@wesw, I’ve been out of circulation for a while. My daughter got married last Friday night, and then we had a lightning strike on Monday that toasted the cable appliances.
MG McAnick, Leno does know cars. I read about how he is (was?) mostly interested in steam cars and making them run, but that could have changed. When he was on TV every weeknight, he didn’t have time to work on his collection. Now that he has time, he is likely more active.
congratulations JT!!! on the daughter, not the lightning…
There was an explosion of BS at my house!!!
It appears that the lightning lit up the methane coming out of the sewer vent on the roof. There was a burnt smell in a basement room that I traced to a utility door in the wall. When I opened the door, the burnt odor was initially worse and the clean out vent on the sewer down pipe was completely blown off. The wall board was broke around the utility door when it was pushed out by the flying clean out cap. Fortunately, there was no fire in the wall or in the attic. I know that methane burns without odor, but other, um, stuff in the sewage pipe apparently does leave an odor when it burns. I’m going onto the roof today or tomorrow to inspect the shingles on the back of the house for burn marks.
@“MG McAnick” I think Jay Leno knows enough to get through a show. Besides, the call screener will pick and choose who and what gets through to the host, or hosts.
To me anyway, Leno is great on the car shows and things of that nature. I’ve just never been a big fan of him as the host of the Tonight Show. Johnny Carson was the man there IMO.
The problem with using someone like Leno would be finding someone to pair him up and which would not lead to one overshadowing the other or the second person becoming nothing more than a straight man. Offhand, I can’t think of someone like that.
The Show Needs A Woman “Car Guy” As One Of The Hosts. Somebody Like The Drag Racer, Force, Don’t Know Her First Name.
That way the show would be different enough from Tom & Ray’s to not be shadowed and could attract men and women alike, not to mention some interesting insights.
CSA
As I recall, the drill was to call well in advance of Saturday so that the staff could pick the problems that would be addressed and give the staff, Tom, and Ray time to research the problem. Then they would contact the caller and tell them when to call on Saturday. This seems reasonable to me. It offers the brothers time to pick entertaining topics and develop a basic schtick that they could work from. That way they wouldn’t miss a beat, appear knowledgeable, and generate an appreciative audience. That’s what I would do if I were King of the Forest.
I agree that Jay Leno is funny, but would not be a good host for Car Talk
He doesn’t own a for-profit car repair facility, as far as I know
He doesn’t deal with paying and/or hostile customers, as far as I know
He doesn’t appear to be terriby interested in modern vehicles, as others have mentioned
He might be a good host for a DIY car show dealing primarily/exclusively with classic vehicles
Don’t call me a pessimist
I’m more of a realist
But this is all science fiction anyways, because NPR couldn’t even dream of hiring Jay Leno. Maybe he would do it as charity, to promote NPR . . .
By the way, her name is Ashley Force
Why do I know that . . . because somebody at work has one of her old promotional posters
Jerry Seinfield is also a car nut, but I don’t know if he is much of a mechanic, just likes cars. He now does an internet show titled something like Comedians in Cars going for Coffee or something like that. He is not doing that for the money.
Maybe Jay and Jerry would make a good team for Car Talk. BTW, I’m pretty sure Car Talk made a lot of money for NPR in its day.
@jtsanders I have been in and out of many a manhole with a gas monitor and have never had an lel (explosive gas) alarm. In fact I throw my live butts down manholes and have never had a problem.
I think you should have the utility investigate for explosive gasses, the most common ones I have heard of are natural gas leaking into a sewer, petrolium residue from an auto shop place, or petrolium leaking into a sewer from a leaking pipeline.
We are converting our waste water treatment plant to capture and produce methane, but that is in the treatment stage, not in any transmission lines.A common problem with gas in a sewer is hydrogen sulfide, but it is heavier than air, so it would not travel upstream to your house, much less out your roof vent, in fact in many cases the first guy through is fine, but followers can die due to gasses being kicked up.
Have seen gas lines installed through sewer services, and in one explosion it was a gas line feeding Ohare airport going through a manhole, and the gas like water followed the path of least resistance into the manhole that caused the explosion.
To bring it back to car related, when is the last time you have seen a manhole cover blown off into the road due to a gas explosion? Storm surcharge is infinately more common.
@Barkydog, all I know is that the cleanout cap was blown clean off and I smelled an odor of something burned at the utility door. The rest is conjecture. Ere were no singe marks inside the wall or on the back of the door. As I’m sure you know, methane is natural gas, and in this case from a very natural source (me). I suppose the heat from the Lightning burst may have superheated air and it expanded down the sewer vent until it couldn’t go any farther. The only way to expand was through the cleanout. The superheated air may also have burned the poop in the pipe. I’m letting my insurance adjuster handle it.
Jay Leno has been doing standup comedy for decades. If anyone can deal with irate and drunk and irrational people, it’s him. As you may know, hecklers are common in comedy venues. One of the first things standup comedians have to learn is how to deal with them.
@jtsanders I am just trying to give you a heads up there may be a bigger problem.
Now if the call came into our office about such an occurance we would be on high alert. What would we do? My boss would have the final ideas from his years of experience, but my thought would be to drop a gas monitor into your clean out, and check for explosive gasses. If found keep working upstream until we can locate a potential point of introduction.
I urge you not to take this lightly, someones floor drain or sink etc. without water in the trap could lead to a buildup of gas in a basement say, could lead to deadly consequences for someone else. It is not normal for explosive gasses to be venting from your roof vent!
I think Leno is a fine person and very interesting when doing a special show, but I never liked him as a comedian. When I retired, everyone looked for jobs for me and I said if I wanted to work I wouldn’t have retired, I would have just stayed working. So first question is why in the world he would want to do it. Second question is why would you try to duplicate Tom and Ray? Just like the new Dukes of Hazard boys that bombed, there is only one T and R team. They should not be attempted to be duplicated. Try something different. They fit the quasi auto enthusiast of NPR in the past but I doubt the new clientele is really much interested in auto repair or maintenance from the typical programs aired. I suspect they are more interested in mass transit than cars.
We did have a local car talk radio program that was very popular some years ago but it faded out. It had real questions and real experts on particular topics from time to time but times may have changed. There are other interesting car radio programs that could be easily carried that are more car repair related than entertainment. No need to reinvent. The same station tried a lawyer program but 95% of the answers to the legal questions were to consult a lawyer. I suspect with the new cars that that might be the general answer a lot of times, to simply take it to a shop to have the code read.
I dunno, just Saturday musings but I suspect NPR is not interested in carrying anything that they don’t produce and they haven’t shown a lot of interest in DIY programs like the public TV has.
I don't think he really KNOWS cars, especially modern cars.
Actually he does know a lot about cars. H actually works on the cars he owns. He does have a slew of mechanics working for him…but he also gets his nails dirty.
“gets his nails dirty.”
On those modern, model year 2015 vehicles?
Or on those classics?
it’s a different skill set
Just like the original CT show any new show could go one of several ways.
!. The mechanical lite version as it has existed with some humor and light hearted banter.
2. A Sgt. Friday Just the facts Ma’am type of show that would probably come across as a screaming bore for most people except gearheads and a few mechanically inquisitive people.
I listen to just about everything on the AM/FM bands and a few years ago listened to a radio program that focused solely on computers and software with various news blurbs on the latest, people calling in with PC hardware or software problems, etc.
For some that program may work. to me it was mind numbing schlock for the most part and I had to bail on it after a few episodes. As far as I know that program is now kaput.
Point being that if a show dwelled too much on technical aspects with entertainment kept to a minimum or non-existent a new CT presented in that manner would also likely fail.
The good thing about CT & the brothers were that they would get comedy off of each other. JL can not do it alone. He needs a “supporting cast”. It is difficult to find the right chemistry. Think Friends, Seinfeld, Big Bang.
On those modern, model year 2015 vehicles?Or on those classics?
it’s a different skill set
Not all his cars are 50+ years old…He even owns a Tesla…an many skills are still transferable.
does everyone here think Leno is funny? I would go to him for car advice, but not for laughs…
Leno is a TRUE Gearhead… He does know cars and engines and their subsystems, perhaps more than you might be aware of. I think he is a bit above a Radio show however…I mean the guy did the Late show for what 20-30 yrs? He made mountains of money…and he is rightfully enjoying it to the fullest. He is doing what he loves and he surrounds himself with guys of equal or greater skill to help maintain or sustain his stewardship of his very cool toys. His toys say a lot about the man…he appreciates both old world items as well as high tech… as any intelligent person would. Jay is a bit too high in the game to do a Radio show… But hey… I AM AVAILABLE… LOL
I would love to do a new CT show…I did understand Tom and Rays take on things…they did mix Humor with real car knowledge. But what they also did was to factor in the Human Condition into the Automobile.
Ive said for YEARS that it is hard to repair peoples vehicle without knowing a little bit about them first… and what that intrinsically means is that people are as varied as snowflakes. People act differently than each other and also differently at different times. Car problems…real or imagined have a link to the person…it is finding that link or joking around about it that makes good radio. I fully understand this.
Most people love to hang out at the shop and it isnt long after that one or both of us are laughing about something. I always put a funny spin on things at least I do when I am joking around. The New CT show if there ever was one couldnt be a facts only thing…you have to marry the humor of how people relate to their vehicles and how they deal with, run from, hide or confront those problems…Real or Imagined. I would love to do a show like that…
The only thing that I am aware of that I do not possess that Tom and Ray Had in abundance…was PC… They were very smart guys and they were most times very PC… I would have trouble with that…or at least I would need to be cognoscent of this issue at times.
I would also need to take it easy on people who do stupid things…I tend to call em like I see em…and that can, sort of, berate people or put them down. I tend to view cars as living entities and frown upon the abuse of these Mechanical Animals. LOL I know I would struggle in some of the areas Tom n Ray were so good at Naturally. But hey…when the tryouts are open…I would sign up…I’m serious
Blackbird