# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/161 "2015-03-25T18:45:52Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > That 350 million figure gets banded about a lot (including in BBC articles), but I really wonder about it. 1 in 20 of the Earth’s population watches Top Gear? I think this is in the “1 billion watch the Superbowl” territory. Top Gear gets around 6 million in the UK and, what, two million in the US. Where’s the other 342 million viewers coming from? Good point. No idea, but I’ve worked in six countries and most people I reference TG to understand what I’m talking about - they’ve seen a clip or episode but might not be regular viewers. Where I am now (and have been before) the internet’s been sketchy and/or my VPN hasn’t been cooperating so I almost always download the episodes a day or two after they’re broadcast. I expect most people outside of the US/UK also do that so the ‘figures’ are some guesstimate and not actually verifiable. Only 6 million in the UK and 2 million in the US? That sounds, to me, like an underestimate, just because the story is so well known and is provoking such strong reactions. Last year, about 2.1 million new cars and trucks were built in the U.S. and shipped to other countries but it isn’t exactly headline news anywhere. ---
**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 25, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/162 "2015-03-25T19:00:41Z")
There’s no good venue to see it in the US. BBC America is a niche channel and even then it strips out a lot of the good stuff from the episodes. Most people who live in the US who watch it either pirate it or trick the BBC’s internet player via VPN. I suspect there would be a big market in the US if it would air on a major network, or even just a cable network. ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/163 "2015-03-25T19:03:46Z")
> [@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. Imagine a TV entertainment show operating like this. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/164 "2015-03-25T19:03:49Z")
> [@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. I realised, a few years ago, that it’s just an hour-long advert for expensive cars. I kind of fade out when they were talking about a new Ferrari or Lambo, waiting for the scripted comedy about them all being idiots and the glorious travel shots - Burma was beautiful. Their rides through Vietnam were hysterical. The races to a destination were all made up, probably filmed over several days and edited well. The ‘winner’ was never the big deal they made, it was how they chose to race; what techniques and plans they tried (and failed, most often), and the scoring was complete bullshit, just to show how wonky their efforts at being partial were. It was an original and entertaining concept, but it was looking a bit long in the tooth. I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought about going out on a high, and showing up the higher-ups in the Beeb for the hypocritical nano-sized talent they seem to be. ---
**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 25, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/165 "2015-03-25T19:10:19Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought about going out on a high, and showing up the higher-ups in the Beeb for the hypocritical nano-sized talent they seem to be. The thing is, this year’s episodes have been a kind of return to form, back to the standard of five or six years ago. If they wanted to go out on a high they could have completed the season with the LaFerrari vs P1 vs Porsche hybrid race, and just not renewed their contracts. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/166 "2015-03-25T19:12:39Z")
I wonder if they plan to try a no-network Netflix(or whatever) only show so they have no bosses to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/167 "2015-03-25T19:16:28Z")
> [@Shearer](#): > > Imagine a TV entertainment show operating like this. Yes, indeed. I’ll start watching House of Cards series 3 tomorrow and I won’t expect it to be just like what goes on in The White House. There’ll be some realisms and a lot of poetic licence, but it’ll most likely make for entertaining viewing. I wonder if Kevin Spacey, hungry, tired, emotional, a bit drunk, was to punch a co-worker would he be sacked from the show? Who’d replace him? What if the rest of the cast were to quit if he was fired; would the show go on? ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/168 "2015-03-25T19:29:21Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The thing is, this year’s episodes have been a kind of return to form, back to the standard of five or six years ago. If they wanted to go out on a high they could have completed the season with the LaFerrari vs P1 vs Porsche hybrid race, and just not renewed their contracts. Apart from Dimbleby’s nature programs, the odd political show, and a few documentaries how has the Beeb given output higher than TG? We in the UK pay £145.50 every year to the BBC, with the threat of criminal punishment if we decide not to. Top Gear can boast - Guinness Book of Records holder for most watched factual programme…in the world Sold to 214 territories…in the world Over three million YouTube subscribers…in the world Over 19 million Facebook fans…in the world Over one million Twitter followers…in the world Top Gear Magazine global circulation: 1.67 million…in the world Over 4 million unique users on [topgear.com](http://topgear.com) every month…in the world Half a billion page views in the last year…in the world Over 8.9 million downloads of Top Gear game apps…in the world Over 1.5 million visitors to Top Gear Live…in the world It’s a massive, massive success. Probably the biggest show…in the World. /Clarkson pause ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/169 "2015-03-25T19:34:28Z")
My cable company just dropped BBC America. I was/am kinda pissed. But if Top Gear is over or if Clarkson is no longer on Top Gear, then I don’t care nearly as much. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/170 "2015-03-25T19:37:33Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > ‘We’ are not excusing anyone of their crimes, the industry is. It is because those ‘A’ listers who commit them - except in the most extreme of cases - are known to be doing so because, partly, of the immense pressures they’re under, partly because their creativity that enhances our media has another side, which often leads to actions that are bad for themselves. Have you ever had an assignment that will be viewed and critiqued by 350 million people, and hundreds of journalists who are trying to sell papers/clicks by being controversial? > > Those people working in media give people joy, for billions of hours. They’re not an accountant or tax inspector, a waiter or blue-collar worker. They produce (sometimes, not always) interesting and engaging media that we can watch, listen to, read or see over and over again. So can our children and their children, ad infinitum. > > It’s not just because he’s famous (or wealthy), it’s because he brought entertainment - about cars, an already saturated market - to hundreds of millions of people, who probably looked forward to forgetting their miserable lives for an hour. Better than dosing up on \. Royal families are all rich and famous, but if they punched a subordinate I’d want them severely punished to the letter of the law. Same goes for most people, but I see the output of legitimate, game-changing artists (or scientists, or economists, or inventors) as being a part of their unique genius which I think we, as a people, should allow some leniency if they mess up. That’s the kind of argument people made (and still make) as to why Roman Polanski shouldn’t have been punished for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl. It was crap then, and it’s crap now. ---
**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 25, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/171 "2015-03-25T19:39:01Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Apart from Dimbleby’s nature programs Question Time isn’t _strictly_ a nature programme. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![i\_don\_t\_care](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@i\_don\_t\_care](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/i_don_t_care)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/172 "2015-03-25T19:40:54Z")
According to what I have found out today he won’t have his contract renewed after March 2015 - so basically, he’s now gone from the BBC. This is probably what I expected, as he was previously on his last warning anyway. > **[Jeremy Clarkson dropped from Top Gear, BBC confirms](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32052736)** > > Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson will not have his contract renewed after the BBC concludes an investigation into his "fracas" with a producer. Edit: Apologies if anyone else has already commented on the final decision/posted a link, I only just found out about an hour ago and wanted to update my news on the forum. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/173 "2015-03-25T19:47:08Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > That’s the kind of argument people made (and still make) as to why Roman Polanski shouldn’t have been punished for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl. It was crap then, and it’s crap now. :rolleyes: I said “except in the most extreme of cases” and I also highlighted the Savile situation. Your response is pretty futile, or I’m not understanding where you’re coming from? ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/174 "2015-03-25T19:50:53Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Question Time isn’t _strictly_ a nature programme. 😉 Yes, you’re quite correct. My bad, I meant Attenborough. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/175 "2015-03-25T21:02:45Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > :rolleyes: I said “except in the most extreme of cases” and I also highlighted the Savile situation. Your response is pretty futile, or I’m not understanding where you’re coming from? …I don’t think we understand where you are coming from. Clarkson is an entitled bully. Firing him was entirely appropriate and there is every likelihood that he might even end up with criminal charges. It doesn’t matter that he “gives people joy.” People who are part of a hostile work environment don’t deserve “leniency” because to be quite frank: do you think this is the first time he has done this? Don’t you believe that people have the right to come to work and not be abused, threatened and hit? The BBC had to take a stand: and what they did was entirely appropriate. The feelings of the audience are and should be irrelevant. What is important are the wellbeing of the victim (who you don’t seem to give a damn about) and ensuring that the work environment that they provide for their employees is a safe one. And if that means that Clarkson has to go, then he goes. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/176 "2015-03-25T21:10:09Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > :rolleyes: I said “except in the most extreme of cases” and I also highlighted the Savile situation. Your response is pretty futile, or I’m not understanding where you’re coming from? I was purely arguing from a crime/legal aspect. If an employee verbally berates a fellow employee, it’s up to the employer how to deal with it. If a person commits a crime, whether it’s punching someone in the mouth or raping children, whether or not they entertain millions and are under enormous pressure should have nothing to do with how the crime is treated, and getting them any leniency. That’s why I brought up the Polanski situation - at the time, and to this day, people have argued he shouldn’t go to jail because he’s such an important artist. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/177 "2015-03-25T21:11:41Z")
I’m really upset about this, but I’ve decided, after some reflection, that it’s because it happened abruptly right in the middle of a season and now there are 3 episodes that we’ll probably never get to see. If they’d just finished season 22 and then said they weren’t going to bother anymore, I’d have been OK with it. The suddenness of this, the way it went down, and the dangling episodes I was looking forward to have really gotten my goat. It sounds (and is) stupid, but this and NCIS are the only two TV shows that I follow regularly and now I’ve lost one of them. Not watching a Clarkson-less Top Gear, not that I think there will be one anyway. I’ve mostly managed to switch over from being irrationally mad at the BBC for taking away my toys to putting the blame where it belongs, which is 100% on Jeremy Clarkson. The account of his behavior is appalling and disgusting and the BBC pretty much had to do what they did. I knew he was an asshole blowhard and accepted that, but physically assaulting someone to the extremes this apparently went to is a couple steps beyond his previous asshole behavior, IMO. I’d heard rumors that he’s started drinking way too much, but who knows what the hell possessed him. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/178 "2015-03-25T21:23:21Z")
The problem, really, is that while I have no problem believing that Clarkson would lose his shit and strike someone, I also have no problem believing that the BBC top brass really want to see Clarkson gone and will spin with everything they can to kick him out the door. And what’s been revealed so far isn’t all that clear coming from the BBC. What did we know a couple days ago? There was a shouting match, and a “fracas.” What do we know now? There was a shouting match, and a fracas. Fistfights don’t generally last 30 seconds in the real world. I can hardly imagine Clarkson engaged in a fight for 30 seconds without blowing out his back or having a heart attack, quite frankly. Note that the report did not say that Clarkson punched Tymon, just that he “was struck.” What I absolutely can imagine would be they were having a shouting match, Tymon had enough and went to leave, Clarkson wasn’t done and moved in his way, they fell down from contact, there was some amount of “get off me asshole” shoving, Tymon’s lip was bloodied from the fall or the shoving, then people rushed in to pull them up. That would absolutely fit with what I’ve seen reported, with the wording spun enough so that the Clarkson detractors will all cry “See! See! He belted the guy!” even though they didn’t say it. Now, did it happen in a way like I mention above? Dunno. Maybe it was, maybe he really did punch a guy cold. We simply do not have that information. All we know for sure is something happened, and it was enough of an excuse for the BBC to get rid of a guy that they’ve been wanting to get rid of for a long time. ---
**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 25, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/179 "2015-03-25T21:37:31Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > All we know for sure is something happened, and it was enough of an excuse for the BBC to get rid of a guy that they’ve been wanting to get rid of for a long time. The guy they’ve been paying a million quid a year for the last decade or so? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713/180 "2015-03-25T21:59:29Z")
I like Top Gear, but honestly the part I liked least was Clarkson. I wish May and Hammond would continue without him, perhaps changing the format a bit but I doubt that would happen. It had a good run, but it was getting pretty repetitive and unnecessarily silly and I really won’t miss it much. It could be revamped and be a good show but they probably should just develop a new show from scratch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gears-clarkson-suspended/714713.md?page=10)