Don't get me started on Top Gear.
A little history lesson for our friends in America, Top Gear started out as a serious motoring programme. They would often have group tests of a particular kind of car, say something like a family saloon (sedan), for example a Ford Cortina against a Vauxhall Cavalier, and maybe something like a Morris Marina. Like most group tests, they would go through the pros and cons of each car, and declare a winner at the end. That idiot Jeremy Clarkson was there later on, but he was just one of the journos there. Even then, he had that slow style of delivery as if he was always talking down to you, and his metaphors you could see coming a mile away. "This car is so comfortable, it could be a pipe and slippers". Quite.
Sometime in the 1990s, possibly later, the show started to get too full of itself, and Clarksons ego started to over-inflate. This possibly co-incided with the 1990s "new lad" era (not sure how to translate this for Americans). The research on the cars and technical content seemed to take a back seat to the broadcasters personality (or lack of). A classic example of this was when they did a 10 minute special on the
Capri, and the presenter described it as having "alloy wheels" despite the fact he was clearly driving a red 3000GXL facelift with the sculpted steel wheels. This guy (Quentin Wilson) was supposed to have been a used car saleman, so he should know the difference between steel and alloy wheels, unless of course he was just reading a script like an actor instead of a car enthusiast?
Heaven forbid you would criticise Top Gear for inaccuracies, which would brand you as "sad" (translation : goofball, weirdo). Once they did a test on the Nissan 350Z, and they had the Z-cars owners club in. Clarkson asked one guy about his 280Z, and then totally snubbed him on air saying "well, your opinion doesn't count because you have a beard". He should have replied, "well, you Mr. Clarkson have a big fat stupid head".
Now in the 2000s, Top Gear has got even worse. Group tests appear to be between this 500hp Mercedes and that 500hp BMW, which they proceed to drive around their test track with the intention of destroying them. They have elaborate stunts like sending a Reliant Robin into orbit, or a Mini down a ski slope, which are set up by experts while the presenters bask in the glory. Clarkson has gone even further up his own rear end in dumbing down his commentary because the viewers are not up to his mental capacity. He now uses the word "torques", instead of saying "pound feet of torque". Yet he has admitted off-air that he knows next to nothing about the cars he tests. The one saving grace with the current economic climate is that the BBC are going to reduce or eliminate the elaborate stunts that they produce on Top Gear.
Lee.
