Slashdot Mirror
Jeremy Clarkson Dismissed From Top Gear
An anonymous reader writes According to BBC News, Jeremy Clarkson, longstanding main host for the automobile television show Top Gear, will not have his contract renewed. This decision came about two weeks after he was suspended due to an altercation with a Top Gear producer involving catering during filming for the show. Admittedly not the nerdiest news of the day, but it can be said that his thirteen-year run on the new format of Top Gear has interested many Slashdot users who love their cars and the entertainment that the show has brought to them.
And on that Bomb shell...
End of show.
will be watching bbc management scramble when they realize their cash cow left the building when May and Hammond, decline to renew their contracts.
We knew about this weeks ago. WEEKS ago, timmyboy!
BBC America dropped from my Comcast account.
He is Boorish and bigoted against American vehicles.
Richard Hammond could carry that show all by himself. James May would be a perk.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Anyway, about bloody time that this happened. I'm surprised that he hasn't already blamed his firing on a conspiracy of liberal enviro-wackos and brown people.
"99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."
Too bad this news broke over 24 hours ago...
don't care how big you is. you no punch people at work.
No, because their star with an over-inflated ego physically assaulted a coworker and drew blood. Nobody should have to put up with that. That being said I'll miss him as he was a fairly unique personality in tv.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
The cash cow of the BBC is British taxes. A host is terminated because someone was physically assaulted.
And the show will end.
He put his colleague in A&E over a dispute about hot vs cold food. The BBC did the only thing they could have.
Top Gear works because of the chemistry between the presenters, not because of any one person –this could be good for the series, as their schtick was getting a bit tired and repetitive, in my opinion.
I’m sure lots of us will be interested to see what the BBC, with or without Hammond & May, can do with the show next.
Fact is BBC are getting dragged over the coals for letting all kinds of behavior from past stars go unchecked in order to keep the money flowing, including pedophiles. While I love Top Gear and will be sad to see its demise apparently he put the producer in hospital. Even if that is not true what is not in dispute is that he physically assaulted another person and some lines cannot be crossed no matter who you are or what you bring in. My anger in this case is not with the BBC, but with Clarkson himself. As far as I am concerned he killed Top Gear and no-one else.
The BBC is a public broadcaster, funded and owned by mandatory license fees in the UK.Clarkson was on contract to the BBC. Once the organization confirmed that unprovoked verbal and physical abuse had occurred, they had to take action or leave the corporation open to an indefensible lawsuit from the victim. They can't exactly say, "Yeah, get stuffed. We have extensive policies promoting equality and prohibiting harassment and violence in the workplace, but we're ignoring them because the presenter is popular and profitable."
No doubt Clarkson and pals will make a profitable jump to Netflix or Sky to make a similar motoring comedy show. Meanwhile, the BBC has a chance to reinvent Top Gear with younger presenters and a reinvigorated format (there are only so many new Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Aston Martins that can be driven around a track in a cloud of smoke every week and only so many routes for contrived road trips through war zones in ancient sports cars).
Great, they're going to completely destroy their cash cow and the enjoyment of the audience because some butthurt C-level trust fund baby got his little feewings hurt.
I mean, c'mon, you used both in the same sentence!
How can anyone care about this? I've seen more articles about this than there are people in the world who give a rats butt.
You must be new here. Old news is what drives Slashdot. The only place which posts older news is Slashdot when the article is duped in a couple of days.
I'll miss the show as it exists now, and not just because of the cars and the trips and the stunts - I'll miss it because Top Gear UK isn't afraid to call a manufacturer out on a bad car. That's something the US version can't, and won't do -- because in the US, you don't badmouth the very people who give you money in exchange for advertising on your show / magazine.
It was good while it lasted, and it's remarkable it lasted this long.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
Clarkson is positive about cars he finds he likes, and he is negative about cars he finds he dislikes. Plenty of both of those in the world - see how much he hates Peugeot if you think its a "hate on America" thing..
Exactly. He's a dick, a bully, and completely deserved to get fired (and don't get me started on what I think of his "fans" who want to excuse his behavior and force the BBC to do the exact wrong thing and keep him on after he put a colleague in the ER while throwing a tantrum over what food was being catered in, so you can probably guess I'm not one of his "supporters"), but he was entertaining, and he shouldn't be condemned for things he didn't do. In my opinon as an American who watched the show, Clarkson wasn't particularly bigoted against Americans or American cars (as the parent noted, there were plenty of American cars he did like). He was funny and amusing, and quite intelligent. A shame he has the emotional intelligence of a child, can't handle his drink, and seems to think it's OK to hospitalize colleagues when he's had a couple doesn't get the food he wants when he wants, because that clearly makes him unfit for emloyment regardless of his on-air talents.
Never heard of him. I've heard of Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust and Rutledge Wood though. I must be watching a different Top Gear show.
Are they hiring a new racist then?
No I am pretty sure they make more money off Top Gear being a worldwide success then they do off the British TV tax.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Words take someone to be offended by them. Punches hurt even without the intent of getting hurt by the receiver.
I guess it kinda sucks to have to learn basic life lessons at 54 but that's what happens when you grew up entitled and sheltered.
Good riddance !
We finally found someone who watches American Top Gear!
Moron. Won't change a thing here. Cut the cable cord a while back, Hulu for back episodes, and non usian web sites for the current season. The Stig-The Stig The Snob-to be replaced The Bloke-Hammond The Bard-May Reboot with another Snob. I can only imagine what his real snob position as real or faker is in the brit class system. Here in the US we don't pick up on that fine gradation.
In the British Pedo ring to be forthcoming
The UK has much, much lower tolerances for satire and criticism than the US. Check out this list of "screw-ups" that Clarkson made-- all of which contributed to his final release from the BBC. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/top-gear/11137651/Poll-Which-of-Jeremy-Clarksons-gaffes-is-worse.html) Almost all of the "wrongs" done have been issues of him being "rude".
Drink-driving, July 2008 - The press would like to have you believe that this is was illegal and atrocious. But it wasn't. He was in a customized, polar-ready Toyota Hilux driving to the North Pole over international waters. There were no roads. There were no people on the ice. There were no laws forbidding drinking behind the wheel.
Lorry drivers, November 2008 - Like many subgroups, Clarkson feigned disdain for truck drivers by describing them as hard-working, but sloppy, porno-obsessed men who murder prostitutes. This fits perfectly in with his "overgrown ignorant man-child" character that he plays on TV.
Gordon Brown, February 2009 - He called the Prime Minister a "one-eyed Scottish idiot". The PM is blind in one eye. It's disrespectful but does no damage to anyone.
Black Muslim Lesbians, October 2009 - In an exaggerated protest of diversity efforts within the BBC, Clarkson said that the BBC was obsessed with hiring black, Muslim lesbians. He never implied that it was a bad thing (especially since he's quite fond of lesbians), but was point out the obsession with diversity.
Burkas and lingerie, July 2010 - During a Top Gear discussion on distractions while driving: “Honestly, the burka doesn’t work. I was in a cab in Piccadilly the other day when a woman in a full burka crossing the road in front of me tripped over the pavement, went head over heels and up it came, red g-string and stockings.” Again, this is a conversation between a few "guys" on an exaggerated comedy show, not Sesame Street. There's no reason for this to be a mark on one's record.
Special needs, August 2010 - Clarkson referred to a Ferrari as 'special needs' and a 'simpleton' as a way of giving it a bad review. Many people still use the term "retarded" to describe an action today. Some people take offense to it. In the UK, when "some people take offense", it's a scandal.
Mexico, February 2011 - An actual issue! Clarkson, during a discussion on Top Grear with fellow presenters James May and Richard Hammond, described Mexicans as "a lazy, feckless, flatulent oaf with a moustache, leaning against a fence asleep". This is prejudice and stereotyping of impermutable characteristics and they deserved every bit of flak they got for it... but that's audacity humor for you.
India, January 2012 - Viewers complained about Clarkson's provocative remarks concerning the country's clothing, trains, food and history. To be fair, they demonstrated the issues with the trains and food, but I don't remember them saying anything critical of their clothing or history. Clarkson put a toilet seat on the back of his car "just in case" he got diarrhea. Ask anyone who has been to India-- this is a genuine concern. I have colleagues *from India* who refuse to drink anything but bottled and will refuse ice when offered (since it's made from tap water).
The 'N'-word, May 2014 - First off, Clarkson never said the N-word in the purported clip. He never even mumbled it. As he said in his explanation, they had done 3 takes of a scene where he was reciting "Eeny Meeny Miny Mo" where in the old school version would use the term n**ger. In one take, he murmured something to take the place of the word. In the second take, he left the space blank. In the third take, he replaced the word with "teacher". In reviewing the takes, he immediately contacted his production crew and ordered them not to use the first take because if you turn it up REALLY loud, you can convince yourself that the word is being said when it wasn't. (Paul is dead.) YEARS LATER, the video of the unused take resurfaced and somehow became a scandal.
Slope, July 2014 - Ofcom said
The Ford Fiesta review was stunning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e7R3y-qwZ0
"Jersey is like a Lamborghini Miura from the 70s. Originally awesome even as it breaks down from time to time and slips into decrepit use. It always remained awesome as its lunacy remains. And then one day it (in a prima donna hissyfit?) PUNCHES your plain old Ford Focus of a producer right in the face when he says "You will fill up with this crappy 85 octane out of an old pail even though you are specified to only use 93 octane... And you will like it!". And then everyone came out of the woodwork and starts saying "It wasn't a sensible car" when that was NEVER the point and was why it was wonderful to begin with."
When they are out on a shoot I would expect a quality hot meal for the camera men and the grips let alone your star presenter!
May has changed his Twitter status to 'ex-presenter'. He's already said the show only works because of the chemistry of the three and he's right. Top gear US is nowhere near as good. It seems he's quit too.
Clarkson did nothing particular bad, making a joke about a slope of a bridge (which people claimed is an insult to asians but I've never heard of it), he said 'nigger' in the eenie meenie miny mo rhyme *decades* ago in old top gear, when it was acceptable. It's a pity he couldn't travel forward in time and see that 'nigger' would be unacceptable. He said Mexicans were lazy, and so what. He made a joke about Truck drivers killing prostitutes, and that upset neither prostitutes nor truckers nor viewers, but newspapers had a slow day so did some mock outrage.
Basically the newspapers have been trying desperately to take offense at him, and every little incident has been exaggerated with mock outrage, the sort you see on Fox News at everything a Democrat does. It was pathetic.
So now they've got Top Gear cancelled, and they'll do a little high five at their victory and look for the next target.
Do you think they'll just hop channels to C4 or even Sky?
They try to make electric cars look bad any way they can and drool over wasteful, polluting muscle cars that are of use to no one.
Bunch of idiots.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
He fucking assaulted a coworker.
Not only does he deserve to be fired, he deserves to be charged with assault & battery followed by some time in jail.
Of course considering your comment about socialist dictatorship, you probably think money puts him above the law.
The correct headline would be "Millionaire Celebrity Thug and Bigot Finally Dismissed by BBC."
The correct subhead would be "Assault on staff last straw, after insults to Mexico and use of n-word insufficient to force BBC executives to punish their cash cow."
Probably laughing about this.
I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
Their own on-air commentary on winning an award for being a "factual based" program is priceless.
There's gotta be a car analogy to help people understand this situation better, but I'm having trouble coming up with one...
They make around three billion a year, most of it from the hated TV tax. In terms of their commercial operations (which being public service they shouldn't have because it distorts real commercial operations), Top Gear must be their biggest earner. I can't imagine people abroad being willing to pay all that much to watch the other shite they produce.
It had 350 million viewers worldwide, the worlds biggest factual program. And a lot of them are viewers because it wasn't that nasty twatty politically correct think where everything is great and all cars are great, and everyone is perfect and twee.
So you won't miss him, but then 350 million people don't want to watch you.
Where you can stand accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of children for decades with no impact on your job whatsoever ... but you punch one producer, and off you go.
Sabine Schmitz, the Queen of the Nürburgring. just over 10 minutes in a van. Better driver and better looking then him.
C£$tson is a nasty racist and it shames the BBC to only have dismissed him for disciplinary reasons and not for his disgusting statements.
It was the straw that broke the camels back, only the other straw was fake mock outrage straw.
Face it, he was targeted by the press, because the show had gotten insanely popular. It was more to do with the twats who think everything needs to be politically correct to their way of thinking, than anything Clarkson did.
The BBC is not to blame, they have the 'BBC Trust' above them, and that is a political body not a management body, and they are responsible for a corporations that wastes billions making only a few hits. Top Gear was their big hit and surprisingly BBC Trust will be very happy about its demise, because they are put in there to run the Beeb into the ground, then kill the license fee.
So 2(?) weeks before their contracts are up Clarkson does something that will get him kicked and give the other 2 a reason to not re-up their contracts...
Would they all get monster pay raises if Netflix started doing the show under a different name? Would they enjoy working under Netflix and having even more control?
Top Gear does 50 Mil in merchandise alone. Hmmm.
With all the Clarkson controversy of the past seeming to be engineered or over inflated.. Yeah I will not be shocked if they show up on netflix in the next year.. Even better they kick out the cast of American Top Gear.
I have nothing but contempt for that arsehole. Hopefully he'll be on Sky where I'll never see him.; wth the added bonus that my TV licence is no lining his pockets. Farewell, you ignorant bully.
I admit that as much as I love Top Gear and as much as I enjoy Clarkson's old-school-mean-British sense of humor, he is also obviously a complete horses-arse. I think Top Gear can survive without him as long as they don't try to replace him with "another actor pretending to be Clarkson". Get somebody with their own personality and sense of humor and just run with it.
Alternately, I expect if Netflix picked-up all three guys from their new "original" series, let's call it "Top Gears", that they would have a goldmine. A lot of people would subscribe to Netflix just to see the Top Gears episodes I would think...
The victim didn't actually report it - Clarkson initiated the investigation and has not disagreed with its conclusions.
I think you either hated Clarkson or loved him. But he did make the show and frankly while I cannot disagree with the BBC's decision because their hands were tied on what action to take because it was physical. I think the end looser will be the BBC. Because we all know Jeremy Clarkson will come out in good shape.
Maybe it was just time for Clarkson to move on anyway. The BBC seemed to be a thorn in his side becoming to politically correct and not being amused at his sometimes brash comments. The question will be can the BBC manage to keep Hammond and May doing Top Gear and who if anyone will try and replace Clarkson? I will miss the three's connection on screen with each other. But at least we had 22 seasons of Top Gear fun! That's really a big success story.
It's far and away the most expensive factual TV show produced in Europe, and watching it in HD is a visual treat, it is ridiculously well-produced.
Granted, the three of them did have chemistry, but in my opinion Clarkson was a wanker, Hammond was a wanker wannabe, and May had no personality at all.
I'd love to see some other personality get the chance to present, and I'd be even happier if they managed to improve viewing figures after his departure. I'm not sure Clarkson 'made the show' like he thinks he did, and I'd like to see it proved that somebody else could do better just to shut him up.
Shame Chris Evans didn't want the job.
Time to brush off the old resume! I am sure I can (learn to) drive expensive cars at break-neck speeds for fame and fortune! Call me BBC!
Anyone who has been bullied at work must be sickened by the public support for Jeremy Clarkson. Even in sacking him for the physical assault on Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon, BBC director general Tony Hall seemed almost apologetic, taking the opportunity to thank Clarkson for his work on Top Gear and wishing him the best for the future.
But if you've experienced bullying first hand then you know what a destructive force the Clarksons of the world are. Your workplace becomes a place of dread and fear. The stress becomes not just a part of your daily life, but a part of who you are as a person. It changes you.
My own experience of being bullied began when I took a job with a company that had just promoted a long-standing employee in to a management position. He had no experience of managing people, he received no training, and he openly said that he didn't want the job. He was visibly stressed almost constantly, and resented that he was still expected to work and not just manage other people's work.
Very early in the job I was shouted at in the middle of a busy office for completing a task that should have been cancelled. It was a foul-mouthed and very personal tirade of abuse, accusing me of being untrustworthy, and came totally out of the blue. Then my manager realised that he had forgotten to mark the task as cancelled, and quietly in a private room away from other staff, he apologised and promised never to speak to me like that in front of people again.
The details of bullying incidents are generally repetitive and boring, so suffice to say, this was just the beginning of what became regular abuse: Shouted at in the middle of the office for things I had allegedly done wrong, and then apologised to in private.
I put up with the abuse for way too long. I'd spoken to my union rep and kept a bullying diary as advised, but I never started a grievance procedure. Colleagues said I should, and one day I ended up talking to the company secretary about it, but I backed off, determined to resolve the issue myself. Ultimately, I told myself, this is a case of two grown men having a clash of personalities, and I should be able to resolve it. But of course I couldn't.
After about a year I had to take time off work for an unconnected health reason, which seemed to go on a lot longer than one might expect. After a week back at work, I was off again with flu, which seemed to go on forever. My doctor was puzzled and I was sent to the hospital for tests. But in conversation with my doctor one time I mentioned about how it was actually quite nice to be off work because it was an escape from the bullying, and it was as if I'd said the magic word. My doctor was certain that the stress of being bullied was the root cause of my poor health. It explained everything. It turns out that a year of sleepless nights and constant anxiety isn't very good for you.
The BBC has done the right thing in sacking Clarkson. When I finally had to take formal action against my manager, the company was combative, and handled it on the basis that I was making it all up. I opted for the least "official" form of grievance, third-party arbitration, and my manager held his hands up to what he'd been doing and promised to change. Whether he could or not, I don't know, as I've not been well enough to return to work yet.
I've watched every episode of Top Gear since Clarkson joined the programme. I like him as a presenter. But I see him now for what he really is: A person who knows how to present himself to the people who control his career -- his bosses and the viewers -- but feels he can abuse the people below him. No doubt he will now be snapped up by another TV channel, or Netflix, and he'll continue to make great programmes that entertain millions. But we know now what he's like behind the scenes, and even a bully that knows he's a bully will still be a bully.
No I am pretty sure they make more money off Top Gear being a worldwide success then they do off the British TV tax.
You're "pretty sure" are you? You know these sort of mindless random thoughts stated as fact is pretty fucking harmful.
Top Gear worth per year, about £50million
Licence fee collected last year, £3726million
Get a grip.
But if you've been sticking your dick in children for the past 40 years, the BBC will do anything to protect you, as we've seen in the Jimmy Savile case.
Some double standard. It's wrong to hit a producer who can't do his job properly, but you can rape a bed ridden cancer kid and the BBC will fight for you.
The new show, on a new channel, will be either called "Jeremy Clarkson's Top Gear" or something meta-descriptive like "New Best Car Show"
I bet the exchange between Jeremy and the producer, Oisin the producer went somehow like this:
Jeremy: [about the back-stage buffet] Look, this. This miniature bread, it like... I've been working with this now for about half an hour and i can't figure out... let's say I wanted a bite, right. You got this... ...and then everything has to be folded... and then you have ... this. And I don't want this. I want large bread, so I can put this... ... so then it's like this. But this doesn't work, because then it's all...
Oisin: You'd like bigger bread?
Jeremy: Exactly. I don't under stand how...
Oisin: [gestures to the meat] You could just fold this... though.
Jeremy: [folding the bread] Well, no... then it's half the size...
Oisin: No, not the bread.
[folding the meat]
Oisin: You could fold the meat...
Jeremy: [still folding the bread] Yeah, but then it breaks up. It breaks apart like this...
Oisin: [putting the folded meat onto the miniature bread] No, no, no... you put it on the bread like this; see?
Jeremy: [folding the miniature sandwich] But if you keep folding it, then it keeps breaking...
Oisin: Why would you keep folding it?
Jeremy:
[holds up miniture sandwich]
Jeremy:
[puts meat between two pieces of miniature bread]
Jeremy:
Oisin: Because it hangs out like that?
Jeremy: Look! would you be holding this?
Oisin: No. I wouldn't want to eat...
Jeremy: No! Alright, A. Exhibit, exhibit A.
[throws down miniature sandwich]
Jeremy: And now we move onto this...
[picks up an olive]
Jeremy: Look, look; who's in here? No one.
[picks up an olive stuffed with pimento]
Jeremy: And in here, there's a little guy, look! So, it's a complete catastrophe!
Oisin: Alright, Jeremy, Jeremy... calm down...
It had run it's course anyway. It had gotten too formulaic, especially with the gaffs and accidents and whatnot.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
And on that Bombshell BBC ended top gear!
I'm not really read up on what he did that time.
At first when it happened I saw some other speculation. Supposedly he hasn't been acting the way people may want / politically correct on multiple occasions but whatever.
To physically hurt people of course isn't ok.
(Well, maybe not mentally either, but there got to be limits on how much to care too.)
It seems whenever any of them tested an American Muscle car, especially the Mustangs, the entire segment consists of them squealing with pleasure, having a great time and then exiting with great big shit eating grins.
Then, they get all serious and start whining about the lack of leather dashes and computer controlled, all wheel drive with predictive Fuck Up Mitigators. Oh, and comparing them to Euroweenie cars that cost twice as much.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
I saw that one. It was a Shelby GT 500.
He whined about the small gas tank and complained about the engine noise. While he was driving he was making fun of the various information options, etc. It was non-stop snark. When he was on the Ferry across the channel, people flocked to the car and he just stood there wondering why.
I don't know how much of it was just for the show or if he really feels that way.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Maybe Jezza finally did go too far, but the Beeb (and BBC America) will deeply rue this decision financially, and the 'victim' will go down in history being about as popular as this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartman_incident
Some say he punched an innocent person in the mouth-
others say he's the cash cow of the BBC-
But we just know him as... unemployed.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"I think Snickers needs to offer Clarkson a contract.
I'm a car guy and a geek so totally in the viewership for Top Gear.
I tried to watch over the years, really, but Clarkson was such a bigoted, loud mouth asshat that I always turned it off again.
No place for that on public TV, paid for with the tax payers funds.
clarkson has made a career out of being a dinosaur, and i think he knows it.
you're welcome in the real world jeremy and i, for one, am interested to see what you will make of your new life.
I have an idea. Fire that arrogant asshole producer instead. Who needs him? Jeremy Clarkson IS the show. How did the Chappelle Show do after Dave left? It was a catastrophe.
This news makes me want to punch someone.
"Watch as James May enjoys the sublime quietude of a Silver Shadow."
The best outcome for everyone (but the BBC) is for all three hosts to go to another network and set up shop there. Call the new show anyhthing you like. The magic of Top Gear lies in the hosts, not the network. And Lord Knows, not the BBC.
Top Gear is the most popular TV show in history, with over 350 million viewers worldwide. There is no way in hell the show will fade away. Or the cast. There is no way Clarkson can be replaced, successfully. Fair or not, many viewers would see May and Hammond as traitors. The two will quickly realize they would be insane to stay, especially given their other (much more lucrative) options. So they will go too, probably to rejoin Clarkson at a network of their choosing, where they have *much* better support and artistic freedom. And hot food.
Clarkson was paid a measly $1.5M/year by the BBC. He can make more money per *episode* at a real network. It's plain from his recent shenanigans that Clarkson has been eager to rewrite his contract with the BBC for some time now. The only question is how soon Hammond and May follow Clarkson's example and head for greener pastures.
Bet on it.
Top Gear was enormous fun at first, but it's gotten stale. It's lost its way. Maybe it is time for a re-think.
Like just about everybody, my picks for a new co-host include Sabine Schmitz and Vicki Butler-Henderson. But they have to look very carefully at the show and decide if its worth continuing first. I'm not convinced it is.
The original Top Gear production morphed in to Fifth Gear, which is definitely jazzed up fro the old Top Gear it started as.
...laura
From what I gathered the show was making 300 million a year annually and they were paying him 1 million a year annually.
That's an absurd ratio. You're not going to see anything like that in commercial television.
Clarkson is going to be able to walk into any commercial outfit and get a comparable deal sight unseen.
I'd personally take a loan out for a million dollars and pay him a year's salary up front knowing that I could get a lot more than a million dollars for him.
The BBC is apparently run by idiots.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
I hate how the media is spinning this, that because 1 million people or whatever want someone back in a TV show, a TV star should somehow be above the set of laws and expected normal social behavior that the rest of us have to deal with. When someone starts hitting co-workers over the lack of warm food, they should get severely reprimanded - why is this even a discussion. The answer is of course because - and I will put this in tabloid terms because that is the only thing that seems to get across these days - of the way media works this day, how everyone now has a voice through the Internet, and the few voices of common sense gets drowned by moronic opinions of idiots. Why should you care about the opinion of a labour law expert when for each such expert ten thousand average Joe's and Jane's have touchy feely opinions that tell them something different.
The behavior in question seems to be some type of inflated ego syndrome, that people get so full of their own success that they feel petty stuff like following rules and being civil to one another is beneath them, that such things apply only to other people (which by the way includes their fan base). It is always sad to see how someone sympathetic get famous, then are starstruck by themselves, and shortly after enter a downward spiral and discover their dark side.
It is even sadder to watch the fan base. If the average fan turned away from this type of behavior and actually stopped watching a show for a period if the host has done something particularly offensive, that would send a clear message. Instead the shows probably get higher ratings because of the extra attention.
Fire the guy that makes it work. Bye, bye, Top Gear. You were one of the few television shows that I actually like. I hope James and Richard quit out of protest.
(scene) We are on a deserted airplane runway in Iceland
A car races by - with The Stig in it.
It pulls up to a shiny outdoor hot springs.
Another car races by.
It has a dark complexioned youth driving it. He's dressed in tweed and wears glasses. Thin Brit style. He gets out.
A third car races by.
It has a young short guy in it. He's done up for a footy game. He gets out.
A fourth car races by.
It opens, and the words Top Gear: Mark II appear.
It's a young British woman of mixed Asian descent.
The crowd goes wild.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
For taking one for the team. He single handedly managed to do what India, Argentina, Mexico, the British Labour party couldn't.
And all he had to do was be incompetent at his job - his job, quite simply is to get the best from the show.
Congratulations Oison.
Or should it be Judas ?
Seriously, I'm torn - I love the show, but obviously the BBC had to fire him. I'm hoping that the boys take their antics to a new channel where they have more freedom to give the viewers the show they want - not what the BBC allows them to do in its pitifully correct public broadcaster role. I don't think that would be ITV or even Sky.
I'd really like to see them move to Netflix - they have the money and "freedom" to do what they want with less political climate since its not a broadcaster in the traditional sense (public service requirements).
It might also be an interesting avenue for the the intellectual challenge of "can we do this"... Its never too late to do a start-up...
But I hear Auntie Beeb is considering Stephen Fry, a very poor choice IMHO. The man is a homosexual and would not fit in well with the other two. Thankfully James May said they guys are a three-man package deal, and that while Clarkson can be a knob, he will work with him in future. Sky will try and get them over to their network methinks, as that has been a thing going over in the background for some time. It won't be called Top Gear, but if the three of them are together, it really doesn't matter.
I would cease to watch Top Gear if Stephen Fry gets it. I could not watch him knowing full well he's buggering a young man in his mid 20s, who is young enough to be his son. Yes, I'm not accepting of homosexuality, as I have a right to be.
If the BBC had an ounce of sense, they offer the producer a free punch to Clarkson back, and call it even and sweep it all under the rug.
The fact that there are some idiotic "rules" that have to be followed because... reasons... is precisely the problem with the BBC, and their inability to figure out a sensible solution to all this is what will cost them their cash cow show.
There is no Top Gear without Clarkson - the top gear spin offs the world over have proved that.
Clarkson did not punch the producer. He shoved him after getting shoved himself. He did punch out Piers Morgan on a plane. After Morgan had spouted lots of personal attacks on Clarkson. I believe the passengers applauded.
The BBC has hated Clarkson for years. He's a blokish character representing "Little England" -- the White males living outside London who are not metrosexualized out of any straight masculinity. The BBC will doubtless put on a screaming Muslim woman with a hijab, a Black guy, and an Indian Lesbian touting electric cars and bicycles against "racist" fun cars that people enjoy watching. And it will flop.
Meanwhile the Conservatives are likely to pull the license fee (making it voluntary not a criminal offense not to pay) and public support. If the BBC wants to throw away its money by dumping Clarkson and putting on a diversity morality play, fine. Let them pay for it then.
The fact is, the Little Englanders, the White males outside London, are the ones paying for the BBC in license fees and taxation support. The metrosexual, ultra liberal, PC/Diversity BBC staff has had a free ride on their money which looks to end. Clarkson, Hammond, probably May move to Sky or whoever, make more money. BBC finds itself with vastly reduced revenues to the point of irrelevancy.
Its not as if Black Lesbian Muslims in hijabs make any money and pay taxes -- they are a net drain on society which depends on the Clarksons (and his White male fans). Sooner or later that con job will end and the piper will call the tune.
"Hated"?
Very few people "Hate" the license fee.
And as for the "other shite they produce" have you SEEN commercial television. At all. ever.
Nice whitewash there buddy. What you neglected to mention was that they were filming in AFRICA. That rhyme version is VERY common in the Southern US, so much so, I don't think kids actually know the real one is about a tiger. Furthermore, why is replacing that one word funny? Just saying the word "nigger" is only funny to racist fucks, I'm sorry. Y'all keep playing this shit off like Jeremy is the victim...
Consider the source:
A UK tabloid (which is in direct competition with a tabloid that Clarkson writes for) is quoting one of its ex-editors (who was involved in stock market pump/dump shenanigans and phone hacking) who has an on-going feud with Clarkson (over invasion-of-privacy by Morgan's tabloid, at his direct orders) which resulted in Clarkson punching him (to general applause).
Morgan, having been sacked from his gigs in the UK, moved to the USA and been sacked there, is now trying to rehabilitate himself back in the UK by sitting in for a breakfast TV host next month.
I wouldn't trust this man to tell me the time...
This sig left unintentionally blank.
You don't read conspiracy theories much do you? They've stretched "facts" more mundane than that one further than Mr Fantastic's dick after being caught in a Japanese bullet train's door.
I like the show and think getting rid of him is a bad thing, but don't let him get away with it either.
How about requiring him to take a punch to the face as his punishment? they could auction it off and make a fortune!
Just a thought...
AB HOC POSSUM VIDERE DOMUM TUUM
No I am pretty sure they make more money off Top Gear being a worldwide success then they do off the British TV tax.
You're "pretty sure" are you? You know these sort of mindless random thoughts stated as fact is pretty fucking harmful.
Top Gear worth per year, about £50million
Licence fee collected last year, £3726million
Get a grip.
Actually Top Gear makes about US$225 Million for BBC Worldwide (which gets funnelled back into the BBC as they're the only shareholder). That's about £150 million or 10% of what BBC worldwide makes. Out of the £5 Billion the BBC makes, it's about 3%. If 3% of your budget goes missing, you're going to notice. In a year, without the hosts the Top Gear brand will be next to worthless and just about anyone could pick it up for 45p.
But how this is really going to hurt the BBC is when they go to renegotiate their other contracts. Because they've messed around with the delivery of the last few episodes of Top Gear they've lost faith with other networks. Even extremely popular shows like Doctor Who and Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with the Stars) will be affected, less popular shows like Antiques Roadshow will be decimated.
I think Danny Cohen is going to be out of a job in 12 months or so.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Good riddance. The show was a throwback to mentality that humanity should have left for dead with the 70s oil crisis.
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
Isn't that revenue though? Loss of revenue doesn't really count since if you're not making the programme anymore then you won't be spending it, so profit is the thing they will lose.
Good point about screwing with the delivery, though I would assume that the BBC is big enough and has a solid enough reputation that this would be a 'blip' rather than a noticable loss of confidence.
Good point about screwing with the delivery, though I would assume that the BBC is big enough and has a solid enough reputation that this would be a 'blip' rather than a noticable loss of confidence.
You're forgetting that Top Gear is the most popular television program... in the world. It's rather on the same scale as mismanagement of the Superb Owl.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
An uncited "fact" is no better than his opinion to the rest of us, you know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpL9a-5LFpI
Come on !
$20 US says he'll be back on the telly within 60 days
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.