Matt leBlanc co hosting Top Gear
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DarkBunny
Registered User
He's never struck me as a petrol head. I think it may be more clever marketing in an attempt to woo a US audience.....
Don't think this is going to work to well. Why don't they have somebody like Chris Harris or Jason Plato, serious petrol heads who can drive.
Mind you be a bit embarrassing if the presenters could drive a car faster than the Stig.
Mind you be a bit embarrassing if the presenters could drive a car faster than the Stig.
i said exactly the same thing. ridiculous matt le blanc seems so boring on tv everytime ive seen him in interviews.
disappointed think i will be paying for amazon prime
Although I've never been an Evan's fan I'll give it a go if only because there's no way I'm paying more for Amazon TV, my Sky bill's way too much as it is.
Agree Jason Plato would have been a good choice, a real driver with proven presenting ability.
Agree Jason Plato would have been a good choice, a real driver with proven presenting ability.
If were going for American actors, tsk!!! I'd have preferred Patrick Dempsey; at least Dempsey is a confirmed Le Mans 2016 entry (#77 in a Porsche 911 RS3) yet again, and will be active again in 2016 in many other European and US endurance races
I do wonder whenever 'actors' are involved as to the perception of others; do they expect the 'real' person to turn, up or just the televised/big screen 'role-play model' that most generally can't speak without a script written by someone else...
I'll take Chris Harris, at least he is a professional writer, tester, and active - with good reputation - on the race track; and like Clarkson he's genuinely controversial and I like that...
All LeBlanc has going for him is that he's been all over Jennifer Aniston; yeah! right!
Yeah... right... don't like him... nasty man...
I do wonder whenever 'actors' are involved as to the perception of others; do they expect the 'real' person to turn, up or just the televised/big screen 'role-play model' that most generally can't speak without a script written by someone else...
I'll take Chris Harris, at least he is a professional writer, tester, and active - with good reputation - on the race track; and like Clarkson he's genuinely controversial and I like that...
All LeBlanc has going for him is that he's been all over Jennifer Aniston; yeah! right!
Yeah... right... don't like him... nasty man...
+ 1 For didn’t see that coming.
..but like Newburys7 said, its all to do with marketing.
I think Chris Evans and Matt be more studio based, and we will see guest presenters like Chris Harris & Sabine Schmitz from week to week?
C’mon… we will all be watching it, and moaning about it
..but like Newburys7 said, its all to do with marketing.
I think Chris Evans and Matt be more studio based, and we will see guest presenters like Chris Harris & Sabine Schmitz from week to week?
C’mon… we will all be watching it, and moaning about it
Scottyg
Registered User
Eddie Jordan being lined up as well. What's the average age of this lot going to be??
I know Jeremy etc aren't young but we're use to them.
I know Jeremy etc aren't young but we're use to them.
Scottyg
Registered User
Well, mentally is debatable, but probably around late teens!! Physically, around 55!
Mattyderv
Old Smokey
Jeremy Clarkson was the heart and soul. Now that he's gone its going to be like watching 5th Gear, a bland, watered down version of what TG used to be
After those last 3 complete Idiots, thought Top Gear may become watchable once again.
Matt Le Blanc - Really, he's all you could come up with.
Off Button once again then.
Matt Le Blanc - Really, he's all you could come up with.
Off Button once again then.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35548081
Sabine Schmitz and Chris Harris taking part as well so hopefully they will make it fun. Can't stand Eddie Jordan, Looks like he has found himself with some free time though after BBC lost the F1 coverage so he has managed to wangle his way into Top Gear.
Sabine Schmitz and Chris Harris taking part as well so hopefully they will make it fun. Can't stand Eddie Jordan, Looks like he has found himself with some free time though after BBC lost the F1 coverage so he has managed to wangle his way into Top Gear.
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All those saying you're not going to watch it! Lol 
Not long ago, we got by with just 5 TV channels! Yesterday, Armed with my freeview box at work, I channel hopped the 30 odd channels, and absolutely f**k all on TV!! When Topgear returns, YOU will be watching it! Even if it's crap!
Not long ago, we got by with just 5 TV channels! Yesterday, Armed with my freeview box at work, I channel hopped the 30 odd channels, and absolutely f**k all on TV!! When Topgear returns, YOU will be watching it! Even if it's crap!
Matt le Blanc was the worst guest ever on Top Gear despite his fast lap. He was disinterested almost as though he didn't want to be there and came across as having the personality of a fish!!! God knows what they were thinking by casting him!!!
Gavin Green, writing in Car Magazine, has summed it up perfectly.
"Ever since Clarkson punched the producer a year ago, media commentating soothsayers have been trying to predict who would present Top Gear. Informed speculation included comedians, models, actors, racing drivers, deejays and other ‘celebrities’ who are clearly telegenic but have, as far as I can make out, no knowledge about cars apart from a professed enthusiasm for the subject, the occasional extravagant supercar purchase or, in the case of the racing drivers, the ability to drive fast.
And as Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond all regularly demonstrated, driving fast is of little benefit to presenting a TV show (they leave that to The Stig, who is funnier than any racing driver without ever saying a word). I can recall only one car expert on the supposed shortlist: Vicki Butler-Henderson.
The mass media has long misjudged the reasons behind Top Gear’s phenomenal success. Of course, it was a lifestyle show based on cars and car culture that appealed to grannies, teenagers, housewives, car fans and those who simply wanted a good laugh. But both Clarkson and May, as well as being superb presenters, also have a deep knowledge about cars. This editorial authority underpinned the show’s credibility.
It’s the same with The Living Planet or Simply Nigella. These are mass appeal TV programmes that, like Top Gear, require expertise on specialist subjects. Being a mere ‘enthusiast’ is not enough.
Odd, isn’t it, how the mainstream media think minimal knowledge about cars is fine for presenting a car show. But if Chris Evans bred frogs as a kid and loves dogs, would that qualify him to take over from David Attenborough as the next natural history front man on the Beeb? If Matt LeBlanc turns out a great tiramisu and lists cooking as a hobby, would he be tipped to take over from Jamie Oliver? Probably not.
Chris Evans is no more likely to laud the next new Aston Martin or Ford Focus ST with any conviction than he is to explain the mating habits of a Swallowtail butterfly. Matt LeBlanc is a great actor and I loved him in Friends. But he probably doesn’t know a manettino from a Dry Manhattan.
Now don’t get me wrong. Evans – a great TV presenter – could be a fine anchorman for the new Top Gear. But he needs some car experts alongside him for the show to mix entertainment with credibility.
So it’s good to hear that there will, apparently, be one expert on hand: Chris Harris. Or, as the mainstream media put it, ‘the virtually unknown Chris Harris’ (whose YouTube channel has had 24.5 million views and has more subscribers – 334,000 – than many mainstream media websites I could cite).
Now, Harris is a friend of mine and, assuming the news is true, I’m glad for him. But I’m pleased mostly because it’s more likely to make Top Gear worth watching.
Harris, like Clarkson and May, is a motoring journalist who grafted on enthusiast publications for years before graduating from the loo stool (the home of magazines) to the centrepiece of your living room (the TV). He knows a Focus steers better than a Golf and that Audis are mostly tinselled VWs; he knows who Adrian van Hooydonk and Laurens van den Acker are; he knows that heel ’n’ toe isn’t a funny way of walking; and he knows the difference between a conrod and camshaft and that a crank case is not (necessarily) Jeremy Clarkson after he fails to get a hot meal.
Harris really knows cars. Just as Jeremy and James do. Just as Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc don’t. And just as racing drivers invariably don’t either. They’re sportsmen not car experts. So don’t expect too many auto insights (or much humour) from Sabine Schmitz on any reasonably priced car or on a 20-year-old Jaguar, although she’ll be able to steer a GT3 quickly around the ’Ring.
So we now wait for Evans’ new Top Gear and Clarkson’s new Amazon Prime show to hit our screens (in May and September respectively) to see whether either is any good. My suspicion is that neither will be as successful as ‘old’ Top Gear.
The unique combination of BBC credibility and editorial excellence (including global reach), mingled with car journalistic expertise and entertainment value will remain unrivalled, possibly in car broadcasting history, and almost certainly beyond the scope of a disparate new team on Top Gear or any programme produced by Amazon, a firm better known for its commercial rather than its creative acumen."
And as Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond all regularly demonstrated, driving fast is of little benefit to presenting a TV show (they leave that to The Stig, who is funnier than any racing driver without ever saying a word). I can recall only one car expert on the supposed shortlist: Vicki Butler-Henderson.
The mass media has long misjudged the reasons behind Top Gear’s phenomenal success. Of course, it was a lifestyle show based on cars and car culture that appealed to grannies, teenagers, housewives, car fans and those who simply wanted a good laugh. But both Clarkson and May, as well as being superb presenters, also have a deep knowledge about cars. This editorial authority underpinned the show’s credibility.
It’s the same with The Living Planet or Simply Nigella. These are mass appeal TV programmes that, like Top Gear, require expertise on specialist subjects. Being a mere ‘enthusiast’ is not enough.
Odd, isn’t it, how the mainstream media think minimal knowledge about cars is fine for presenting a car show. But if Chris Evans bred frogs as a kid and loves dogs, would that qualify him to take over from David Attenborough as the next natural history front man on the Beeb? If Matt LeBlanc turns out a great tiramisu and lists cooking as a hobby, would he be tipped to take over from Jamie Oliver? Probably not.
Chris Evans is no more likely to laud the next new Aston Martin or Ford Focus ST with any conviction than he is to explain the mating habits of a Swallowtail butterfly. Matt LeBlanc is a great actor and I loved him in Friends. But he probably doesn’t know a manettino from a Dry Manhattan.
Now don’t get me wrong. Evans – a great TV presenter – could be a fine anchorman for the new Top Gear. But he needs some car experts alongside him for the show to mix entertainment with credibility.
So it’s good to hear that there will, apparently, be one expert on hand: Chris Harris. Or, as the mainstream media put it, ‘the virtually unknown Chris Harris’ (whose YouTube channel has had 24.5 million views and has more subscribers – 334,000 – than many mainstream media websites I could cite).
Now, Harris is a friend of mine and, assuming the news is true, I’m glad for him. But I’m pleased mostly because it’s more likely to make Top Gear worth watching.
Harris, like Clarkson and May, is a motoring journalist who grafted on enthusiast publications for years before graduating from the loo stool (the home of magazines) to the centrepiece of your living room (the TV). He knows a Focus steers better than a Golf and that Audis are mostly tinselled VWs; he knows who Adrian van Hooydonk and Laurens van den Acker are; he knows that heel ’n’ toe isn’t a funny way of walking; and he knows the difference between a conrod and camshaft and that a crank case is not (necessarily) Jeremy Clarkson after he fails to get a hot meal.
Harris really knows cars. Just as Jeremy and James do. Just as Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc don’t. And just as racing drivers invariably don’t either. They’re sportsmen not car experts. So don’t expect too many auto insights (or much humour) from Sabine Schmitz on any reasonably priced car or on a 20-year-old Jaguar, although she’ll be able to steer a GT3 quickly around the ’Ring.
So we now wait for Evans’ new Top Gear and Clarkson’s new Amazon Prime show to hit our screens (in May and September respectively) to see whether either is any good. My suspicion is that neither will be as successful as ‘old’ Top Gear.
The unique combination of BBC credibility and editorial excellence (including global reach), mingled with car journalistic expertise and entertainment value will remain unrivalled, possibly in car broadcasting history, and almost certainly beyond the scope of a disparate new team on Top Gear or any programme produced by Amazon, a firm better known for its commercial rather than its creative acumen."
I'm reserving any judgement until I actually see the new show format and presenters in action. I think, and sincerely hope, that the new format is going to be very different from the old, which only worked because of the three numpties making fools of themselves.
Based on the new presenter line-up and their number, it will be a completely different show... Less popular perhaps, but I'd like a bit more motoring/car stuff in there rather than seeing three old gits doing the same thing. Don't get me wrong, the old show worked very well and I never missed a single episode of it, but it would be very foolish of BBC bosses to try and recreate it again.
The way I see it, where there were just Top Gear and Fifth Gear (with a few others), there's now three big car shows hat I will probably enjoy watching and there's very little to not like there
Oh and LeBlanc is a mega petrol-head who is big time into modifying cars, so I hope we'll see more car tuning content in the show rather than only polished super-cars. Will he work well with the others or as part of this show format? I don't know and none of you do either
Time will tell...
Based on the new presenter line-up and their number, it will be a completely different show... Less popular perhaps, but I'd like a bit more motoring/car stuff in there rather than seeing three old gits doing the same thing. Don't get me wrong, the old show worked very well and I never missed a single episode of it, but it would be very foolish of BBC bosses to try and recreate it again.
The way I see it, where there were just Top Gear and Fifth Gear (with a few others), there's now three big car shows hat I will probably enjoy watching and there's very little to not like there
Oh and LeBlanc is a mega petrol-head who is big time into modifying cars, so I hope we'll see more car tuning content in the show rather than only polished super-cars. Will he work well with the others or as part of this show format? I don't know and none of you do either
Time will tell...
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Oh and LeBlanc is a mega petrol-head who is big time into modifying cars, so I hope we'll see more car tuning content in the show rather than only polished super-cars. Will he work well with the others or as part of this show format? I don't know and none of you do either
He's clearly the Hammond replacement. I can see him being the one to do all the idiotic things.
Possibly, assuming that the idiotic stuff is going to feature in the new show. Given the new line-up of hosts, the show seems to be much more diverse and probably quite different than the old, so guessing how good or bad anyone of the presenters will be is pretty mute at this point.
Top gear arrived in Cannock, Earlier this week. Looks like they were filming one of the road trip videos that the show is famous for. However there looks to have been budget cuts as the were driving open top reliant Rialto's in February .
That had to be one of the best top gears iv seen when they had the reliant on its roof at every corner theres no way the new crowd are gona beat that
and the peugeot one with clarkson and may was ace too i was ******* myself watching that
and the peugeot one with clarkson and may was ace too i was ******* myself watching that
They seem to be braking down everywhere, maybe a PR ploy though.
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-02-20/...reaks-down-during-london-blackpool-challenge/
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/fans-meet-top-gear-stars-10921757
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-02-20/...reaks-down-during-london-blackpool-challenge/
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/fans-meet-top-gear-stars-10921757
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One of the Robin Reliants in the endurance feature use to belong to a customer of mine. They purchased it off him last year for the challenge.
LeBlanc now (11th August 2006) doesn't want to do it - or is "unsure if he will return"
Hoooooray!!!
The BBC should just do repeats - always better than the Smith/LeBlanc efforts ; then again I only wasted time with the first 2 and a half episodes of the Smith/LeBlanc efforts - of the original and save licence fee payers money...
Hoooooray!!!
The BBC should just do repeats - always better than the Smith/LeBlanc efforts ; then again I only wasted time with the first 2 and a half episodes of the Smith/LeBlanc efforts - of the original and save licence fee payers money...
Scottyg
Registered User
Rumour has it Scott; never rated the bloke anyway; substitute both for Jennifer Aniston and I might risk one eye but then again not; at least the UK trio were not making shows for any other than a UK audience. For me the BBC should bury the package as I doubt they'll find others with the same dryness, irreverence, and wit of the originals; like 'em or hate 'em they did a good show - all of which are repeated and repeated and I/we can still (to our amazement) laugh at/with.
If it's dumped, Scott, I'll add another 'kiss' to my new Avatar...
Scottyg
Registered User
They were never going to remake it with anyone else to the same standards.
Now the wait for The Grand Tour in October/November.
Now the wait for The Grand Tour in October/November.
