BBC Top Gear 2018 Thread
Discussion
cookie1600 said:
RJG46 said:
Top Gear has been a BBC brand for 40+ years. You can't expect them to bin it because it is no longer presented by CHM.
It's not because the CHM era presentation has gone, it's the fact that they still persist in trying to keep a blokey bantering mix and style going when it was unique to the characters of C, H and M. I don't suppose anyone thought that the three of them would turn a car show into a juggernaut of family viewing, but they gelled and matured (sorry immatured) to create TV moments for the time they were on it. CHM's (+ Andy Wilman and Richard Porter) version of Top Gear was a pinnacle in the style that they created and it now needs a complete overhaul and radical restructuring, like CHM did over previous incarnations. Be bold with our licence money BBC and calve out something for the 21st century using completely new ideas, direction and presenters.
motul1974 said:
Paddy 'Bloody' McGuinness??? 
Indeed.And aside from liking his cars, what qualifications does Flintoff have for the job?!? Is he another BBC pundit that's got 'in' and they're now trying to find work for???
Gotta be a hundred more suitable, informed and talented people around, whether on their own YouTube channels or elsewhere in the TV firmament. But the BBC powers have decided that they need some 'big names'...despite the fact that said names have nothing to do with cars...
dukeboy749r said:
Been there, done that, got the lap record. Time for something fresh
cookie1600 said:
Likewise The Stig is Clarkson, Porter and Wilman's 'mascot' of creativity. How can you keep that joke fresh when the team that created it have long left the building? It's like a phone box in a modern world where everybody carries a mobile.
A phone box in a modern world where everybody carries a mobile? A blue one, you mean? Like the TARDIS?Yeah, I can really see the BBC ditching that merchandising icon.
Likewise, The Stig is a corporate asset. I doubt that "I am the Stig" t-shirts sell as well as they did before Ben Collins answered "I am", but there is still merchandising worth in it. So they will keep it. They would be silly not to.
Zoon said:
About the same as Richard Hammond. None
But at least that was balanced out with Clarkson's long auto-journalistic pedigree and May's unquestioned geekery.Where's the balance here?
- Harris as the hotshoe and established journalist
- McGuinness as the...idiot?!?
- Flintoff as the...???
havoc said:
Zoon said:
About the same as Richard Hammond. None
But at least that was balanced out with Clarkson's long auto-journalistic pedigree and May's unquestioned geekery.Where's the balance here?
- Harris as the hotshoe and established journalist
- McGuinness as the...idiot?!?
- Flintoff as the...???
r11co said:
Clockwork Cupcake said:
post-Clarkson TG hasn't been a total disaster.
Not yet, but I think this will be the killer blow.At some point the big budget will get questioned.
I've no idea how the worldwide viewing figures compare with old TG though.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
A phone box in a modern world where everybody carries a mobile? A blue one, you mean? Like the TARDIS?
Yeah, I can really see the BBC ditching that merchandising icon.
Likewise, The Stig is a corporate asset. I doubt that "I am the Stig" t-shirts sell as well as they did before Ben Collins answered "I am", but there is still merchandising worth in it. So they will keep it. They would be silly not to.
It's a fair point, but as cookie 1600 said the point of The Stig was understood by those who created it, and completely misunderstood by those who took over and thought it was just a brand identifier.Yeah, I can really see the BBC ditching that merchandising icon.
Likewise, The Stig is a corporate asset. I doubt that "I am the Stig" t-shirts sell as well as they did before Ben Collins answered "I am", but there is still merchandising worth in it. So they will keep it. They would be silly not to.
When the Stig was sidelined as the 'trainer' for the SIARallyC/SIARFastC and it was hinted at that Harris was his equal/better it was clear they missed the point. Playing up Harris's credentials as a driver was unnecessary, and putting him on-screen doing the training was a dumb-ass move as it completely devalued the Stig character. Heck, they should have put Harris in the white suit and not told the stars it was him if they really wanted to go down that route.
Edited by r11co on Tuesday 23 October 13:00
cookie1600 said:
It's not because the CHM era presentation has gone, it's the fact that they still persist in trying to keep a blokey bantering mix and style going when it was unique to the characters of C, H and M. I don't suppose anyone thought that the three of them would turn a car show into a juggernaut of family viewing, but they gelled and matured (sorry immatured) to create TV moments for the time they were on it.
CHM's (+ Andy Wilman and Richard Porter) version of Top Gear was a pinnacle in the style that they created and it now needs a complete overhaul and radical restructuring, like CHM did over previous incarnations. Be bold with our licence money BBC and calve out something for the 21st century using completely new ideas, direction and presenters.
Problem is it can't be done, TG was CHM and vice versa, you can't build up anything with a revolving door of presenters, Amazon are pretty 21st century yet they just took the CHM trio and allowed them to get on with what had been successful just in a tent, what had given TG 300+ million viewers. CHM's (+ Andy Wilman and Richard Porter) version of Top Gear was a pinnacle in the style that they created and it now needs a complete overhaul and radical restructuring, like CHM did over previous incarnations. Be bold with our licence money BBC and calve out something for the 21st century using completely new ideas, direction and presenters.
It's great to come out with lots of adjectives as you did in your last sentence but achieving it is another matter all together, the show has a structure and you can't just tear it apart as people expect to see certain things and I get why they have tried to ape that, easy to tear the old TG down as the viewing figures were dire, totally different ball game when you're in defend mode trying to keep the viewers.
cookie1600 said:
dukeboy749r said:
Been there, done that, got the lap record. Time for something fresh
98elise said:
r11co said:
Clockwork Cupcake said:
post-Clarkson TG hasn't been a total disaster.
Not yet, but I think this will be the killer blow.At some point the big budget will get questioned.
I've no idea how the worldwide viewing figures compare with old TG though.
r11co said:
When the Stig was sidelined as the 'trainer' for the SIARallyC/SIARFastC and it was hinted at that Harris was his equal/better it was clear they missed the point. Playing up Harris's credentials as a driver was unnecessary, and putting him on-screen doing the training was a dumb-ass move as it completely devalued the Stig character. Heck, they should have put Harris in the white suit and not told the stars it was him if they really wanted to go down that route.
I totally agree with you. 
Re-makes never make good viewing and that is what the BBC have made since the three Amigo's left. With all the "talent" available to them is it so hard for the BBC to understand they new to make a new show and it can be called Top Gear but it cannot be a mere poor copy of what went before.
Some of us have seen Angela Rippon and Noel Edmunds FFS it wasn't always great but it didn't have much competition unlike today.
Some of us have seen Angela Rippon and Noel Edmunds FFS it wasn't always great but it didn't have much competition unlike today.
Sniff has been watching you lot closely methinks 
https://sniffpetrol.com/2018/10/23/bbc-reveals-new...
https://sniffpetrol.com/2018/10/23/bbc-reveals-new...
RJG46 said:
cookie1600 said:
dukeboy749r said:
Been there, done that, got the lap record. Time for something fresh
parabolica said:
Sniff has been watching you lot closely methinks
https://sniffpetrol.com/2018/10/23/bbc-reveals-new...
Ha ha, very closely indeed. This TG news is probably the best publicity they can get for the new series of TGT. https://sniffpetrol.com/2018/10/23/bbc-reveals-new...
parabolica said:
Sniff has been watching you lot closely methinks
https://sniffpetrol.com/2018/10/23/bbc-reveals-new...
LOL. Beat me to it. He's got us sussed. https://sniffpetrol.com/2018/10/23/bbc-reveals-new...
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