Episodes
It'll be better without Evans, and Matt is quite watchable though you can't help but compare with his role in Episodes. Pity about EJ, he's one of the many reasons why F1 isn't worth watching
Matt LeBlanc handed £1.5m to front next two series of Top Gear
Former Friends star Matt MeBlanc has penned a £1.5m deal with licence fee payers of the BBC to front up Top Gear for the next two series. Joining the chisel jawed comedy actor are car journos Chris Harris and Rory Reid, along with regular guests including domineering ex-Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan, pro motor racer …
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Monday 26th September 2016 13:39 GMT 142
Re: If it sells he'll be worth the money
Evans was sabotaged, by himself bottling it, the previous team refusing to adapt, or BBC management being idiots. Someone refused to change up the show, and I can't figure out which.
It was blindingly obvious that he was never going to work in a slow paced, wink-and-nod, show like Jeremy and co's Top Gear. He's just not that kind of presenter. He's the king of facepaced, chaotic shows.
Why he didn't transform it to his strengths, I'll never know. It would have been great, and it would have alienated plenty of people I'm sure, too! But at least it wouldn't have been that trainwreck!
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Monday 26th September 2016 18:51 GMT Anonymous Coward
Evans was sabotaged
No, Evans was always completely wrong for the job.
My suspicion is that top brass at the beeb made a bit of a panic decision when they realised their cash cow was in the process of falling apart, which went along the lines of:
- Right, this 'Top Gear' business, thats a rather 'Petrol Head' show isn't it.
- Who've we got on the payroll who is a petrol head ?
- Ooh, we seem to have Chris Evans, he's rather populal on the radio isn't he - and he knows somethign about cars?
- Right get him in!
...completely overlooking the whole point of the show, which is that Top Gear is a bunch of laughs with infantile humour, with exotic cars mixed in. It is NOT 'Fifth Gear'.
Evans was never the guy for the job - I really could not stand his high pitched voice, and feedback in the media suggests that neither could a lot of other viewers. I have no idea why Eddie Jordan was brought it - again thats trying to turn TG back into Fifth Gear.
Now, Steve Cougan on the other hand ... I'm astonished that he was never mentioned as an option. I really think his dry sense of humour would have worked, and he is a proper, Ferarri-driving, 'Petrol Head'.
IMHO, Le Blanc works because he's got the right laddish attitude. Also the young black guy (whos name, embarrasingly, I can't recall right now - Rory Reid?) was a good addition to the show.
Finally, I hope they keep Sabine Schmidt a part of the show - she's got attitude and talent by the bucketload.
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Monday 26th September 2016 14:37 GMT Danny 14
Re: If it sells he'll be worth the money
It wont work because TG was more than a "name" and format. It was an amalgamation of the original 3, silly ideas and chemistry. They would have been better off spending the 1.5million on developing a new format rather than trying to compete with the old TG.
1.5mil for one presenter though. Fucking fuck that's a waste of money.
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Monday 26th September 2016 13:34 GMT Peter X
EJ
I don't mind EJ on F1 because he does at least know the business and is happy to ask rich, important people awkward questions. But I wouldn't have bothered with him for Top Gear... there's just no point in him. I'm not even sure if he's really that into cars - in a petrol-head way?
Rory Reid was better than I had expected and I think he improved with each Extra Gear and you need his character to help with Chris Harris's dryness.
I hope they put the Reasonably-Priced-Car track back to how it was before. The changes they made were stoopid. I'm also not 100% convinced that having two stars to interview/race was a good idea either.
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Monday 26th September 2016 13:48 GMT 142
Re: EJ
EJ definitely does like *racing*, whatever about liking cars as such. He was a former F3 and F2 driver, and (according to wiki) a McLaren tester, before being a team boss.
I wonder if they're using him the right way? I didn't watch much of him on the new Top Gear, but there should be plenty of scope for hilarious stories based on the old pro running rings around the new guys, especially if they got their hands on some old F3 cars from the 70s.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 10:20 GMT JimboSmith
Re: EJ
I really like him on F1 he adds the former team boss element (don't see Sky having one of them) to complement the former driver in the shape of DC. The only problem I have with F1 is the German coverage (when C4 aren't showing it live) has adverts in. For Top Gear I didn't think Evans worked and they need to get Jodie Kidd in alongside MLB and one of the other lads CH or RR and go back to making a show that is mostly about the laughs.
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Monday 26th September 2016 14:18 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: EJ
I'm also not 100% convinced that having two stars to interview/race was a good idea either.
I suspect this is where the accountants came in. Making such a show costs money, and the longer you can make the waffly bits, the less you have to spend on the show (important consideration of you just ended up with a £50M hole in your budget that you can't really ask the license payer to fill). People don't watch the show for deep insight into the (car)life of the stars, and that segment just had too much prominence. It's a good thing fewer people were watching, because I think that would have become the kettle segment: the time you realise that you won't miss much when making a cup of tea..
Speaking of accountants - would it not be better to take the best bits out of the actual show and the "background" episode which was really just another show segment?
I've never really been a fan of Chris Evans as I don't like his voice and his extravert personality, but he's given it at least a go (well, for good money I'd imagine). That said, not only do I have to give him thumbs up for broadcasting the "stop because I need to barf" segment when Sabine Schmitz showed him what real driving is, using an Audi (and, let's be honest, it IS harder as a passenger), I also think he was predestined to fail. He had to find a middle ground between taking over a show with established personalities and quirks and somehow give it a new spin (pardon the pun) without changing it so much that it was no longer Top Gear, and without making it a "Chris Evans and other people" type show, which would work more with his personality.
I might not like the guy, but hat off for trying - it was never easy. At least they now know what doesn't work - a process that also took a few years for the previous team..
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Monday 26th September 2016 15:30 GMT Matt 21
Re: EJ
EJ should have intelligent comments to make based on his experience in F1 but that's not what comes across. He does manage to get the big interviews but never manages to ask the right questions and he always sucks up to Bernie and never puts him under pressure.
Isn't the Irish expression a "gob shite"?
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Monday 26th September 2016 16:14 GMT Jason Bloomberg
Re: So...
Let's hope not. That LeBlanc isn't as bad as Evans won't fix things; it needs a kick up the arse just to get it back into third gear.
Evans was dire, 'kid's show' and shouty, the rest just so-so, set dressing. Eddie Jordan could have been replaced by the proverbial tub of lard. The 'road trips' were inane. The 'Star in a RPC' segment became dull and stupid. The interviews tedious. Above all, it felt contrived with none of the past sparkle.
It seemed like they were dragging a dead carcass around, trying to pretend it was still alive. I can watch any old crap but that doesn't make me a viewer.
I gave it a chance. I more often than not ended up fast-forwarding 85%, watching about 15%. And it never held its own against old re-runs of TG on Dave.
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Monday 26th September 2016 14:28 GMT I Like Heckling
Still Undecided
Granted LeBlanc did kinda grow into the role by the end... Evans was a trainwreck from start to finish... Whilst the 2 proper motoring journos were a breath of fresh air. EJ is a terrible presenter regardless of his knowledge. His presenting style on the BBC's F1 shows was cringe worthy and alongside Coulthard made for the dullest pairing in sports history.
It's why I stopped watching F1 on the BBC after they sold out fans to Sky... a terrible move, and then selling out to C4;.. who as a publicly funded station should be barred from stealing shows from the BBC and instead create of find their own shows... or have their funding withdrawn.
I'm not sure if LeBlanc can carry the entire show, but his dry humour and deadpan style is far more likeable than Evans Clarkson impersonation ever was.
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Monday 26th September 2016 14:40 GMT djack
Re: Still Undecided
In partial defence of C4 as I totally agree with your thoughts about that other show (which was a totally different set of circumstances) ..
The BBC clearly didn't want F1 and were trying to do so in as quick a way as possible. So C4 picking it up has been a very good thing indeed. Whilst they haven't done quite as well as the BBC did in previous years, their coverage hasn't been too bad and also their live race sessions are broadcast advert-free (which wouldn't happen if a more commercial terrestrial channel picked it up).
With regards to EJ, he is essential viewing in the F1, his knowledge and insight is second to none (I don't believe any rumour until he has repeated it) but in TG he was totally wasted - not that I suppose he minded being paid to travel 1st class on the orient express.
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Monday 26th September 2016 15:36 GMT Matt 21
Re: Still Undecided
I agree with you djack's comment about C4 picking up F1 from the BBC.
However, I disagree with comments about EJ. I can't think of any insightful comment he's ever made. He tends to brown nose and mostly talks rubbish. He's quite happy to tell you X is Y when you can see on the screen for yourself that X isn't Y. Quite frankly he's a waste of space.
DC and Ben Edwards work quite well together... not legendary talent as they don't play off each other as well as Murrey and James Hunt did but you can't always have that.
Mind you I think I'll give yp on it once Sky get all the coverage... or start watching it in French for free.
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Monday 26th September 2016 18:07 GMT JustNiz
Re: Still Undecided
> Whilst the 2 proper motoring journos were a breath of fresh air.
The only 2 credible car people on the show are Chris Harris and Sabine Schmitz. Chris is both an excellent driver and seriously knows about cars. Sabine is genuinely quick at least around the Nurburgring. The rest are just talentless space-filling "celebs" that can't drive properly, don't know too much, and have absolutely zero valuable insights to share. Given EJ won the Irish Kart Championship in 1971 and used to race in Formula Ford before he managed his Formula 1 team, I really expected more from him than some boring senile old duffer that clearly can't even drive safely on the road any more. After season 1 I have literally no idea WTF he's even doing on the show.
They should have just given the show to Chris and Sabine. Sorry but Matt LeBlanc doesn''t cut it either. At least he might have been bought some good humour to the show, but for most of Season 1 he looked like he was on antidepressants.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 08:11 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: If Chris Evans had stayed
Couldn't stand him on Radio 2 when he took over from Terry Wogan, and refused to watch any Top Gear episodes even out of curiosity as I didn't want to inflate the viewing figures.
Presume that they are now going to be repeated on Dave - but if I fast forward the ads as well as the bits with him in, will there be anything left to watch?
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Monday 26th September 2016 17:59 GMT VinceH
I thought so.
His biggest problem was playing second fiddle to Evans. While Evans seemed to be trying to channel Clarkson, and failing abysmally (as well as just being an annoying twat*), LeBlanc was just being himself - and seemed to be getting more comfortable presenting as the series went on.
* I enjoyed Don't Forget Your Toothbrush - but I was a lot younger then. I've found him annoying ever since, though.
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Monday 26th September 2016 15:46 GMT eriksolo
We Americans watch British shows because they are good in their format. I loved Top Gear as it was. I watched the new one and I liked LeBlanc, but not because he was American.
The one thing we Americans do not understand is the British affection for creepy DJs. Before he was dead I was shown a episode of "Jim 'll Fix It"...I remember thinking it was a clever show, that would be watchable without the host. When I told my opinion to my hosts I was told he was a national icon of sorts. That confused me.
Not saying Evans is a paedo, but he seemed to have the same amount of affection towards him as Savile did. No one seemed to think a collection of all white Ferraris was a sign of mania rather than success.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 09:43 GMT Lotaresco
Irritating little shit
Chris Evans used to be my neighbour in the days when I lived near Dunsfold. If I never see him again it will be too soon. He's bad enough on TV but in RL he took over the local pub and was tedious in the extreme. Many of the regulars upped and left for somewhere with a lower content of Evans. Also, if this is anything to go by, don't expect Evans to do anything practical, ever.
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Monday 26th September 2016 21:28 GMT x 7
"Not saying Evans is a paedo, but he seemed to have the same amount of affection towards him as Savile did."
After Evans married Billie Piper when she was just 19, and he 16 years older, I think some people began to have issues with him. Given the potential for exploitation between a top DJ and a young pretty pop singer, the marriage raised eyebrows among the public.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 09:34 GMT Lotaresco
Look to your own house
"The one thing we Americans do not understand is the British affection for creepy DJs."
I loathe Evans with a vengeance. I don't understand why the BBC pay him a fortune. He doesn't have any recognisable talent (see also Gervais, R). However I'm also raising an eyebrow at any American commenting about creepy DJs (see Howard Stern) and as to creepy and talentless Paul Reubens/Peewee Herman. I rest my case.
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Monday 26th September 2016 17:24 GMT Dan Paul
1.5 Million pounds to an AMERICAN "Ha, Ha!"
That is utterly hilarious, let's see the British Bullcrap Corporation gave an AMERICAN 1.5 million pounds to continue in his role on Top Gun. Worse, it's Matt LeBlanc who they chose in the first place.
When all they REALLY had to do to keep 6.9 million people watching was stop the nancy pants interference of some bluenose tosser at the Beeb who was offended by something Jeremy Clarkson did or said. Half the world was always "offended" by something Clarkson said or did and they tuned in EACH WEEK to see him do it again. NEWSFLASH: That was what made the show popular.
Being politically correct simply for the sake of your agenda just might NOT be the brightest idea that ever crossed their collective "minds" (if I can call it that).
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Monday 26th September 2016 17:51 GMT Jason Bloomberg
Re: 1.5 Million pounds to an AMERICAN "Ha, Ha!"
An inescapable fact is that Clarkson did step over the line. He wasn't just being 'excusably offensive' on air, he went way beyond that.
No employer can turn a blind eye to that. There are enough people who want to crucify the BBC that he put them in a position where they really had little choice. I don't think there was the possibility of 'one more chance'.
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Monday 26th September 2016 21:19 GMT Moeluk
Re: 1.5 Million pounds to an AMERICAN "Ha, Ha!"
I don't think it was so much the "one last chance" that annoyed everyone about the situation, it was more Danny Cohens' mission to nail clarkson whatever the cost.
The man that brought us "Snog Marry Avoid", a man so left wing that his ethnic peace bicycle went in circles..had a grudge to settle with Clarkson and so brought him up on several false/needless charges the slope comment/eeny meeny/the falklands plate.
So of course when Clarkson went off the deep end there was no room to manoeuvre, but in fairness if my boss was basically being a cock and trying to stifle all creativity I'd get understandably frustrated too.
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Monday 26th September 2016 18:00 GMT FIA
Personally I think Evans deserves some credit, as he probably saved TG.
Given the nature of the previous presenting team you could never really follow that with any great success, however the collective ire at Evans did provide a distracting focus from the loss of Clarkson and Co., which allowed Reid, Harris and LeBlanc the space to grow into their rolls without too much scrutiny.
Then, rather than being dismissive of the new 'unknowns' the consensus seemed to be that 'these other guys are pretty good; if only they'd drop Evans'.
I'm sure it wasn't what he intended, but ironically, I think he did the job he was hired to do.
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Wednesday 28th September 2016 14:51 GMT FIA
Re: Drugs, the only rational explanation
What on earth are you smoking?
Just curious, what part of my reasoning did you disagree with?
I really do think the ire at Evans allowed the rest of the team to grow without too much focus on them, and they'll be a good team going forward. I enjoyed LeBlanc, Reid and Harris and think they'll make a good show, they have real potential to develop a level of chemistry the old team had. (See the very last episode of TG:Extra as an example).
I don't think they would have managed to do this had the focus been solely on them, I think the show would have been derided for not being 'old TG' and before they would have had a chance to find their feet it would have been interfered with, probably perpetually, until it was taken out back and shot.
Just to be clear, I find Evans consistently annoying, although now Moyles is back on the radio I don't listen to him much any more.
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Monday 26th September 2016 19:11 GMT Stevie
Bah!
LeBlanc is an excellent fit for the new Gear. I would like to know what the person who hired the squeaky vomiter was drinking. Perhaps the idea was to kill the show outright?
The real problem is that the chemistry between Clarkson, Hammond and May has been lost. The Three Idiots was what sold that show, even when it was at its most contrived and unbelievable. So the TG team deliberately set the "accidental" fire in the caravan? Coo! Who'd have guessed it?
Personally, I lived for the moments when Clarkson would shout "I've ruined m'car!" after he'd made some unwise modifications in the middle of some jungle or desert.
What will TG do to fill the gap left by the "special projects"? A show about nothing but cars has only a limited appeal, which is why the format changed all those years ago. Unless some of those cars get turned into trains or boats or space shuttles it all gets a bot boring.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 08:24 GMT Chz
Re: Bah!
I'll happily admit that I only gave NewTopGear three episodes (Episodes?), but LeBlanc seemed awfully wooden. Since Episodes has proven that he *can* act to a limited degree, I do hope he lightened up a bit towards the end. But there was certainly nothing I saw from him that seemed worth $1M a year, bar the fact that he isn't Chris Evans. In fact the both of them did an awful job of letting on that they were reading off a teleprompter. The only bit that Evans did well was the interview, and I'm presuming that since he has gobs of experience there, it's also the only bit that wasn't entirely scripted.
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Monday 26th September 2016 21:02 GMT Martin Summers
I thought LeBlanc was too awkward and wooden for this show. Got nothing against him as he seems a decent guy,but as a presenter he just didn't work for me. Eddie Jordan should never be allowed anywhere near a presenting job again either.
Top Gear is dead without Clarkson Hammond and May, I wish Jeremy hadn't been so foolish and thrown it away in one crazed moment. Rightly said above though, the BBC couldn't ignore it.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 09:58 GMT Lotaresco
Say what?
"LeBlanc is unlikely to let himself be anything but a cool guy."
That's Matt LeBlanc who played an idiot in Friends and a venal self-seeking idiot in Episodes? It would look like he really doesn't mind playing the part of someone who is anything but "a cool guy". He also seems to have taken in several people commenting here who think his on-screen character is his real-life persona.
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Monday 26th September 2016 23:45 GMT Anonymous Coward
All we can say for sure is now the Evans is gone its not going to be as bad (FACT)... I suspect EJ will go after another season, but after evans walked the beeb knew that letting EJ go would just fuel the media storm, even if they know he doesnt fit. Considering how much the beeb wasted on a flights to russia to remember then didnt have any permits to film to then fly back again last season, 1.5m is not so much.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 13:34 GMT Anonymous Coward
If I thought the licence fee was worth it and I paid it, I would watch TG with Matt Leblanc.
I refused to watch it with Chris evans because he is an arrogant asshole. Constancy spurting on twitter about how popular he is and how good top gear would be with him, only for him to eat his words when the ratings came out and eventually do the right thing and step down.
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Tuesday 27th September 2016 19:57 GMT Alan Brown
Getting yourself fired
"when professional bloke Jeremy Clarkson punched the producer after he wasn’t able to get a hot meal after insisting on drinking himself stupid following a day’s filming and consequently showing up well after the restaurant closed."
There FTFY
Being a professional bloke and having an onscreen personality is one thing. Depriving the ENTIRE CREW of a hot meal by insisting on stopping off in a pub on the way to the restaurant, insisting on staying in the pub for hours when people wanted to get back to base, then blaming the crew for your own crass behaviour is another.
At some point (like many Prime Ministers), Jeremy Clarkson started believing his own press releases. Even if he hadn't gone, TG would be struggling eventually as Clarkson progressively managed to alienate more segments of his viewing audience as well as the people unfortunate enough to have to work with him.
The TG _brand_ doesn't need Clarkson - the franchised versions are doing quite well without needing an abrasive personality fronting it.
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Tuesday 4th October 2016 13:21 GMT Chris Hunt
Hmmmm...
So the BBC are looking to replace three presenters on a much-loved show. One older one and two younger ones. The show's mostly about larking about and innuendo between the presenters, rather than being a serious treatment of the subject of the show.
Mary Berry, Mel and Sue will soon be available...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
