SW17LS

Again...350,000,000 worldwide tune in to watch Clarkson every week. He's not an "auto reviewer", thats not what the show is about. The show is about entertainment for "petrolheads", its not a automotive news magazine like Motorweek or like TopGear was before the reboot. You don't seem to get that.

Brock Yates and Jeremy Clarkson are on an entirely different plane of existence than John Davis. The viewership of TopGear is probably 1000% that of MotorWeek. Brock Yates was a giant in Automotive journalism. John Davis is barely a footnote.

Aside from that, they have entirely different roles like I said. Its like complaining that Jimmy Fallon isn't as good an interviewer as Anderson Cooper. The comparison is ridiculous. Yeah...Jimmy Fallon interviews people but he does so for enjoyment and humor...Anderson Cooper interviews people in a serious way. (I chose somebody like Anderson Cooper for the comparison intentionally to underscore where John Davis is on the spectrum of serious auto journalists).

The proof is in the results, the viewers watch this, so why should he change it? Obviously the new show will be different, a lot of the format is owned by the BBC, but I'm sure the personality of Clarkson, Hammond and May and their interactions with each other will shine through.

The three of them riding through the desert in three beat up old sports cars trying to find their way is what the show is about. Its not about Clarkson's review of the latest M5. Thats in there, but its not the focus.

mmarshall

I certainly agree with you there. Clarkson is not (at least in the past) what I would call a reviewer. If 350 million people tune in very week, fine. That's their business. I'm not necessarily the type to go along with the crowd....never was.

SW17LS

And thats fine, but you can't legitimately say Clarkson needs to change anything when the show has been as hugely popular as it has been, whether you like it or not. Bear in mind it started out a public access show like MotorWeek buried on the BBC, and once Clarkson and Andy Wilman rebooted it it became what it is, a huge global show with spinoff shows in like 5 countries, a live tour, a huge web and print magazine, and an enormous global brand.

If John Davis were fired, do you think it would make headline world news? Do you think people would be talking about it in the UK? Remember...this is a UK show and we're talking about this here.

I'm dumbfounded that you don't grasp the difference.

If you're looking for a rote video review they are on TV, and all over YouTube (and some of those are VERY good)...why does this need to be that also?

mmarshall

Oh, I grasp very well what you are saying. Different strokes for different folks.



And, BTW, just because I happen to personally like John Davis, that doesn't mean I think he is the best reviewer out there...but that's partly because of the way the Motorweek show is set up. With Davis, Goss, and the rest of the staff and their stories, they try and cram too much stuff into one 25-30 minute broadcast. I couldn't possibly type up what I consider an MM Full-Review in only 30 minutes....nor, in most cases, could I do one.

Anyhow......no sense going on and on about other guys, since this thread is about Clarkson and his colleagues. I wish them well in their new show, hope it is successful, and hope he doesn't make the same errors again.

Lil4X

You have to remember, whether a fan or not, Top Gear is a SHOW, not the unchallenged high church of everything automotive. It is primarily entertainment, it doesn't have to be (and frequently isn't) factual. Clarkson et al are entertainers, and most of us are big fans. But we have to be aware that TG is about as authoritative as WWE is on wrestling.

You can argue that these guys are experts, but only so far in that they get to drive everything on the planet. Don't expect their comments and evaluations to match up with your own needs for an automobile in the real world. I'm sure a Veyron or a McLaren provides an outstanding driving experience, as would a Ferrari or a MB-AMG GT . . . but other than spec-racing, where can you use that kind of performance, short of having regular access to an abandoned airport runway? I like the supercar reviews, don't get me wrong, but they can't be the standard for the cars I might own.

TG is Playboy for motorheads - filled with visions of exotic shapes that realistically I'm never going to visit.

mmarshall

I can remember one show where Clarkson (supposedly) took a Veyron to its full 253-MPH top speed.....off of a race track. How he did that without killing himself, or whether the video itself was doctored, I can't say.

Maybe some of the other people here who watched that particular show can remember more of the details.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

first off it wasn't clarkson.

it was james may.

second, it was on a giant banked oval track with enormous straight designed for max speed testing like that.

the veyron has proven over and over that it's extremely stable at max or near max speeds... it is, in my view, one of the greatest road capable vehicles EVER in that it's stunningly fast but also comfy

Nextourer

Oh I fully understand. I was thinking more along the lines of his, umm, unfiltered speeches that tend to offend groups of people during the show, rather than the kerfuffle.

The thing is, can they pull off the stunts they did without the BBC's budget? Some of those episodes looked expensive (Setting the car wash on fire, for example)

Stormwind

Netflix definitely have the budget for whatever they want to do. For example they spend close to $5 million an episode for house of cards and if clarkson's new show does well I can see they get an even bigger budget than that.

Nextourer

Excellent.

SW17LS

Precisely. I'm not sure who in this thread was disagreeing with you...

That kind of thing gets ratings. I have no issue with the non-PC nature of Clarkson, I think the world has gotten entirely too PC. Hell, I'm from the US South and I thought the trip they took here was hilarious.

Oh yes, If anything, it was incredible they could do that with the BBC's budget. The BBC is a public network, it doesn't have the resources even a private network like ITV or ABC, etc has.

mmarshall

I'm pretty sure it was Clarkson, if my memory is correct.....but, since you admittedly watch the show more than I do, I'll take your word for it.

SW17LS

It was James May, and it was on a closed track:

mmarshall

Thanks. You're right (I told you I'd take your word for it). It was May. I had remembered the high-speed run from that video, but not May himself.

I'll say one thing for May. He's got *****. There is no way I would ever drive at that kind of speed, even in a car like the Veyron that was specifically designed for it. That kind of velocity scares the hell out of me on the ground, even though, as a licensed pilot, I've done 200+ MPH through the air in some General Aviation planes.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i think dc traffic is scarier.