# Has Top Gear gone retarded? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469 "2008-02-13T18:48:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/21 "2008-02-14T00:02:19Z")
Lobsang writes: \> I deliberately used ‘Taking the Mickey’ Because I thought it was the understood \> US alternative to ‘Taking the Piss’. Actually, both phrases are considerably more common in the U.K. than in the U.S. A lot of Americans understand both of them, but they don’t tend to use them. I would just say, “making fun of.” ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/22 "2008-02-14T00:54:41Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] This was the first episode of _Top Gear_ I’ve ever seen. Is it always this outrageous? [/QUOTE] You really don’t wanna miss the Lotus Exige vs. Apache helicopter shootout, in which Clarkson on a test track attempts to outrace and outdodge the gunship circling overhead trying to get a radar firing lock on him, all to the tune of “Ace Of Spades”. And the Unkillable Toyota is strangely moving. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/23 "2008-02-14T01:00:12Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] James May seems to have vast [but useless] knowledge about everything, ever. [/QUOTE] Have you seen his shows about old toys he grew up with? They’re great. ---
**Author:** ![Yeeter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/96bed5/32.png) [@Yeeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeeter)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/24 "2008-02-14T01:26:39Z")
With the original question already answered, I just wanted to chime in and say, “I love this show!” I have been telling everybody I know, to watch it since it is more than just a car show, it’s entertaining. I’ve seen most of the ones this past year on BBC-America, except for the amphibious car. My favorite has to be the trip across the Southern US in $1000 cars. Does anybody know when BBC-America will start playing the more recent Top Gear episodes? What is the show’s schedule in the UK (in other words what month do/did the new shows start)? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/25 "2008-02-14T01:47:33Z")
They drove to the magnetic north pole! ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/26 "2008-02-14T01:53:39Z")
“Jesus comes with a map!” “But it’s a map of Galilee!” ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/27 "2008-02-14T06:34:49Z")
TG does about 8-10 episodes for the spring and fall each. I’d expect them back in a few months here. According to my “arrived files” (cough), the last “season” ended on Dec 23. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/28 "2008-02-14T06:58:32Z")
The next series will begin at the end of February, the 24th or thereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/29 "2008-02-14T09:56:07Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] It’s been on for something like twenty years, and when I was a littl’un it was pretty much limited to relatively objective reporting on cars and motorsport. Clarkson used to write a back-page column for the UK auto rag (now defunct, possibly?) _Performance Car_, which was more about the politics of the motor industry, UK traffic legislation, etc. Then they launched a magazine which ran alongside the show, and Clarkson left PC to work on that… the magazine was much more entertainment-oriented than the show as it was then, featuring top-100 countdowns, op-ed pieces, etc. The current format of the show is almost like an outgrowth of that, IMHO. [/QUOTE] The _name_ of the show has been around for that long. The original format was as a serious motoring programme, and that got culled in the end. And the BBC sold all the rights to it, with the exception of the name, to Channel 5 who now produce it as the dismal _Fifth Gear_. The current programme was an entirely new creation, several years later. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/30 "2008-02-14T10:14:52Z")
This thread reminds me, James May wrote for another car mag’ a while back, he was asked to leave when (allegedly) someone found out he was using the first word in each line of a column to spell out silly messages. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/31 "2008-02-14T10:16:06Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] the BBC sold all the rights to it, with the exception of the name, to Channel 5 [/QUOTE] Rights to what? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/32 "2008-02-14T10:17:34Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] You really don’t wanna miss the Lotus Exige vs. Apache helicopter shootout, in which Clarkson on a test track attempts to outrace and outdodge the gunship circling overhead trying to get a radar firing lock on him, all to the tune of “Ace Of Spades”. [/QUOTE] [Lotus Exige vs. Apache helicopter](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5404287952869985377). This is the episode that made me realise that something very special had happened to _Top Gear_. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/33 "2008-02-14T10:20:30Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] Rights to what? [/QUOTE] Good question, they got two of the presenters, but what else? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/34 "2008-02-14T10:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] Rights to what? [/QUOTE] The rights to the format - but it appears I’ve got that a bit wrong, and the producer simply moved across to Five after the BBC cancelled the show. At least according to Wikipedia. [Top Gear (1977 TV series) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gear_%28original_format%29) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/35 "2008-02-14T11:01:22Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] This thread reminds me, James May wrote for another car mag’ a while back, he was asked to leave when (allegedly) someone found out he was using the first word in each line of a column to spell out silly messages. [/QUOTE] Not just [allegedly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May#Dismissal_from_Autocar_magazine). ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/36 "2008-02-14T11:11:39Z")
I wouldn’t have given James May much credence on his first appearance on the show, but I’d rather see Hammond go than him (which I think is to happen soon.) ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/37 "2008-02-14T11:27:01Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] . . . someone found out he was using the first word in each line of a column to spell out silly messages. [/QUOTE] Oh cock! ---
**Author:** ![Snofie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Snofie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snofie)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/38 "2008-02-14T12:20:42Z")
If you can find it, there’s a “Top Gear: Challenges” dvd which contains some of their best “challenges”, one being the reliant robin-space shuttle segment. Since my husband discovered Top Gear, he regularly loans (by force!) his Top Gear dvds to friends. And he’s also developed a crush on Jeremy Clarkson too, which is quite sad 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/39 "2008-02-14T12:40:50Z")
I think it is arguably the best TV show of all time. I watch it religiously yet it is about a subject in which i have no interest. I have never been a performance car buff or even interested in cars at all. When I buy a new one it is about as exciting as buying shoes. However they have managed to put together the most entertaining team imaginable. Their personalities make a perfect mix and the production crew are simply superb. The visuals, the editing, the scripts are all perfect. I love watching each episode’s set piece, with the 3 competing, to see how the writers and producers wring every good gag out of the material. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469/40 "2008-02-14T12:49:52Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] I think it is arguably the best TV show of all time. I watch it religiously yet it is about a subject in which i have no interest. I have never been a performance car buff or even interested in cars at all. When I buy a new one it is about as exciting as buying shoes. However they have managed to put together the most entertaining team imaginable. Their personalities make a perfect mix and the production crew are simply superb. The visuals, the editing, the scripts are all perfect. I love watching each episode’s set piece, with the 3 competing, to see how the writers and producers wring every good gag out of the material. [/QUOTE] Yes indeed. It’s certainly entered the consciousness at Casa TLD. I might be doing something like considering cleaning the toilet, and then I stop and say to myself… “How… hard… could… it… be?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-top-gear-gone-retarded/437469.md?page=3)