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Any one suggested Guy Martin to take over Top Gear yet?? 🙂
The BBC should just syndicate the Top Gear format to the highest bidder in the UK, like they do for the rest of the world.
Why would anyone buy it when you can just copy it (near as dammit) for free?
Pah, beaten to the Guy Martin suggestion by seconds!!
Kill it off?
There's enough TG on Dave for the next million years, the programme is identical every time, so the fact that they're repeats shouldn't worry anyone. Can't be beyond the wit of clever BBC people to come up with a programme to keep the middle aged man demographic happy for an hour every week can it?
Some people are losing their sense of proportion/good at taking the wee;
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Can't be beyond the wit of clever BBC people to come up with a programme to keep the middle aged man demographic happy for an hour every week can it?
Well they've not been able to make a decent comedy for over 20 years.
WHAT?
WTveryF?????
Ok, Partridge may be the exception.
Genius Top Tip from Twitter;
[i]EMPLOYERS. Finding out where your staff fall on the Clarkson sacking is a good way of discovering which ones you can hit. [/i]
bit of a bugger for clarkson if he is convicted of ABH, no more US road trips.
West Yorkshire Police Force
South Yorkshire Police
Luckily Clarkson was born in Yorkshire so he won't have to ask directions on here to know which Police Force is responsible for North Yorkshire 😉
Aye. 'appen.
BBC had no choice really. Commercial reality is that Clarkson will get hired somewhere else / start his own production company and get paid much much more money. Top gear will struggle on but make far less money for the BBC.
[quote=molgrips ]Hell it might even be much better - I'd certainly watch it, it's that twit that put me off!
+1 - there's probably not many of us, but I can't be alone in not being a current TG viewer but will certainly watch any future shows.
All those saying it won't be the same without Clarkson seem to be making the mistake of thinking it has to be the same as it was, or even that it will be worse if it's not the same as it was. I'm sure it won't become like old TG (aka 5th Gear), but you don't have to have an offensive Jezza-alike to make the show good.
The BBC are actually suggesting Ant and Dec were mooted for the job 🙄
+1 to aracer and mol.
There's a place on TV for a bunch of people mucking around with cars. If I want to see test drives of the kind of motors I'll be driving, I can look at YouTube. In a way, this could be a good thing to happen. Even die-hard fans (from reading the Sunday evening threads) were beginning to realise it was getting or had got too shit to go on in its present format, even for unreconstructed males. This was as much to do with the presenters becoming caricatures of themselves as the show becoming too formulaic. New faces will refresh it. There doesn't need to be [i]massive[/i] format changes. From what I've seen of competitive formats, no one does the kind of camerawork and production of some of the test drives of awesome cars on the Isle of Man or in the Alps or Dolomites like the TG team can. And no one has the freedom from advertisers that the BBC has to say, figuratively, "this is shit". There's plenty of audience out there to mine, both new and past viewers who just got tired of the same predictable shtick every episode.
Ah well, you can take the man out of Doncaster but...
From what I've seen of competitive formats, no one does the kind of camerawork and production of some of the test drives of awesome cars on the Isle of Man or in the Alps or Dolomites like the TG team can
Assuming Willman also decides to leave (and why wouldn't he? He's the 4th member of the team) then do they really have anything at all left? If what separates TG from the others is writing and production values then it's going to be hard to recreate than when theve lost the writer and the producer.
The writing's poor and the production values are BBC, not TG. The problem will be better now it can move on.
Aracer
Two things suggest you are in the minority
Look at viewing stats and demand for TG versus Fifth Gear
Ditto TG pre and post Clarkson
It's a long time since it pretended to be a car show, for all the misogyny it had a big female following, and rightly to wrongly JC's charicature was central to the show. That may be uncomfortable but then so are the sales figures for national newspapers!!!
The whole nonsense that surrounds the story shows that JC is at the whole heart of this. It would hardly make the news otherwise.
IMHO only time will tell what was the most important part the format or the individuals.
I still think they will both [ Clarkson and his hanger one and the BBC / TG TEAM] be worse without each other
Not sure why everyone thinks he can just leave the BBC and not be harmed by this. Many who leave the BBC for bigger and better things dont thrive Adrian Chiles springs to mind. I also thing Clarkson alone as his chat show failure demonstrated is not the draw his fans think he is without the correct vehicle [ forgive me the pun]
I am more likely to watch it without them than with as well but i am highly unlikely to watch a petrol head type programme and I am about as far from their target audience as you can get.
Problem with taking it to a commercial station is who wants to advertise a car in the ad breaks when the program might very well pan the car or the brand. e.g. Peugeot. So, they then find they have to temper their reviews and so become watered down that way.
DaveRambo - Member
This whole Clarkson thing is interesting in how it polarizes people.
Good. The bureaucrats should be shaken up a bit more. 😈
Who appoint these bureaucrats on tax payers money anyway?
nickc - Member
Someone on the forum complaint about the term so I just used ZM in order not to offend peopleTo be completely accurate about these things( and who here doesn't like accuracy, hmmmm? )
The complaint was about the fact that you use the term in every single one of your posts (and appear to continue to do so) thus rendering it dull, repetitive, unfunny, and equally applicable to you..
I cannot remember who asked me not use those words so out of sympathy I changed it ... a bit.
But the fact is that those people are exactly how I described them to be and if you look closely, deep down, they are really as described no matter how you try to rationalise them they are what they are. You might not find them funny but truth is not funny at all sometimes. I use that description because it sums them up nicely IMO.
Klunk - Member
bit of a bugger for clarkson if he is convicted of ABH, no more US road trips.
If he is convicted of ABH then this whole drama is now becoming so stooopid i.e. especially the law and the police trying to stick their nose into uncalled for event, that someone should firebomb those who start this sort of investigation. I don't pay my tax to investigate one bloke throwing handbag at another bloke. If they really are getting nosey about giving the person an ABH. Then someone should start something like Assault on Precinct 13. Makes not sense at all with these ZMs 👿
Does Clarkson even give a monkeys? He's not exactly short of a bob or two so could hang it up and swan about Chippy and be forgotten about in a few weeks when the next celeb scandal breaks?
TG has gone downhill hugely (that Peugeot piece was prossibly the worst thing I have watched in a long time) but like many I still ended up watching it. The format was stale and they had all become charecteurs of themselves - as preseneters they were better doing their own thing. If the BBC want to kepp it going, it needs the kiss of life big time.
I'm sure a number of the competitors will happily snap them up - in the short term at least, they'll get a fair few viewers even if it is just out of curiosity.
The peugeot bit I thought was interesting, as it contained the best and worst of top gear.
The best - talking about something knowledgeably and entertainingly, illustrating a point and telling me things about peugeot I didn't know. (the shorter bit at the beginning, they then spoiled all that with...
The worst - driving about and labouring one point for ten minutes until the dead horse was utterly flogged.
jodie kidd and vicki butler-henderson would be my choice of new presenters.
What did they say about Peugot?
Its all a bit like when Chris Evans left Radio 1, ego gets monstrous and out of control, gets sacked in a blaze of publicity. Goes away then returns to the Beeb and the rehabilitation is complete.
Clarkson had his moments but how a man of his age can act so stupidly is beyond me.
Oh no Clarkson's been sacked, what will happen on Sunday nights and how will I get to watch the same inane drivel that was on last week and the week before and the week before and
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If he is convicted of ABH then this whole drama is now becoming so stooopid i.e. especially the law and the police trying to stick their nose into uncalled for event, that someone should firebomb those who start this sort of investigation. I don't pay my tax to investigate one bloke throwing handbag at another bloke.
He didn't throw a handbag. He hit him in the face and split his lip, requiring a visit to A&E.
If someone did that to me in front of witnesses at work, I'd expect a prosecution. Following instant dismissal.
The rocket powered mini on a ski jump was the high point...it's been on a slow decline since then.
how will I get to watch the same inane drivel that was on last week and the week before and the week before and
Call the Midwife is still running, isn't it? There's never any shortage of inane drivel on the BBC weekend schedules.
The rocket powered mini on a ski jump was the high point...it's been on a slow decline since then.
Nah - the Robin Reliant Space Shuttle launch wins by a mile. And Clarkson missed out on that one.
I can't think of a motoring journalist/presenter who has a personality. All of those mentioned are vanilla blah and will make for a very dull programme. The fact that they were complete idiots was the appeal. For people to come in and play it straight would be.....just a show about cars and would only appeal to car nerds. I watched one episode of fifth gear ever. Tedious.
I'm not saying that the beeb shouldn't have sacked JC, I'd expect be fired if I lamped someone at work. I'm just saying that it is likely that it will be the end of top gear, unless they look around and take some risks on the team. Playing safe will be shit.
C5's Classic Car show seems like it might evolve in an interesting way.
wrecker +1
Call the Midwife is still running, isn't it?
Isn't that some overweight unfunny person with a poor taste in clothes repeating the same joke week in and week out?
Cool, panic over.
[quote=teamhurtmore ]Look at viewing stats and demand for TG versus Fifth Gear
Ditto TG pre and post Clarkson
Who said anything about TG going 5th gear or back to how it was before Clarkson? If you read my post properly you'll see that is far from what I was suggesting - I made a point of it. To be honest it's a bit of a strawman being thrown around by the pro-jezzas to suggest that's the only possible way to go.
I don't see why it's not possible to make a slightly different light hearted car based entertainment programme with a different set of presenters.
If he is convicted of ABH then this whole drama is now becoming so stooopid i.e. especially the law and the police trying to stick their nose into uncalled for event, that [b]someone should firebomb those who start this sort of investigation[/b]. I don't pay my tax to investigate one bloke throwing handbag at another bloke.
Didn't Clarkson report himself, so starting the investigation? You're suggesting someone should firebomb Clarkson?
He hit him in the face and split his lip, requiring a visit to A&E.First bit I agree with totally. And thats inexcusable.
The second bit however, it certainly [i]involved[/i] a trip to A&E, wether it actually [i]required[/i] one is debatable.
I don't see why it's not possible to make a slightly different light hearted car based entertainment programme with a different set of presenters.
It is possible, but it will very likely not touch the popularity of the old show. The beeb might well be happy with a less successful show if they make it too safe. Especially if the old lot go and start up elsewhere.
The chance of Top Gear appearing on another channel is unlikely. The BBC own the format and as such it would need to be significantly different to stop any legal issues. The 'old' format was sold to C5 and appears as 5th Gear
Any advertisers are likely to be very careful with a programme on a commercial channel since part of the 'charm' as having a go at car makers - Vauxhall and Peugeot come to mind.
The current format is tired anyway, Clarkson and Willman have said on many occasions that it does need to be changed and relaunched. The current series has just reinforced that viewpoint. All TV programmes reach an end of life and disappear
Clarkson probably needs the BBC more than the BBC needs him. He does have a successful career as an author and columnist, this is based on his Top Gear persona, take that away and this diminishes that aspect of his life.
I suspect that the money that Top Gear brings in to the BBC was one of the reasons that the inquiry took so long. How do you balance the commercial interest against the needs to show leadership against bullying and violence? If we look at this another way - what would have happened if the BBC had done nothing? The whole incident would have appeared in media slanted against the BBC because they did nothing. A middle ground of suspending him (possibly with a 'fine' and a public apology) was an option but still shows that there is one rule for a plebs and one for the talent.
Give this a year or two and we will all be wondering about what the fuss is about (except for the Murdoch owned press who will use anything to attack the BBC).
(Sorry for the drivel above - just needed to get it off my chest)
[quote=wrecker ]
I don't see why it's not possible to make a slightly different light hearted car based entertainment programme with a different set of presenters.
It is possible, but it will very likely not touch the popularity of the old show.
Maybe not. But I can't see any reason why that has to be the case - there's clearly a market to be tapped and it would seem unlikely that the current (tired) TG format is the only possible format which would interest them.
As has been pointed out, in order to keep the cash cow going it doesn't even need to be as popular.
Everyone keeps saying that it needed changing, it was tired, it's had its day etc.
Last years series (22) had the highest ratings since series 13
And is only beaten in the ratings by 4 other series out of 22.
It gains more viewers than it loses, that's what successful programs do.
When I've watched and enjoyed the show, it's been the adventured and challenges, like the 24 hr race one rather than the motorhome one. No reason why anyone else couldn't present those. That's all about the place or the task, not the banter.
chewkw - MemberIf he is convicted of ABH then this whole drama is now becoming so stooopid i.e. especially the law and the police trying to stick their nose into uncalled for event, that someone should firebomb those who start this sort of investigation.
Would imagine it's more common assault than ABH, but the crime/time equation comes to mind.
There won't be a criminal charge unless the producer makes a complaint which as far as I am aware he has not done.
but the crime/time equation comes to mind.
That's a bad equation to use, if there is no "time" to do 😉
Kind of sends the wrong message 🙂
[quote=nealglover ]Last years series (22) had the highest ratings since series 13
Cash cows are often at their most profitable just before they become obsolete.
nealglover
» Last years series (22) had the highest ratings since series 13
Helped in no small part by the "accidental" number plate issue making headlines.
He hit him in the face and split his lip, requiring a visit to A&E.
First bit I agree with totally. And thats inexcusable.
The second bit however, it certainly involved a trip to A&E, wether it actually required one is debatable.
Well I'm sure you'd be the best person to judge, what with your intimate knowledge of the severity of the attack. There are people who've died from relatively innocuous-seeming blows to the head, but he probably should have paid more thought to the potential opinions of internet experts and 'manned up' eh?
More educational, Stephen Fry,= James May
More funny, Alan Partridge, =Jeremey Clarkson
More alternative,Rowan Atkinson = Richard Hammond
and a female Stig in Black leather
Now that would be intresting
and a female Stig in Black leather
What's Suzi Perry up to these days?
EDIT - well whatever it is, it's OUTSTANDING
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Well I'm sure you'd be the best person to judge, what with your intimate knowledge of the severity of the attack.
Nope. And I didn't claim to be either.
There are people who've died from relatively innocuous-seeming blows to the head
Yep, occasionally that happens. And thousands of people don't die from a bruised/split lip every year.
but he probably should have paid more thought to the potential opinions of internet experts and 'manned up' eh?
No, didn't say that either.
I said it was "debatable" wether it was required or not.
And thousands of people don't die from a bruised/split lip every year.
To use our own favourite tedious debating tactic: where did I say that they did? I just can't imagine how on earth you think you are in a position to judge whether a trip to A&E was warranted. It smacks of victim-blaming TBH.
What Grum says you seem to have adopted a style of insinuating he was a bit soft for his reaction then denying that this was what you were hinting at 😕
Everything is debatable when you put in "" . Could you just say whether you are or you are not debating it and if so WHY.
Agree with Grum here tbh.
It smacks of victim-blaming TBH.
No it doesn't. I made it VERY clear that Clarkson was to blame.
I think I used the word "inexcusable" when describing his actions. which certainly doesn't leave any wiggle room for "victim blaming" does it .
It was said that the incedent "required" a trip to A&E
And I think that is debatable.
If it wasn't Clarkson involved, and just some random person posting on here. I'm sure many people would be debating wasting NHS funds on a bruised lip.
Edit.
32 pages?!
Erm.... Lee McKenzie? Now there would be a change in direction.
If the guy was being thumped by Clarkson for 30 seconds, Clarkson is clearly a very poor bully if all he managed was to split the guy's lip.
30 seconds is a long time to be hitting someone and pretty shocking that anyone's trying to defend Clarkson IMO, it's really nasty stuff. If you get so stressed over the lack of a hot dinner that you end up beating someone for 30 seconds, you've got some serious emotional/maturity problems
[quote=nealglover ]It was said that the incedent "required" a trip to A&E
And I think that is debatable.
Sure. On one side of the debate we have the chap who was involved and knows just how serious the injury was, on the other we have nealglover.
pretty shocking that anyone's trying to defend Clarkson IMO
Most definately not what I'm doing. Just so you know.
pretty shocking that anyone's trying to defend Clarkson IMO
Out of interest how many people on here have?
On one side of the debate we have the chap who was involved and knows just how serious the injury was, on the other we have nealglover.
Ah, so we have a new standard by which the use of A&E can be assessed.
As said above 32 pages - how many if JC was not one of the parties involved? And "some say" it's not about him!!!!
EDIT: OH nice edit there THM to add on here to your post after my reply 😕 Thankfully ernie has your actual post up now. Nearly worked Now what would we say if AS did this ?
Shall we start with the PM and then make a list from there ? handily they actually signed one for us so should not take to long to work it out.
To be fair many are preferring to turn a blind eye to it rather than defend him
@ neal We know, its the victim [ injuries] you have issues with 😉
Ok. I'll just join in with the usual posts then.
The show was basically crap, nobody watched it. The BBC are going to be better off without it.
It's not as good as it was when it had less viewers. Etc etc.
Is that better 🙂
teamhurtmore - Member
pretty shocking that anyone's trying to defend Clarkson IMO
Out of interest how many people have?
I haven't read much of this thread, it was a generalised comment - mainly about the 1m idiots who signed the petition rather than anyone on STW.
Although, David Cameron did, if I recall. Bloody idiot getting involved!
The good news is, 39m adults in the UK DIDN'T sign the petition 🙂
Out of interest how many people have?
Well it's obviously hard to defend a violent thug and workplace bully THM, so you have done the next best thing - you have attempted to trivialise Clarkson's violent behaviour dismissing it as a lot of fuss about not very much.
No I have focused on the excess hyperbole involved, very different things.
You have conveniently ignored (as if) the number of times when I comment on JCs behaviour and the result. How strange???
@ neal We know, its the victim [ injuries] you have issues with
No problem with him at all. I think he's exactly what you say. A victim.
And as I've said, clarkson deserved to be fired for what he did. And the other guy was not in the slightest bit to blame.
But I would say the same to anyone that told me they went to A&E with a bruised/split lip.
And I suspect, if Clarkson wasn't involved, so would a lot more people on here.
Don't forget Neal, this is not about JC anymore!!
@ neal I only said that line to be funny.
You may well be correct on that issue [ if it was not JC] many would agree [but not likely me or Grum] but it was pretty close to victim blaming/ minimising the harm.
A few seem to think the extent of the injuries [ or the lack thereof] is what makes it "less bad "/ ok - not you to be clear.
THM never did clarify what "real " abuse looked like for example.
i think may and hammond will walk so possible presenters...
chris harris ex auto car been filming on youtube good journo
steve parrish ,ex truck racer /bike racer moto gp presenter .
guy martin popular not sure if he would fit in a presenting team.
jamie whitam ,ex wsb rider now presenter for bsb ,very funny and a petrol head.
jenson button when he decides the mclaren is crap
a car mad comedian ,car expert who can drive a bit and an ex bike guy could be a good mix.
not all of top gear is great but there have been many great shows(the british industry one and mopeds in china/thailand special.)
You have conveniently ignored ......How strange???
I have focused on you trivializing Clarkson's violent assault with comments such as : [i]"A physical assault lasting......wait for it....30 seconds"[/i]
I have ignored your wrist slapping comments concerning Clarkson.
There's nothing "strange" about that.
Indeed there isn't. Very normal and expected.
but it was pretty close to victim blaming/ minimising the harm.
Well, obviously I knew people would leap at the opportunity to play that card.
Which is why I prefaced the comment by saying clarkson was fully to blame and his behaviour was inexcusable.
But somehow that wasn't clear enough to avoid the rush to accuse 🙂
You set a trap we jumped in is how I will view it ....sneaky 😉
I'm here all week.
Try the scampi.
[quote=nealglover ]Ok. I'll just join in with the usual posts then.
The show was basically crap, nobody watched it. The BBC are going to be better off without it.
It's not as good as it was when it had less viewers. Etc etc.
Is that better
Phew, thanks for that
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