Filed under: Etc.
Top Gear fights for survival as BBC postpones show indefinitely
As Top Gear host Richard Hammond recovers from his 300-mph crash, the show's future remains in limbo. The crash occurred while filming a segment for the upcoming series, but with Hammond still in hospital with the full scope of his injuries still unknown, the new season is being postponed indefinitely.
That doesn't mean it's being cancelled. Not yet, at least. The BBC is simply putting it off until Richard's back to his usual smiling self and the team can together decide how to proceed. A strong indication came from co-host Jeremy Clarkson, who boldly declared, "Next week I intend to be down on the track driving faster than ever", and from the show's producer Andy Wilman, who said he'll quit if they have any restrictions placed on the show.
With simultaneous investigations underway by the police and highway safety departments, and a mounting campaign to take the show off the air (or at least curtail the extent of their high-speed shenanigans), the Top Gear team is fighting hard to keep the show, and keep its integrity.
Do you think Top Gear should continue its unrelenting quest for the best in automotive adventures, or have they gone one rev too far? Leave your opinion in our comments section.
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[Source: Reuters]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
menice 10:18AM (9/25/2006)
I of course dont know Hammond personally, but I don't think he would want the show's dynamic changed because of an accident.
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Geekmorgan 10:19AM (9/25/2006)
Top Gear does most of its hi-speed driving on a test track, or empty public roads. While driving at excessive speed IS dangerous and against the law, I'm confident they can do a better job at it than I can. Seeing them drive around a track like they do is exciting - I know I'll never get the chance so it feels good to see them do it on a show with such high production values. I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it if they had to tone it down.
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D 10:20AM (9/25/2006)
I dont understand why people have such a big stick up their bum for people driving a few cars on a closed course (runway). Yes it does pollute, just like any other car in existence, and sure not more than any race event going on every weekend throughout the world.
What if Top Gear was just a magazine and it still did the same zany antics. Will people be boycotting and protesting the magazine for how much it disturbs the birds and pollutes the enviroment? All these people that want the show taken off the air wouldnt even pick up a copy of Top Gear off the news stand. So why do they even bother to change the channel, watch it, then decide that its too much fun and should be taken off the air?
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Rico 10:30AM (9/25/2006)
Top Gear must live! Fifth Gear is great, but Top Gear sets the pace. I've seen car shows on US, Italian, German, and French, and nothing comes close to Top Gear and Fifth Gear. British car manufacturers might all be foreign owned, but the Brits love their cars more than anyone on earth!
Long live Top Gear!
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Kosb 10:37AM (9/25/2006)
Let the BBC cancel the show. I cant imagine that Fox or some other network wouldnt jump at the chance to produce it.
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Jscro 10:39AM (9/25/2006)
They either keep the show exactly the same, or cancel. Don't water down what is arguably the best TV show about cars ever made, it wouldn't be the same.
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Keith 11:06AM (9/25/2006)
Wow, the Brits turned to a bunch of quivering sissies after WWII.
Look at how much the Brits pioneered (sports, aviation, automotive, technology, etc.) - but it seems now they are just living in denial.
I lived in the UK and there was absolutely a spirit of wanting to do new and different things, to step outside the box, but I have no idea why the government and some people are so scared.
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Shawn 11:09AM (9/25/2006)
You guys are forgetting that BBC is a tax funded network. That is why they are hyper-sensitive to these things. I think a simple solution is to move it to a private network.
While I'm a fan like most people, you can understand that others in UK, who does not have the choice of not paying, might not understand the point of a TV personality driving 300mph on tax payer dollars.
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Rence 11:24AM (9/25/2006)
I wouldn't have a problem with the Top Gear crew doing a bit less of the stunts like a rocket car and stick more to real motoring. Of course stunts are cool, but perhaps better to keep them in the realms of non-lethal.
I don't think it would take much to keep Health and Safety relatively at easy and still being able to make a great motoring show.
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ckm 11:31AM (9/25/2006)
If everyone who downloads Top Gear would just pay $1/year subscription, they wouldn't need the BBC at all. With 300 million some-odd viewers, you could have a very, very nice business. I doubt that the BBC would ever cancel it, it's their most popular show. Now that the UK Minister for Road Safety came out defending the show (saying that using the crash to bash the show was "appaling"), it's even more unlikely.
I agree with #6 that it's probably the best car
show ever made. Even non-car people I know love it.
Chris.
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euphoria3k 11:34AM (9/25/2006)
Save Top Gear!!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/tg100/petition.html
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Ken C. 11:40AM (9/25/2006)
It seems like people are overreacting on this. Based on this clip from BBC news (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfBfDTaunIQ&eurl=), it looks like the BBC is only postponing the show until our beloved Hamster makes a full recovery and is able to appear on the studio segments of the show.
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Buthidae 11:51AM (9/25/2006)
That would be absolutely tragic if they cancelled it, but worse if they watered it down!
I'm with #10, I'd pay at least a few dollars (even a few pounds) a year to keep Top Gear going!
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Robert Aitchison 12:01PM (9/25/2006)
Top Gear is by far the best automotive show that I've ever seen. While I hope to see it continue on as it has been I'd rather see it go off the air altogether than be dilluted down by the safety nazis.
Top Gear is kind of like automotive porn, though instead of us vicariously living out our fantasies that our wives would never consider, we're living out other fantasies, that our wives (and/or pocketbooks) would never let us consider.
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RP 12:09PM (9/25/2006)
Cancel TopGear?!
Then you might as well cancel all racing shows: F1, Champ, Indy, SCCA, Drag Racing, Motorcycle Racing, Rallye Racing...
Like TopGear, we watch these for the thrill, but we don't drive like that in our own cars. It's called living vicariously!
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James 12:19PM (9/25/2006)
I really hope Hammond makes a full recovery and returns to the show - but I also believe the show should go on to show their support for him. He wouldn't want the show to stop.
I can't imagine what the show would be like without the stunts. Remember when they each purchased a car, drove it along some train route and back, then ran the Top Gear Track, only to end up seeing how safe their cars were by driving them into a wall of blocks? What other show brings us this type of auto entertainment?
Cutting back the stunts would also mean no more Hammond sitting in a car getting electrified, or any of those races of car vs. something fast (I really loved the race to the snow resort - car vs. plan/train/bus).
James
http://www.CarTV.com
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Rocket Punch 12:21PM (9/25/2006)
I am agreeing with #6 here. This show a holy gift to all car nuts in the world.
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Stoneman 12:28PM (9/25/2006)
Top Gear is the elite of the elite shows. It put the 33's in el33t.
God speed Hammond, I hope you get better.
Stoneman
http://www.stonemanautoreview.com
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Obvious 12:51PM (9/25/2006)
They better keep this show alive, and in the UK. Screw FOX. Who knows, if they got ahold of it, the show might turn into threats about anthrax-laden wheels being shipped from the middle east...
I need more brit-(dry)wit with my automotive shows.
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chadzter 12:58PM (9/25/2006)
I am in the USA and I love Top Gear. I just wish I had a legal way to watch the show. I would gladly pay $1 per download for a show or buy it on DVDs. If they change the show or cancle it would be a great lose.
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