Chris Evans quits the show

Channel 9 here in Australia are now advertising that new topgear will start here next Thusday, the adds for the show neither mention or show Evans at all and the graphic of the hosts at the end of the add show LaBlanc, Sabine and the Stig only.
 
I tell you what, if the British, the Europeans and the Americans hate Evans, how much chance do you you think he has of beeing liked by the Australians? :lol: :lol:
 
The lead presenter of TG Tv becomes the defacto 'face' of the group and therefore it is imperative that this person has automotive industry credibility. Evans did not have this at all and although Le Blanc is more knowledgeable about cars in general, unless he's thinking of a complete career change then he won't have it either. Of the remaining presenters only Chris Harris could fit this role, so he should be lead presenter backed up by Le Blanc and Reid.

Top Gear started out as a "pokey motoring show", but by the time CHM left, it was pure entertainment that used cars as both it's figurative and literal delivery vehicle. So someone with a strong automotive background isn't really important, anymore, as long as they are entertaining.

The BBC added LeBlanc to appeal to foreign markets (he's a well-known actor) so promoting him to the lead position makes sense, though he does need to act a bit more interested in what's going on around him. Chris Harris and Rory Reed can provide the "authoritative voice" necessary to carry the car reviews, but neither has the name presence outside of the UK to carry the show in foreign markets. And yes, CHM didn't have it back in 2003, either, but the Top Gear of 2017 shares very little with the Top Gear of 2003. So unless they want to scrap the show format completely and go back to the Mark I version / Fifth Gear, LeBlanc heading the show is the most logical move for the BBC to take, IMO.
 
I tell you what, if the British, the Europeans and the Americans hate Evans, how much chance do you you think he has of beeing liked by the Australians? :lol: :lol:

The conversation will probably go along the lines of "Who the fuck's this dickhead?" along with more derogative comments for good measure. I feel like their popularity has waned quite a bit down here, dunno if it's the abstinence or how many times Ch9 keeps flogging the repeats, but the hype has long gone imo.
 
S24 is meant to kick off filming in September and the BBC has been 'on the verge' of signing LeBlanc for a few weeks now. Le Blanc has a new sitcom going into production ..guess when...September. This audience website gives filming dates every week for Man with A Plan from the 5th August until the end of October, and as US series are usually 20 or so episodes presumably into November and possibly later. I really can't see him fitting TG into that schedule somehow.

https://www.tvtickets.com/fmi/core/recordlist.php
 
Whenever I read of somebody saying things like that, that they didn't expect the shitstorm or "being parachuted into a war", I wonder if they live in the same reality I have been living in, if they completely ignored the fanbase and their talk on the internet... or if they really are completely ignorant or stupid wannabe-celebrities that saw it was a great career opportunity, ignored all the warning signs and now woke up with a headache, full of self-pity...

I want to shout at them: HEY! IT COULD BE FORESEEN! And it was actually. The disaster didn't happened without advance warning.

?I was definitely surprised. I thought that we?d come in, do the job and then be judged according to the job that we did,? he said.

Guess what, sunshine: You WERE judged according to the job you did. You did a SHITTY job. Not you personally but the whole production crew and all presenters together.
 
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To be fair: most critics were geared towards Evans, and Evans alone. Reid (who said that quote) has been mostly getting critical acclaim but was surprised by how much criticism Evans received. That was foreseeable since Evans is a love-or-hate-character and I think there were and are more haters than lovers.
Clarkson on the other hand isn't political correct, but he isn't such a love-or-hate-character since his humour is much more refined than Evans', and CHM were and are much more of a well-balanced team. Clarkson doesn't stand out as much as Evans does, and if the one character who clearly stands out the most is so obnoxious the whole team receives the criticism.
 
Actually I never centered my criticism mainly on Evans but how he approached his job. I said from the beginning that Top Gear needs to be re-invented in the same way it was re-invented in 2002. But that didn't happen. They tried to continue with some smaller changes and thought that exchanging the hosts and then go on with the same recipe as before, would do the trick.

It didn't.

And when I could foresee that, so could they.

THAT is where they failed. They lacked the creativity and the imagination to make something of their own. Instead they tried to copy what more talented people had created before. And the fans didn't forgive them that.
 
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Actually I never centered my criticism mainly on Evans but how he approached his job. I said from the beginning that Top Gear needs to be re-invented in the same way it was re-invented in 2002. But that didn't happen. They tried to continue with some smaller changes and thought that exchanging the hosts and then go on with the same recipe as before, would do the trick.

It didn't.

And when I could foresee that, so could they.

THAT is where they failed. They lacked the creativity and the imagination to make something of their own. Instead they tried to copy what more talented people had created before. And the fans didn't forgive them that.

And they are on the way to repeat what you say (I totally agree).

Reid added: ?I haven?t signed a contract yet, and I don?t know if anyone else has, but the expectation is that we will continue without Chris ? Let?s assume that everyone except Chris Evans remains on the show; then I think that the format has to change.

?The way the previous show worked was Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc bouncing off each other in the studio, and then they?d get one of the others ? myself, Chris Harris, Sabine [Schmitz] or Eddie [Jordan] ? to take part in something specific.

?Without Chris Evans, you?d only have Matt LeBlanc to do that, and I don?t know if that?s a route the BBC would go down, to have him on his own. I think they?d incorporate the rest of us to make it like an ensemble piece. We?ll see what happens, but I expect it to be a pretty big change, and that things will be pretty different.?

They are starting to film in september and nothing has been decided yet?!?!?!?!

Like you said on an other message The Grand Tour took one year to get ready and is still not canned. If they script S24 in two hours on a corner of a table without any knowledge of who is doing what (S23 felt like that) they are going straight to a wall.

Not involving the presenters in the creation process is also really weird (At least show them what they are going to do), I guess it is one reason it feel so artificial when you see them read cue cards.
 
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How is Chris Evans still employed by the BBC when he does shit like this?
 
How is Chris Evans still employed by the BBC when he does shit like this?

Incidents like this contribute to the growing suspicion that the BBC really is a haven for sexual predators that takes government money and occasionally produces TV shows.
 
In fairness, having a piss at the side of the road hardly constitutes sexual predation.

(The other accusations against him, if true, would, though)
 
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How is Chris Evans still employed by the BBC when he does shit like this?

If it were just some regular guy doing that nobody would bat an eyelid. It only made the press because of who he is. Most of us have been caught short at some point during a car journey. It's not evidence of anything and if he gets tried for sex offences the jury would be told to disregard it.
 
I knew all along Chris was not going to work out. And frankly, as for the others, if anything else comes along, I don't see them sticking with it either. Sorry of a lady ditch effort to get a paycheck.

And the reason I knew Chris would not lady is for the exact same reason people did not like him.

Also, the BBC thought get some people together trying to hit every group they could, give them a lot of money and some cars and it will be great. I mean, how hard could it be.

Very hard as it turned out because what they failed to understand was, the love for the show was a package deal, and Jeremy was the head. Chop the head off, and it dies.

They might actually end up with a decent fifth gear type show in the end if they give it enough time, but they will never have a top gear show again.
 
My sister who never really watched the show all that much said to me last Friday that she wants to watch top gear again just because of the things CHM said to each other. Apparently it's that good just for the conversations they had.
 
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