The Daily Mail picked up a story, alleging that British automotive TV series Fifth Gear have been cancelled. However Fifth Gear's host Jonny Smith (why is his name without h?) posted on his Twitter acknowledging that the series have been cancelled but added that it is still not official. In his tweet, Johnny said, “Thanks to everyone for your compliments and words of encouragement. Remember, FG isn’t OFFICIALLY finished. Don’t (ever?) believe The Mail.”
Assuming that this is true, I am quite sad that Fifth Gear will no longer be aired. Fifth Gear is a regular resident on my torrent download list (I will glady pay for it if only the show is aired locally). Plus, I don't get it why do people have to always compare between Top Gear and Fifth Gear - as they both serve a different purpose. I watch both Top Gear and FG. I like to watch Top Gear for their entertainment appeal - stupid Clarkson and his co-presenters of Hamster and Captain Slow doing another one of their stupid cross continental races or burning rubber in an empty air field. I watch Fifth Gear for its informational value. TG is my automotive comedy and I don't take even one single bit of their "verdicts" seriously while FG is my sort of auto documentary. I especially appreciate the fact that Fifth Gear presenters include professional racing drivers of Jason Plato, Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson. Those power slides are not done by camera and computer tricks. Same can't be said about TG though. Plus you can always count on "Wookie" Tom Ford to give you a rationale family man's perspective. Tom Ford is a father of 2, and doesn't drive press fleet cars like some loony, just like the rest of us. Jonny Smith is an eccentric young bloke with a penchant for cheap, fun, old cars, a character I can identify to easily though I certainly can't match his mechanical aptitude. I find Tim Shaw a bit too annoying sometimes but have grown to tolerate him over the season - being a celebrity DJ, he represents the Max Power crowd.
Hopefully the FG team can somehow come together again in an online format. The problem with TV is that they are designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator, which is what BBC has done with Top Gear. Don't get me wrong I enjoy TG very much, but there are certain times when I want something with a bit more depth. Ever since Internet became a mainstream, TV series have been on a slow decline. TV ratings peaked in the 1980s - with series like Dallas. Even the highest rating TV show of this decade commands only a fraction of top TV ratings from the 1980s. People these days just don't arrange their life schedule around the TV programme schedule. People don't go to school or work and talk about what was shown on last episode of 24 or Prison Break etc etc like they used to with Dallas, Bill Cosby and whatever that was popular back then. Which explain why in their desperation, TV network companies started coming out with those rubbish reality TV programmes and American Idol franchise, which I understand, though is highly popular but is still no match to the most popular TV series 2 or 3 decades ago. Chris Anderson, the chief editor of Wired Magazine discussed this topic of falling radio and TV popularity quite extensively in the early sections of his book Long Tail.
8 comments:
Aw, its sad. im going to miss the girl who always get orgasm when she drives fast car! kiddin! haha!
Did you know that Tom Ford writes for Top Gear Magazine?
Hope Eric doesn't jerk off from watching VBH in old episodes of FG :=))
dodo - don't read TG magazine, for obvious reasons...More towards Evo (editorial team made up of experienced racing drivers that also writes bloody well - JB, RG and crew) and AutoCar (still the industry's most respected mainstream publication on this side of the world). But someone told me that TG TV series and TG magazine are run independently of each other
FYI, Jethro quit Evo quite some time back, replaced by writer Henry Catchpole who obviously is now road test editor.
Also, new in team Evo beginning December issue is Chris Harris, of Autocar fame. Surprised to see his name there in the UK issue. Missed his work after the website shut down.
BTW, what do u think of the local Evo edition? Having said that, TG TV and TG mag, as far as i know, is 'somewhat' independent but still largely the same due to its BBC influence. In fact, i don't know anyone who knows who TG UK's editor is. And no, it's not JC; he's not even a full timer.
... ooh, JB... I'm sure u meant John Barker then LOL
Actually I was thinking of Jehtro Bovingdon...but yea I forgot there was some movement within the editorial team, don't remember the details. Enjoyed Barker's work just as much.
Local content of Malaysian Evo is not bad but not sure if my English is too poor but I sometimes find it hard to understand the local editor's write up. A wee bit too much bombastic words sometimes. No such problems understanding UK content though... :=p
Glad to see Chris Harris back, missed his work when he left autocar to setup Driver's Republic (it's shutdown now? no time to keep up with so many publications). Loved his write up especially on those COTY season.
Yeah, DR has folded. Now that was a website for driving enthusiasts. But i never did truly figure out its confusing layout... :-)
What a shame. Technical wise, Fifth Gear is Waaayyy better than TG. I only watch TG for fun.
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