OT: Clarkson out, Top Gear Canceled

[emoore924]

My favourite TV show, other than F1 and college basketball has been canceled by the BBC. Apparently fisticuffs by Clarkson on a producer while Clarkson was on "Final Warning" (double-secret probation for the rest of us) was apparently the final straw. BBC reports that the remaining 3 episodes of season 22 will not be aired.

Hopefully they won't cancel the Melbourne F1 race or I'll be really pissed.

[PA_944]

Typical BBC.

Crazy overreaction as usual.

However on saying that I'm not sure who owns the rights to TopGear, I know it is produced by a company partly owned be Jeremy Clarkson, so maybe that is where the problem lies with airing the last three shows. The BBC wants to cut him out but by doing so they might lose the show all together.

If JC does own or part own the rights to the show then I would hope it will be snapped up by another channel.

Or maybe they could make it independantly then they would not have to pander to the PC crazy BBC.

It has a massive following and while JC could be replaced that is not the issue, if the show becomes more PC it will bomb and become as good as the american version.

Looking forward to the start of the F1 season at the weekend as well, it'll be nice at last to see some real racing this year as Nascar is just a parade with the occasional wreck and some overexcited commentators trying to convince you something interesting is happening.

Pity Alonso is not taking part but better safe than sorry.

[thomasryan]

bring him to the US

[v2rocket_aka944]

Originally Posted by PA_944

Looking forward to the start of the F1 season at the weekend as well, it'll be nice at last to see some real racing this year as Nascar is just a parade with the occasional wreck and some overexcited commentators trying to convince you something interesting is happening.

im no nascar fan but have you really watched F1?
in the midst of all the politics and ferrari ball-washing, a race sometimes breaks out
and the rules are so tight that it just makes everything identical and boring. someone invented something to go faster? ban it!

i'd rather watch golf or baseball to get excitement.

lemans prototype stuff is way more interesting.

[PA_944]

v2rocket_aka944

I've watched F1 for over 20 years and it is not the same as it was. Personally I think it went down hill when they started capping the teams budgets. I really could not care less if a team spent millions of dollars re-engineering a part between races and then finds time to test it before the next race, that was how all the current technology came about and why our road cars have a lot of technology that regular manufacturers would not have a R&D budget big enough or be competitive enough to invent.

I agree that the lemans prototypes are more interesting than F1 + Moto GP, World super bikes and Australian V8 supercars are more exciting.

Point was F1 is still way better than the boring Nascar procession of near identical cars with different decals. Every year I give nascar another chance to see if its got any better, then the first F1 race comes along and it underlines how boring a nascar race really is and that's the end of my nascar season.

Glad you find golf interesting, as a golfer I enjoy watching it to but many people think its the most boring sport on the tv.

[ckelly78z]

I think we all agree that Clarkson is what makes the show, and without him, the show will cease to be funny and will soon be cancelled.

F1 on the other hand comes in a distant second to watching golf coverage on one of the networks. When I can't pronounce the pompous foreign names, and recognize who is in what car, I turn it off.
NASCAR has become rather tedious also, and I really only look forward to the Saturday night shootouts on the short tracks, or the road courses.

[9FF]

I don't know how anyone can even put F1 and NASCAR in the same sentence. F1 has its issues but they are still the best drivers in the fastest racecars. F1 have been banning stuff as far back as I remember, anyone recall the Lotus ground effects cars of the 70's & 80's....banned.

As for the BBC and the license they charge you guys in the UK to watch tv, even if you don't watch the BBC, that's ridiculous! A license to watch tv.....bahhhhhhhhahahaha

[petrolhead611]

The licence fee covers many TV and radio channels, keeps adverts off the BBC ones so the programmes are uninterupted, and results in some excellent programmes being made. The fee is only about $18 a month anyway. Would you rather sacrifice good programmes for that small amount per month?
According to a newspaper that Clarkson writes for, he apparently punched a producer because he was offered a cold meat meal when he wanted a steak. If that is the case, his behaviour should warrant instant dismissal, who wants a baby like that on TV?

[PA_944]

ckelly78z

Not sure what you mean by pompous foreign names?

And if you cannot tell who is driving the cars based on their numbers, helmet design and livery maybe it is to complicated for you, not sure how much easier they could make it.

[wildcat077]

Originally Posted by thomasryan

bring him to the US

Last i saw him on a show in the US,they ran him and the crew out of town in some redneck state ... lol

Cheers
Phil

[Blubyu86]

He really is the show. Would not be the same without him. Velocity should pick it up!

[beamishnz]

I think he is entertaining and the show has a good format but I's sort of bored of it ... it has been the same format for years. Same predictable jokes. And really however funny he is can you justify him publicly humiliating a young producer and then punching him for not arranging for him to have a steak for him (vs cold meat platter) when Clarkson arrived back to hotel 2 hrs later than arranged and drunk .... You've got to draw the line somewhere and if it was my business he'd be out, however good he was.

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by wildcat077

Last i saw him on a show in the US,they ran him and the crew out of town in some redneck state ... lol

Cheers
Phil

I remember that one... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKcJ-0bAHB4

[akaKJB]

Well, we have to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing - THE FINAL TOP GEAR WHERE CLARKSON COMES CLEAN

Clarkson and Andy Wilman, the Executive Producer, own at least part of the format but BBC owns the name TOP GEAR. The original version was a straightforward motoring series that had been on since 1977. Clarkson joined the series in 1988 and actually left that version, along with Tiff Nedell and most of the rest of the presenters. BBC cancelled the series but changed its mind when rival network Channel 5 launched FIFTH GEAR, a similar series featuring most of the TOP GEAR presenters that had jumped ship.

Instead of just reviving the original format, BBC decided to try a new 1 hour studio based format created by Clarkson & Wilman in 2002. That was TOP GEAR as we know it.

Once the dust settles, I'm positive all three of the guys, Clarkson, Hammond & May, will be on another network, making substantially more than the million pounds/year they were making at BBC.

[EliteThink]

If JC lacks self control, he should be canned.