# Top Gear's Clarkson suspended **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713 "2015-03-10T18:29:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/261 "2015-03-26T19:51:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Isn’t that also a BBC show? I’d be surprised if they didn’t find another host. It is, but there’s precedent for something similar. The original permanent host was Angus Deayton. He was caught up in a coke-and-hookers scandal and still hosted, at least until it became clear that having the host as the butt of all the jokes wasn’t great TV, and it also became obvious at the same time that the other two regulars really disliked him anyway. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/262 "2015-03-26T20:17:14Z")
[Clarkson describes himself and the situation in the very last episode of Top Gear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLRna0RRvxo) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/263 "2015-03-26T21:03:32Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I guess it is possible that they will be able to find hosts that compliment each other just as well but I doubt it. The problem is that the chemistry you get with CHM is the kind you only get if you’re not really trying. When you \*are \*trying, the way many shows are, it tends to end up like one of those awkward gay threesomes we all remember from high school. What? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/264 "2015-03-26T21:04:01Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Angus Deayton[…] it also became obvious at the same time that the other two regulars really disliked him anyway. Wandering off-topic, but did they? I recall Paul Merton’s masterpiece, unzipping his top to reveal a t-shirt printed with the tabloid front page trashing Deayton, but never took it as any more than a great opportunity for some glorious comedy. I’m not sure competing comedians (read ‘any comedians’) really like each other, but I didn’t get from it that they were glad to see the back of him (I definitely got from it that they regretted his absence in light of some of his replacements - Prescott, esp. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/265 "2015-03-26T21:33:36Z")
> [@Jack\_of\_Words](#): > > Wandering off-topic, but did they? I recall Paul Merton’s masterpiece, unzipping his top to reveal a t-shirt printed with the tabloid front page trashing Deayton, but never took it as any more than a great opportunity for some glorious comedy. I’m not sure competing comedians (read ‘any comedians’) really like each other, but I didn’t get from it that they were glad to see the back of him (I definitely got from it that they regretted his absence in light of some of his replacements - Prescott, esp. 😉 ) Hard to find links from that long ago, but they resented the fact that he acted like the star of the show, when he was mostly reading scripted gags off an autocue, and they had to be a lot more spontaneous. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/266 "2015-03-26T21:52:40Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Hard to find links from that long ago, but they resented the fact that he acted like the star of the show, when he was mostly reading scripted gags off an autocue, and they had to be a lot more spontaneous. Fair point, I can see that creating resentment. I’ve never missed him, even in his other work I never really took to him and it’s not a difficult leap to understand Paul and Ian, even from their very different start points, finding him hard to work with. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/267 "2015-03-26T22:19:54Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Just a random point. > > No doubt JC can be an asshole. But IS he one? There is a difference. I don’t know. About how many times do you need to be one before you are one? Because in Clarkson’s case… ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/268 "2015-03-27T00:48:06Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > \ > It reminds me a little of when Angus Deayton got fired; lots of people said _Have I Got News for You_ couldn’t go on without him, because the dynamic between him, Hislop and Merton made the show. > Instead the show improved a lot IMO, and is still going strong 13 years later. > I actually quite like Daeyton, but the show had become tired, and having guest presenters on revitalized it (it’s still heavily scripted, but different presenters have different levels of adhering to the script…) > > Obviously you can’t compare the scale of the two shows. But I do think TG is another show milking a very static format for too long, and though losing clarkson is a huge blow, it could be more than made up for by tweaking the format. (Not being a Brit but loving some of your shows) True. But in rebuttal I give you Monty Python’s Flying Circus after Cleese left. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/269 "2015-03-27T00:50:52Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > On the other hand, my very favourite Stig into was: Mine will forever be “Some say that to unlock him you have to run your finger down his face, like that. And that if he were getting divorced from Paul McCartney he’d keep his stupid whining mouth shut. All we know is he’s called the Stig.” ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/270 "2015-03-27T08:41:36Z")
> [@Jack\_of\_Words](#): > > Fair point, I can see that creating resentment. I’ve never missed him, even in his other work I never really took to him and it’s not a difficult leap to understand Paul and Ian, even from their very different start points, finding him hard to work with. They actively didn’t like him. I think after years of working together they weren’t even basic friends. No love was lost there. It is a bit weird though, Deayton was from a solid comedy background. He was the straight man to Rowan Aitkinson and worked on KYTV, Alexi Sayle’s tv show, had a major role on One foot in the grave. I think he was voted sexy on some poll, and became the presenter on HIGNFY so might well have became a bit insufferable. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/271 "2015-03-27T09:29:43Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > It is a bit weird though, Deayton was from a solid comedy background. He was the straight man to Rowan Aitkinson and worked on KYTV, Alexi Sayle’s tv show, had a major role on One foot in the grave. I think he was voted sexy on some poll, and became the presenter on HIGNFY so might well have became a bit insufferable. He may not be the jerk – I suspect Merton would not be the easiest to work with. When guests on the show say something genuinely funny and get a laugh from the audience, and the camera cuts to Merton, he often looks annoyed. Then he’ll try some ham-fisted attempt to steal the joke and attention. I consider myself a fan of his; this is pretty much the only thing I don’t like that he does. But it implies to me off-camera he may well be a nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/272 "2015-03-27T15:29:10Z")
I’ve been watching the show since 1988 (when I was six), and I was a longtime reader of _Performance Car_\* and _TG_ magazine until I moved to the states and the latter got too expensive. It’s kind of shocking to think about it, but Clarkson has been part of my life (as a journalist or on-air talent) for longer than anyone outside my immediate family. The only people who even come close are Morgan Freeman, the Undertaker, Iron Maiden and Bart Simpson. _Top Gear_ and _The Daily Show_ are the only things I DVR. Needless to say, I have a lot invested in the show and in Clarkson. I was hugely upset when he was suspended and rushed out to sign the petition to bring him back. A couple weeks’ reflection has changed all that. He brought this entirely on himself, and he’s been a liability to the BBC’s public relations people for decades. I hope they don’t get rid of the show. Yes, it will be different, but you can do it with May, Hammond, and somebody else. Just not Chris fucking Evans. \*Clarkson used to do a sort of “last word” column on the back page, and occasionally did road tests. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/273 "2015-03-30T01:08:31Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I binge watched Top Gear a few years back and loved it. I just started watching the newer seasons, and I now realize just how full of crap the show is. The “races” they do aren’t real races, the things they do on their road trips are heavily scripted, and some of the funniest moments are all set up, managed, and not spontaneous at all. Maybe the show has changed (I’m not likely to go back and watch the old ones again), but I find it a bit more annoying at just how … invented … it is. Got a bit of free time and continued watching Series 20. And it just got worse. In the episode, they create a hovercraft (and by “they”, it’s obviously not the 3 presenters), and take it on the Avon. From A to Z, it’s horrid. The fake reaction of people bothered by their antics, the idiocy of the presenters, and the fake drama of them going over a weir makes it just so … sad. I’m wondering now if it was always like this (painfully faked and scripted) and I’m just now catching on, or if they’ve gotten desperate for material. Either way, I’m not impressed by it of late. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/274 "2015-03-30T07:47:37Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Got a bit of free time and continued watching Series 20. And it just got worse. In the episode, they create a hovercraft (and by “they”, it’s obviously not the 3 presenters), and take it on the Avon. From A to Z, it’s horrid. The fake reaction of people bothered by their antics, the idiocy of the presenters, and the fake drama of them going over a weir makes it just so … sad. I’m wondering now if it was always like this (painfully faked and scripted) and I’m just now catching on, or if they’ve gotten desperate for material. Either way, I’m not impressed by it of late. No, it wasn’t always like that. It was always stage managed of course but in earlier seasons they were very good at making things seem natural. The races are a perfect example, they used to actually be very believable, it seemed to be a genuine race between car/bike/train/whatever. Nowadays they will lazily have Clarkson just take a detour in the car or randomly stop for some reason and then still try to pretend there is any drama about who is going to get to the finish line first. “Oh, James May got there on the boat only two minutes before Clarkson in the car, guess Jeremy shouldn’t have taken that 50 mile detour for a photoshoot on a beach.” Its been like this for a while unfortunately, the scripting has gotten more and more obvious. Its just gone stale, and a change in presenter and format is no bad thing in my opinion. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/275 "2015-03-30T20:35:24Z")
Hall and his wife are under 24 hour security after a death threat. ['Death threats' made against BBC's Tony Hall investigated - BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32103665) Some folks lack perspective. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/276 "2015-04-01T16:33:57Z")
I think we’re missing the BIG tragedy here. This is _Top Gear_. **Why the hell wasn’t this “fracas” caught on film?!** It sounds like it would have made an AWESOME bit for the show! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713.md?page=13)