"your near death experience was the shows jump the shark moment"
Things you should never say to anyone
It's a little more nuanced than that. So here's how things went, Top Gear was a car show doing car things mostly and while filming the 9th series Hammond had his famous accident. It was the show's first huge controversy as host had been seriously injured, nearly killed, filming for the show. However, there was a huge outpouring of support for the show and its injured presenter from people who thought that Health and Safety was cracking down on them. So they knew they were going to have a viewing for the 9th series, especially the first episode. So they dialed up the shenanigans and dialed down the car stuff for their broader audience. The first episode of series 9 airs and the Top Gear audience nearly doubles, more than anyone expected. And these people keep watching for the whole series, basically cementing the tweak to the show's format. Now Top Gear is a show and dicking about and thumbing your nose at Health and Safety and sometimes cars. So there you see, Hammond's crash forever altered the direction of Top Gear.
I thought it was pretty crap. The hosts were flat, dull, unfunny, and didn't have really good chemistry with each other.
I agree, they're mostly not funny. Very cringeworthy. The reason to watch Top Gear is their road trips in weird/ 'exotic' cars. So you can live vicariously through the screen.
I only ever watched maybe 10-20 episodes of Top Gear. But really the one episode that I really remembered and enjoyed way more than any other was the one about the Hilux diesel. The pickup truck that would just not die.
Yeah I mostly liked it for the road trips, piece-meal cars and banter. I appreciate the super cars and whatnot but I'm not a huge car guy so its mostly about the personalities.
I appreciate the super cars and whatnot but I'm not a huge car guy so its mostly about the personalities.
This is what made it succeed worldwide. Multiple people that do not drive cars or hate the notion still love and watch the show because of the presenters. Where other people see Jeremy Clarkson as racist, sexist thug, I see a TV character being played to perfection.
If the show was just about cars it would be utter shit like 5th gear.
If Clarkson was an Australian he would be given a medal and got a prime time show at a later time or on SBS (the other government funded channel in Australia).
The show was insanely well shot and was driven by immaturity and cars that I could never afford in my lifetime. The show itself was a metaphor for the rare sportscar you get to drive next to on the freeway once a year. It's impractical and out of my budget but I like that the person let me see the car and hear the engine (actually happened with an Aston Martin DB9 on the way to work in Melbourne).
Clarkson leaves impossibly large shoes to fill. you can kill a Stig and continue the show but you can't remove Clarkson and expect the same.
It is the very reason that spin-offs don't really take off, sure the US one might have some viewers but the Australian one was dead on arrival.
I totally get that he needed to be fired for the punching incident though and am pretty sure he regrets it.
If Clarkson was an Australian he would be given a medal and got a prime time show at a later time or on SBS (the other government funded channel in Australia).
Only if he could beat Lee Lin Chin in a fight. Spoiler Alert - He can't. Nobody can.
What is Lee Lin Chins deal? I've watched the videos you've posted of her and she seems rather crotchety and bad ass but seriously...?
She's not at crotchety in real life, but generally, yeah, that's the deal. A beer and fashion loving broadcast journalist with a good sense of humor and a gift for improv, who also happens to be incredibly respected in the industry. She's not as mean in person, despite the sharp tongue, but that's pretty much her.
I believe it too. More important, however, is that Sean Connery has punched people lots of times, Chevy Chase started a fight with Bill Murray, Hulk hogan is racist as hell, ditto with John Wayne. Not saying any of those things are good, but it's possible to enjoy the works of a person and not 100% agree with that person's views and actions.
Clarkson was my least favorite person on Top Gear. He's an enormous ass who doesn't pull his punches (forgive me) about what he thinks. But that brazen openness is part of why he was so good on Top Gear. Hammond and May might hem and haw about a part of a car that they don't like, as if to add a qualifier because the rest of the car is good. But Clarkson will come out and say, "I love the engine sound, but the gearbox isn't so much a gear box as a mish mash of gears in a box, swirling in poo" and then he'd make a grindy sound as the gearbox fails to shift right and grit his teeth. He was funny and expressive and entertaining as hell to watch and he knew cars. Jeremy pretty much was New Top Gear, to the point that James and Richard had both said they wouldn't do it without him and I think that's the right call. It was extremely smart of Amazon to pick up the three for a show.
I agree with Victor, the guy can be harsh but the show was entertaining and plenty of people are asses and most people are able to accept their continued employment in the creative field.
If someone is going to say 'fuck X person, because they are an ass' then that's totally fine too: don't like Tom Cruise's Scientology stuff, and don't wanna watch his movies as a result? That's valid. But society seems to say "well, we still wanna see the new Mission Impossible" and so the guy still has a job.
And Charlie Sheen is a racist drug addict, but Fiat still featured him in a commercial. They drove the 500 through his house while he was under house arrest. Just because someone was a dick to someone, doesn't mean they're dicks over all or unpleasant to work with on the whole.
Jeremy Clarkson is kind of an asshole, and that's why I like him. Also, he punched Piers Morgan in the face so that kind of makes up for punching the Top Gear producer.
Comments
Surprised they had to point it out to anyone. I agree, they're mostly not funny. Very cringeworthy. The reason to watch Top Gear is their road trips in weird/ 'exotic' cars. So you can live vicariously through the screen.
Multiple people that do not drive cars or hate the notion still love and watch the show because of the presenters.
Where other people see Jeremy Clarkson as racist, sexist thug, I see a TV character being played to perfection.
If the show was just about cars it would be utter shit like 5th gear.
If Clarkson was an Australian he would be given a medal and got a prime time show at a later time or on SBS (the other government funded channel in Australia).
The show was insanely well shot and was driven by immaturity and cars that I could never afford in my lifetime. The show itself was a metaphor for the rare sportscar you get to drive next to on the freeway once a year. It's impractical and out of my budget but I like that the person let me see the car and hear the engine (actually happened with an Aston Martin DB9 on the way to work in Melbourne).
Clarkson leaves impossibly large shoes to fill. you can kill a Stig and continue the show but you can't remove Clarkson and expect the same.
It is the very reason that spin-offs don't really take off, sure the US one might have some viewers but the Australian one was dead on arrival.
I totally get that he needed to be fired for the punching incident though and am pretty sure he regrets it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/arts/television/jeremy-clarkson-former-top-gear-host-announces-deal-with-amazon.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
Clarkson was my least favorite person on Top Gear. He's an enormous ass who doesn't pull his punches (forgive me) about what he thinks. But that brazen openness is part of why he was so good on Top Gear. Hammond and May might hem and haw about a part of a car that they don't like, as if to add a qualifier because the rest of the car is good. But Clarkson will come out and say, "I love the engine sound, but the gearbox isn't so much a gear box as a mish mash of gears in a box, swirling in poo" and then he'd make a grindy sound as the gearbox fails to shift right and grit his teeth. He was funny and expressive and entertaining as hell to watch and he knew cars. Jeremy pretty much was New Top Gear, to the point that James and Richard had both said they wouldn't do it without him and I think that's the right call. It was extremely smart of Amazon to pick up the three for a show.
If someone is going to say 'fuck X person, because they are an ass' then that's totally fine too: don't like Tom Cruise's Scientology stuff, and don't wanna watch his movies as a result? That's valid. But society seems to say "well, we still wanna see the new Mission Impossible" and so the guy still has a job.