Reports are coming out that not all is well in Top Gear land. According to Car Throttle, Jeremy Clarkson, the loud and brash host of the show, has been suspended following “a fracas” with a producer and that this Sunday’s show will not be aired. This is the first time the BBC has actually suspended him from the show. Currently, the BBC has put the remainder of Season 22’s episodes on hold until an investigation into the accusation is completed.
What was the “fracas” all about, you may ask? While the source, the Daily Mail, is only a step above the rumor mill, they are claiming that Clarkson took a swing at 36 year old Oisin Tymon because…get this…his dinner was late. They were filming Top Gear at a location that didn’t have catering and Clarkson wasn’t happy that there wasn’t food. If this can’t be spun into a Snickers commercial, I don’t know what can be.
Clarkson is no stranger to conflict and controversy, but the majority of the conflicts occur outside of the BBC, not inside. Recently he was accused of stirring the great big pot when he drove a Porsche with the number plate “H982 FKL” in Argentina, a move that locals perceived as a jab at the Falklands war, and before that an unaired clip that showed him singing “Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe” stirred up calls to have him fired after he was accused of using a racist version of the nursery rhyme. However, the BBC had renewed Top Gear for three more years in January of this year, so it’s too early to tell what is going to actually happen. We highly doubt that if Clarkson is thrown out that anyone will be able to properly take his place, and that would be the tanking of the show altogether.
Not that there haven’t already been offers. Piers Morgan, the political windbag who has managed to piss off many people on both sides of the Atlantic, has already piped in his two cents. The “scarred right temple” remark is a reference to when Clarkson punched Morgan at the 2004 British Press Awards. An off-the-cuff suggestion from us, Mr. Morgan: the next time you think you’re capable of hosting any car show, go to a plant nursery, buy a cactus and bury it in whatever orifice you decide is best first.
My world has ended!
No more Top Gear!
It looks like Jezza is history so do the right thing – replace him with James Martin who’s both another Yorkshireman and a petrolhead!
I hope to god that they don’t get rid of Jeremy, he was my favorite of the 3, with Hamster a close second.
As a side note: Is that abomination known as Top Gear USA still on? I haven’t heard anything about that in a long time.
Sadly yes it’s still on. I don’t know anyone who actually watches it, many of us watch the Brits show though. Our new big car program is Street Outlaws.
Could you imagine Piers Morgan as a co-host?
I wouldn’t subject the worst cars imaginable to suffer his presence!
Amen to that !
Why is it I get the very distinct feeling this is all a publicity stunt ?
Why ? Because if you understand the inner workings of TV networks and especially the BBC you know that ;
1) All the shows that have been put on hold have been filmed and paid for in full and in advance
2) Therefore not showing them is going to cost the BBC a god awful fortune
3) ALL networks including the BBC are loath to lose money
Thats why . Now … as the bard [ Randy Newman ] once sang ;
\” I could be wrong now ….. But I don\’t think so \”
As to Jezza and his onscreen / offscreen antics ? As the French philosopher Bernard Henri Levy was recently quoted saying ;
\” Better to have too much satire than too much fascism and political correctness which in reality is nothing more than a subtle form of fascism \”
e.g. Je sui Charlie … and now .. Je Sui Jezza !
Wow,…I thought I was the only one with an IQ who read Bangshift 🙂
Not quite. it is kind of worrisome that I’m agreeing with Colorado Kid though.
*reads*
*Nodding along*
*agrees completely*
*scrolls up looks who posted it*
WAT?!
Yep. Makes you feel like you need a shower, don’t it?
I think I’m right in saying the shows (studio part) are only recorded a couple of days before they are screened, maybe on Wednesdays or Thursdays.
Jeremy Clarkson is Top Gear, the show was dreadful before he reinvented it.
Previous hosts Quentin Wilson and Tony Mason, two of the most dreary, uncharismatic presenters ever!! AAAARRRGHHH Made motoring unexciting and dull.
Whatever it turns out to be, I hope he comes back and the show trucks on. IMO its just about the only good show on tv. And if I don’t get to see the P1 vs LaFerrari vs 918 with those guys I’m gonna be upset!!!!!
Some say Jeremy Clarkson will be King when the Queen passes on to her heavenly Kingdom.And on that bombshell,Goodnight! Top Gear would suck without Clarkson.Is he a pompous windbag? Of course he is but thats why hes entertaining!
Top Gear without Jezza (or May or Hamster)? If that’s the case, just pull the plug now. The current season has been the best in a long time.
I’m the the market for a job, and willing to travel!
All I have to do is think of him behind the wheel of the crossbow in the rain, and I forgive him for everything he’s said or done.
That episode is epic.