Well he’s gone anyway, I generally liked the guy and found him pretty entertaining but as the saying goes, there are no indispensable men.
As much as I like Top Gear (apart from the news its basically all I watch on TV) I did feel that the format was becoming somewhat tired and could do with a shake-up, its just a pity it ended the way it did and not on a high (three-way McLaren P1, Ferrari La Ferrari and Porsche 918 duel anyone?).
So the BBC has the opportunity to have a fresh go at it with new presenters, who would you suggest and why, feel free to suggest a Clarkson replacement only or three entirely new presenters.
The BBC had an article on it today:
Not following the media closely I don’t know much about some of them but Jodie Kidd or Vicki-Butler Henderson could be good choices, a female presenter could be interesting, just as long as the powers that be didn’t feel the need to focus on that aspect at every opportunity (they have a presenter who is female, not A Female Presenter). And I always liked VBH when she appeared on the series before.
It could work so long as they don’t try to just recreate the Clarkson/Hammond/May era and style with new faces, they need to revamp the show from top to bottom while keeping the general feeling.
I think they should just call it a day. I know that Top Gear predates Clarkson, May, and Hammond, but the show as it exists today, the show that is successful world-wide, is the show with the current hosts. And a great part of that success is due to the interplay between the three hosts. Any time one of them is missing, it’s just not the same.
If they replace Clarkson with another host to work with May and Hammond it just won’t be the same show. And if they bring in three new hosts, then it’ll basically be Top Gear USA or Top Gear Australia, but with the proper accents…an nobody really wants to see those shows.
They had an incredibly great 12-year run; it’s time to move on. The only way I could see the show continuing to be a success is it they ditch the entire format, and recreate it as a completely different show…*and *manage to get lucky with a new winning formula.
Anyone remember the episode that was supposed to feature a Rolls vs. A Mercedes vs. Bentley but Bentley pulled out at the last minute? They replaced it with a Yugo but referred to it as a Bentley for the rest of the show.
That’s what they should do with Clarkson! Replace him with a mumbling parody and pretend he’s the real thing!
Like Clarkson, I’m opinionated, hard to get along with, sometimes funny, and a completely average racing driver.
Unlike Clarkson, I’m shorter, more fat and far more bald.
If that doesn’t make me a low-rent Clarkson, what would? Alas, even if I could arrange an audition, I think my drawl would probably be the deal breaker for the BBC.
In all seriousness, why not ask Michael Gambon if he’d like to try a steady gig?
No, I don’t really have a serious suggestion.
They shouldn’t replace anything for the time being.
The format had gone very tired and stale again anyway, they should let it rest for a couple of years like they did before, and then they can bring it back with a fresh format when the time is right.
Its my belief that the BBC were thinking along these lines anyway, the whole Clarkson thing just sped up the process.
There’s no way in hell the BBC were thinking along those lines. You don’t kill your golden goose even if you are concerned about its artistic integrity. You squeeze every last egg you can out of it and then worry about later, later.
He’s already damn near 60. I’d love him in the role but they should really find somebody younger. The program is popular enough that the BBC doesn’t need the replacement to bring in viewers with his/her (okay, probably his) own name.
Charley Boorman would be an interesting choice. The other two presenters (May and Hammond) already have an enthusiasm for motorcycles, so the show could evolve into more of petrel-head in general show rather than just being car focused.
What, like they did with Fawlty Towers and the Office?
This isn’t America and the while the BBC is a business it is not a slave to the dollar like your american channels are. They took Top Gear off the air before and they could easily have done it again.
