Un-official GTPlanet BBC Topgear UK ThreadTV 

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I was watching some series one stuff the other day. He wasn't that bad. I'd sooner have seen Hammond replaced by James May in time for series two...
 
sems4arsenal
I'll give you Alex Goy although he is a bit too nice (for top gear) but you've got to have Chris Harris to compensate for the lack of trouble making (and add some hoonage).
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I agree, I'd worry that they'd try to turn Alex Goy into a Hammond-like clown.

How about Harry Metcalfe, even after I murdered the spelling of his name I'd love to see endless footage of his Countach.
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Harry's videos are great, plus judging by his hand-held YouTube clips, the BBC budget would drop dramatically :D The thing is, his presenting style (in particular the way he rambles) really reminds me of James May, so it'd be pointless having both.
 
Sorry, much as the show and its presenters have their problems, I honestly don't think it would be as good if one of them was changed. The whole show would benefit from being better 'played', but I genuinely don't think the top gear great moments of the past would have been as good without the 'characters' and chemistry that we have with the current line up.

The more heavily scripted the program, the more obvious it is that May is uncomfortable with the forced baffoonary of the other two, the more obvious it is that Hammond can't deliver lines any better than a local radio DJ, and the more obvious it is everything is just a set-up for Clarkson....

... But I put this down to the writing, not the presenters. Top Gear now has to live up to what it seemingly became naturally, it's trying to bottle the magic formula, and its failing.

Top Gear has, at times, been breath-taking and inspirational in a way that no other TV program has, at least for me, and there are moments when we see the presenters shine. The cinematography, the locations, and the cars need to be well thought out, and well prepared, the words that come out of the presenters mouths don't.

Picking and choosing presenters now, and trying to apply the Top Gear formula to them .. Well, we'll just end up with American Top Gear.

Just my two cents.
 
Famine
I had him in the car on a GT Academy autocross event and the timing guy was having a problem resetting the stopwatch. Barff shouted out of the window "There's a problem with the organics on it."
"What?"
"There's a nob on the end of it."
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Exactly. Sounds like he wouldn't miss an opportunity to try and demean someone.
 
Famine
2002 was a complete reformatting of the show - but they still retained Jeremy Clarkson.

I've got no problem with the show being reformatted anyway - you can write the script for any episode if you know the cars that will be in it now. US TG makes ours look like crap.
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It worked in the old format of Top Gear because it was then common for presenters to come and go. That, and they had quite an army of presenters. There wasn't any main presenter or group of presenters as such; they all contributed equally.

In the 'new' format however, with the exception of Jason Dawe during the first season, it has been the exact same presenters for the past twelve years. The show has become molded around them, it just wouldn't work with anyone else. And having had the same trio for such a long time it's unlikely the majority will accept a change either.
 
craigatm
In the 'new' format however, with the exception of Jason Dawe during the first season, it has been the exact same presenters for the past twelve years. The show has become molded around them, it just wouldn't work with anyone else. And having had the same trio for such a long time it's unlikely the majority will accept a change either.
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Should be noted that Clarkson actually cast both Hammond and May; apparently, May was originally going to be on the show from the start, but couldn't due to scheduling issues. Instead, they drafted Dawe in as a stop gap until May could join in on the next series.
 
INEEDNAWZZZ
Should be noted that Clarkson actually cast both Hammond and May; apparently, May was originally going to be on the show from the start, but couldn't due to scheduling issues. Instead, they drafted Dawe in as a stop gap until May could join in on the next series.
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I'm glad you brought that up actually because I've seen that some where before, but I'd completely forgotten until you just mentioned it! :lol:
 
numbnuts70
Exactly. Sounds like he wouldn't miss an opportunity to try and demean someone.
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That's not what "smarmy" is!

Besides, everyone's crying out for someone who speaks his mind, like Clarkson. Just not, you know, racist, xenophobic, sexist...
 
Chris Harris, Tiff Needell and Chris Evans.

Time's right for a shake up of the well-trodden current format. Needell and Harris are tried and tested as TV/net pundits. But you need an anchorman to pull it together. I have no time for Clarkson, but he's perfect at the job. Not least because he's controversial and that develops column inches. Evans (Chris, not Andrew) would do the same.

You could even swop Tiff with VBH and that could/would possibly work better.
 
TheCracker
Chris Harris, Tiff Needell and Chris Evans.

Time's right for a shake up of the well-trodden current format. Needell and Harris are tried and tested as TV/net pundits. But you need an anchorman to pull it together. I have no time for Clarkson, but he's perfect at the job. Not least because he's controversial and that develops column inches. Evans (Chris, not Andrew) would do the same.
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I'd smack those two into line, no worries :D

Edit: How about me, Chris and ex-TV vet and A Car Is Born frontman Mark Evans? We could call it Evans Gear.
 
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Famine
That's not what "smarmy" is!

Besides, everyone's crying out for someone who speaks his mind, like Clarkson. Just not, you know, racist, xenophobic, sexist...
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It wouldn't surprise me if it turned out Pierce Morgan made the 'racist' accusations to try and off Jezza for punching him in the face. Okay, I'm not actually being serious, but the claims are still as pointless as the blackeye he got that afternoon.

The bridge fiasco, for example. I'm sure we all remember the infamous 'slope' remark that Jeremy made. It's just a shame there was an Asian man strolling across at the time, otherwise the few that complained would have realised that the bridge did infact have a rather severe slope to the right side of the bridge.

Then there was the supposed useage of the 'N' word. Again, I'm sure we've all seen the footage. I hope whoever heard that word isn't allowed to cross the road themselves because with hearing that dodgey they'd never hear the truck coming...
 
MatskiMonk
Sorry, much as the show and its presenters have their problems, I honestly don't think it would be as good if one of them was changed. The whole show would benefit from being better 'played', but I genuinely don't think the top gear great moments of the past would have been as good without the 'characters' and chemistry that we have with the current line up.

The more heavily scripted the program, the more obvious it is that May is uncomfortable with the forced baffoonary of the other two, the more obvious it is that Hammond can't deliver lines any better than a local radio DJ, and the more obvious it is everything is just a set-up for Clarkson....

... But I put this down to the writing, not the presenters. Top Gear now has to live up to what it seemingly became naturally, it's trying to bottle the magic formula, and its failing.

Top Gear has, at times, been breath-taking and inspirational in a way that no other TV program has, at least for me, and there are moments when we see the presenters shine. The cinematography, the locations, and the cars need to be well thought out, and well prepared, the words that come out of the presenters mouths don't.

Picking and choosing presenters now, and trying to apply the Top Gear formula to them .. Well, we'll just end up with American Top Gear.

Just my two cents.
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No way they'll dump them anyway, just some of us having fun at the expense of someone's bother (as you do on the interwebz :p )

also http://jalopnik.com/jeremy-clarkson-threw-a-punch-at-producer-two-more-epi-1690624321
 
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I wonder if Jonny Smith (5th gear) could fill in for Clarkson until the franchise implodes?
 
I've got plenty of time for Stiffy Needell, Vicky "oh mummy!" Butler-Henderson, and Harris Monkey... But there's a reason why I don't bother to find out when or where I can see fifth gear , or /drive... They don't entertain.

I've got bugger all interest in bikes, but the Top Gear Vietnam Special was astounding. I only ever watch videos from the aforementioned presenters if the car interests me, and then it's generally on YouTube. That's all they amount to.

Top Gear's best stuff happens when it appeals to petrol heads, adventurers, road trippers, people that want to buy a classic off of eBay for a grand (but never will), kids, grown ups, and... Normal TV viewers... Fifth Gear is, well, boring in comparison.

If TG is stuck in a rut, ditch SIARPC its cheesey commercial rubbish anyway, and have a guest section... maybe some of these other names could host a segment each week. Sabine one week, the touring car boys the following week, even let Ginger Evans do a bit. It would bring something new each week, and offer a grounding for the consistently less believable core trio.

Again just my two cents, but Top Gear has the ability to be proper awesome television.. to relegate it to Knowledgable presenters telling you how to buy a good second hand focus would be rubbish, boring, and a waste of taxpayers money.
 
Are they going to show 'The Interceptors' instead Sunday night then? :P
 
Famine
Edit: How about me, Chris and ex-TV vet and A Car Is Born frontman Mark Evans? We could call it Evans Gear.
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I really like Mark Evans, he's incredibly enthusiastic in everything I've seen him in. Plus as an added bonus we could bring in his Inside Nature's Giants co-star Richard Dawkins to do the SIARPC interviews. Invite Ken Ham to drive the Astra.
 
Harris seems a bit intense for the average TopGear viewer. One minute he's cackling like a deranged maniac in a tailslide and a second later he's giving you an in-depth lecture on how that fancy suspension setup let him do it.
 
The Stig Farmer
Harris seems a bit intense for the average TopGear viewer. One minute he's cackling like a deranged maniac in a tailslide and a second later he's giving you an in-depth lecture on how that fancy suspension setup let him do it.
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In his vids Harris probably writes his own material/talks off the top of his head. Topgear is very scripted.
 
I must admit, when I read the words 'Clarkson suspended by the', I was secretly hoping the next word was something other than 'BBC'...
 
As long as they keep making Too Gear I'll be happy.
 
I was going to have a say about everything that's happening, but... then I realised there's just too much to be said. And I can't handle it.

Call me whatever you want, but this hit me hard. Very hard. TGUK is the show that I watch, well, almost whenever I can. And to think that it could be gone is... a tragedy.

I hope this ends well, because if it doesn't... I'll cry. A lot.

P.S.
And dear god, if the show will get new presenters or a refresh, don't they ever dare putting Chris Harris on it. I can't stand him and really don't understand why everyone is fangirling so much about him. And if they end up having him as a presenter, don't they dare calling the show TG anymore.
 
It's a shame to see this happen, particularly since the next episode sounds good.

I'd argue Chris Evans would make SIARPC interesting, but other than that, I wouldn't be particularly interested. Not sure the show would work without the three of them now, so maybe this is it.

On another note... I'm tall, clumsy, and I've already aged to imperfection; HIRE ME!
 
Surprises me how much of you wouldn't mind Clarkson being sacked. He makes me laugh more than James May who is also a great character, so the only thing i would agree on is having hamster booted.

Anyway, i'm watching the final season of Mad Men now and it reminds me of how they try to get rid of Don Draper even though he's the motor of the business. It will probably never be the same again and i fear this will be the end of Top Gear as we know it. Although car nuts like ourselves will probably still follow it should someone like Chris Harris take over his spot, without Clarkson the masses will not bother anymore i guess, and the popularity will diminish greatly.
 
As much as some of the presenters are terrible you can't change them, the show wouldn't make sense otherwise.

Does anyone know why he is suspended, it sounds like an internal conflict this time because no source can highlight anything wrong he has done since the slope incident.
 
Personally, if Clarkson were to leave, I'd have James May do most of it, limit Hammond to doing track tests and flyaway things with May, and replace Star In A Reasonably Priced Car replaced with Quentin Wilson providing some useful consumer advice for ten minutes an episode.

Also, I'd hire Chiwa Saitō to voice The Stig, with English subtitles provided through the power of keeping some of the stupidity in because it's actually entertaining sometimes.
 
mustafur
As much as some of the presenters are terrible you can't change them, the show wouldn't make sense otherwise.

Does anyone know why he is suspended, it sounds like an internal conflict this time because no source can highlight anything wrong he has done since the slope incident.
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He (allegedly) punched a producer last week and it got reported to the beeb today.

Linky
 
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