Goodbye, Old Friend

Yesterday, The BBC told us that Matt LeBlanc will be leaving Top Gear.

That's a shame.  I liked him in that role.  Even when he said "Top Gear" with the emphasis wrong.

 

We've still got him for the next series though - so there's no need to worry just yet.

 

Although the BBC have already started speculating about his replacement.

 

Bit soon I think.

 

Strictly speaking, they don't actually need to replace him - but three presenters does seem to work very well for this type of show.

 

They could give a bigger input to Eddie Jordan and/or the lovely Sabine Schmitz.

 

The speculation currently includes Jodie Kidd - yes, I'll give that a thumbs up.

 

There's also Guy Martin - I could see that being OK.

 

There's also Dermot O'Leary and Rebecca Jackson.

 

No thank you.

 

Maybe they should look elsewhere within the cast of Friends:

Now I really like Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston but I'm not sure of their motoring pedigree.  While I quite like Lisa Kudrow, her character Phoebe annoyed me beyond belief so it's a no from me.

 

No, we need to look elsewhere within the world of US sitcoms.

 

Frasier? How I Met Your Mother? Big Bang Theory?

 

Ah, got it!

 

A right-wing Clarkson-esque elderly idiot:

Not Two Bad

Last week, I stated how new Top Gear needed three front people rather than two.

After episode 2, I still stand by that - although episode 2 was better than episode 1.  Although that may have had something to do with Eddie Jordan joining Evans & LeBlanc for the road-trip.

Still not got the chemistry working properly yet though.

The Internet seems more interested in watching Clarkson, May & Hammond assembling DHL packing boxes.

Which got me thinking.

Three middle-aged men - good chemistry - good comedy.

Now I know I've always banged on about how car shows should be presented by motoring journalists or racing drivers.

But, let's be honest, Top Gear is a comedy show with car bits in there too.

So this is who the BBC should have got in to front it...

 

They have all that is needed.

Including the cardboard boxes.

 

3 Is The Magic Number - Unless You're Talking about the Number of Wheels on a Car.

Of course I watched the new Top Gear last night.

So did a lot of other people.

And a lot of people have given their views on it - including Fleet Street people.

The guy in The Independent didn't like it much.  I did enjoy his writing style though.  Unusually for The Telegraph, their reviewer didn't hate car programmes.  But, over all, he reckoned it could probably do better. The Guardian didn't bother reviewing it so let their readers do it instead.  Guardian readers are not known for having petrol running through their veins so, not unsurprisingly, they gave it a general thumbs-down.

Which brings us around to me.

I thought it had its moments.

Not too many of them though.  The Corvette/Viper shoot-out could have been done just as well without the shooting bit.

And the road-trip to Blackpool just didn't do anything for me.

Top Gun pukey bloke and the Blackpool Lord Mayor were both quite good.  And the cinematography was up to the excellent standards of Clarkson Top Gear.

But something was still missing.

Apart from "The News" which was always one of my favourite bits of the show.

Which brings us to the comedy rule of three.  Here's the Wiki explanation of it.

They need Eddie Jordan or Chris Harris in the studio and on the road trips so that two of them can always pick on the third.  Then, as the chemistry between them kicks in, we will have a good show - like, The Goodies or Last of the Summer Wine which, let's face it, Clarkson, Hammond & May were definitely turning in to.  Having said that, I am noticing that Chris Evans appears to be turning into Foggy Dewhurst:

There was no sign of Jordan, Harris or Rory Reid - Reid being the one worrying me most simply because I had no experience of his work.  I needn't have feared though - he turned up on Extra Gear on the BBC iPlayer (or BBC Three if you are being pedantic) in a little 25 minutes after-show alongside Chris Harris.  It included a comedy guest (Chris Ramsey) and "The News".  I have to say, I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed Top Gear.

Still no mention of Jordan - who I used to enjoy being the grumpy one when appearing on the BBC F1 coverage with Martin Brundle & David Coulthard - rule of three again.

So, still early days, give them chance to gel and let's see what we end up with.  I'm not convinced that the writing is as sharp as Clarkson's - although there were a few good bits like, "We got custody!" and maybe Evans needs to calm down a bit.  Whatever happens, I think TG has a future (as does GT - Clarkson and Co have a name at last) - even if it is with Harris & Reid.

The Magnificent Seven

So here it is...

...in Chris Evans' own words...

The new Top Gear line-up!

Not bad - not sure I'd go as far as "magnificent" (but that's probably only because I've not heard of one of them)

Eddie Jordan was a pleasant surprise - I enjoy a dour expert who isn't afraid to put over his point and get a good argument going.

Obviously, LeBlanc came on board this time last week.

I'm also very pleased that the lovely Sabine Scmitz is in there but I also know that the "politically correct" comments will have begun - especially since the unknown guy is a "gentleman of colour" - am I allowed to say that?  I'm sure these choices will wind up many people who thoroughly deserve to be wound up.

Tough.

So, roll on May.  (not James May)

Jordan Had A Good Day at the Office

No, not you, you dozy bint. You're enough of a reason to avoid ITV2 on your own. Go away!








No, not Eddie either. The Chinese Grand Prix was good, with a particularly impressive drive by Mark Webber to get on the podium from 18th on the grid and a nice win for Lewis too.No, not the country of Jordan. Apparently Sebastien Ogier won but I had to go onto the WRC Website to find out.
No, I'm talking about this innocuous looking chap here - Andrew Jordan. He won one race and came second in another of the three at the Donington Round of the BTCC. The meeting will be mostly remembered for the carnage though. In race two, Jason Plato had a very spectacular crash...and race three saw considerably more carnage albeit not as spectacular as that one. Those interested (in the UK at least) can watch the races here.

I can thoroughly recommend them.

Everyone's Ignoring Jordan

God, I wish that were true. She's an extremely irritating freak. I can't be the only person who genuinely doesn't give a toss what Katie does next.

But, as ever in my Blog, she isn't what this post is about.




No way baby. I'm referring to the fourth round of the World Rally Championship which hits the country of Jordan on Thursday. Did everyone follow the first three rounds?

Of course not. Even The Dave Channel has given up on it this year. That may or may not have to do with a deal with ESPN but what, for all I know, may be a very exciting championship is getting zero mainstream coverage in the UK. And this is the year that was supposed to be more exciting with new rules, regulations and cars and even a third manufacturer team. This team has provided the only mention I've heard this year, when they press-launched the new car:(it's the one on right)

I complained last November and things have not improved - if anything they are worse - the sport has lost a golden opportunity to gain some popularity here in the UK - ESPN money is probably false economy and if people are not that interested, ESPN will also then lose interest.

Anyway, it's about time I did a motorsport review given that we've already had two Grand Prix and one round of the BTCC.

The first Grand Prix, in Australia, was the usual dull opener - mostly processional but, like last year, the second race was much better. The highlights were off-track though, with Vitaly Petrov getting his Lotus-Renault-Lada-JPS-Racing airborne:and Eddie Jordan wearing an even worse shirt than this one from last year:

At least there is one Jordan I don't change channel to avoid.

The use of the new flaps helped and there was some skillful overtaking but still not as much as in...

...the BTCC. The end of the first day of 2011 BTCC saw a similar situation to F1 with the reigning champion comfortably ahead but all evidence is that the BTCC will be as tight as ever and it is still my favourite competition.

Even if one of the cars does look like the sort of thing Jordan would drive.