The end of Top Gear?

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I'm sure many of you have read about Jeremy Clarkson assaulting co-workers and team members when shooting Top Gear, and the verdict has come down that Clarkson won't be working with Top Gear again. I think this'll be the end of Top Gear as we know it, May and Hammond's contracts are up in April and I doubt either of them will be interested in continuing the show without Clarkson.

I think from almost every perspective, firing Clarkson is the right thing to do - he can't get away with assault no matter how minor. However, from a purely business perspective firing Clarkson and therefore breaking up Top Gear is really bad move - Top Gear is watched worldwide, it's merchandising and distribution is nothing to sneeze at, and frankly it was a pretty good show - BBC doesn't have much to compete with Top gear worldwide, minus Strictly Come Dancing.

I think that this is the end of Top Gear, and i think it's quite right that they fired Clarkson, he's an arsehole who pushed the limits of assholishness too far. However, the Top Gear trio make fantastic television, and I doubt that this'll be the end of the trio in TV - I predict Netflix or HBO giving them a similar series with fewer boundaries since it's pretty much guaranteed profit.

 

[CrackFox]

Very glad they sacked him. He's a vile man. Before this happened he's been in hot water multiple times thanks to his various racist comments. I'm suprised to learn that he's violent though, I always just had him down as a bitchy, ego-maniac. If they hadn't had sacked him that would have been a very negative message. Just because someone is a household name doesn't mean they can get away with things like this. The BBC in particular have a dubios reputation with the Savile stuff and multiple other reports of unpunished behavior so not at all suprised they sacked him. They'd had lost what little respect they had left if they hadn't of.

I don't watch Top Gear. I find it interminable and painfully boring. I expect that the other two will quit being Clarksons two biggest fans (especially Hammond) There's already speculation that the show will be picked up by another channel like Sky One and will resume business as usual under a different name. That's pretty likely to happen I think. Either way I wont be watching anything that Clarkson is in. Even when I see he's on QI I turn it off, his presence ruins a show as does his little sidekick Hammond. James May seems like a nice bloke but those two I can't stand.

 

[Lysson]

No one who's a fan of Top Gear actually thinks Clarkson is a nice guy, he's a douche and that's the charm. Why do people watch reality shows? To watch how horrible people can be, that's a type of entertainment.
I doubt anyone really watched Top Gear to learn about cars. They watch to watch middle aged men prat about in cars doing stupid things. May and Hammond are nice guys and throwing the idiot into the mix is what people like.

Firing Clarkson is a bad move (showbiz wise) as I do think this will screw over the views of Top Gear and possibly spell the end of it.

However there should have been legal action instead as Clarkson committed assault and battery and if this was a regular business he would have been taken to court but I suppose in this situation firing him would have damaged him more then a measly prison sentence or a fine he could have paid off with ease. But surely anyone who works with Clarkson would have known to have been cautious with him?

 

[Paleo]

I think BBC might try and set up a new Top Gear, with different people, but it will never even come close to the awesomeness of TG as we know it
BBC will lose a fuckton of money because of this, but making morally right decisions does that sometimes

I do hope that a commercial broadcasting company will go and bring Clarkson, Hammond and May together for a similar show, because I don't want to lose this great show just yet

 

[Beth Pavell]

The BBC is different to other broadcasting companies in that being publicly funded it's also answerable to everyone who owns a TV. This is going to be a big money-losing decision, but at the same time the Beeb can't afford to protect Clarkson any longer. He's already been getting away with racism for years (Usually by aiming it at French and Germans and Americans), and every new stunt the show pulls keeps drawing closer and closer to blatant racism of the sort that can't be handwaved away as "Another generation, dear boy"

Of course, none of this will make any difference to him. I don't care that he supposedly drives cars for a living, Clarkson is as firmly a part of the British upper-crust establishment as the Prime Minister.

 

[Lyrebird]

I hope so. TG has become so stale. Maybe the BBC should focus on bring back more sport instead of sky sports having a lot of them.