Top Gear on 60 Minutes

I don't believe the redneck attack was real either. :dunno:

I mean, I can suspend disbelief during the show, but gathering enough blind faith to believe it was real in real life is a bit too much.
 
I don't believe the redneck attack was real either. :dunno:

I mean, I can suspend disbelief during the show, but gathering enough blind faith to believe it was real in real life is a bit too much.

All three of the presenters, when asked directly if it was real or staged, have said it was real. That's good enough for me.
 
All three of the presenters, when asked directly if it was real or staged, have said it was real. That's good enough for me.

Good for you. Personally, I'd like to see the police report first.
 
Good for you. Personally, I'd like to see the police report first.

I don't really think it is that necessary. The Top Gear presenters are usually forthright enough to admit when they are rubbish or not.

No need to 5th degree them, it wouldn't make the situation any less funny.
 
I don't really think it is that necessary. The Top Gear presenters are usually forthright enough to admit when they are rubbish or not.

No need to 5th degree them, it wouldn't make the situation any less funny.
Believe me, I still love that episode and enjoy it, I just don't believe that particular piece of it. It's not about making it more or less funny, just true or not. I didn't think twice about that part of the episode when I first saw it. I just laughed. It wasn't until I logged on here and read posts from people who were saying that they no longer want to visit America for fear that they'll get attacked too. That's when I started scratching my head and wondering why people were buying into it. I don't believe everything I see on TV. I believe very very little of it, in fact. Reality TV is a crock and even the media is a joke. TopGear has nothing to gain and much to lose by admitting this redneck attack was faked/exaggerated. It would upset some fans and further ruin TG's reputation, as well as, the reputations of three presenters who all stated it was true. Nothing good, nothing at all, could come from admitting it was fake. So it really doesn't surprise me that when asked point blank if that episode was real, they all of course said yes.

What's really funny is that after airing that episode, the boys came back to America to film another segment and what did the government do with their documentary film permits? Revoked them. :lol: Well, more like threatened to revoke them, should they decide not to be factual... this time. If what the boys are saying is true, then a laundry list of crimes took place. It's idiotic not to call the authorities and file a police report/press charges.
 
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What's really funny is that after airing that episode, the boys came back to America to film another segment and what did the government do with their documentary film permits? Revoked them. :lol: Well, more like threatened to revoke them, should they decide not to be factual... this time.
And you know this actually happened how? Other than what JC, RH and JM said, that is.

No one knows anything for sure and this argument is welllll beyond bludgeoning a dead horse.
 
And you know this actually happened how? Other than what JC, RH and JM said, that is.
That, and common sense. Lying about their documentary program permits getting revoked if they aren't factual isn't going to make the segment any better. Or at least more controversial, which is what the show is famous for. If anything, it made that segment a bit worse, by TopGear's latest standards, since they really couldn't do whatever they wanted. If it was a lie, then it makes little to no sense. It wasn't a funny gag. Those blank screens that popped up whenever something cool was happening, just about ruined the whole segment for me, only that canyon road piece when James overtook Jeremy redeemed it.

The redneck "attack" happened 3-4 years ago and even 60 Minutes knew to ask about it. If you're going to lie about something, might as well aim high.

No one knows anything for sure and this argument is welllll beyond bludgeoning a dead horse.
So is religion, but until it's possible to prove a negative, I guess we're screwed. :p
 
For Aussie TV viewers,the Top Gear 60 Minutes USA story will air on our 60 Minutes tomorrow night.You'll have to sit through Derryn Hinch telling us how he's crooking beforehand,so maybe tape it and fast forward to the TG story.
 
What's really funny is that after airing that episode, the boys came back to America to film another segment and what did the government do with their documentary film permits? Revoked them. :lol:
Actually, I've never thought about that. I always thought it was odd that the authorities would get upset about Jermey putting a cow on his car (the worst part of the episode in my book). It does strike me as more plausible that they got in trouble for faking the gas station incident, though I'm not saying definitively that they did.
 
This thread really is flogging the dead horse, but to add my two cents, it is totally plausable. Not that it would happen every day or every time, even in the same place, but deep south rednecks are stupid, humorless and unpredictable. Once one or two get riled up, shit happens. The way the film played, it seemed very realistic to me and I've lived among them my whole life. I'm very liberal, but would never advertise it for fear of just this sort of thing.
 
All three of the presenters, when asked directly if it was real or staged, have said it was real. That's good enough for me.

All that does for me is confirm that it's not a tongue-in-cheek hoax, and not any kind of in-joke between the presenters and "true" fans (which is a common attempt at backtracking I see from the "faithful" when they realize the facts aren't even close to being on their side).


TopGear has nothing to gain and much to lose by admitting this redneck attack was faked/exaggerated. It would upset some fans and further ruin TG's reputation, as well as, the reputations of three presenters who all stated it was true. Nothing good, nothing at all, could come from admitting it was fake. So it really doesn't surprise me that when asked point blank if that episode was real, they all of course said yes.

Exactly. As silly as the hardline denials make them look, admitting the truth would be far worse, especially after holding out for so long.


I don't really think it is that necessary. The Top Gear presenters are usually forthright enough to admit when they are rubbish or not.

Yes, usually they are. Sometimes they even play up the "we're rubbish" self-deprecation when they've done something that's pretty impressive overall.

But I think this situation is different, maybe even unique. They really want people to believe in the attack (or at the very least allow people to plausibly pretend to). The american special had political undertones (if not an outright agenda) and parts of it seem to exist to preach at you more than entertain you. There's a distinct difference in both tone and purpose between the fake redneck attack and, say, the staged caravan fires or Reliant Robin rollovers. They took themselves too seriously and the show suffered (not least because they proved unable to fake an attack any more convincingly than a caravan fire).

Even though IMO it doesn't always work, most of us don't have much of a problem with embellishing/faking/staging/whatever in an attempt to enhance the good-natured humor and drama. But doing it to (entirely) seriously and (somewhat) successfully promote fear and bigotry? IMO Top Gear has never sunk lower . . .
 
I'm with kunedog! Seriously though, that was the shittiest episode special out of the lot, specifically because it was too "Here comes cletus and I'm a giant vagina top gear presenter crew, lets claim that the southerners were going to shoot us then rape us in our cabins like Deliverance."
 
To add my own two cents to the Gas Sation scene ... TopGear fakes a lot for camera. No Secret there, no question. That wasn?t one of those faked scenes. Overexaggerated, one sided cherrypicking to make it look more exiting ... well possible that it?s that. But it?s not a fake.
 
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To add my own two cents to the Gas Sation scene ... TopGear fakes a lot for camera. No Secret there, no question. That wasn?t one of those faked scenes. Overexaggerated, one sided ... well possible that it?s that. But it?s not a fake.


Yeah i'd believe that. Were the probably heckled, undoubtedly. Stuff was probably thrown at them, but thats no worse than a English football game. Was there a full lynch mob out to get them, fuck no. I doubt a lynching has ever taken place in the history of the universe on a large group of white people with cameras. Lynchings pick on the weak and isolated, not a 10+person production crew.
 
Yep, I don't believe they were trying to create a hoax or anything. I just believe that they set out on a challenge with the intent to instigate a heated/violent reaction from some locals and all they ended up getting was a short little fat woman confronting them about their motives. The whole challenge was a bust, so they decided to over-exaggerate it for the audience. I don't even believe rocks were thrown, to be honest, because rocks tend to put some rather nice dents when they hit cars. It would have been good television to show the damage, to add to the suspense. Nah, there are too many holes in the story for it to all be true.
 
I'm with kunedog! Seriously though, that was the shittiest episode special out of the lot, specifically because it was too "Here comes cletus and I'm a giant vagina top gear presenter crew, lets claim that the southerners were going to shoot us then rape us in our cabins like Deliverance."

Yeah i'd believe that. Were the probably heckled, undoubtedly. Stuff was probably thrown at them, but thats no worse than a English football game. Was there a full lynch mob out to get them, fuck no. I doubt a lynching has ever taken place in the history of the universe on a large group of white people with cameras. Lynchings pick on the weak and isolated, not a 10+person production crew.

I appreciate the support, but if I thought rocks were really thrown then I'd definitely concede that an attack took place. There's no reason to believe that happened, though.
 
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