Top Gear will NEVER be the same... but with any luck it will be remade in the USA
In case you haven't heard the news, the BBC has retired the most charismatic member of the Top Gear Team. Granted, he was a loose canon, and probably subjected his employers to astronomical insurance liabilities, but you have to break some eggs to make an omelette.
Although I'm confident the show can go on without him, for me and I'm sure many others like me, the show will never be THE SAME without him. It's not a matter of whether you like him, or whether you agree with him. The issue is that in the automotive world, there are quite a lot of opinionated people, and among such people, he is they most consistently entertaining. It would serve them right if he got picked up by an AMERICAN network and asked to produce a similar program. There's no doubt in my mind that it would be an instant hit.
PS: After looking up the actual story, linked here, ( http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32052736 ), I have a better understanding of why he was released, but I dispute the reasoning for a couple of reasons:
1) Jeremy is a hothead, and that's what makes him popular. If you have a TV program about vicious animals, and someone gets bitten, you don't end the show. Rather, you wear thicker gloves.
2) TV producers are by their very nature, prone to provoking people. They come from the school of "those who can't, TEACH". So I do not believe the physical assault was unprovoked. I'm not saying it was justified, but I do believe it was understandable and forgivable, under circumstances I can only imagine.
Have I ever been physically assaulted? Yes. Was it provoked, that is probably a matter for debate, but I tend to disagree. I'm a nonviolent pacifist. In my entire life I've only attacked two people; schoolyard bullies who cornered me and dared me to defend myself. In each case, I drew on my adrenaline to assert my right to be free, and didn't continue to assault my assailant further physically. It should be pointed out that according to this news story, neither did Jeremy. I hope he gets a good attorney and fights this.