I loved Top Gear.. but I also felt some of what they did was growing tired. The "Buy 3 things, break down, do them up, smash them up" format was being used too frequently for my liking. Sometimes it worked like in the first part.. sometimes it just felt pointless like in the second part.
What I did like about the first part is there was a serious element to it. They were dealing with real classic cars.. they'd been done up really well (not by the three of them obviously) and they went to a genuine car show. I felt like that might be a clue for the direction they go in. They need to restore some of the seriousness to the show. Larking about is fun but they can do serious too imho and actually get closer to car enthusiasts again.
Why do the same people keep saying it was tired and died ages ago? have a word with yourselves look at the stats around the world, the joking around and banter from the trio will never get old with it's fan.
DS has a funny small minority of moaners, which will suit the new format so hang on you'll be fine.
Last night was good example of why TG works. Them 3 together just work, don't really understand it as their characters are so different but they do. They are the reason its a success and why the new one won't as successful. Yes its gonna get viewers probably around 3-4mill and that's if they change the format which I'm sure they will because otherwise it'll be embarrassing. I'll be watching the one on itv.
Hammond seems to be their resident stunt guy - Clarkson & May have often admitted to not being willing to do some of the stuff he has over the years
Testing out a jet car, for example...
As I understand it, Hammond was never meant to be the one driving the Vampire. That piece was meant to showcase James "Captain Slow" May becoming the fastest presenter. Unfortunately he was double booked so Hammond went instead, and the rest is history. One wonders what would have happened had it been May driving - would he have gone out for that one last run? As a taller man, would his head injuries have been worse than Hammond's? We'll never, thankfully, know.
The idea of "Slow" becoming the fastest presenter was successfully revisited later in the series' run as he maxed out the Bugatti Veyron (and Veyron Super Sport) at the AVUS.
I must admit that if C,H & M end up on amazon or netflix I will subscribe and watch.
I will also watch the new incarnation as Evans is very good at producing entertainment shows, plus he does like cars, so we can expect the same but different.
Top Gear was getting tired, and now seems like a good time to end.
There were so many elements of the two films that we had seen before, a bit like Jurassic World where there are "homages" to the original film all over the place, which gets a bit tiresome after a while.
If C,H & M move to ITV, I might watch, but after the first couple of shows we will know if they have total freedom - or if it all gets a bit "on ITV message" which will be the death.
Clarkson is savvy enough to know which is the best option, as money wise a % of all global subscriptions / views from netflix or amazon will blow any ITV money offer out of the water.
Last night was good example of why TG works. Them 3 together just work, don't really understand it as their characters are so different but they do. They are the reason its a success and why the new one won't as successful. Yes its gonna get viewers probably around 3-4mill and that's if they change the format which I'm sure they will because otherwise it'll be embarrassing. I'll be watching the one on itv.
Of course we will watch them on their new show hopefully at a same time slot as Top Gear
I must admit that if C,H & M end up on amazon or netflix I will subscribe and watch.
Same here. I'd pay any amount of money to watch a new Clarkson, Hammond and May TV series.
I will also watch the new incarnation as Evans is very good at producing entertainment shows, plus he does like cars, so we can expect the same but different.
I'll watch episode one but none after that because it'll obviously be rubbish.
If C,H & M move to ITV, I might watch, but after the first couple of shows we will know if they have total freedom - or if it all gets a bit "on ITV message" which will be the death.
I'll definitely watch if they're on ITV. ITV is their best option IMO because they'll still have the same number of viewers.
Clarkson is savvy enough to know which is the best option, as money wise a % of all global subscriptions / views from netflix or amazon will blow any ITV money offer out of the water.
ITV is definitely a better option than Amazon or Netflix. More viewers in the UK and direct competition to the BBC, so essentially a sticking the two fingers up at them.
Just a bit of info for you guys, Jeremy had been filming in Yorkshire when he threw a wobbly. He had just finished a 12 hour day and was expecting a nice slap up meal, as they do on working sets. There was no food left and Jeremy must have been starving. I know i would have thrown a strop.
Just a bit of info for you guys, Jeremy had been filming in Yorkshire when he threw a wobbly. He had just finished a 12 hour day and was expecting a nice slap up meal, as they do on working sets. There was no food left and Jeremy must have been starving. I know i would have thrown a strop.
This is old old old old news, we all know WHY it happened. It does NOT, and never WILL, excuse why it happened. In any other line of work if you behaved like that, you would be sacked. Clarkson was no different. He is the sole, only and number 1 reason why we are in this state of affairs today. Nothing else.
ITV is definitely a better option than Amazon or Netflix. More viewers in the UK and direct competition to the BBC, so essentially a sticking the two fingers up at them.
Depends on what it is they are going to do; ITV are the best bet for continuing a TV show about cars, as a direct copy of Top Gear in all but name. But Netflix/Amazon may be a better place to do a series of exclusive "epic adventures films" like the Top Gear and/or Clarkson DVDs.
So do I, but there is this new fangled notion of recording things and watching later or on a 'player' where there are no adverts. I watch lots of programmes on commerical channels and haven't watched an advert in years. If you start watching a programme on record about 10 minutes in, you catch up for the final bit.:)
Same here. I never watch live commercial TV. If I couldn't record it I wouldn't watch it.
Thanks to Clarkson, Hammond and May, and Wilman for some unforgettable TV over the years.
And thanks to the BBC for commissioning the show in the first place - and for sticking with the show through thick and thin, despite numerous newspaper lynchings over the years.
Shame that Clarkson's fracas left them with no choice to not renew his contract, but it was probably a good time to end it anyway.
I've just caught it on iPlayer and I thought that once JC had got his grumpiness out of the way it was an absolute hoot. The 0-60-0 test had me almost crying with laughter, and some bits of the race to the country house were classic. A cracker, but it would have been even better with proper studio bits with Jeremy.
Top Gear with ad breaks sounds just horrible.
I suppose the car manufacturers would probably throw money at ITV for those ad slots though and the producers of the programme ( Clarkson, May, Hammond & Wilman) would get a nice slice of the action.
Does ITV have a good record for selling and distributing their shows worldwide? Could they do a deal where UK rights are with ITV and global rights with Netflix?
Depends on what it is they are going to do; ITV are the best bet for continuing a TV show about cars, as a direct copy of Top Gear in all but name. But Netflix/Amazon may be a better place to do a series of exclusive "epic adventures films" like the Top Gear and/or Clarkson DVDs.
They could do both.
I expect they'll do the same as they've been doing on Top Gear: six studio episodes in Spring and six in August, with a 'epic adventure' special every Boxing Day.
ITV is definitely a better option than Amazon or Netflix. More viewers in the UK and direct competition to the BBC, so essentially a sticking the two fingers up at them.
Top Gear was a worldwide show so they won't care that much about UK viewers.
Netflix or Amazon would give them a bigger budget and more creative freedom. Advertisers would be all over an ITV version.
I didn't say they didn't present well and yes it was downplayed a bit, but neither presenter shined in presentation or had a presence like Clarkson.
Clarkson is much cleverer than that. He clearly knows a lot about cars and is the brains behind Top Gear's style of presenting (after all he actually owned the rights and was bought out by the BBC only a few years ago in a multimillion pound deal some reckoned was as high as £14m). That's hardly someone who's thick!
Yes the show probably has got a bit stale in that some new ideas are needed, but it's hard to deny that it's format until then was utterly brilliant and one that blew away every other motoring programme on tv. That's hardly the mind of a 7 year old but a very very clever guy.
Equally, it's clear that the fun and antics of the show is what the majority wanted to see which is why Top Gear retained it's popularity. Those that didn't want that had an channel change button and other motoring programmes to watch.
The only people I know who've ever moaned about the show were extreme left wingers who simply objected to having a middle class non politically correct presenter on TV, totally belying the fact that that's exactly what the majority of the British public wanted to see and why TG was so popular. It's political correctness that's killed the BBC and made it so boring.
People want to see American action programmes, they want to see offensive comedians such as Roy Chubby Brown, Jimmy Carr etc, they don't want a channel of wall to wall political commentary, news and tame UK cop dramas. That's not to say the BBC has to lose all of the other, just that it needs a balance.
I was referring to Evans as appealing to the 'lad's' and 7 year olds, not Clarkson
I expect they'll do the same as they've been doing on Top Gear: six studio episodes in Spring and six in August, with a 'epic adventure' special every Boxing Day.
They could easily lose the epic specials, shows often end up creating monsters, TG's was the specials, they did a few good ones and one's like last years, only interesting for the controversy.
Just a bit of info for you guys, Jeremy had been filming in Yorkshire when he threw a wobbly. He had just finished a 12 hour day and was expecting a nice slap up meal, as they do on working sets. There was no food left and Jeremy must have been starving. I know i would have thrown a strop.
Get your facts straight - Clarkson had kept a helicopter waiting for nigh on three hours as he was in the pub with his mates. By the time he condescended to return the chef had gone home and he was offered a cold platter instead.
Does ITV have a good record for selling and distributing their shows worldwide? Could they do a deal where UK rights are with ITV and global rights with Netflix?
That's what I was wondering. They'd get more money then too.
Comments
I would have paid to watch it in stereoscopic 3D with a D-Box!
It can be alright now and then...
Since you're into repeated humour, I thought it'd have you standing in buckets.
What I did like about the first part is there was a serious element to it. They were dealing with real classic cars.. they'd been done up really well (not by the three of them obviously) and they went to a genuine car show. I felt like that might be a clue for the direction they go in. They need to restore some of the seriousness to the show. Larking about is fun but they can do serious too imho and actually get closer to car enthusiasts again.
Last night was good example of why TG works. Them 3 together just work, don't really understand it as their characters are so different but they do. They are the reason its a success and why the new one won't as successful. Yes its gonna get viewers probably around 3-4mill and that's if they change the format which I'm sure they will because otherwise it'll be embarrassing. I'll be watching the one on itv.
As I understand it, Hammond was never meant to be the one driving the Vampire. That piece was meant to showcase James "Captain Slow" May becoming the fastest presenter. Unfortunately he was double booked so Hammond went instead, and the rest is history. One wonders what would have happened had it been May driving - would he have gone out for that one last run? As a taller man, would his head injuries have been worse than Hammond's? We'll never, thankfully, know.
The idea of "Slow" becoming the fastest presenter was successfully revisited later in the series' run as he maxed out the Bugatti Veyron (and Veyron Super Sport) at the AVUS.
I will also watch the new incarnation as Evans is very good at producing entertainment shows, plus he does like cars, so we can expect the same but different.
Top Gear was getting tired, and now seems like a good time to end.
There were so many elements of the two films that we had seen before, a bit like Jurassic World where there are "homages" to the original film all over the place, which gets a bit tiresome after a while.
If C,H & M move to ITV, I might watch, but after the first couple of shows we will know if they have total freedom - or if it all gets a bit "on ITV message" which will be the death.
Clarkson is savvy enough to know which is the best option, as money wise a % of all global subscriptions / views from netflix or amazon will blow any ITV money offer out of the water.
And if rumours are to be believed looks like the trio have just signed to Netflix
Of course we will watch them on their new show hopefully at a same time slot as Top Gear
I'll watch episode one but none after that because it'll obviously be rubbish.
I'll definitely watch if they're on ITV. ITV is their best option IMO because they'll still have the same number of viewers.
ITV is definitely a better option than Amazon or Netflix. More viewers in the UK and direct competition to the BBC, so essentially a sticking the two fingers up at them.
What rumours?
The rumours are ITV, not Netflix.
This is old old old old news, we all know WHY it happened. It does NOT, and never WILL, excuse why it happened. In any other line of work if you behaved like that, you would be sacked. Clarkson was no different. He is the sole, only and number 1 reason why we are in this state of affairs today. Nothing else.
Depends on what it is they are going to do; ITV are the best bet for continuing a TV show about cars, as a direct copy of Top Gear in all but name. But Netflix/Amazon may be a better place to do a series of exclusive "epic adventures films" like the Top Gear and/or Clarkson DVDs.
They could do both.
Excellent post.
I agree with every word.
Top Gear with ad breaks sounds just horrible.
I suppose the car manufacturers would probably throw money at ITV for those ad slots though and the producers of the programme ( Clarkson, May, Hammond & Wilman) would get a nice slice of the action.
Does ITV have a good record for selling and distributing their shows worldwide? Could they do a deal where UK rights are with ITV and global rights with Netflix?
I expect they'll do the same as they've been doing on Top Gear: six studio episodes in Spring and six in August, with a 'epic adventure' special every Boxing Day.
Top Gear was a worldwide show so they won't care that much about UK viewers.
Netflix or Amazon would give them a bigger budget and more creative freedom. Advertisers would be all over an ITV version.
I was referring to Evans as appealing to the 'lad's' and 7 year olds, not Clarkson
I love Jezza!
They could easily lose the epic specials, shows often end up creating monsters, TG's was the specials, they did a few good ones and one's like last years, only interesting for the controversy.
Get your facts straight - Clarkson had kept a helicopter waiting for nigh on three hours as he was in the pub with his mates. By the time he condescended to return the chef had gone home and he was offered a cold platter instead.
Reads a bit different to your version don't it?
That's what I was wondering. They'd get more money then too.
I can remember Morecombe and Wise moving to ITV at their height, wasn't the biggest success.