Top Gear May Be Put Into "Park"

   I admit it. I'm a fan of the BBC motoring show "Top Gear". Or at least I was. "Top Gear" has announced the replacement for the fired Jeremy Clarkson. Chris Evans will be put in the drivers seat of a show with 350 million world-wide viewers.
   Also not coming back is James "Captain Slow" May. And even the "Hamster", Richard Hammond, apparently won't be back when the show re-launches.
   For many, this will be the end of a storied show featuring hugely expensive hyper-cars, with some costing 1.3 million dollars. Or more. If you've seen the show, chances are like me, that wasn't the biggest reason to tune in and watch. The cars, while certainly worth looking at and interesting to see them put through their paces on the Top Gear "track" were a backdrop.
   Clarkson, Hammond and May WERE the show, not the cars they featured (although the early seasons it WAS more the cars than them). It was the interplay between them, albeit largely scripted, that drew people. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching "Captain Slow" take a Bugatti Veyron to it's top speed twice. I also enjoyed watching Hammond take a Pagani Zonda around the track, just as much as I enjoyed Clarkson hammering a Ferrari 458 around the Hammerhead.
   There was a chemistry between them, which did take a season or 2 to fully develop. And that's something I feel the new hosts will have a tough time with. Let alone the fact the "original 3" hosted the show for some 22 years.
   Those are some large driving gloves to have to try and fill.

TTFN