'Top Gear' hosts move to Amazon: Why this is controversial

Former 'Top Gear' hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond are reportedly set to host a car program for Amazon. The BBC, which produces 'Top Gear,' decided against renewing Clarkson's contract earlier this year.

|
Stefan Rousseau/AP
Former 'Top Gear' hosts (from l.) James May, Jeremy Clarkson, and Richard Hammond stand outside No.10 Downing Street in London in 2011.

The personalities of “Top Gear” are set to appear on a show for Amazon.

Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond will reportedly host a new car show for Amazon Prime. The trio’s former show was on the BBC and featured the three of them discussing and trying out different cars.

The first season of the Amazon show with Clarkson, May, and Hammond will debut in 2016.

While “Top” was on the air for decades, the show went through a revamp in 2002, eventually becoming the most-viewed factual show worldwide. However, Clarkson was fired earlier this year after a “physical and verbal incident” between him and a “Top” producer. May and Hammond decided not to continue on the show without Clarkson. 

“Top” had been the subject of controversy for some time, with one critic writing that the “essence of ‘Top Gear’ lies in childish pranks, ‘politically incorrect’ jokes, [and] smutty comments” and another writing that the show consists of “drooling over European supercars while making xenophobic remarks.”

However, more than one million people signed a petition asking that Clarkson be brought back to “Top.” Amazon Prime Video EU vice-president Jay Marine referenced this demand, saying, “Customers told us they wanted to see the team back on screen, and we are excited to make that happen.”

Streaming services bringing back shows that are canceled is nothing new now, as seen by Hulu's revival of Fox’s “The Mindy Project,” Yahoo Screen's decision to bring back NBC’s “Community,” and the appearance of Fox show “Arrested Development” on Netflix. However, those shows were merely canceled by their networks – there wasn’t a messy breakup, at least not in public. Amazon's decision to create a new show for "Top" hosts comes with more controversy given the circumstances of Clarkson’s departure. 

Time will tell whether Clarkson continues to court controversy at Amazon.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'Top Gear' hosts move to Amazon: Why this is controversial
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2015/0730/Top-Gear-hosts-move-to-Amazon-Why-this-is-controversial
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe