"Wheelerguy" (wheelerguy)
09/16/2016 at 09:30 • Filed to: Rant, Chris Harris, TopGear, The Grand Tour
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"Wheelerguy" (wheelerguy)
09/16/2016 at 09:30 • Filed to: Rant, Chris Harris, TopGear, The Grand Tour | 3
| 9 |
I knew, and many others knew, that should the old chaps retire or die, Harris was
The Next TopGear Presenter
. Had The Fracas not happened, May and Clarkson could have retired knowing Harris will continue the show as well as he can. Harris could have inherited TopGear more gracefully; he wouldn’t have gotten in the crosshairs of raging fans who would rather call airstrikes than see Chris Harris and appreciate.
To me, those angry fans—and they’re many—stripped Harris of his inheritance, of his due. He lost legitimacy, where in fact he basically built himself for the job. The BBC knew it, which is why they keep pushing Harris more, but the damage has been done already.
I feel for the guy somewhat because he deserves better than these kinds of viewers. He deserves MORE viewers, to begin with. He deserves better than what he’s getting.
Worse is, there it is. The Grand Tour. Final blow, really. Unless he goes maximum Thanos and says “Fine, I’ll do it myself” to take over production, he’d just get massacred, along with the entirety of the show. It’s just fortunate that TG is there every spring.
I wonder if he and Clarkson ever met and if they talked about the programme. What did the old geezer say to him? What did he think of this stocky bloke who does a sort of Bite-Size TopGear on YouTube?
Hoccy
> Wheelerguy
09/16/2016 at 05:14 |
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Who knows how long GT will last? In a couple of seasons Clarkson is 60 and might not want to do such a high profile show? Top Gear will last in one form or another, and I’m sure Harris can have a role there if he wants to. Will he ever get the viewership he deservers? We’ll find out.
djmt1
> Wheelerguy
09/16/2016 at 09:44 |
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Right let’s clear a few things up. Clarkson and Harris to my knowledge haven’t crossed paths but Hammond and Harris often do due to their mutual loveof bikes and Porsches. May and Harris are good friends from their Autocar days.
As for his inheritance. Harris pretty much runs Top Gear at the moment. He’s plastered all over both their magazine and the website. Plus they put him on the YouTube channel despite still bragging that he is exclusive to the website. So he definitely hasn’t lost his legitimacy.
Top Gear is currently on hiatus after Evans departure so it won’t be returning in the spring since they currently haven’t got any hosts as they were all signed to one year deals. At the moment it is believed that going forward Rory, Matt and Chris will be the new trio.
Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius
> Wheelerguy
09/16/2016 at 10:23 |
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I respect Chris Harris as a driver. And I do appreciate his thoughts on the cars he drives (the Jag XJR-12 comes to mind) because he can really communicate the idea of the car and its place in history.
But honestly, he’s more of a professor than an entertainer. Great for the consumption of information, not so good for bringing viewers back week after week. As for being the lead presenter, I don’t see it. Even when he did Extra Gear this year, Rory was three times the ‘TV man’ that Chris was. I want Chris to stay involved, I always want to hear what he has to say, but I don’t think there is enough entertainer in him to carry the show to an international sensation season after season.
That’s part of magic of the Three Idiots. They are genuinely silly goons in the best (not always the best) sort of way. But they could speak professorially about a one-off, a hypercar or a Panda. Harris can do the professor part, but he’s not a very good goon.
JDIGGS
> Wheelerguy
09/16/2016 at 20:28 |
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harris needs more advertising
Batman the Horse
> Wheelerguy
09/16/2016 at 22:49 |
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I swear to the almighty that right after Clarkson was fired and well before they recast the show someone asked him if he’d take the TG job and he said emphatically that he wouldn’t because he could never fill those shoes (and that it would be a mistake to even try).
Then, later, there he is living out the exact nightmare scenario he so presciently predicted.
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Wheelerguy
> Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius
09/17/2016 at 02:57 |
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That’s the thing, though. I guess I can derive entertainment value from Harris better than you, but this was the reason why I thought he was better off getting in to TopGear two or three seasons before the older chaps retire. Not exactly to be funny (he’ll pick it up without him knowing), but to build the kind of rapport links that will let him seamlessly work with another presenter until his next-to-nonexistent hair becomes gray.
DrScientist
> Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius
09/17/2016 at 19:31 |
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the early seasons of new - old top gear were much more... professorial, to use your term.
they only really grew into themselves as entertainers around season 5-6.
beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
> Batman the Horse
09/19/2016 at 09:39 |
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I can’t find the video where he says he doesn’t want to to Top Gear, but his comments regarding the show not working without Jeremy et al were written with the qualifier “in the same format”
http://jalopnik.com/how-top-gear-m…
Which i read as if they try to repeat exactly what they were doing with 3 new hosts.
We now know they tried something a bit different, fucked it, but I think there’s still potential.. given Evans’ departure.
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Batman the Horse
> beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
09/19/2016 at 09:58 |
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Absolutely. Give Chris Harris full control to reshape it and it can work.