Kasem Retires — For Real This Time

This Saturday's American Top 20 countdown will be Casey Kasem's last, USA Today reports. After 34 years off American Top 40 and five more of variants, he's heading off the "free up time [he] needs for other projects." It's a sad day. But I'm sure more than one GWCer hopes that he'll choose to(/have the opportunity to) spend some of that newly-earned free time voicing Cliffjumper in Transformers 3.

Cliffjumper -- like Kasem -- has a long history. Arriving with the Ark, Cliffjumper launched his Earth TV career with an unauthorized attack on Megatron. Kasem started as a DJ in the '50s. They both went on to become household names, Kasem as a fixture of weekend mornings and awkwardly-expressed (by listeners) unrequited love, 'Jumper as a keychain and McDonalds Happy Meal toy.

Thankfully 'Jumper received a recent upgrade as part of the Titanium toy series. He's three inches tall -- he did always have an issue with being small, didn't he? -- but he looks significantly more badass. What's next for Kasem?

A Final Coundown For Casey Kasem [USA Today]
Casey Kasem [Wikipedia]
Cliffjumper [Wikipedia]