Top Gear thread

[VTEC_Inside]

I've been watching season 1 (2002), and Jason Dawes is a bit of a bore to put it politely... The show isn't horrible, but a bit disconnected, particularly how they don't just finish the star interviews with the lap right away, but come back to it....

[SVT666]

The audience spends their time talking to each other too. 

[Payman]

Oisin is not pressing charges... he just wants to put this behind him and get back to work.

[MX793]

If they lose all 3 hosts, they may as well can the show.  They might be able to salvage the show without Clarkson (it will be hard, but not impossible) if they handle the transition right.  Keeping May and Hammond will retain familiarity with current fans.  Replace all three hosts and that familiarity, that connection to the show before, is completely gone.  You end up with a show that has the same name but is simply not the same show.  It will be like another Top Gear spinoff (Top Gear US or Top Gear Australia) than real Top Gear.

[hotrodalex]

http://youtu.be/d5_SB1FxAWg

[280Z Turbo]

If they lose all 3 hosts, they may as well can the show.  They might be able to salvage the show without Clarkson (it will be hard, but not impossible) if they handle the transition right.  Keeping May and Hammond will retain familiarity with current fans.  Replace all three hosts and that familiarity, that connection to the show before, is completely gone.  You end up with a show that has the same name but is simply not the same show.  It will be like another Top Gear spinoff (Top Gear US or Top Gear Australia) than real Top Gear.

They do it every 4 years or so with Doctor Who.

[Northlands]

They do it every 4 years or so with Doctor Who.

Yeah but Doctor Who fans are generally in it for the story. Top Gear fans can watch car shows anywhere. The hosts are what makes most of that show.

[MX793]

They do it every 4 years or so with Doctor Who.

Fictional characters != real personalities.

The Doctor is still the star of the show, they simply change the actor playing him.  Each iteration of the Doctor has a slightly different twist on the character, each with some unique quirks and personality traits (each a reflection/representation of a different side of the Doctor), but each also fundamentally the Doctor.  They made his changes in appearance and personality a fundamental part of the character and the story.  They also carry-over cast members and pieces of story-line between Doctors to maintain some semblance of continuity from one Doctor to the next.

[NomisR]

They can always do the same thing for Jeremy Clarkson.  Kinda like the Stig except this guy yells out your need more Power!!!!

[Byteme]

They do it every 4 years or so with Doctor Who.

Wouldn't work.  An example:  Would Ron White's material be as funny with someone else mouthing the words? 

[Submariner]

Could the producers of Top Gear America kick out the current hosts and replace them with Hammond, May and Clarkson?

[hotrodalex]

[Northlands]

Could the producers of Top Gear America kick out the current hosts and replace them with Hammond, May and Clarkson?

Nope. BBC owns the rights to Top Gear. Besides, half the fun of the show for many of us is the fact they are doing these ridiculous challenges in other countries and seeing cars that we don't get or never will see on our own roads.

[Morris Minor]

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. 

The Beeb is standard-issue left: politically-correct & culturally hostile to dissenting viewpoints. Clarkson enjoyed talking the piss out of them. This is somewhat similar to popular tenured university faculty members who don't conform to institutional PC orthodoxy.

Clarkson's actions were inexcusable and he stupidly handed them the career coffin nails and hammer to them. Messier than they would have liked but I'm guessing they won't be entirely unhappy to see the back of him.

[GoCougs]

Yep, he absolutely had to go, and there is always opportunity in change.

Top Gear even if it dies I imagine will still be valuable property to the BBC.

[Byteme]

As of 31 March, May and Hammond have declined to sign new deals with the BBC for Top Gear.  So, all three presenters are now "free agents" available to sign with whomever they wish.

[SVT666]

This is huge.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

This is huge.

I'd love to see them on HBO...

[hotrodalex]

But did their contracts have a no-compete clause?

[SVT666]

I'd love to see them on HBO...

Netflix

[Payman]

But did their contracts have a no-compete clause?

Highly likely, but nothing about this is being mentioned.

[SVT666]

Highly likely, but nothing about this is being mentioned.

I don't think a non-compete would apply after the expiration of the contract.

[hotrodalex]

It can.

Certain Amazon warehouse workers aren't allowed to work in another warehouse for 18 months after ending their employment w/ Amazon.

[SVT666]

It can.

Certain Amazon warehouse workers aren't allowed to work in another warehouse for 18 months after ending their employment w/ Amazon.

Ending ones employment is not the same as an expired contract.  If they still had a year left on their contracts and they were all fired, I could see a non-compete applying for the duration of the contract, but their contract ran it's course.  I honestly can't see there being a non-compete after the expiration of the contract.

[r0tor]

There are always a handful of ways to kill a non compete anyway... Rarely do they stand up in court (well at least in the US).

[Madman]

Considering how former Top Gear alums Tiff Needell, Adrian Simpson, Quentin Willson, Vicki Butler-Henderson and Jon Bentley all jumped ship to Channel 5 to start Fifth Gear immediately after old Top Gear's demise in 2001, I seriously doubt any contractual non-compete exists or, if it does, is unlikely to be enforced.

[MX793]

Considering how former Top Gear alums Tiff Needell, Adrian Simpson, Quentin Willson, Vicki Butler-Henderson and Jon Bentley all jumped ship to Channel 5 to start Fifth Gear immediately after old Top Gear's demise in 2002, I seriously doubt any contractual non-compete exists or, if it does, is unlikely to be enforced.

They spun off a new show after the old was canceled.  They there were not competing with their previous program since it was no longer on the air.  If BBC keeps Top Gear on air with new hosts, any similar program created or hosted by the previous crew on another network would be in direct competition.  That said, I don't know what's written in their contracts as far as any non-compete clause, so I won't speculate.

[Payman]

I don't think a non-compete would apply after the expiration of the contract.

They absolutely can, but they're most commonly used in business partnerships to prevent one guy from leaving and immediately setting up a competing business. They're also in the entertainment business as well... Simon Cowell had to do some legal fandangling to get around the non-compete with Simon Fuller's American Idol when he left to create X- Factor USA.

[veeman]

I'm not a lawyer but, like others have said, I think non-compete clauses are difficult to enforce and there are a myriad of ways to get around them.  Would also generate very bad publicity for the BBC as it would be media fodder.   

[Byteme]

  If BBC keeps Top Gear on air

I understand the BBC has dismantled the Top Gear sets in the hanger.

This could mean a new iteration with a somewhat new format and no hints of the old.  Or, it could mean the BBC's thrown in the towel.