Wonder if Top Gear will recover

Didn't May say recently he wouldn't return to TG without Jeremy?

Top Gear isn't really about cars-n-stuff. Those things are just a backdrop to the interplay and hijinks between the hosts. Whether or not TG continues in some form, Clarkson, May and Hammond have that "just right" chemistry that isn't going to be recreated or regained with anyone else.
 
Now that you mention it I do remember May saying something like that not long after the whole Clarkson thing. But I agree, it's all about the trio and the producers. Car's were a major backdrop to the whole interchange and I do like how they mix it all up. And yes, nothing lives forever so maybe it's best this way. I doubt they would be able to drag this out like they have with Dr Who.
 
Top gear won't die, simply because it is too much of a money maker.

Jezza didn't get a wage from top gear, as he was clued up enough to take a cut of the franchise and metchandising.

It's been reported that TG earned the BBC £43 million last year, and is the single biggest contributor.

I still feel a deal will be made between the BBC and Sky.
 
Top Gear is dead without JC. The US version on the History Channel has nothing to do with the original Top Gear. They just bought the right to use the Top Gear name and look how bad it is. Heck it's has versions in like 100 other countries and they all suck.

Top Gear won't work on any other network as the BBC is government run and they can do a lot more on the show than any other network can.

Pity, the hijinx that those three did and got away with are legendary and will be missed
 
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I know im like the only guy online saying this, but i quit watching the show long ago because jeremy was a blowhard jerk....had to cheat and win every contest, his vote always won, he's just a bully, and an idiot. I love cars, especially cars from Europe, and love the other hosts, but I for one am glad to see a bully jerk get his due, especially a famous one.
 
I dunno, there are some pretty creative people on that show. They might surprise everyone and come up with a new angle with new presenters that works. The current Top Gear is nothing the like the older versions and people moaned about the changes made to get it to this point.
 
The earlier versions of Top Gear were not much of a hit. It wasn't until this current formula and the chemistry of the three host that the show really took off.

Top Gear was JC's show, he did most of the writing for it and was considered a non-formal executive producer of the show. All of the creative people in the world won't make a successful show if the chemistry of the hosts isn't there and one of the most creative persons on Top Gear was JC.

If I remember correctly, JC has been with Top Gear since the beginning. a YouTube search will bring up some of the earlier shows with a much younger JC and his afro hair style.
 
i watched one episode of the Australian Top Gear and it was just awful. They tried so hard to be "Aussie" that it just made me squirm and change the channel. I don't think it lasted a season.
 
I think that mix of fun and cars has changed over the years. It used to be a show about cars and they'd have some fun doing it. Now it's a show about 3 middle aged guys doing naughty things ( The Three Stooges?) and occasionally talk about cars. When that balance shifted is when they jumped the shark.

I did enjoy the show once but now I think it's time to move on.
 
A bit of Top Gear history, it started out in 1978 (I think late 70's anyway) as a serious program about cars. "This is the new Escort MK3, it is the first Escort to be front wheel drive and the suspension setup is this.... one has to question the value for money compared to the Datsun......" you get the idea.

Then 1988 Jeremy Clarkson joined, you can see here how serious he was in 1988.


However by the early 90's he started to mess around a bit and inject some humour into the show.

By the late 90's the format was rather tired and JC left the show. Around this time a young James May joined but wasn't in it for very long. In 2002 Clarkson and Willman came up with the current format, but the show did not feature James May, just some bloke called Jason Daw who was soon replaced with May for series 2.
 
There are two aspects to the show, that presented to the public, and the one based in reality.

Anyone looking at bloopers and out takes will see that almost nothing is spontaneous.

Just about everything is calculated and scripted.

I HIGHLY recommend Ben Collins book. "Man in the white suit", which goes into detail about the show, how it works and the background behind the stunts. It's an affectionate bio and the gruesome threesome come out of it well.

Put it this way, it's the only iPhone book I re-read over and over.

Ben confirmed that the stunts and in particular, the road trip races, are scrupulously planned, they are a really done for real.

They deliberately "dumb themselves down" in order to produce an entertaining show..... Or rarther.... Did.

JC comes across as a jerk generally because...
1. He is.
2 He is a skilled journalist who knows how to manipulate his image.

Let's see what the future brings.
 
Can't see the show having the same viewership if the 3 are not part of it. May and Hammond have already stated they will not do the show without Clarkson. The show will have to end sometime, gutted it may be now. I thought they would get at least 5 more seasons.
 
TBH we watch wheeler dealers more that TG these days. And I have to say you can't beat Deadliest Catch, would like to see Clarkson faceoff with Capt Keith :D
 
I, for one, never believed that anything on that show, or any other for that matter, are truly "spontaneous". Never the less the most recent incarnation of TG still does a great job. A couple of my past favorites were the caravanning and the first African road trip episodes. They had to change just like most other TV shows have to boost viewership. And the "reality" format is what is popular these days. Listening to the link that @joydivision posted makes it hard to believe that format would have even left the editing room in this day and age.
 
commodore64 said:
i quit watching the show long ago because jeremy was a blowhard jerk....had to cheat and win every contest, his vote always won, he's just a bully, and an idiot.
Click to expand...

It's an act to win ratings. The show is mostly about entertainment, with some information thrown in there in an entertaining way. They've changed with the times, as most shows have.

markverhyden said:
They had to change just like most other TV shows have to boost viewership. And the "reality" format is what is popular these days.
Click to expand...

I agree that the show is about viewership. But I don't see it so much about "reality" as I do as an entertaining documentary. Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond are an amazing fit, and while I firmly believe it to be scripted, it's believable at the same time. They aren't doing anything too unrealistic for the most part, and while I believe the Argentina fiasco to be a complete accident and not a deliberate thing, they for the most part stay within the confines of the local laws. If they are out speeding on the roadways, it's most likely because its a closed course, or the speed limit is just that high.

I enjoyed the show, and took it as entertainment with a side of decent information (sometimes exaggerated or false) meant to entertain me. Never as a real thing. The only one I think they truly and honestly tried to do something for real and succeed was the Reliant Robin Orbiter. As the rocket scientists, it was the largest non-government and non-commercial undertaking, which is believable. And when they asked May and Hammond if they "have a spare billion pounds" is a legitimate and true question. Again, it's the only skit I felt was true, and not as scripted as many of the others. The filler of that episode, yes, scripted. But the preparation, building, and launch, was true and real.
 
Not everything in the show goes as scripted. Go back to the show were Hammond was almost killed driving a dragster (Jet powered I believe) or the shuttle show where they built their own shuttle and launched it only to have it not separate and crash.
 
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