PBS: What did you think about the idea of being cartoon characters when you were first approached with it?

RAY: Well, the last time we saw caricatures of ourselves was when we showed up on the FCC's "Most Wanted" list. So we approached the project with caution.

TOM: But then we realized how much sense it made. First of all, we could spare viewers the trauma of having to see our actual faces...

RAY: Right. We could imagine PBS viewers flipping to the Trout Gutting Channel to find something prettier.

TOM: And then we also realized that, with animation, we wouldn't have to sit in front of cameras all day. We could just record our voices in our studio and let somebody else do all the work! Is that perfect or what?

PBS: With your busy schedule that includes running a garage, producing a weekly radio show and writing newspaper columns, how did you decide to utilize your time in starring in a cartoon?

RAY: You're kidding, right? If my brother came into work any later, he'd pass himself on the road.

TOM: Actually, we know how difficult real television is. We just did an episode for NOVA this year, and it wasn't easy.

RAY: Yeah, they wanted my brother on the set four or five hours a day!

TOM: Yeah. Good thing most of that time was spent standing around waiting for the crew to get back from their lunch break or I would have quit.

RAY: So doing animation suits us, because we just do the voices. We go into our studio, we read the script... we screw it up a few times, the producers realize it will never get any better, and they say "OK, good enough" and they send us home. And somehow it comes out really funny and entertaining when all the talented people are done fixing it up.

PBS: "Click & Clack's As the Wrench Turns" gives us an inside look into the lives of Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Or does it? How accurately does the show portray the behind-the-scenes world of your radio show and garage?

TOM: Well, in real life, we DO come up with crazy schemes so we can goof off more. But they never get past the stage of wistful musing.

RAY: The cartoon versions of us actually get to try them out and see what happens. That's what makes the stories fun.

TOM: And a lot of funny stuff DOES happen at the real garage. All kinds of weird characters always seem to be hanging around.

RAY: Yeah. I wonder what attracts them (points to Tom)?

TOM: And lots of funny stuff happens. We screw up cars. My brother comes up with crazy ideas. And usually, we end up laughing our butts off.

PBS: The animated Click and Clack are always looking for an excuse to slack off. How different are the animated characters from the real Tom and Ray?

TOM: Those characters are nothing like the real Tom and Ray. Nothing like us! Who told you they were?

RAY: No, we're extremely diligent, hard-working, industrious chaps.

TOM: (spits out his coffee and laughs)

RAY: I mean, just as an example of how different we are in real life, in the real garage, there's no hammock in the oil change bay.

TOM: Right. My brother's got to curl up in a backseat of some customer's car to get a decent nap.

RAY: That's why I always love to see a Lincoln Town Car roll in.

PBS: Is the animated character Beth Totenbag, who produces Click & Clack's radio show in the animated series, based on someone from the real "Car Talk" radio show?

RAY: You mean motivated, earnest and competent?

TOM: Uh, no. That was us indulging in a little bit of wishful fantasy.

RAY: Our real life producer is Doug Berman, who served as the head writer for AS THE WRENCH TURNS. And he didn't think we needed him as an additional character in the show because, well...

TOM: He's too much like us! He's another lazy bast***! (laughs)

RAY: Hey, this is PBS. We should use words like "slothful" and "indolent." He's a slothful and indolent bast***.

TOM: Actually, Tom Sito, the director of the animated series, pushed very hard for a character who was our opposite, in terms of personality. And that's Beth.