I know a few of you are fans of the show from seeing it pop up in threads about top 5/10/etc TV shows, so thought I should share this news nugget with you... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32052736 He was on his final warning after complaints in previous shows about comments/jokes he's made, so punching a producer was always likely to end in the BBC and him parting ways. The BBC in particular has to be pretty careful these days in being seen to do something when one of it's employees does anything untoward...they have a paedophilia scandal (Google Jimmy Savile) that they covered up in the 60's/70's that came to light in recent years. I'm assuming that the show will go on, but think it's fair to say it won't be the same without him, love him or loathe him.
I doubt I'll watch it much once that trio is gone. What made that show special was that it was more than just a car show. That's why it was bringing in the billions in revenue. I'll watch a car show when they're featuring a car I'm interested in, but otherwise I don't. But I watched Top Gear regardless of which cars were on that week. I tried to watch the U.S. Top Gear, which is a near carbon copy and yet for whatever reason it never caught my interest. As similar as the show was, it was just a car show for me. IMO Clarkson is almost assuredly a PIA to work with, but in this case my guess is that whatever alternative they come up with will bring in a fraction of the revenue. On the other hand, I will probably check out whatever new show that trio ends up on as I'm sure somebody will throw a bunch of money at them to make that happen.
I watched the show for a while about 8-10 years ago when it was on Discovery and came on after the new Mythbusers on Wednesday nights. My wife would frequently work night shifts and leave at that point, and I'd started watching it just by leaving the TV on as I said goodbye to her and then finding it interesting. (funny how you remember certain things that way). Enjoyed the show and liked the guys. Found Clarkson and Richard Hammond really entertaining. Haven't seen an episode in a LONG time though.
I've watched it quite a bit. Clarkson is the glue on that show. Hammond can still keep it interesting, but IMO can't carry it by himself. James May is interesting, but nothing more than a role player. The american version is pretty lame. couldn't even get through one show. I doubt I'll watch the BBC version anymore.
I've always liked the show and used to watch it all the time. Lately I only watch it once in a while. I always thought it would be Hammond who would get booted first.
