Comments on: Jeremy Clarkson suspended by the BBC.

Jeremy Clarkson suspended by the BBC.

salmacis — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:27:37 -0800

Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended by the BBC ater allegedly aiming a punch at a BBC producer. He was already on a final warning, after a series of incidents where he embarrassed the BBC. The final three episodes of the current series have been pulled pending an investigation.

By: capricorn

capricorn — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:33:25 -0800

I am sad about every aspect of this.

By: schmod

schmod — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:33:48 -0800

Good riddance. And I say this as someone who still finds Top Gear to be quite entertaining. Clarkson's a great entertainer, but also a horrible person who's been given way too much leeway for quite a long time.

By: Kutsuwamushi

Kutsuwamushi — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:37:44 -0800

I'm really disappointed. Top Gear is one of the few shows that I can watch with my mom when I visit her. We otherwise have very different tastes. I've always felt a little guilty for enjoying it. Jeremy Clarkson is a genuine asshole, not just a guy who plays one on TV. And although I think he's a good presenter (in terms of talent), I think he brought out the worst in Top Gear, and Top Gear brought out the worst in him by being so popular. So fuck Clarkson. I hope that there will be a new Top Gear -- one with a different presenter. I'm sure it will be tough to adjust, but if they can find a chemistry between the presenters that works, it could be like the transition between Craig Kilborn and Jon Stewart...

By: 1adam12

1adam12 — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:39:21 -0800

This was inevitable. I love Top Gear too, but Clarkson just can't seem to help himself. He makes an awful lot of money (public money!) to host a show, and all he has to do is stop being a racist jackass. And he just can't manage it. A shame.

By: Aizkolari

Aizkolari — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:39:24 -0800

Relevant Stewart Lee.

By: selfnoise

selfnoise — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:43:10 -0800

On the one hand, Jeremy Clarkson is a real piece of shit. On the other hand, he did punch Piers Morgan in the face once. I do enjoy the show a great deal, and I think the presenters are mostly harmless idiot man children, but there's only so dumbassed you can be responsibly on television. (an entire show where James May has to find his way out of a foreign country with no map or language guide. Let's face it, we would watch it)

By: ArbitraryAndCapricious

ArbitraryAndCapricious — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:44:49 -0800

Do sober people actually punch each other? I seriously can't remember the last time I saw someone punch someone else when both of them weren't, like, outside a bar and obviously drunk.

By: benito.strauss

benito.strauss — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:45:01 -0800

The interesting question is "Which media organization is going to welcome Clarkson with open arms?".

By: sobarel

sobarel — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:47:13 -0800

I'd be amazed if he wasn't on the phone to Sky as we speak.

By: Dysk

Dysk — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:48:07 -0800

The interesting question is "Which media organization is going to welcome Clarkson with open arms?". Channel 4 is the traditional home for disgraced, controversial former BBC presenters, I believe.

By: Thing

Thing — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:48:43 -0800

Wait, the season of Top Gear is nearly over? I thought that with all the publicity one must be about to begin. You know, the old, "make Clarkson do something stupid and draw watchers" gambit. Has anybody checked if he has another book coming out?

By: mephron

mephron — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:51:56 -0800

I can almost visualize it: James May opening this morning's Independent, reading the story, sighing, and saying, "Oh, cock." Then picking up the phone to call Richard Hammond about it, and trying to figure out what to do next.

By: hellojed

hellojed — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:53:41 -0800

They can just replace him with The Stig and the series will be 90% better, including the interviews.

By: emptythought

emptythought — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:55:02 -0800

Do sober people actually punch each other? I seriously can't remember the last time I saw someone punch someone else when both of them weren't, like, outside a bar and obviously drunk. Mentally ill people, unstable people, and people with serious anger problems do. Other than that though, no. Does anyone know if this dudes just a 4 star general of alcoholism whose secret is just that he's drunk all the time? Either way though, he's like the platonic ideal of a cock rocker. And that entire thing seems to have died in the 90s at the latest.

By: Ideefixe

Ideefixe — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:55:25 -0800

And just as all the presenters' contracts were coming up for renewal. Coincidence surely. He must have been tired and emotional.

By: The Legit Republic of Blanketsburg

The Legit Republic of Blanketsburg — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:58:11 -0800

By: humanfont

humanfont — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:58:37 -0800

Has anyone else been extremely grumpy the last few days. I thought it was just me, but this incident and other stuff on my facebook and Twitter feed in the last few weeks make me feel like there is some deep seeded anger in the western mind causing us to all go berserk, like mold in our Rye bread or something.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:02:26 -0800

By: hippybear

hippybear — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:05:26 -0800

I really like Clarkson, but I also really dislike Clarkson. He's been on a bit of a downward spiral for a while now, and I've always been rooting for him to pull himself out of it because when he's not being dislikable he's pretty entertaining. (And his favorite album of all time is Genesis' Selling England By The Pound, which is an attitude I can support.) Count me amongst the "disappointed but not surprised" crowd. *sigh*

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:06:05 -0800

Asshole does shitty thing.

By: sobarel

sobarel — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:07:27 -0800

Clarkson "slapped and pulled the hair" of the producer who failed to bring him his food in a timely manner. And the online petition to reinstate him was started by Paul "Convicted Drunk Driver" Staines. O tempora, o mores!

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:26:06 -0800

This doesn't surprise me. I've always gotten the impression that Clarkson was a pretty odious, individual. As for the show, I think it lost its mojo a long time ago. The jokes have become tired and predictable, and even the car reviews seem to have become stale. They just seem to be phoning it in anymore. That said, as tired as it is, it's still far, far, far, far better than the travesty that was the US version of Top Gear.

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:26:52 -0800

(an entire show where Jeremy Clarkson has to find his way out of a Russian prison with no representation or language guide. Let's face it, we would watch it)

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:28:23 -0800

I also like Top Gear, and while he portrayed great chemistry with the others, he did cross the line uncomfortably often (when not walking uncomfortably close to it...) I'd be ok with a replacement presenter offering only 60% of the chemistry but 10% of the discomfort. Clarkson could also really drive though, in a way that not many do. That complicates the replacement task. I guess I'm not really interested in Clarksons's future, I care about Top Gear's future.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:28:38 -0800

By: hellojed

hellojed — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:37:03 -0800

By: ArbitraryAndCapricious

ArbitraryAndCapricious — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:38:55 -0800

I don't think Daylight Savings Time has happened yet in the UK. They've managed to be grumpy without any government-mandated sleep loss.

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:39:57 -0800

They can just replace him with The Stig and the series will be 90% better, including the interviews. Guest: "Hi, it's great to finally be on the show!" Stig: "..." "I love Top Gear! Uh... shall I take a seat?" "..." [many agonizing minutes later] "OK! OK! I ADMIT IT! I'M A FRAUD! I NEVER TOLD ANYONE - YOU GOT ME! IT'S OVER! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!" "..." "Oh come on - that's everything. I SWEAR THAT'S EVERYTHING! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?!" "..." "Oh god... you... you know, don't you? HOW DID YOU FIND OUT!?"

By: eriko

eriko — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:43:26 -0800

[Stig writes down lap time, drops strip, walks away]

By: tavella

tavella — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:46:25 -0800

The report is he slapped a producer because there wasn't dinner catered during filming. I can understand being cranky if that was the usual plan and someone dropped the ball, but you have to be a real man-child to hit someone over it. Send out a staff member to get pizza or takeout, you can survive 30 minutes without food.

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:50:42 -0800

I always assumed his outrageous behavior was calculated, and that twinkle in his eye was to show that he didn't really believe all that and he was just being deliberately scandalous to boost ratings (which is annoying enough but no worse than any of the other media personalities who do the same thing); or whether it was all sincere and he really was a horrible enough person that I'd have to stop watching the show. Which I really didn't want to have to do. But it seems an even bigger shame to screw up what's got to be just about the greatest job in the world. For a chance at that, I'd gladly learn an English accent and brush up on my track skills, and then proceed to stay on my best damn behavior while shouting for a hammer now and then.

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:57:29 -0800

Clarkson had demonstrated repeatedly that he doesn't think the rules of society apply to him, and he's finally come to a point where his bullshit isn't being excused by his profitability and his charisma. Gotta admit, I'm a big fan of the rules being applying to people who think the rules only apply to others. (Except when it happens to me, of course)

By: Sebmojo

Sebmojo — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:58:51 -0800

His job is (or was, i guess) to be mean and hilarious. If he's not annoying anyone he's not doing his job. And if you don't think he's funny, come back after you've said something as good as MY EPIGLOTTIS IS FULL OF BEES

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:02:01 -0800

I always assumed his outrageous behavior was calculated, and that twinkle in his eye was to show that he didn't really believe all that and he was just being deliberately scandalous to boost ratings (which is annoying enough but no worse than any of the other media personalities who do the same thing); or whether it was all sincere and he really was a horrible enough person that I'd have to stop watching the show. Which I really didn't want to have to do. This has always been the way I've thought about it, too, without really investigating too many details of why everybody seems to agree Clarkson's a bit of an asshole. Cheesy and overscripted and slightly embarrassing as it is, I still love Top Gear a lot, and I'm not even a Car Guy, particularly.

By: We had a deal, Kyle

We had a deal, Kyle — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:02:13 -0800

that twinkle in his eye was to show that he didn't really believe all that His newspaper columns sadly show that yes, he really does believe all that. (I always hated the boorish laddishness of Top Gear.)

By: TWinbrook8

TWinbrook8 — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:06:28 -0800

Can someone explain the reasoning behind yanking the final three episodes?

By: sobarel

sobarel — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:10:19 -0800

Seems to be standard BBC damage limitation procedure. They also pulled an episode of QI that Clarkson was on just after he'd suggested that trade unionists should be executed in front of their families.

By: fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit

fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:10:45 -0800

Top Gear: cars you'll never drive, driven by people you'd never want to spend ten minutes with. And yet it was captivating television. Clarkson driving a Peel P50 through Television Centre is hilarious, any of the amphibious vehicle attempts, or the caravan trip where they set the vehicle next to them on fire. Due the unique nature of the way the BBC is funded, I imagine they're probably not willing to let one of their flagship shows evaporate. But at the same time, I'm sure they can only take so much stupid behavior from the hosts.

By: billiebee

billiebee — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:12:13 -0800

He's not just an asshole. He's a racist, misogynistic asshole (to name but two of his facets of assholery). I would love to never see his smug face on TV again for the rest of my life but I'm sure he'll get a specially commissioned show on Dave.

By: potsmokinghippieoverlord

potsmokinghippieoverlord — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:15:29 -0800

Asshole, jackass, jerk, bellend -- hair-pulling? For reals? Over snack time? What a wiener. But "cock-rocker" -- not heard that before. I LOVE IT

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:22:53 -0800

I agree with many commenters that Clarkson is great at his job, but sadly is deplorable enough as a human being that his crappy behavior has overshadowed his value as a television personality / wit. I used to love Top Gear, but I think the elephant in the room is too obvious to ignore at this point. Too bad. But being an acerbic wit isn't enough to redeem unrepentant abusive behavior, not anymore. And that's better for everyone that it's no longer acceptable to be a toxic asshole if you're charismatic enough, at least in some venues.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:27:23 -0800

Sure, Clarkson is a jerk, but the BBC has known this for years. The idea of the BBC refusing to air episodes because he threw a punch at somebody? That's kinda stupid. Why not make his life hell, in the kind of way that only an HR department for a major corporation can? Sensitivity training... forced counseling. It's kind of ridiculous for the BBC to be, on one hand, kind of complicit with his antics, and then upset about it when he behaves like a manchild. If he wants to behave like a child... treat him like one. But hurting the fans of the show just doesn't make sense... especially since it's a damn good show. The BBC can edit and release it however they need to to meet public standards, so they really need to separate the product from the performer in this case.

By: Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:02:18 -0800

The only thing I've seen of Top Gear is the "Let's draw provocative slogans on each others car as we drive through Alabama and see who gets the worst abuse from the conservative rednecks" episode.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:17:39 -0800

I don't think Daylight Savings Time has happened yet in the UK. It has - they do that about 2 weeks before the USA does.

By: sobarel

sobarel — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:21:14 -0800

Nope, it's always the last Sunday in March. Grim times for the congenitally night-owlish British gentleman such as myself, what.

By: ArbitraryAndCapricious

ArbitraryAndCapricious — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:21:41 -0800

Gov.uk says the clocks go forward on March 29th.

By: TwoStride

TwoStride — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:22:18 -0800

So if this were in the U.S., I feel like the countdown to a rebranding/apology trip to rehab would be imminent. Is the PR damage control the same in the UK? I haven't watched much of the show, but surely there's, like, a charismatic ex-driver or general gearhead who could replace him? Or they could make more episodes of Idris Elba driving stuff because King of Speed was awesome.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:23:13 -0800

Daylight savings: whoops, you're right. Sorry!

By: snuffleupagus

snuffleupagus — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:27:30 -0800

Clarkson is kind of obviously a condescending prick. Usually in an endearing way, but that's as a (TV) audience member. And for me, from a comfortable cultural distance when he starts getting into stuff that I can see would be more fraught in the UK (i.e. British social class & etc stuff). And I assume his casual misogyny grates on women even more than it grates on me (already considerably). He's the worst on the episodes that don't really have to do with reviewing cars but instead involve half-hearted Pythonesque road follies, with Clarkson insulting his co-hosts, the setting, the locals and whatever else is to hand. I guess I'd miss him if he were gone, while feeling sort of bad about harboring that sentiment.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:38:06 -0800

James May seems so dissimilar to the other two. Richard Hammond is genuinely stupid and racist. Jeremy Clarkson is that breed of privileged, white male racist. James May just seems very nice and, to my knowledge, has never been implicated in the many racist/misogynist/homophobic/classist/etc. scandals Top Gear has found itself in over the years. I would definitely watch Captain Slow on Cars every week instead.

By: fremen

fremen — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:41:36 -0800

What has Richard Hammond done to upset anyone? He seems relatively normal, but maybe I'm being blinded to his follies by Clarkson's idiocy.

By: snuffleupagus

snuffleupagus — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:45:39 -0800

Hammond on Mexican cars (and Mexican people)."Lazy, feckless, flatulent..." and fat. "Just imagine waking up and remembering you are Mexican. It'd be brilliant because you could just go back to sleep again."

By: snuffleupagus

snuffleupagus — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:53:35 -0800

(Previously.)

By: turbid dahlia

turbid dahlia — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:54:09 -0800

Jeremy Clarkson is on QI a bit. So is David Mitchell. Jeremy Clarkson is now out of a job. David Mitchell tends to appear on anything. So you see, the solution is obvious. Also fire the other two knobheads on Top Gear and get Sean Lock and Robert Webb as presenters and Super Hans (literally Super Hans) is The Stig. Can you say: best thing in the world ever?

By: fremen

fremen — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:05:23 -0800

I see - so they're all assholes. Ugh.

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:08:13 -0800

I get the feeling David Mitchell would spend every show ranting about cars (brilliantly, mind you) without ever actually stepping into one.

By: Hello, I'm David McGahan

Hello, I'm David McGahan — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:20:55 -0800

Top Gear: cars you'll never drive, driven by people you'd never want to spend ten minutes with. Well, yes I can think of many other things I'd prefer to do than to spend time with Hammond or Clarkson. But James May and myself would likely get on like a house on fire. We'd discuss obscure variants of British aircraft of the Second World War, disagree on what type of tea to brew, and end up agreeing that Clarkson is a walking cock face while being deeply confused about how Hammond has had a media career. Then we'd have some scones, with jam and cream.

By: JackFlash

JackFlash — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:25:00 -0800

But hurting the fans of the show just doesn't make sense ... Oh, the humanity!

By: BigLankyBastard

BigLankyBastard — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:30:39 -0800

So, I wrote a detailed paper on the Falklands war in college so I consider myself to be fairly informed on the topic but I'm still puzzled by the license plate thing - what the heck does "H982 FKL" mean?

By: lalochezia

lalochezia — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:31:16 -0800

Top Gear fakes electric car failures to poke environmentalists in the eye

By: chrominance

chrominance — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:31:21 -0800

Replace Clarkson with Sabine Schmidt. TOP GEAR IS SAVED. I thought about suggesting Tiff Needell but he might be too easy-going as a host to work well on the current version of Top Gear. I've liked Fifth Gear in the past (especially because they're more serious about cars than Top Gear) but it's definitely a different vibe over there. Any time they try light-hearted antagonism it comes off as them trying way too hard to be more like Top Gear.

By: chrominance

chrominance — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:32:45 -0800

By: snuffleupagus

snuffleupagus — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:40:02 -0800

Replace Clarkson with Cleese. Replace Hammond with Pegg. May can stay. TOP GEAR IS SAVED. Bonus: the format makes better sense! At least to us moronic Yanks.

By: BigLankyBastard

BigLankyBastard — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:41:43 -0800

I was afraid it was something like that - I'd kind of hoped it was rather more egregious than simply naming the date and place of the war to warrant the purported reaction. Though I suppose if I went to Savannah with a "Sherman Southern Tour 1864" T-shirt with a list of dates and places like it was a rock band T-shirt I might expect some pushback as well.

By: ArgentCorvid

ArgentCorvid — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:45:38 -0800

chrominance: "So, I wrote a detailed paper on the Falklands war in college so I consider myself to be fairly informed on the topic but I'm still puzzled by the license plate thing - what the heck does "H982 FKL" mean? H982 = 1982, FKL = Falklands. I don't think it's any more complicated than that." the right riser of the H looks like a 1 -> 1982 FKL

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:51:53 -0800

I would totally watch Sabine Schmidt + David Mitchell + James May. Now there's ya some chemistry!

By: juiceCake

juiceCake — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:01:17 -0800

Whomever provides the tyres to Top Gear that Clarkson dutifully destroys each episode has just cancelled their elaborate vacation.

By: E. Whitehall

E. Whitehall — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:04:48 -0800

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *deep breath* AAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! (I cannot stand Clarkson.)

By: eriko

eriko — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:09:42 -0800

"H982 FKL" mean? Literally? It's a post 1983, pre 2001 UK license plate, which means it means this: H 982 F KL H= Time Code 982 = Serial Number F = Serial Letter KL = Location of issuance. Translation: it was the 982nd license plate issued in the F series (so, about the 6700th plate issued, 1-20 and a few others were held back in each series) between 1 August 1990 and 31 July 1991 by a Local Vehicle License Authority in Maidstone, Kent. Maidstone, as the county town of Kent, issued a lot of plates for the county, so there were several offices, each one had an identifier. In fact, it was the plate issued to that Porsche 928 when it was first registered, so the idea that Top Gear put that plate on specifically to insult the Argentine people doesn't pass the smell test. NOTE: This does not mean that Top Gear didn't choose to do this special about "8 cylinder sports cars" in Argentina *after* finding a Porsche 928 available with the H982 FKL plate. It merely means that they did not make/acquire that plate and put it on Jeremy Clarkson's car. Personally, I think they *bought* the car and then drove it in Argentina deliberately. But you cannot state that they deliberately put that plate on that car, that plate had been on that car since that car was registered in the UK.

By: snuffleupagus

snuffleupagus — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:13:07 -0800

OK, so they weren't dicks like this but rather like that.

By: eriko

eriko — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:15:46 -0800

OK, so they weren't dicks like this but rather like that. Yep. But when you look at their defense -- "We didn't put that plate on that car, it was just a car, it had that plate..." you need to look at how they think. You do know that James May's airplane has a registration of G-OCOK, don't you?

By: inpHilltr8r

inpHilltr8r — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:17:32 -0800

See, they're not just dicks, they're clever dicks. That's the attraction. Presumably.

By: LastOfHisKind

LastOfHisKind — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:38:47 -0800

In Richard Hammond's defense, in his books he comes across as a thoughtful, intelligent, caring person. I feel like I can those some of that in his solo pieces on Top Gear, but maybe I'm wrong. I'm not sure what to say about the Mexican thing except that, obviously, he shouldn't have said that. It's worth noting that while the recorded segments are done months ahead of time, the studio pieces are apparently done just a few days before the show airs in the UK. Thus, when all this went down, the studio pieces for the next three shows almost certainly had yet to be filmed and if you're suspending Clarkson that's why the shows can't air. Speaking of Clarkson, I feel like I reached my personal limit watching the recent piece on the BMW i8. It is genuinely an innovative and impressive car and the show went out of their way to basically lie about it. Clarkson pretended to not be able to successfully plug in a charger and then pretended that the car is supposed to get a zillion miles per gallon of gas when it's being caned down the highway on gasoline (as opposed to doing the majority of your driving on electric power). I literally sat there watching and thinking "Why do manufacturers even loan cars to these guys? I wouldn't." Much of the show is clearly fiction. The entertainment value used to always overcome that but now it rarely does. The worst part of this, however, is the outrage among the auto enthusiasts. Basically everybody agrees that Clarkson behaves like an ass but in convinced that the BBC should overlook that because the show is so entertaining. I can't help but wonder if these people believe there is any sort of limit on tolerable behavior at all. But also, there also seems to be agreement that, once again, the BBC will say "This is your last warning" and Clarkson will say some sort of vague "I'm sorry you were offended" and things will press on because the show and its tie-ins are so damn profitable. They might well be right on this account. When I was last in England I noticed you could buy pre-made Stig birthday cakes at the grocery, and that's just a tiny piece of it. Well anyway. Watch whatever Jonny Smith does, he's the right sort of presenter. Smart, seemingly nice, and a complete nutter.

By: LastOfHisKind

LastOfHisKind — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:41:51 -0800

One last thing: On the Argentina business, I'm willing to believe that they didn't actually set out to offend the country. But the thing is it would be EXACTLY IN CHARACTER for them to do so and everybody knows it. That's the long term problem.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:56:43 -0800

I once met Jeremy Clarkson in a rather shoddy little council pub just outside of Liverpool. Wonderful chap, utterly charming. He bought me a lovely dog, which he then speared on a pike, lit on fire and shoved the whole flaming mess up my bum while insulting my lineage and upbringing in the most delightful, charming way and finishing off the rest of the pint before smashing the glass over my head and letting me eat the bits of glass still stuck to my face. I was a little bit on fire by this point so he helpfully urinated on me until it was extinguished before notifying me it was my round before repeatedly kicking the dog sort of speared into my rear end. Just an utterly delightful man.

By: Ideefixe

Ideefixe — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 22:18:07 -0800

Considering that Clarkson has a very lucrative distribution deal with BBC Worldwide, which expires this fall, the BBC may not be able to do the show without him.

By: traveler_

traveler_ — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 23:10:40 -0800

"I get the feeling David Mitchell would spend every show ranting about cars (brilliantly, mind you) without ever actually stepping into one." We could have him chauffeured around while he rants about other drivers on the road. ... I'd watch it.

By: JackFlash

JackFlash — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 23:21:13 -0800

Wait, this guy punched an employee in the face? Why isn't he in jail?

By: markkraft

markkraft — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 23:50:25 -0800

Apparently Clarkson hit Oisin Tymon, 36, when Clarkson discovered that after shooting all day and late into the evening, the assistant producer in question had overlooked having food catered in for everyone. Tymon has presumably been working with the show since 2005 under who knows what hellish conditions throughout the world, so there's probably a level of palling around which existed which helped lead to this kind of thing. I believe that one article mentioned that the incident was discovered by the BBC at least a week after it occurred, so I half-wonder Mr. Tymon actually filed a complaint or not. I kind of suspect that we'll see the BBC fold on this one, in some socially acceptable, kumbaya manner, with people publicly resolving differences like gentlemen, but perhaps they'll be too politically correct, as an institution, to do this... in which case, this will be the end of the show. I doubt that the other members of the show would be as open to bringing in someone new as some might think, as even now, they are kind of palling around with each other on Twitter, and seem to think things are a bit overblown. They're a team that know they have good chemistry together, regardless of whether they think Clarkson is an ass. Clarkson's fans are not likely to be silenced either, so I doubt the show has any long-term future without his involvement. The audience for the show doesn't want it to be PC for obvious reasons, and many might stop watching, especially considering that Guido Fawkes, a rightwing British blogger, is politicizing this.

By: ryanrs

ryanrs — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 00:11:26 -0800

Speaking of Clarkson, I feel like I reached my personal limit watching the recent piece on the BMW i8. It is genuinely an innovative and impressive car and the show went out of their way to basically lie about it. Top Gear did the same thing with the Tesla. They just completely made up scenes of the car running out charge, etc.

By: taz

taz — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 01:07:09 -0800

[A couple of comments deleted; no harm meant, I'm sure, but pointing out super racist quips that you also find kind of funny is probably not the best direction to go here.]

By: salmacis

salmacis — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 02:18:54 -0800

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 02:35:16 -0800

Clarkson’s influence seems to me to have been to have been rather far-reaching among a good many British men, who will all too frequently adopt something of a Clarksonian tone and vocabulary when rhapsodizing about vehicular (and other) matters. I can’t speak for this constituency, but I’d guess most of them would willingly overlook this latest incident as they have all of the past ones. For myself, I’d be delighted never to see or hear of him again, but it’s hard to imagine him being out of the public eye for long.

By: Ms. Moonlight

Ms. Moonlight — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 03:34:26 -0800

/r/unitedkingdom is saying that Dave is 50% owned by the BBC, so it's unlikely that they'll pick up the show if it is cancelled. A lot of people are suggesting Sky, but they would lose a huge audience. Top Gear is notoriously expensive too and would have ads on another channel, but no car company would want to put an ad on after Jeremy has just insulted their car.

By: adrianhon

adrianhon — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 03:39:15 -0800

Whether or not you like Top Gear, and even putting aside Clarkson's other behaviour, surely it's unacceptable to have someone punch (or slap, or whatever) a staff member during work? So the question is, what is the appropriate response? He hasn't been fired, only suspended. Do we think that a verbal or written warning would have been OK? Or nothing at all, and Oisin Tymon is just meant to suck it up and say, oh, it was just in fun?

By: adamt

adamt — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 03:44:40 -0800

If the BBC is able to rid of Clarkson the show will be a shadow of its former self. But since its already a shadow of its former self, I say seize the moment! But they shouldn't feel like they need to replace him. Let it be like Never Mind the Buzz Cocks with a new Jeremy every week. There must be other people car people Richard and James can manage some sort of repoire with. And maybe after a season they find someone the audience generally likes who isn't also an objectionable buffoon.

By: epo

epo — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 03:57:06 -0800

Many, many years ago I was baffled by how popular Benny Hill seemed to be among non-Brits, especially Americans, who otherwise seemed fairly intelligent. I have the same reaction to Clarkson and Top Gear's popularity. I put the overseas popularity down to two things: the bland awfulness of most mainstream television and a childish delight in watching foreigners do naughty things that locals would never be allowed to get away with on domestic TV. The domestic British popularity with anyone over the age of 13 is more worrying. I expect to see him presenting a similar show called Higher Gear on some other channel shortly.

By: salmacis

salmacis — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 04:13:46 -0800

The BBC backed themselves into a corner by giving Clarkson a final warning a while ago. If the allegation is true, then I don't see how the BBC have any alternative but to sack him. It's happened before - see Angus Deayton.

By: jack_mo

jack_mo — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 04:47:37 -0800

Clarkson's influence seems to me to have been to have been rather far-reaching among a good many British men, who will all too frequently adopt something of a Clarksonian tone and vocabulary when rhapsodizing about vehicular (and other) matters. My favourite thing about those terrible, pub-ruining bellends in ill-fitting blazers and shit jeans is their constant use of Alan Partridge's 'And on that bombshell...' line - can they really be so dim that they don't realise Partridge was created to take the piss out of awful men exactly like them? Come to think of it, perhaps they could get Al Murray in to replace Clarkson.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 04:53:53 -0800

Rowan Atkinson - loves cars, could do the entire bit as Eddie Blackadder.

By: Devonian

Devonian — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 05:15:49 -0800

The chap in charge of a place I once worked was an American journalist who'd operated for some time under the illusion that he was Hunter S Thompson, which he wasn't. (Nor did he need to be.) But over in the US he'd gone a bit out of control thanks to a combination of a fairly incendiary temper and a fondness for certain pharmaceuticals, and ended up thumping an underling. He got packed off to rehab for a bit, then sent out to the off-world colonies to start again. And it all ended happily ever after. Violence at work has to have consequences. They don't have to be terminal, but they do have to be significant enough to underline how unacceptable it is to hit someone. Otherwise the employer is open to some serious legalling; the BBC is peculiarly sensitive to this, for all sorts of reasons. The suspension - and subsequent postponement/cancellation of the remains of the series, is absolutely not optional: anyone saying "How stupid/PC/craven of the BBC", or worse yet signing that bloody petition, is way off-beam. Save that for what the BBC actually does (and whatever it does, it will get heavily criticised): BBC HR can be pretty dreadful, but in this case its options are quite limited.

By: sfenders

sfenders — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 05:38:39 -0800

surely it's unacceptable to have someone punch (or slap, or whatever) a staff member during work? So the question is, what is the appropriate response? That depends on what happens to be in that "or whatever" clause and how it relates to whatever actually happened. Who the hell knows. Top Gear and Clarkson have a long history of controversies, and most of them turn out to be invented, exaggerated, or imagined. Occasionally it turns out they really did do something wrong: The "Mexican" comments were genuinely lazy and stupid, perhaps even bad enough to be worthy of some kind of sanction. They probably did deliberately crash into that tree without any kind of permission from the property owner, some years ago. I'm sure there are one or two others that aren't completely unsubstantiated. But the Tesla review and subsequent lawsuit? The Argentina thing? That comment about a "slope"? Parking in a spot reserved for disabled people? Possibly mumbling something that sounds a bit like the offensive word traditionally found in it while reciting "eeny meeny miny moe"? Top Gear turns out to be in the right, or at least to have a pretty good excuse, most of the time. People even try to make some kind of scandal out of it when they don't do something as obnoxious in real life as what's portrayed on TV. Some people don't like the show and find it all very offensive, which is perfectly understandable. Others seem to have fun making a game out of directing as many complaints and accusations as possible at Clarkson and Top Gear. So I hesitate to make any judgement about this latest one, until or unless some more details and facts come to light.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 05:45:08 -0800

"Top Gear did the same thing with the Tesla. They just completely made up scenes of the car running out charge, etc." Gonzo motorsports journalism. The lies are most certainly there, but they're there to tell a greater truth.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 05:54:32 -0800

Replacing Clarkson is kind of futile. Besides, Nigel Farage likes his current job.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 05:58:02 -0800

Oh, and if Clarkson went, he would probably talk to someone over in the US if he were half-smart, and be coming back to May and Hammond with the promise of big checks overseas. If the BBC doesn't want to do the show, someone else will... and poach their talent anyway. I mean, really... he hit someone who probably didn't even file a complaint against him. By US standards, that's kind of tame, considering how many US TV stars are working on their second or third quietly hushed up sexual harassment lawsuit settlement.

By: Legomancer

Legomancer — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 06:18:52 -0800

From this I found out Clarkson is only 54. Being an asshole really ages you.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 06:26:21 -0800

I just think it's hysterical that the official term they are using is "fracas." So very British.

By: Renoroc

Renoroc — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 06:51:16 -0800

Top Gear needs more diversity; this might be the right time to fix that.

By: Naberius

Naberius — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:01:34 -0800

As he was leaving the BBC studios, Clarkson was heard to mutter, "Fine. I'll make my own car show. With blackjack. And hookers." Agree with all the other folks who really enjoy the show while being troubled by the fact that Clarkson is such a toxic... (I believe the word we coined yesterday might fit well here) ... chucklefuck. The problem the BBC faces is that, at the end of the day, Top Gear is a car show. And car shows are boring as hell. Did you ever try to watch MotorWeek on PBS? Jesus Christ. Even the US version of Top Gear was horrible. And what was that but the same format with different presenters? I'm forced to conclude that the lightning in a bottle for that show was the chemistry between the hosts, chucklefucks though they be. So if you lose them, you're back to a boring show about cars, or at best one that's trying too hard and looks like it. Maybe there's nothing to be done about that. Maybe Top Gear was a glorious moment that must ultimately pass.

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:03:37 -0800

"His job is (or was, i guess) to be mean and hilarious." One out of two isn't bad. "If he's not annoying anyone he's not doing his job. " Bollocks. At least punch up. He never did.

By: 1adam12

1adam12 — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:27:03 -0800

I like James May and would watch a car show where he obsessively organizes his tools before starting work on some ancient British car, right before the episode ended. May showed up unannounced at Top Gear Live in Amsterdam in 2010 when the Dutch host they'd planned couldn't make it. For me at least he's the best part of the show.

By: juiceCake

juiceCake — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:28:32 -0800

Even the US version of Top Gear was horrible. Did anyone expect otherwise?

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:32:00 -0800

James May does have his own shows, but they are very set in his own persona. Which is basically middle-aged British man wistful for the days of his youth.

By: Liesl

Liesl — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:33:41 -0800

Can someone explain to me what on earth is a bellend? I mean, I know it's a person behaving like a jackass, but I have no idea of the origin of the word. And it seems to be applied liberally to Clarkson.

By: ZeusHumms

ZeusHumms — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:35:18 -0800

Previously on Metafilter: James May makes a house out of Lego Bricks.

By: Dysk

Dysk — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:35:38 -0800

It's the glans or head of a penis, equivalent to 'dickhead' as an insult.

By: FishBike

FishBike — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:36:51 -0800

I was talking to a friend about this yesterday, and here's my analogy: Top Gear is like the Titanic. There are lots of interesting characters on it, but Clarkson isn't one of them. He's the iceberg, and without him there's no story, just an uneventful trip across the ocean. However, he may also end up sinking the show.

By: eriko

eriko — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:37:10 -0800

Top Gear turns out to be in the right, or at least to have a pretty good excuse That comment about a slope was "in the right?" See, I'm the opposite here. I don't think the Mexican comment is racist so much as it is lazy national stereotyping, which is A) a core principal of British Humor, unfortunately, and B) Well, actually, I was really surprised because the Lazy Mexican stereotype is an American stereotype, not a British one, or at least, it was. (Remember Speedy Gonzales cartoons?) It's not racist because it doesn't refer to Hispanics as a whole, it refers to Mexicans, even ones who aren't Hispanic. If that makes him a racist, he *really* hates caucasians, because he'll go off on Americans, Germans and the French in a heartbeat. But "There's a slope on the bridge?" Slope is a classic UK derogatory term for people from east Asia. It's not insulting Thais or Burmese, it's not insulting a particular person, it's insulting the entire class of people who happen to look like them. It is, by far, the most racist thing they've ever said, period, end of statement. I generally cut them slack and I was gobsmacked when I saw that. The never aired mumbled comment by Jeremy Clarkson where he said something that sounds like "nigger" would also be up there if it happened, but I accept his explanation on that because he's publicly gone off on other people for using that word at a black person, so there's supporting evidence of his extreme dislike of that term -- and, unlike the "slope" comment or the Mexican comment, it was a cut take that wasn't aired. Clarkson's recorded apology about the incident also (to me) reads very much like he was trying to avoid it and failed to, and there's apparently documentation that *he* noticed that it did sound like "nigger" and explicitly called it out to make sure a different take was used. That's not the "Jezzer" personality there. Jezzer would have left that mumble in the show. They probably did deliberately crash into that tree without any kind of permission from the property owner, some years ago. Not only without permission, they hit that tree and left without telling anyone. The locals thought it was just random idiocy until they saw that episode of Top Gear. That's just dumb, if you don't want to get caught, don't show it on a BBC program. I think this was just simply "Oh, we hit a tree, who cares?" and not realizing that the locals did care, but they hit it, they left without telling anyone, and they got caught because they showed it on TV. Others seem to have fun making a game out of directing as many complaints and accusations as possible at Clarkson and Top Gear. If he hit a staffer, I don't see how he can stay on the show. There are lines you can't cross, esp. in a public corporation. If this had been James May, the one who rarely gets a complaint, the BBC would still have to fire him. The reports are serious enough that I think pulling the show for now and fully investigating is completely warranted, and if they're true, then Clarkson has to go.

By: eriko

eriko — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:37:20 -0800

Did you ever try to watch MotorWeek on PBS? Hell, go find the original Top Gear. Top Gear isn't a car show. It's a comedy show that uses cars. Note how the only time they'll road test a reasonable car is to *mock* road tests, or to pay off a running joke, see James May driving the Dacia Sandero. They drive fast cars in a stupid way to get great images, and they mock anything but the car because the entire basis of the show is they are idiotic car reviewers. Think of it as the car show equivalent of Faulty Towers. They do national stereotyping all the time, in the form of "It's not The Stig, it's the Stigs $NATIONALITY cousin!" Remember that: They are playing *idiots* reviewing cars. After all, "Ambitious, but rubbish" is their catch phrase. A lot of the stupidity is explicitly part of the act -- James May's "inability" to navigate or drive fast, Jeremy Clarkson's use of a hammer to fix everything, Richard Hammond eating cardboard, and so forth. Do you know what you call a licensed pilot who can't navigate? A formerly licensed pilot. The difference with this incident (and the reason it's closer to the Tree incident than the Mexican Line incident) is that it happened *off air*. "Jezzer" hitting a staffer during an episode would slapstick comedy. Jeremy Clarkson hitting a staffer off the air is flagrant physical abuse.

By: Dysk

Dysk — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:41:36 -0800

It's not racist because it doesn't refer to Hispanics as a whole, it refers to Mexicans, even ones who aren't Hispanic. If that makes him a racist, he *really* hates caucasians, because he'll go off on Americans, Germans and the French in a heartbeat. Racism doesn't have to be purely a matter of skin colour. There is a lot of anti-eastern-european racism in Britain at the moment, for example, and it's not because the skin tones are that different to the indigenous population. 'Race' is more finely divided than black and white in Europe, and often falls along national lines.

By: sfenders

sfenders — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 08:06:42 -0800

That comment about a slope was "in the right?" Not in the right, but they have an excuse that seems at least plausible. I can believe the producer's statement that they had no idea that word was a "highly offensive ethnic slur", since I'd never heard of it. Presumably it's common enough in the UK that they thought people would get the joke, but I can believe that they thought it inoffensive slang rather than racist insult. Perhaps it used to be the former and more recently became the latter, as often happens. Seems like a genuine mistake.

By: salmacis

salmacis — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 08:14:44 -0800

On the "slope" incident, I'd never heard the term before, and so the "pun" completely passed me by. It's possible that they had heard it used to refer to east Asians without realising how offensive it is. (If they had known, I cannot believe that joke would have been broadcast at all.) Didn't Dubya once use the word "Paki" without realising the connotations of the word?

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 08:16:28 -0800

Top Gear isn't a car show. It's a comedy show that uses cars. I disagree. It does have a significant part that is a pure car show, it just isn't an "everyday car" show like some think it should be. In their typical supercar review, there's really no jokes or comedy at all, just lots of burning rubber and flashy visuals, and that's what a lot of people think is REALLY AWESOME.

By: sfenders

sfenders — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 08:27:51 -0800

Speaking of Clarkson, I feel like I reached my personal limit watching the recent piece on the BMW i8. On the question of BMW fuel efficiency, they've got a stronger defense. Sure they didn't tell the whole boringly depressing story, but the way plug-in hybrid cars' fuel economy numbers are reported is thoroughly bogus, and Top Gear made that point in its own unique way involving more attempted humour than factual explanation. In the UK, as in America and probably most places, there are strict regulations about how the fuel consumption numbers get advertised, and they've chosen to keep the information presented for electric cars looking identical to the old gasoline-fuelled machines. This is a well-meaning attempt to keep things friendly and familiar for consumers who may not be familiar with the technical details of the technology they're buying, but it comes at the cost of making the numbers usually bear very little resemblance to reality. It's not BMW's fault, but for cars that are substantially battery-powered, Top Gear is absolutely right to point out that the advertised fuel consumption figures can be even more misleading than they always have been.

By: Keith Talent

Keith Talent — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 08:38:49 -0800

Easy, fire Clarkson, hire Harris as his replacement. Or even easier, forget Top Gear, throw Harris on Cars a few bucks on Patreon and enjoy whats essentially the good parts of Top Gear, beautiful cars driving quickly without the racist/homophobic/unfunny jokes.

By: Sequence

Sequence — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 08:38:55 -0800

I suspect there are probably a lot of very entertaining people in the UK, to judge from their Star in a Reasonably Priced Car interviews, who would turn out to really enjoy cars and to be able to be both amusing an informative when talking about cars. In some respects, like, Hammond--I'm of Mexican extraction but do not speak for all Mexicans, mind, but I think the show had a distinct awareness that what he was saying was not some kind of fundamental truth about Hispanics but the same sort of broad stereotyping they'd use about the French. Do I really approve? No. Am I deeply offended? No. The UK has a Tex-Mex chain that makes enchiladas with flour tortillas and I find that about as tone-deaf. I have different expectations as far as British people understanding the dynamics of stereotypes about Hispanics. But Clarkson's behavior seems to have been consistently bad in a completely different way, and I think someone else could fill his role very well. Hell, I don't expect it to be that enlightened, but replace him with a Token Cool Girl who is very pretty but hyper-aggressive about both driving and challenges and I think the audience would eat it up with a spoon.

By: asok

asok — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 09:00:25 -0800

eriko - But "There's a slope on the bridge?" Slope is a classic UK derogatory term for people from east Asia. I think its recent history is as an American term made popular during the Vietnam invasion. I certainly became aware of it via US media, most recently Pulp Fiction. I had to stop watching Top Gear as Clarkson is such an awful bully, the kind of person who would find 'burning coal' funny.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:14:52 -0800

James May seems so dissimilar to the other two. Before he came to Top Gear, My was a presenter on another automotive show on Channel 4 called Driven. I've seen a couple of clips of him in that show, and he's almost unrecognizable as the James May we now know. Clean-shaven and wearing a jacket. He looks positively respectable. And he sounds far more like Clarkson than Captain Slow. I have no idea which character is the act, and which is the real May. Or, if they are both acts.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:15:01 -0800

"At least punch up. He never did." When you punch up whilst driving a car that costs a million pounds -- not dollars, pounds -- you're likely to cause tens of thousands of pounds damage to the special carbon fiber-hybrid roof panel with a proprietary, more aerodynamic paint that is electrostatically applied to the entire chassis. Can't have that. Gets expensive quick.

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:19:58 -0800

By: markkraft

markkraft — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:21:04 -0800

"This week on the new BBC Top Gear, Bugatti is letting us test drive the new Veyron, and we ask ourselves, "What kind of pretentious, elitist jerks would buy this car, rather than permanently providing free food for an entire town in sub-Saharan Africa?"

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:33:13 -0800

Regarding the future of Top Gear: I feel that Jeremy Clarkson is Top Gear. Along with Andy Wilman, the reboot was his baby. He chose the format, the fellow presenters, and the general tone. He is unquestionably the leader of the three. Simply replacing him with another presenter is not an option. The other two are replaceable. Clarkson is not. I've been watching it since before the reboot and I don't agree. Clarkson may be a bit like the entrepreneur who started a business and built it into a great strong success, but now he has dementia and the job of employees closest to their boss has unofficially shifted to protecting the company from its boss, trying to keep him away from representatives, keeping him away from the money, making sure he doesn't order stock that he already ordered, etc. His company is established enough to run without him, but it is straining underneath the liability that he has become. Clarkson still adds to the show, but in the bigger picture of the production, I don't know that his balance sheet is really in the black any more.

By: New England Cultist

New England Cultist — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:50:03 -0800

I hope this means he'll stop showing up on QI too, which he ruins by his mere presence.

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:57:50 -0800

Even the US version of Top Gear was horrible. And what was that but the same format with different presenters? I'm forced to conclude that the lightning in a bottle for that show was the chemistry between the hosts, chucklefucks though they be. The US version was only superficially the same format - it has not a shred of "Last of the Summer Wine", the UK show that Top Gear is often compared to (most recently by Richard Hammond yesterday on the topic of what show should fill the slot that Top Gear now leaves vacant.) So I would suggest that the format demonstrably doesn't need Clarkson, because it's already been done successfully without him, (and done successfully using just an old cow and a barn roof, not a supercar in sight :) )

By: Mister Bijou

Mister Bijou — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:06:45 -0800

"BBC faces multimillion-pound bill from Jeremy Clarkson's suspension... Foreign broadcasters that have bought Top Gear are eligible for compensation, with rival channels poised to poach the embattled presenter" Grauniad

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:20:00 -0800

There sure is going to be a lot of money flying around if Clarkson leaves. Wouldn't be surprised at all if a new channel also lured the other two presenters, at which point the BBC has the Top Gear brand and not much else.

By: Wild_Eep

Wild_Eep — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:23:10 -0800

(an entire show where James May has to find his way out of a foreign country with no map or language guide. Let's face it, we would watch it) James May's Man Lab

By: salmacis

salmacis — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:45:37 -0800

So I would suggest that the format demonstrably doesn't need Clarkson, because it's already been done successfully without him, (and done successfully using just an old cow and a barn roof, not a supercar in sight :) ) If you're going to use Top Gear USA as an example of how the format can work without Clarkson, I'm already seeing a substantial flaw in your argument...

By: sfenders

sfenders — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:55:07 -0800

Grauniad They also have a columnist doing an impression of an eco-feminist Jeremy Clarkson, expressing nonsensical opinions mixed with some amount of truth, where you're not quite sure exactly how much of it is meant as a joke.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:55:26 -0800

I really enjoyed James May's Toy Stories. Like, really really enjoyed it.

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 12:11:29 -0800

If you're going to use Top Gear USA as an example of how the format can work without Clarkson, I'm already seeing a substantial flaw in your argument... I seem to have confused you. The proof that you don't need Clarkson in Top Gear is "Last of the Summer Wine". The proof you want some of the "Last of the Summer Wine" format in Top Gear, is Top Gear USA - which lacks it.

By: rum-soaked space hobo

rum-soaked space hobo — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 12:47:01 -0800

My distaste for Clarkson and the whole Top Gear franchise will sadly never be as reasoned, as reasonable, as nonchalant, nor even as simply biting as Stewart Lee's display of casual superiority to the whole mess.

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 13:00:41 -0800

Biting, yes, but I don't think "reasonable" or "nonchalant" apply, and especially not "superiority". That was linked upthread, and I have to say I found the 3 or 4 minutes I managed to sit through was as nasty and ugly as anything the Top Gear presenters have said.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 14:11:32 -0800

Why is it so important to have a BBC show about cars at all? Why not just let Top Gear die where it fell and move on? Did petroleum marketing dollars somehow find their way into the BBC? Or was the purpose of the show to buttress the UK's participation in the recent oil wars?

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 14:19:27 -0800

Why is it so important to have a BBC show about cars at all? Why not just let Top Gear die where it fell and move on? It's a very popular and successful show. Asking the BBC why it's important for them to have this show would be kind of like if you asked NBC in the '90's "why is it so important for you to have a show about 6 single people in New York?"

By: markkraft

markkraft — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 14:53:11 -0800

"Why is it so important to have a BBC show about cars at all?" What makes you think Top Gear is about cars, anyway? It's a bit like saying "Easy Rider" is all about motorcycles, or "Beavis and Butthead" was, first and foremost, a music review show, with the power to make or break people's careers. The fact that "Beavis and Butthead" was the biggest, most successful, most influential music review ever, or that "Top Gear" is the biggest, most successful, most influential car review show ever, is kind of beside the point.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 14:55:02 -0800

The BBC has plenty of shitty shows. They've been running Strictly Come Dancing for 10 years now. Why do they have a show where burnt out celebrities compete in ballroom dancing?

By: billiebee

billiebee — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 15:01:16 -0800

You take that back!

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 15:17:11 -0800

The BBC has plenty of shitty shows. They've been running Strictly Come Dancing for 10 years now. Why do they have a show where burnt out celebrities compete in ballroom dancing? That's nothing. The USA has been running American Idol for 13 years, and they're not even competing in anything visually interesting like dancing - it's people singing... it's that thing that radio is for, except they put it on televisions..! To make sure that you can see that, yes, there are people there that are singing? (In case you couldn't tell from listening?)

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 15:43:05 -0800

Top Gear can make me laugh until I cry, but I'm always reluctant to recommend it to friends in case the first episode they watch is one of the ones with one of their idiotic, bigoted lines of dialogue. I hope they find a way to salvage the humor but get some new hosts, ones who have good chemistry together but that I'm not embarrassed to be a fan of.

By: We had a deal, Kyle

We had a deal, Kyle — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 16:03:05 -0800

It's a very popular and successful show. It's also a highly profitable show for BBC Worldwide. (And for Clarkson personally, although less so on an ongoing basis since BBC Worldwide bought out his stake; if I'm reading that right, what he stands to lose now if the Beeb drops him is his ~£1M presenter salary.)

By: QueerAngel28

QueerAngel28 — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 17:00:00 -0800

I absolutely love Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. Jeremy is famous for playing a....well himself. I already forgive him. It's the Christian way. He was on medication for his eye lift. He had been drinking. He hadn't eaten in like 9 hours. Understandable. DON'T DO IT AGAIN!

By: humanfont

humanfont — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 18:38:01 -0800

Really this is all the producer's fault. The talent is crazy and can't be held responsible if they flip out.

By: Devonian

Devonian — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 21:32:59 -0800

The story in today's papers is that Clarkson kept the helicopter from the shoot back to the hotel waiting for three hours because he fancied a pint in the local pub, and when he (and presumably the others) finally got back the hotel chef had clocked off. Clarkson wanted a steak and wigged out when sandwiches were proffered. So, drunken manchild stuff. The subtext is that some senior BBC execs loathe him and wish him gone, and Tony Hall, the DG, has been brokering the peace since the last Clarksonian excess. There's enough money and ego in the mix so that who knows whether a compromise can or will be reached, and nobody's said officially whether there was actual biffery or whether it was just handbags, so I guess that is being kept on the table for now. For added fun, an online petition for his re-instatement has got around half a million sign-ups, and Cameron has waded in saying what a lovely chap Clarkson is and how much he hopes Top Gear can be saved. The whole country's gone bonkers.

By: asok

asok — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 04:16:47 -0800

Finish the series then let him go and be awful on a Murdoch channel. Unconfined by the 'PC' BBC his opinion pieces could be as racist, sexist, climate change denying and bilious as he likes (as long as the advertisers don't pull out). There are plenty of other people who are funnier and/or nastier who could take his place at the BBC, if that's what they want for Top Gear. Personally I think they should reboot or refresh the format, it is stale.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 05:04:35 -0800

I don't really believe anything that comes from the British tabloids. It's 50/50 any new details are just entirely made up.

By: acb

acb — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 07:05:50 -0800

Would Top Gear without the frisson of political incorrectness be able to sell as well? I imagine even if they judiciously kept it as it was, the idea that it had been emasculated and made more "sensitive" or "enlightened" would be the kiss of death for its demographic (which edges towards a UKIP-style reactionary orneriness).

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 09:56:51 -0800

Forty percent of Top Gear's audience is women, according to the BBC, but they still describe their fans as "males 18-35 passionate about cars and driving." I wonder what percentage of the audience would have to be female in order for us to be worth catering to.

By: Blackanvil

Blackanvil — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 09:59:33 -0800

One thing that amuses me about most of the "Top Gear" controversies (though admittedly not this one . . . yet) is that after the actor(s) did something offensive, it then went past the director, video editor, producers, and executives who vet each and every BBC show that goes on the air. The "slant" comment, the tree incident, the faked results, scripted or not, all had to have been reviewed multiple times by multiple people in positions to say "wait a minute, that's going to piss off %demographic!" and none of them stopped it from airing before a quick re-edit to remove the offensive bits. Obviously hitting a cow-orker is beyond the pale, but a lot of the other stuff is exactly what the BBC brass wanted.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 13:04:13 -0800

Geez, this puts things into a little more perspective (bolding mine):

The corporation's internal inquiry into the incident will be overseen by Ken MacQuarrie, the BBC executive responsible for the investigation into the disastrous Newsnight edition that falsely accused late Tory peer Lord McAlpine of being involved in the north Wales child abuse scandal.

By: tavella

tavella — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 13:38:09 -0800

As someone commented elsewhere, you can see exactly how Saville and Derek McCulloch and all the others got away with their abuse. The people signing petitions, Cameron -- they don't care what he actually did. He's famous and rich and he entertains them so who cares if he hits people? 'The producer must have provoked him' 'It's all just handbags in the playground' 'He makes lots of money for the BBC, how dare they suspend him'

By: dglynn

dglynn — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 15:45:06 -0800

Of course Cameron thinks he's a lovely chap, since they are both members of The Chipping-Norton Set, which also includes other wonderful people like the former editor of The News Of The World. More Clarkson on Top Gear has made the show more boring, more ego driven, less funny or interesting. His arc seems as predictable as Rush Limbaugh's. James May I have watched on other shows, and the model glider his crew built and flew to an off-shore island was entertaining to me, but I'm an old fart, and realize this may not be everyone else's idea of entertainment.

By: anonymisc

anonymisc — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 16:41:44 -0800

Yes, I've also watched some of May's other stuff (and some of Hammond's, and some of Clarkson's). May and Hammond are both entertaining enough on their own, but they do work much better when they're paired up with someone else there to work off or work against. Tripled up (like on Top Gear) is even better, but none of those others needs to be Clarkson to get great results.

By: fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit

fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 23:34:44 -0800

Clarkson writes a vaguely cryptic note about the show. Another site says that's it, the show is pining for the fjords. Ambitious, but rubbish indeed.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:49:37 -0800

Whatever you may think of his character and antics, apparently it was Clarkson -- not the producer -- who reported the incident to the BBC. Apparently, they had all been drinking prior to the incident. The Mirror -- whose article is a tad bit dubious -- says a friend of the producer saying that he doesn't want Clarkson to have to leave his show, but that he should attend anger management classes. Then again, they also said that Clarkson racially insulted the producer too, which was strongly denied by a more credible firsthand source. Jeremy Clarkson getting anger management counseling would make for an amusing reality TV short series, I suspect.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 16:10:10 -0800

Oh cock.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 17:32:41 -0800

SACKED!

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 19:20:39 -0800

Good. A little less guilt in my pleasure.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 22:09:00 -0800

...meanwhile, Hollywood stars and TV personalities in the US do this kind of stuff every day, repeatedly, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is probably trying to quietly settle his nth sexual harassment lawsuit.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 22:13:30 -0800

Premature. BBC says no decision has been made... yet.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 05:41:45 -0800

That was a very specific report from the Telegraph for it to not be true. My guess is that the BBC wants to have a replacement host lined up if/when they announce that Clarkson is gone.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 07:32:16 -0800

Guess not! Investigation result (PDF) Director General statement

The BBC must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016. This will be a big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise. I have asked Kim Shillinglaw to look at how best we might take this forward over the coming months. I have also asked her to look at how we put out the last programmes in the current series

By: dng

dng — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 07:44:27 -0800

Adrian Chiles is looking for work. Maybe they can get him in

By: tavella

tavella — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 10:10:28 -0800

markkraft: And your point is? Clarkson should be allowed to assault co-workers as he pleases because someone, somewhere else might have gotten away with doing it? I also suspect that in fact producers on US TV shows do not get punched by talent "every day".

By: sfenders

sfenders — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 10:32:04 -0800

Wow, that's an amazingly vague account of what happened, from the BBC investigators. Whatever it was, it resulted in that guy getting a bloody lip. But it wasn't simply Clarkson throwing one punch at him (for some still totally unknown reason) as everyone has been guessing, because "the attack lasted around 30 seconds," long enough that something else happened. The story behind it might come out eventually, but I guess not today. I'll miss Top Gear, though. They'll try to re-design it without the three idiots, but the odds have to be massively against the result being any good. So they're down to just the one show I'd go slightly out of my way to watch, that being (the often mentioned here) QI.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 12:19:03 -0800

Yes, remarkable use of the passive voice in that report.

By: billiebee

billiebee — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 15:36:28 -0800

Oisin Tymon getting lots of abuse on Twitter.

By: tavella

tavella — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 16:36:37 -0800

And apparently Alan Yentob (BBC creative director) just went on Newsnight moaning about how hard it has been on Clarkson, Hammond, May and Tony Hall and how Clarkson can probably come back to the BBC at some point. While utterly ignoring the guy that Clarkson punched in the face. I grimly suspect that Tymon is the only one who will suffer consequences from this. Clarkson will be paid millions to go be a racist abusive dick somewhere else, May and Hammond will trail along, and a year or two down the road Tymon will mysteriously lose the job he clearly loves in a reshuffle.

By: Gyan

Gyan — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 02:51:51 -0800

Has Clarkson suffered any formal consequence due to the incident? BBC have said they won't renew his contract, but that's a legal discretion they had even if there had been no incident. I don't see any reprimand, fine or termination of current contract, or have they done that?

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 06:28:30 -0800

This is the British way. Passive actions are better than active actions. No one can question not renewing a contract.

By: joseph conrad is fully awesome

joseph conrad is fully awesome — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 10:52:35 -0800

'Was Jeremy Clarkson trouble from the start? He sure was' - Tom Ross for The Guardian

By: We had a deal, Kyle

We had a deal, Kyle — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 11:52:01 -0800

"He told me he always wanted to be a cross between Alan Whicker and Michael Parkinson." #accidentalpartridge

By: josher71

josher71 — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 20:42:44 -0800

Jeremy Clarkson made Top Gear, then damned it: Top Gear is as dead as disco and TVR sports cars—thanks to the guy who made it great

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 03:54:43 -0800

Can someone explain to me what on earth is a bellend? The term in context

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 07:57:44 -0800

Bill Bailey can drive.