Here's Who Should Host The 'Top Gear' Reboot
Amazon Prime Video released the latest season of "The Grand Tour" last Friday, the first without the trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. At the time of reading, you probably have a better idea of how the new hosts are being received than I do as I write this. Hopefully, it will go down better than the two iterations of "Top Gear" since 2015.
We asked our readers last week who should host the next reboot of "Top Gear." The BBC confirmed in August that plans to revive its iconic car show yet again are underway. With the reminder that Clarkson, Hammond and May are done for good, commenters fell into two camps: bores who think that Top Gear should die and fun-havers who proposed exciting new directions for the show. I don't fault you for wanting "Top Gear" to fade away, but there are very few platforms on global TV to showcase car culture. Also, the BBC is desperate for the money.
Let Top Gear die
No one. Trying to reboot Top Gear is only going to bring comparisons to the show's golden age, and the odds of any group of people coming out ahead in that comparison are, in my estimation, very very low. Is it impossible? Probably not, but if the BBC wants to have an automotive show again, they should probably call it something other than "Top Gear." That's the only chance a new group of hosts could really have of being judged on their own merits, rather than on Clarkson, Hammond, and May's merits.
Submitted by: Give Me Tacos or Give Me Death
Have open auditions
They need to find a new formula. Trying to recreate the chemistry between Clarkson, May and Hammond is impossible. Open auditions might be fun, but you'd get all these people trying to be one of those three.
Submitted by: Music Teacher 17
Let Doug DeMuro kill Top Gear
Doug DeMuro and his trust fund/"thanks Mom and Dad" friends so they can take turns sitting in the concrete bunker and in front of a Ford GT or whatever Lamborghini one of them just bought, and they can argue about what $500,000+ supercar they're going to buy next and how they hate their latest Ferrari purchase.
You know, stuff that all of us can relate to. That way, the new show would be so unwatchable that this would kill Top Gear because it died when Clarkson, Hammond, and May left and everything else has been a sad attempt at catching lightning in a bottle.
Submitted by: Xavier96
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson channeling Blackadder. This is the only correct answer. Also, he has track experience racing classic cars and has crashed his McLaren twice. That technically qualifies him. Any co-hosts should be hired by hosting a racing/party week with 25+ semi-pro drivers and see who he gets along with while partying. Chemistry is the single most important part of the show.
Submitted by Daniel
Get actual car nerds
Bring back Chris Harris and add Jason Camissa and Marc 'Elvis' Priestly. All are super knowledgeable, can be funny and self-deprecating. Every time they've added a middling comedian, it's been 'meh'. Need actual car nerds.
Submitted by: greggotron
Jenson Button
If one slot is really intended for Jimmy Carr, then the best I can surmise would be Jenson Button and Chris Harris, but I'm not sure Harris would want to go through it all over again.
Submitted by: M C
Just do U.S. Top Gear again
There is simply no other choice:
Adam Ferarra, Tanner Foust, and Rutledge Wood.
Submitted by: Tom Seaview
Rutledge was excellent. Adam was fine. Tanner always came across as an as*hole who didn't want to be there, though he clearly had driving skills. The US Top Gear's problems were not the hosts, though; it was the commercial breaks and lack of visibility. Nobody knew about it. And the commercial breaks, with a recap after each one, made it nearly unwatchable.
Submitted by: Gabriel S
Some say he's been here before
Ben Collins has an awesome YouTube channel, knows cars and racing, and can be appropriately silly when needed. Find two other co-hosts he enjoys working with.
Some say it wouldn't be his first time on TG.
Submitted by: AimToMisbehave
Just watch The Grand Tour instead
"I feel like the Throttle House guys hosting "The Grand Tour" on Amazon are the closest to replacing them properly already. They are pretty funny and gel well together. I'm looking forward to seeing their show."
Submitted by: Korey Konopasek