"Groagun" (groagun)
07/21/2015 at 19:36 • Filed to: None
4
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"Groagun" (groagun)
07/21/2015 at 19:36 • Filed to: None | 4
| 19 |
This was an interesting post up on Jalopnik today for me !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! as I was directly involved and employed by a weekly television car show that aired on Speed Channel some time a go now and I can tell you how it worked(s) from the inside.
To protect my own identity and those who are still in the business and deserve better I will not tell you who the players where/are or the show it was: sorry but my anonymity is important to me and I will not slag anyone directly by name without doing it face to face so they can defend themselves.
NO, it wasn’t Top Gear, but I use them as the beacon that most people, most Jalop/OPPOnaughts use as reference material, the single target for all car shows to aim at.
Three, or four depending on your opinion, engaging personalities, beautiful cinematography, exotic locations, beautiful and lustworthy cars all wrapped in a fairly unscripted and losely structured one hour show that was more entertainment than a full season of any other show. That was Top Gear UK.
There is one little nugget of information missing in that statement however and it’s the most important thing and the single thing that made Top Gear UK the show it was. It is what made it possible to draw in, not millions but hundreds of millions of viewers world wide.
It wasn’t Jeremy Clarkson, he was the direct beneficiary of the ‘thing’: no, it was that Top Gear UK aired on the BBC.
For my American friends and those who live outside of the UK, the BBC is like PBS or any other public acces television network where ever you are. For purposes of simplification, I’ll assume you’re an American reading this and you know what PBS is.
Public donations and government grants are what keep PBS afloat. The BBC is simpliar in that the Government charges a television tax to it’s citizens to fund the BBC. I have no idea if you can contribute privately and that doesn’t matter. The key here is that the BBC is beholden to no one other than the tax payers of England. No commercial entity can sway or dictate what is produced, said or broadcast on any of the BBC properties.
The BBC has a guideline for conduct and a set of standards that it must follow, decency regulations if you will and this is where Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson ran afoul.
The very nature and structure of the BBC and it’s non commercial status is what let JC and the boys say the outrageous things about cars and their manuffacturers with no consequences. It’s what we loved about the show and what we want to see here in America. Sorry to say but you will never get that. Welcome to free enterprise and commercial television.
If you’re so initiated, you can look up the case of the LA Times and GM from a few years a go where they pulled their advertising because they didn’t like what was printed about the products or it’s management at the time. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Now the success of TGUK paved the way for these spin-offs: I didn’t even know some of them existed.
Top Gear China, really, did that actually exist? I don’t know and don’t really care but by the ones I can judge, Top Gear USA and AUS, they were never the same or up too the same standards as the UK version. I’m not sure they ever could have been.
Back here on this side of the world, the show I was involved in had two main hosts. You knew and watched them weekly and probably came to like and respect them and their opinions. To be fair, both were were knowledgeable and knew what they were going on about. Both had solid resumes and had walked the walk for the most part.
Both were ASSHOLES!
Childish and demeaning, cold and distant, disrespectful and arrogant: that is how I think of them.
They came across as good old boys on TV but behind the scenes was another story. I get that not everyone is going to be your friend and that sometimes some people just rub you the wrong way but this was different.
Aside from that I will tell you how it works: You must have some semblance of know-how and a track record of sorts. You must meet the right people and have that ‘something’, that spark or point of difference. Everyone thinks they can and wants to be on TV and the line is endless with those who think they can do better than you.
If you get your chance to produce a pilot, 22 minuets, and if you get the go ahead for the first half season, or full, six to thirteen episodes, be prepared for the hardest ride of your life: it’s not easy and it only gets harder.
If you survive that first six to thirteen episodes and beocme an ongoing concern you then will get the chance to create or produce a spin-off show. We got that chance and did it for a while. I thought that show had potential but it was awful and I had nothing to do with it.
Next time you’re watching any of these shows, take a look at the credits. You will inevitably see a production company that owns several of these properties. Counting Cars is one that many of you pointed out as being terrible, I agree. If you want to know how the business works however they are a great example.
This is their production company and their properties:
http://www.leftfieldpictures.com/
I dare say you know and recognize at least half of their shows and maybe more. It’s a formula and it works. There is a simple old and truthful saying in show business, “Success doesn’t let you do better, it only let’s you do more.”
The other key to realizing your dreams of new, innovative and interesting automotive television, remember that we the enthusiasts, only make up at best, %10 of the population. That’s on it’s best day and with a show like Top Gear UK that stopped being a car show long time a go and became pure entertainment with cars as props and supporting pieces.
The car show of your dreams belongs on the web. It exists today in the form of shows like RoadKill from the Motor Trend YouTube channel or the DRIVE Network. If you refuse to pay for these then you accept that commercial interests will dictate what you see, hear and read and the idea and idealism of Top Gear UK is dead. You want it, it’s sitting right there, go get it for a few bucks a month, I do!
Roadster Man
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 19:43 |
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Gosh that leftfieldpictures CV is nauseating.
Interesting how the BBC gave the Top Gear guys immunity from advertiser pressure, I never realized that. The DRIVE network is the best around right now, but I can’t bring myself to pay so much for so little content compared to netflix, etc. The few times I’ve seen DRIVE on NBCSN were very entertaining, though. I hope they get some traction there.
I might suck it up and get a DRIVE subscription soon enough...
BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 19:52 |
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Battle of the Supercars with Tanner Foust and Paul Tracy? Shot in the dark, but it fits the bill
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Groagun
> BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
07/21/2015 at 19:56 |
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Ha no.
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BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 19:58 |
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Gotcha. PT kinda seemed like a dick, but I like to think than Tanner is a nice enough guy.
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Groagun
> BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
07/21/2015 at 20:01 |
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Only met Tracy once , he was nice to me and have never met Tanner, and It’s not the show and I wouldn’t say anyways.
BATC42
> Roadster Man
07/21/2015 at 20:03 |
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I think it’s one of the reason Clarkson said he didn’t want to go to channel like ITV, he doesn’t want to have to answer to advertisers.
Same thing happens on HBO, if you watch Last week Tonight, John Oliver has stressed many times that he’s able to make the comments he’s making because HBO doesn’t care about advertisements.
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BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 20:03 |
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Naw man not trying to get you to say what it was, I respect your privacy. Just out of curiosity, are you still in the same line of work now?
Sam
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 20:05 |
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I’m pretty sure the TGUK guys can still do or say whatever on Netflix, since they don’t have any ties with automakers (that I know of).
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Groagun
> BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
07/21/2015 at 20:13 |
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No, I’m involved in the start up of a new transportation/car company. I’ll have more news on that soon.
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Groagun
> Sam
07/21/2015 at 20:14 |
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You’re exactly right and that is why I think they will end up on Netflix or a place like HBO.
Wilsonic
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 20:40 |
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I knew that not all shows could be Top Gear simply because not everyone has the backing of something like the BBC. Its obvious some shows only exist to sell wax or brake pads. However, do the people behind the shows care about cars? Or are they just a generic television production company that films and produces whatever their parent company tells them to? I get the sense that many of these production teams don’t give two craps about cars and are just collecting a paycheck. I always imagine many car shows get their start like this:
Executive: Hey, I got a bunch of sponsors lined up who will throw money at us if we setup some empty show just to sling their products.
Producer: What kind of products?
Executive: Car stuff.
Producer: Okay, so cheesy rock intro with dumb effects, couple of guys from the mid west who enunciate just well enough to sell things, and some sort of budget for builds.
Executive: Hey, um, so this Top Gear thing is kind of popular. Can you make it like that?
Producer: Top what? I don’t know, I don’t even like cars. I wanted to work on Broadway. I’m dying inside boss, I’M DYING!
Executive: Hey, hey, keep it together. Make this stupid car show last long enough to sling some product and I’ll get you a better gig.
Producer: You said that last year.
If this is totally not how it works, I apologize for giving you a headache.
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Groagun
> Wilsonic
07/21/2015 at 20:47 |
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It does and has happened this way in recent times. The old skool shows were more authentic and came from car guys. Todays shows, not so much.
Also, you need to keep in mind the difference between procucers and talent. The behind the scenes people may or may not be car guys but the hosts have to be. When both production people and talent are on the same page and share the same passion, magic can happen but that is rare.
Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 20:58 |
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Does it have 3 wheels?
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Groagun
> Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
07/21/2015 at 21:17 |
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It’s not that joke Elio. Currently it’s a commercial truck program.
Declan Hackett
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 21:40 |
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“Both had solid resumes and had walked the walk for the most part. Both were ASSHOLES!”
Are you certain it’s not Top Gear!
iceman
> Groagun
07/21/2015 at 21:46 |
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recently subscribed to drive +....worth every penny
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Groagun
> Declan Hackett
07/21/2015 at 21:48 |
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Ha
boxrocket
> Declan Hackett
07/22/2015 at 01:03 |
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Could be The Car Show. Adam Corolla certainly seems like he could be two assholes at once.
Berang
> Groagun
07/22/2015 at 08:10 |
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Two presenters, who seem like cool friendly people on the show but are assholes in real life... why do I suspect Wheeler Dealers? Sometimes their interactions seem a bit too stiff to be unrehearsed.
But then again, is there any show business personality who isn’t a genuine ass in real life?