: DBV.B001AZIRZY.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Click & Clacks|n/a
Binding: Dvd
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!