Top Gear

Dr Lobster*
Posts: 2104
Joined: Sat 30 Aug, 2003 20.14

one thing that's more banal than middle aged fat blokes talking about football is middle aged fat blokes talking about cars.

am i being cynical or is bbc news becoming (or is already) a thinly veiled publicity machine for the new series of top gear, which, i reckon will be the shittest yet (not a particularly high bar to meet i accept)?

surely all the "outrage" about the programme filming some stunts near the cenotaph is entirely synthetic? i mean, we live in country where people regularly piss up war memorials on a friday night, so the sudden burst of sentimentality seems a bit odd... i mean who is "outraged"?


but really, surely top gear has had it's day, hasn't it?
Alexia
Posts: 2999
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

Look to the left of your keyboard. See that thing under CAPS LOCK and above CTRL? It's called a SHIFT button. Please use it.

As for your initial rant, no. The Cenotaph "stunt" has been reported all over the media today. If the BBC ignored it or at least failed to mention it, they'd be accused by their enemies in the RWP of whitewashing.

Personally, I think Jonathan Jones has it right on.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign ... nc-apology


On a not unrelated note, I see that all Clarkson's knuckle-dragging UKIP-voting white working class dunces who supported his right to lamp an Irishman in the face when not provided with steak have abandoned him on the not-suprising news that he is pro-EU (After all, his ability to drive freely across the EU is what allowed TG to carry out all their extravagant, ratings-winning challenges).
woah
Posts: 365
Joined: Sun 28 Mar, 2010 12.39

I think it was blown out of proportion by the usual newspapers and websites - I think the media is waiting for the new version of Top Gear to fail and they're keen to catch it out on anything. From what I've seen, the BBC simply follows the crowd to seem impartial - in fact I would say the BBC is generally over-sensitive about covering anything negative relating to itself, rather than Top Gear directly.

As for the success of the new programme itself - who knows. The 2002 reboot of Top Gear was successful as a more car-oriented show but really took off worldwide when the presenters did the challenges and competitions. I don't think it'll be able to copy that formula and from what I've seen it isn't planning to. I think it'll get decent ratings in the UK but won't have the same international success - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I liked old Top Gear (and dare I say it here: I like cars) in the earlier days when it played off the genuine chemistry of the three presenters and was a bit more about cars, clearly things got a bit more staged and exaggerated over the years in order to try and continue what they saw as the recipe for success.

On the note of Clarkson himself - he is foolish, but he is not an idiot as many people seem to be convinced of. He has an exaggerated public persona that does seem to attract some of the UKIP loonies but if you ever read his articles or reviews in the Sunday Times his genuine persona does often show through. While sometimes a little silly he is a good and witty writer, occasionally with interesting opinions and viewpoints - though admittedly he often seems a little stuck in the middle-class bubble of Chipping Norton. His controversies are often part of that exaggerated persona - usually said in poor taste rather than genuinely intended to be offensive. The only thing I won't defend are his actions last year - there's simply no excuse, it was abysmal behaviour and it does feel a bit wrong for someone to lose their job for those actions and then get an even better paid one elsewhere.
robschneider
Posts: 324
Joined: Wed 14 Aug, 2013 14.53

It's going to bomb and the BBC knows it. Hence the publicity drive. Firstly, there's too many of them. Katie Hopkins was right. Tokentastic. And you know it won't be as funny because they'll be forced to be politically correct.

And the character assassination I mean downfall of Clarkson will be nothing compared to what's about to come. Evans will go bananas again. He won't be able to help himself. He might not lamp a producer but I bet you any money he will repeat the episodes we saw of him in the late 90s and early 00s.

Let's revisit this thread in five years and see where new Top Gear is. I promise you it won't involve Evans.

Also, International broadcasters will take the new Amazon show, at least where Amazon doesn't have a presence.

I hope it fails because it will teach the BBC a very painful lesson. He hit someone, big deal. There are BBC personalities who've done far worse.
DTV
Posts: 174
Joined: Mon 12 Mar, 2012 19.27

robschneider wrote:It's going to bomb and the BBC knows it. Hence the publicity drive. Firstly, there's too many of them. Katie Hopkins was right. Tokentastic. And you know it won't be as funny because they'll be forced to be politically correct.
Firstly any sentence involving the phrase 'Katie Hopkins was right' is looking factually dubious to start with but that isn't the only factual error here - the BBC isn't carrying out some publicity drive by covering a negative story on BBC News that was being covered everywhere else. For a start BBC News is seemingly completely editorially independent of the BBC publicity department hence their tendency to over report negative stories regarding the BBC which is largely a combination of attempting to prevent being criticised of whitewashing and secondly being plain scared.

Secondly you assume that it won't be funny because you assume it'll be politically correct which A - incorrectly assumes the two things are mutually exclusive; B - would be an odd turn for the BBC to create some policy against given how politically incorrect, and to use similar phrasing to your own 'cuntastic', the old version was - and that didn't seem to have any objection from upstairs despite the numerous times it caused the BBC to get showered in shit and C - I'm also assuming that your definition of politically correct is wrong, like nearly everyone who uses it derogatorily.
robschneider wrote:And the character assassination I mean downfall of Clarkson
And what a character assassination that was - highlighting the facts that he'd been given umpteen 'final' warnings from the BBC and physically assaulted someone. Clarkson's downfall was primarily his own fault and based entirely on what happened.
robschneider wrote:I hope it fails because it will teach the BBC a very painful lesson. He hit someone, big deal. There are BBC personalities who've done far worse.
This is perhaps the most delightfully ridiculous statement. You hope it fails to teach the BBC not to fire people who physically assault colleagues - that'll send out a great message. Maybe Huw Edwards can lamp his floor manager at the end of tomorrow's Ten or verbally assault his editor but then apparently neither of those things are a big deal. I imagine you'd feel the same if someone hit you unprovoked. And yes there are BBC personalities who have done worse, such as those who've been paid a visit by Operation Yewtree and whom are now in jail, and guess what - I don't think the BBC will be renewing their contracts either.
james2001
Posts: 718
Joined: Sat 04 Jun, 2005 23.10

It's PC GAWN MAAAD, we can't even assault our colleagues with impunity any more. Damn those guardian-reading liberal Labour lefties. We should be able to hit and shout racial slurs at anyone whenever we like. Bring back the good old days when kicking seven shades of shit out of your subordinates was just part of normal workplace banter. :x :x :x

Signed
Outraged of Milton Keynes

P.S. Scrap the BBC. Vote UKIP. Murdoch is God. :x :x :x :x :x

*dies from heart attack bought about by rage*
robschneider
Posts: 324
Joined: Wed 14 Aug, 2013 14.53

No I'm sorry. The BBC have knowingly protected people who buggered and raped children and turned a blind eye for over 40 years. Nothing's been really done about that, apart from a media witch hunt (how long until Terry Wogan gets accused of being "tricky"?) yet someone who had a lot on his plate at the time lost the plot and hit somebody, which granted isn't very nice, is hung out to dry?

Love him or hate him Clarkson stands for a time where we didn't have to tread on eggshells 24/7. And, guess what, I miss that era.

FWIW if I'd fucked up on a grand scale I'd expect a good slap too.

I notice nobody's challenged me on my belief that Evans will go down in flames, after taking a shower in petrol first. I'm telling you, it will happen. The guy is crackers. His ego will take over like it did 20 years ago.

How long until he takes Friday's off Radio 2 breakfast hmmm?
all new Phil
Posts: 1965
Joined: Sun 13 Feb, 2005 00.04
Location: Next door to Hell

You're chatting shit, mate.
scottishtv
Posts: 743
Joined: Thu 01 Apr, 2004 15.36
Location: Edinburgh

I can't decide whether to use Partridge or Trump. Aww, fuck it.
robschneider wrote:Let's revisit this thread in five years and see where new Top Gear is. I promise you...
...you'll have the last laugh?
robschneider wrote:a time where we didn't have to tread on eggshells 24/7. And, guess what, I miss that era.
...but don't worry folks, we can Make America Great Again.
robschneider wrote:The guy is crackers.
:!:
woah
Posts: 365
Joined: Sun 28 Mar, 2010 12.39

scottishtv wrote:I can't decide whether to use Partridge or Trump. Aww, fuck it.
robschneider wrote:Let's revisit this thread in five years and see where new Top Gear is. I promise you...
...you'll have the last laugh?
robschneider wrote:a time where we didn't have to tread on eggshells 24/7. And, guess what, I miss that era.
...but don't worry folks, we can Make America Great Again.
robschneider wrote:The guy is crackers.
:!:
I quote my earlier comment - "He has an exaggerated public persona that does seem to attract some of the UKIP loonies" :)

Essentially your point seems to boil down to - it's okay to physically attack people at work as long as there are people there who have done worse things. You also say you'd expect a good slap if you'd fucked up - do you honestly think that arriving too late at a hotel for food justifies punching and racially abusing a fellow colleague? That is absolutely abysmal behaviour and even Clarkson himself accepts that. If you don't that's a bit worrying.

Oh well, this did start as a relatively sensible discussion...
bilky asko
Posts: 1400
Joined: Sat 08 Nov, 2008 19.48

The whole "fracas" was blown out of proportion. Some of the redescriptions of the event made incorrect inferences. North Yorkshire Police clearly decided it wasn't bad enough to press charges either.

However, despite all the mitigating circumstances, Clarkson knew it was wrong and that he had made a mistake, and he apologised. It's not something so serious that he should never be allowed to have a career in TV again (cf. convicted killer Leslie Grantham), but being sacked by the BBC wasn't the wrong decision necessarily.
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