What’s The Problem With That?

From the Guardian, this:

tgrI don’t think that this is breaking news to anyone, really. But while the Guardian uses the word “admits”, as if it’s some sort of dirty secret, executive producer Andy Wilman is refreshingly open about the whole thing:

He said the show offers “an hour a week where absolutely nothing is achieved, but the path to nine-year-old escapism is briefly lit up”. He added: “Most TV shows that have been going for as long as ours refresh themselves by forcibly injecting new elements into the format, but on Top Gear we keep ourselves young by ageing. You’re watching an organic journey of those three going through their motoring lives.

No-one actually watches Top Gear for reviews of the vehicles on there, do they? Sure – back in the late 70s and 80s, that’s what it was about, but since Clarkson and Hammond took over in 2002 (and were joined by May after the first season of the relaunch), it’s pure entertainment, tenuously linked to cars.

Willman vowed that upcoming shows won’t tamper with the childish formula, offering a rally in supermarket aisles, a tank smashing through a building and a drive round a nuclear site.

See?

I wouldn’t really class myself as “middle-aged”, nor as having “a mental age of nine” (others may disagree on both these points), but I’ll certainly be tuning in when Season 21 begins next month in SA.

Leave a Reply