The point is, that was possible, even probable. It at least doesn't ruin the imaginative spirit of their production.
But it's not though. It was staged. We all know that.
It's not like when Hammond swan dived his Bowler during the Top Gear Germany Versus stuff.
Speaking of, I've been watching some of the older stuff. Like when Sabine Schmitz tries to beat Clarkson's 9:59 Nurburgring lap time in a Transit van. That footage is classic, off-the-cuff stuff.
So do I. Watching again episodes of few years back (e.g. Transfăgărășan) , don't make me laugh at all. I feel everything is scripted and there isn't any improvisation.
I don't know what moment when it was that Top Gear jumped the shark, but I feel that it lost it's magic somewhere around the 10th/11th series.
That sense of spontaneity, of car guys just being car guys, if I were there and a little bit wittier than I am in real life, I would have said the same thing sense. That's gone.
Whether it be the goofy challenges, the cars they were "testing," the silly jokes, etc, the show and its presenters no longer speak to me as just another Regular Joe car guy. Now they just come across as wealthy BBC celebrity personalities who humor the audience instead of being one of them.
