Top Gear thread

[FlatBlackCaddy]

The point about bringing up the savile thing is that when BBC talks about all this moral high road crap with clarkson it stinks of BS.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I mean this line right here is a slap right across the face of those that suffer at the hands of the rich and powerful within this very system.

"For me a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations."

[Payman]

I've worked at a place where one guy punched another, and the boss hauled them into the office and after some heated discussion, the parties reconciled and the workplace actually improved from it. Nobody got fired. If the general public found out, who cares... it was an internal issue that got resolved.

Now, at the same workplace, a guy got caught with child pornography. The bosses immediately intervened and had him charged and fired. If they tried the same thing and treat it like a simple assault (sweep it under the rug), the public would have been outraged and the whole organization would have fallen like a house of cards.

[NomisR]

I've worked at a place where one guy punched another, and the boss hauled them into the office and after some heated discussion, the parties reconciled and the workplace actually improved from it. Nobody got fired. If the general public found out, who cares... it was an internal issue that got resolved.

Now, at the same workplace, a guy got caught with child pornography. The bosses immediately intervened and had him charged and fired. If they tried the same thing and treat it like a simple assault (sweep it under the rug), the public would have been outraged and the whole organization would have fallen like a house of cards.

You don't live in Cougsland obviously..

[r0tor]

I've worked at a place where one guy punched another, and the boss hauled them into the office and after some heated discussion, the parties reconciled and the workplace actually improved from it. Nobody got fired. If the general public found out, who cares... it was an internal issue that got resolved.

If the employees are valuable, there are always options.  If you don't like the person involved, then there are no options.  Happens all the time.

[Byteme]

ll, I was wrong; I thought he'd get off somehow even though he deserved to be sacked.  Anybody who has raised kids knows the BBC really had no choice, they drew the line and had to take action when the line was crossed.  What does a parent say when he spanks a kid?  "This will hurt me more than it will hurt you"?  That pretty much applies to the BBC's sacking Clarkson. 

So what is the future of Top Gear.  I suspect may and Hammond will decline to renew their contracts, may's already said as much, I haven't seen anything from Hammond on the subject.  None of the three are hurting, all have sources of income other than Top Gear.

I guess we will see if the magic of the show is in the concept or the hosts.  I think it's some of both.  It will be interesting to watch what happens to the future of the show. 

Another thought:  This may the best thing that could have happened to Top Gear.  Clarkson, May and Hammond can get a similar show going; I'd be surprised if someone somewhere with a pocketful of money isn't simply drooling at the thought of signing them.  Top Gear was in a rut, IMO, At least two shows (the Russia show and Ultimate Road Trip were blatant copies of some of last year's  offerings.   maybe some new faces and new ideas would be a good thing.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

A company like HBO with it's looser broadcast standards then the BBC might step in and give them an opportunity to really be as rude and crude as they wish.

[CALL_911]

The episode after the last one to air was supposed to have a shootout between the Golf R and the WRX STI. I really wanted to see that segment.

[NomisR]

Or even Netflix or Amazon

[Byteme]

Apparently Clarkson will now be charged with assault.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/11480416/Jeremy-Clarkson-to-be-sacked-by-BBC-live.html

[SVT666]

Is the producer pressing charges?

[r0tor]

"Investigated" is much different then "charged".  The police would have to be pretty damn bored to prosecute a bloody lip.

[Northlands]

Yeah. Facing a probe is not being charged. Misleading title in that article.

[Byteme]

Yeah. Facing a probe is not being charged. Misleading title in that article.

Sorry about that.  For some reason it took forever to actually load the story so I gave up and posted it based on the headline.

[Payman]

I wonder if they have "non compete" clauses in their contracts. Personally, it would be cool if Simon Cowell created a new car series for the trio. It would be a goldmine for him to do so.

[VTEC_Inside]

Excerpt from the report:

- over the subsequent days, Jeremy Clarkson made a number of attempts to apologise to Oisin Tymon by way of text, email and in person; and
it is the case that Jeremy Clarkson reported the incident to BBC management

[12,000 RPM]

I prefer the automotive reportings of Alex Dykes

[Cookie Monster]

I prefer the automotive reportings of Alex Dykes

Damn yo, you got a real hard on for that guy huh.

[r0tor]

Excerpt from the report:

- over the subsequent days, Jeremy Clarkson made a number of attempts to apologise to Oisin Tymon by way of text, email and in person; and
it is the case that Jeremy Clarkson reported the incident to BBC management

If you read reactions from people affiliated with Top Gear and not the BBC, you can easily infer the BBC chief taking the show in a direction that nobody was happy with and an absolute dislike for Clarkson. 

[SVT666]

I prefer the automotive reportings of Alex Dykes

He's good at providing driving impressions and details on the vehicles themselves, but he provides no entertainment value at all.  Top Gear is not a car review program, it is an entertainment program with a focus on cars.

[MexicoCityM3]

I do think there is more to Top Gear than Clarkson. I'll give it a 50/50 chance of moving on hoping they succeed and Clarkson too somewhere else. The production values are out of this world. Cinematic quality.

[r0tor]

I do think there is more to Top Gear than Clarkson. I'll give it a 50/50 chance of moving on hoping they succeed and Clarkson too somewhere else. The production values are out of this world. Cinematic quality.

BBC wants it to move towards the rest of their sterile programming - political correctiveness and no offensive.  You can't have an entertaining show that expresses opionins while holding those values.  It all becomes a bunch of cute puppies and kittens without criticism.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Chris harris might be a good addition.

[MexicoCityM3]

BBC wants it to move towards the rest of their sterile programming - political correctiveness and no offensive.  You can't have an entertaining show that expresses opionins while holding those values.  It all becomes a bunch of cute puppies and kittens without criticism.

I don't think they're that stupid. It's not black/white necessarily. You can have lots of criticism and satire stopping short of punching people in the face.

[r0tor]

I don't think they're that stupid. It's not black/white necessarily. You can have lots of criticism and satire stopping short of punching people in the face.

Reading between the lines, the BBC have been progressively making their working conditions worse to drive them out.

[Northlands]

I do think there is more to Top Gear than Clarkson. I'll give it a 50/50 chance of moving on hoping they succeed and Clarkson too somewhere else. The production values are out of this world. Cinematic quality.

Maybe, but it came in the form of James May and Richard Hammond. We know that May won't be on the show. Some of the segments like the Auto news and the interviews ( Star in the RPC ) were great because of who was sitting in those chairs.

If BBC turns the programme into what some of the people writing in to complain about, which is more focused on reviews on regular cars and not what we've been seeing over the last decade, most people will just skip it and watch Motorweek.

If those three go work elsewhere on another network, many will be tuning in.

[GoCougs]

Apparently Clarkson will now be charged with assault.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/11480416/Jeremy-Clarkson-to-be-sacked-by-BBC-live.html

Of course he should be charged, if the victim wants it so.

[Raza]

I'd be surprised if they don't end up bringing him back (all three, really). I heard Top Gear makes the BBC something like £50m a year. That's not nothing to walk away from for a little punch.

[AutobahnSHO]

Don't forget how long it took to build the show to where it is now. No one had heard of it in the US 10yrs ago.

[NomisR]

I'd be surprised if they don't end up bringing him back (all three, really). I heard Top Gear makes the BBC something like £50m a year. That's not nothing to walk away from for a little punch.

Yeah, have you guys watched the original top gear show, and the first season before going from Jason Dawes to James May?

The original pre Clarkson Top Gear was worse than watching consumer report test a car, it was just horrible television.  And while James May was boring, there's a sort of an entertaining thing about him that Jason Dawes simply lacked.