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BBC has officially announced their popular TV show Top Gear has been cancelled. The BBC released an official statement announcing they have "decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future".
The cancellation comes after one of the hosts, Freddie Flintoff was involved in a crash resulting in him suffering from severe injuries last year. Flintoff's crash happened at the Top Gear test track in December 2022. The host was then airlifted to the hospital by medical personnel. Both BBC and Freddie Flintoff reportedly reached a settlement worth around $11.3 million. The network also launched a third-party investigation into the show's safety - the results of which are not being published.
Freddie Flintoff has been hosting the show alongside Chris Harris & Paddy McGuinness since 2019. The former trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May left the show in 2015, after BBC decided not to renew Clarkson's contract following an off-screen incident.
Top Gear first premiered in 1977 with varied hosts and iterations over the years. However, in 2002 & 2003 the iconic trio joined the show as hosts making it BBC's top earners and one of the most watched television shows in the world.
BBC stated, "We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do." They even confirmed that, "All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus, including international formats, digital, magazines, and licensing."
Having said that, the show might not have come to a dead end. However, reports do suggest that if the show does make a comeback, the current format & hosts will likely not return.
Source:
BBC Link to Team-BHP news
Only this meme comes to my mind!
It was a pretty bad one. Not as bad as Richard's, but more visible.
Apparently, a 9 Mn pounds settlement. I will miss the show, it was finally good.
It seems that the Top Gear format has finally been laid to rest after Andrew Flintoff - presenter & former cricketer was badly injured in a crash while filming a race. I sort of liked the new Top Gear, while the presenters weren't as iconic as the original trio, they were quite likable (though I wish Matt Leblanc & Rory Reid stayed).
This along with the end of the Grand Tour means this is the end of an era where epic high-budget filmography & larger than life presenters have been replaced with YouTube channels like Throttle House & Jason Cammisa (in Hagerty) with content that is more frequent & easy to consume.
James May - one of the original presenter & presenter of the Grand Tour commented that
the show needs a rethink:
Quote:
"It's time for a new format and a new approach to the subject because the subject has not been this interesting, I suspect, since the car has been invented."
Since then, May said Top Gear "has followed a very similar format and framework to the way we left it".
"But, I mean, we're getting quite old and we already do that," he continued. "There's another way. I'm not saying I know what it is, but there must be one. There must be another way of doing a show about cars.
"I'd be really surprised if it is gone forever... It or something like it.""It did annoy me a bit because there were a lot of people saying, 'They've done that wrong and now you can come back and rescue it'.
"The bloke's hurt himself very badly in a life-changing way, obviously. And you could perhaps not use it as an opportunity to be partisan. You could perhaps just say, 'Rotten bit of luck, hope you get well soon'."
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Do you think that the format is relevant in the modern era of Youtube & OTT?
Without Clarkson, Hammond and May, there is no TopGear.
Clarkson's documentaries are also unbelievably good, the greatest raid of all time, the Victoria cross , Humber bridge, Brunel - Hammond's own documentaries like wild weather etc , although there is a lot of media consumption happening in YouTube , it won't reach the amount of effort that goes into production of content these three used to release.
I used to love the show and its format when it was hosted by Jeremy, Richard & James. They had an amazing chemistry together and had their unique funny own way of conducting the show. Although much of it was scripted, they still made it enjoyable to watch. The celebrity interviews were fun too and their timed laps by the ‘STIG’ in new launched cars was exciting to watch. Jeremy's ‘Some say’ intro of the Stig was hilarious lol:
What a pity! It was never the same since the 3 lads left.
I guess we have the old seasons for us to go back to.
I know most of the fans still bash Top Gear after departure of 'The Holy Trinity', and rightfully so for some period. But honestly, I have started to REALLY like the show with Harris, McGuinness and Flintoff. Granted, they don't look at cars the way Clarkson, Hammond and May did. But their chemistry, on-screen banter and presentation (especially presentation) have become very very good in last few seasons. So much so that I will actually miss them and the show in its current format.
PS: Before anyone reaches out for a pitchfork, I have been watching Top Gear for almost 15 years and I LOVE it to bits. I scrambled for an US Prime Video account when Grand Tour's pilot came out. I still re-watch the few original seasons of Top Gear that are on Discovery Plus. And every now and then I keep watching bits on YouTube, I even remember channel names like 'Hell Toreer' and 'Carsarcasm TV' from the back of my head. That's how much I love those three blokes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj
(Post 5666824)
BBC has officially announced their popular TV show Top Gear has been cancelled.
Freddie Flintoff has been hosting the show alongside Chris Harris & Paddy McGuinness since 2019. The former trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May left the show in 2015
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Frankly speaking, I could never quite grow a liking for either Freddie Flintoff or Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness. Unfortunately they could never recreate the on-screen chemistry that existed between Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May.
I'm sure many others would be feeling the same way.
RIP Top Gear.
That's indeed disappointing. I remember those days in the late 90s when we had the cable connection and BBC World was one of the channels that used to have a dedicated 'car' programme. And Jeremy had a unique style, and introduced us to a variety of brands and parameters - those days Skodas, Citroens, Renaults, Lamborghinis were almost unheard of - and terminology - torque, safety, finish, etc - and the philosophy that there is more to it than just A to B commute. I equally admire Vicki Henderson and Tiff Needell, and specifically Vicki for her adventurous confidence behind the wheel. It was a different world!
For a show that's been on air since the late 70's, I'd say their track or safety record was pretty good.
I'm not really going to miss this show all that much. Post the trio moving on, I seldom turned on Top Gear. Maybe for the occasional Chris Harris specials that were on.
I quite miss even Quentin Wilson. His way of putting this, or the 'British humor' bit was probably the next best after Clarkson. Clarkson added on a voice and an expression that was unmatched and with each passing year, I watched his stomach get bigger :)
All good things come to an end. So did TG. I never quiet watched the new series. When the original trio left, TG had already ended for me. Matt Leblanc never really made the cut as a presenter. Sorry. Neither did Andrew Flintoff. It just lacked the stab of the old episodes. No use holding out a lost cause. Better remember GOD (Good old days).
It has never been the same since Clarkson, May and Hammond left Top Gear. They tried to salvage it with Matt LeBlanc but it never had the old charm. I found myself watching The Grand Tour and Clarkson's Farm on repeat and would often fall asleep watching the new Top Gear. Now that it has shut down, good riddance. I guess Clarkson's face in the video below aptly sums up the situation rl:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=zRpYRp2upxk
To everyone who has not seen TG with Harris, flintoff and paddy, do try to watch it.
See it as a completely different car show, an open mind. The 2nd season on with these guys is brilliant fun. The Nepal special is the best, its what the India special should have been.
Never saw any episode of Topgear after the original trio left the show! To be frank I lost the interest in the Grand Tour as well after the first few episodes (I felt they are trying to be funny but the original top gear flavor is missing for me)
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