By all accounts, I thought Tom & Ray were going to stop recording new shows at the end of October and all future shows would be ‘best of’ compilation. (Caveat: I only listen to recent show podcasts, which don’t tell whether they’re live or recorded). I’m definitely hearing a number of ‘classic’ calls from shows past (hey, I’ve been listening for all 25 years, okay?), but the puzzlers appear to be new the fact that you can still submit answers online suggests that these are live. There’s been nothing in the news about Tom and Ray "unretiring’ and they certainly never did a ‘last show’ time of capoff, so I’m very confused. Is it new or it is repeats?
Nope, retired, and the puzzlers are recycled, too.
Aha. One wonders, then, why this site still has an “Answer the Puzzler” option on the curret puzzler. page What do you get if you submit your answer? They should take this off. And it’s really too bad Tom and Ray didn’t do a genuine ‘farewell’ show. Would have provided us with some level of closure…
i had no idea of a retirement…that really sucks. such a great show. plus, my car is having such a weird problem…i am a def candidate for stump the chumps…my mechanic surely is stumped!!
@cmmelvin - what’s the problem? Click on the “Ask a question button”, describe it, we’ll have some ideas.
texases…i did and received good feedback! thanks
At the beginning of the show today Tommy did say, “only 10 more to go” or something like that. Unless he was referring to 10 questions.
From today’s show, #1248, Dec 1, 2012, before the first break:
And even though devoted Hostess fans jam their last remaining Twinkies into their ears whenever we say it....
Since the Hostess company made big news just a few weeks ago, this reference on the show clearly indicates that there are some parts of the show which are - for now - being recorded new. This seems like a plausible approach to keep it sounding fresh - recycle the calls, but spend an hour or so every few weeks recording some of this material, new intros, credits, etc. I presume that will slowly taper off.
I have to say that, while it’s obvious now that most calls are about cars which are 10 years old or older, I’m not detecting too many repeats. That surprises me given that I’ve been listening very regularly for at least 15 years, and a bit less regularly before that. Today’s calls for example seemed all new, except that I’m sure they were not - based on the cars discussed.
What I also find surprising is that I can’t detect any difference at all in Tom and Ray’s voices, which is usually pretty obvious with many broadcasters as they age.
Re" the “10 more to go” comment by Tommy, it wasn’t a reference to the number of live shows remaining – which I presume is zero at this point – instead, I think it was a reference to the show opening segment where Tom and Ray were talking about a scientific study that showed people on average tell 10 lies a day.
Tom was definitely speaking about the number of lies in the context of their intro discussion on that subject. It’s clear if you listen to the segment.
Is there any way to contact them if they are off the air?
The puzzler answers are still being recorded and the prizes awarded to new winners. A recent one had a different winner than the original one listed on the web site. If they were recycling the puzzler answers and winners, they would have to provide a disclaimer to that effect.
At the end of last week’s show they made a reference to the fiscal cliff, so it would appear that bits are being recorded to make the show sound fresh.
Yes, it sounds like Ray remains available for adding topical comments to the pre-recordings from the past. That’s a good idea I think. Makes the show sound like it is broadcast live.
I think on this past week’s show, Tommy read the name of the listener who wrote in w/their sol’n to the “flat tire” puzzler. I’m not sure if this is a listener who already won, or a new one. Maybe Tommy is adding some topical stuff too from time to time.
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