2011 Tog Gear Special

[SVT666]

The 2011 Top Gear Special is in India this year on December 28.  This could be good.

[Rupert]

Tog gear?

[Mustangfan2003]

I hope BBC America airs it.  I kinda get tired of watching it on my computer with sometimes not so great quality. 

[565]

I wonder if they are going to show all them corpses floating down the Ganges.

[Madman]

I hope BBC America airs it.  I kinda get tired of watching it on my computer with sometimes not so great quality. 

I'd rather download it.  I'm sick of how BBC America chops up and edits it's programmes to make room for commercials.  I tried watching Doctor Who on BBC America and couldn't get past the first episode.  "Limited commercial interruptions" my arse!!! 

[Morris Minor]

Jeremy's in trouble again:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/top-gear/8954238/Jeremy-Clarkson-is-a-luxury-BBC-cannot-afford-MPs-say.html

[Madman]

Jeremy's in trouble again:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/top-gear/8954238/Jeremy-Clarkson-is-a-luxury-BBC-cannot-afford-MPs-say.html

So what else is new?  

[SVT666]

Here we look back over some of the the Top Gear presenter's previous gaffes:

1.
February 2011 ? Mexicans
The BBC was forced to apologise to the Mexican ambassador over comments Clarkson and fellow Top Gear presenters Richard Hammond and James May made about his fellow countrymen. Hammond joked that Mexican cars reflected national characteristics, saying they were ?a lazy, feckless, flatulent oaf with a moustache, leaning against a fence asleep?. Clarkson waded in suggesting they would not receive any comeback over the remarks because ?at the Mexican embassy, the ambassador is going to be sitting there with a remote control like this [snores]. They won?t complain, it?s fine.? The Mexican government promptly complained and demanded an apology. Ofcom received 157 complaints about the comments on the BBC2 show, which viewers complained were derogatory, cruel, xenophobic, discriminatory and racist.

2.
August 2010 - Special needs
Just a week after the BBC had extinguished the flames from another Clarkson gaffe, the presenter provoked the ire of disability charities with a remark about people with ?special needs?. Comparing two Ferraris, the 51-year-old described the older one as a ?simpleton? that should be called the ?430 Speciale needs? instead of the 430 Speciale. The remark prompted a backlash from the National Autistic Society.

3.
July 2010 ? Burkas and lingerie
Clarkson came under fire following a discussion on Top Gear about dangerous driving conditions. He and fellow presenters agreed that scantilly-clad women were the biggest distractions on the roads, before Clarkson chipped in: ?Honestly, the burka doesn?t work. I was in a cab in Piccadilly the other day when a woman in a full burka crossing the road in front of me tripped over the pavement, went head over heels and up it came, red g-string and stockings.?

4.
November 2008 - Lorry drivers
Clarkson found himself in hot water again when he made a joke about lorry drivers being murderers. Referring to Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe during a segment on driving lorries, Clarkson described the experience as: ?Change gear, change gear, change gear, check mirror, murder a prostitute, change gear, change gear, murder. That?s a lot of effort in a day.? Despite numerous complaints to the BBC and Ofcom, and a call from an MP for him to lose his job, Clarkson gave only a mock apology on the following week?s show.

5.
April 2007 - The Perodua Kelisa
Clarkson began a war of words with Malaysia when he described a car made in the country as the worst in the world. After attacking the Perodua Kelisa with a sledgehammer and blowing it up, Clarkson likened its name to that of a disease and implied that it was built by ?jungle people who wear leaves as shoes?.

6.
December 2005 - Germans
The journalist courted controversy after he gave a Nazi salute during a segment about German company BMW during an episode of Top Gear and suggested that one of its cars would have a sat-nav that ?only goes to Poland?.

7.
February 2009 - Gordon Brown
Clarkson hit headlines again when he dismissed then Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a ?one-eyed Scottish idiot? during a press conference in Australia. Though the majority of complaints seemed to be levelled at the ?Scottish idiot? part of the insult, Clarkson?s subsequent apology only referred to his comments on Mr Brown?s appearance.

8.
October 2009 - Black Muslim lesbians
Clarkson infuriated readers of Top Gear magazine when he accusing television producers of being fixated with having ?black Muslim lesbians? on programmes to balance out the number of white heterosexual males. His comments followed on from the Strictly Come Dancing row over Anton Du Beke branding his partner Laila Rouass a ?Paki?.

9.
July 2008 ? Drink driving
The presenter was censured by the BBC?s governing body for glamorising drink-driving after he was filmed sipping on a gin and tonic behind the wheel of a pickup truck during a special episode of Top Gear in which he and May tried to drive to the Magnetic North Pole.

10.
October 2007 - Smoking
Clarkson was criticised by anti-smoking campaigners after he lit up a Porsche-branded pipe during an episode of Top Gear. Clarkson, himself a smoker, was accused of breaking the law by puffing on the pipe, filled with herbal tobacco, in the studio.

[SVT666]

People are too damn sensitive.  If he said anything derogatory about Canadians, I would have just been happy that Canada was mentioned on Top Gear.

[Eye of the Tiger]

All of those cases are hilarious. Some people have no sense of humor.

[SVT666]

All of those cases are hilarious. Some people have no sense of humor.

And if he's doing anything he is getting more viewers for Top Gear than they had the week before.

[cawimmer430]

I wonder if they are going to show all them corpses floating down the Ganges.

[VTEC_Inside]

I hope BBC America airs it.  I kinda get tired of watching it on my computer with sometimes not so great quality. 

I just download it and watch it on the big screen over the ps3.

Ive never gotten a so-so quality one.

[68_427]

Yeah if you wait a few hours you can DL it in 720P, and the next day there's usually 1080P torrents.

[S204STi]

Here we look back over some of the the Top Gear presenter's previous gaffes:

LOL

[Morris Minor]

All of those cases are hilarious. Some people have no sense of humor.

They are dead; dead people can't have a sense of humour. Clarkson is the only one with a pulse.

[Morris Minor]

He's under investigation by OfCom. (Am I the only one who thinks this sounds Orwellian?)

Jeremy Clarkson faces investigation over One Show rant...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/dec/19/jeremy-clarkson-investigated-ofcom?INTCMP=SRCH

[Byteme]

He's under investigation by OfCom. (Am I the only one who thinks this sounds Orwellian?)

Jeremy Clarkson faces investigation over One Show rant...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/dec/19/jeremy-clarkson-investigated-ofcom?INTCMP=SRCH

At his best Clarkson is quite funny.  At his worst he is little more than a harmless irritant. 

[Raza]

Do people not realize that Clarkson is, above all all else, a comedian?  It's not like he's a news reporter. 

[Byteme]

Do people not realize that Clarkson is, above all all else, a comedian?  It's not like he's a news reporter. 

Exactly right, he's an entertainer. 

But in today's "PC World" even those people get dragged over the coals for making statements others might find offensive.  That's sad, but that's the way it is.  The world has changed and I'm not sure it's changed for the better.  For example, I doubt a movie company would have the guts to release Blazing Saddles today.  This, despite the fact that's it an obvious comedy and in no way mean spirited.

[hotrodalex]

Anyone watch it yet?

[Colin]

No........ I'm in America at present, so BBC iPlayer does not work. Will have to wait til I get home, which is not for a while as I only just got here! 

Seen mixed review comments thus far from those who have seen it....... Clarkson's roots from Doncaster went down well with a couple of of friends at Abarthisti who live in that town. Others have been less impressed.

[Madman]

No........ I'm in America at present, so BBC iPlayer does not work. Will have to wait til I get home, which is not for a while as I only just got here! 

Seen mixed review comments thus far from those who have seen it....... Clarkson's roots from Doncaster went down well with a couple of of friends at Abarthisti who live in that town. Others have been less impressed.

You can watch BBC iPlayer in America by using this.....

http://expatshield.com/

[SVT666]

I just finished watching it on streetfire.net and it's not even as good as the Iraq special from last year.  That's saying a lot considering the Iraq special wasn't good at all.  It doesn't even begin to peak your interest until the final 20 minutes of the 90 minute show and even then only briefly.  There were far too many obviously staged mishaps...and I mean obvious.  It was so obvious I was embarrassed for the boys.  It could have been so much better, but everything, and I mean everything, just seemed like one staged event after another.  The freeway driving during the day and at night was very interesting to watch and then when they get into the Himalayas I enjoyed it somewhat, but the hot lunch challenge, the train ride, and the garden party were incredibly predictable and all the mishaps were painfully obviously staged.  Terrible.

Grade: F

[CALL_911]

I loved the Iraq special, actually.

[hotrodalex]

I just finished it. A lot of it was staged, but it was still funny at times. Not as good as previous specials, but I wouldn't give it an F. I'd say C-. It's still better than other car shows.

[CALL_911]

Just finished the Mumbai part. It's so cool seeing a city you've spent an immense amount of time in on television.

[68_427]

Total Meh

[SVT666]

I just finished it. A lot of it was staged, but it was still funny at times. Not as good as previous specials, but I wouldn't give it an F. I'd say C-. It's still better than other car shows.

I'm not comparing it to other car shows.  This was an F performance for a Top Gear special.  Bolivia, Vietnam, and the Polar special stand head and shoulders above this and Iraq.

[Mustangfan2003]

I felt like this was the worst Top Gear special I've seen.  Not sure where else they could go, I think a trip across Siberia might be interesting.