"Car Talk" hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi are favorite Saturday morning companions for many travelers, doling out their hilarious advice about car problems on their weekly NPR radio series.

Now they're starring in an animated TV series for PBS.

"Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns" premieres at 8 p.m. tomorrow, airing locally on WQED-TV.

The "Car Talk" brothers translate seamlessly into cartoon characters, and the episodes play well off their unique sense of humor. "Car Talk" fans will find the gags in "As the Wrench Turns" similar to the weekly radio series.

Like their real-life counterparts, Click (voiced by Tom) and Clack (Ray) host a public radio show and run a garage in Boston.

In the premiere episode, they take some good-natured swipes at the worlds of public broadcasting and political campaigning. Driven by low pledge-drive figures, they decide to run as a two-man team for president, hoping to channel unspent campaign funds back into their struggling network. Their campaign slogan: "Because America Needs Repair."

Upcoming episodes feature their attempts at developing a fuel-efficient vehicle -- the Fusilli 500, a car that runs on pasta -- and the Wallet Vac, a robotic car-repair device that eases the garage workload but triggers massive power failures.

They're surrounded by a cast of garage and radio regulars -- Beth Totenbag, their producer; Fidel, the fashion-plate mechanic; and Crusty, a Harvard prof-turned-auto mechanic.

The characters are amalgams of people the brothers encountered in their business over the years.

The series takes a lighthearted approach to serious issues, like outsourcing and alternative fuels, making it something of a departure for public TV.

But it does have a serious component, with a national outreach campaign against distracted drivers, encouraging people -- especially teens -- not to use cell phones while driving.

First Published: July 8, 2008, 8:00 a.m.