9 ms·

Amazon Sign Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May

85 points by charlieirish 11y ago

ris 11y ago
This is an interesting statement by Amazon about its stance on (persistent) racial slurs.
- JosephRedfern 11y ago
  If you were to follow the same argument, you could also argue that the continued popularity of Top Gear is an equally interesting statement by society about it's stance on (persistent) racial slurs.
  - ris 11y ago
    I don't think racial slurs are Top Gear's primary appeal. They're just slipped in by the hosts (and clearly with the approval of the production team in some circumstances) as a (quite sinister) wink-and-nod to appear chummy with viewers who "think like them". It validates their behaviour and views.
  - jarcane 11y ago
    Indeed you could. There's more than enough evidence to bear it out.
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
    It should come as no surprise that there's a huge segment of society whose stance on racial slurs is 'more, please.'
- stephenr 11y ago
  Which racial slur is that exactly?
  - abstractbeliefs 11y ago
    It's well known in the UK and in that article that he ~ambiguously~ mumbled the word "tigger" in a nursery rhyme.
    - stephenr 11y ago
      I'm not sure how a guy saying something that offends some people once, is "a persistent racial slur"?
      - DanBC 11y ago
        And there's the stuff about "slopes". And the stuff about gypsies. And the stuff about Mexicans. And all the other stuff. http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/here-are-all-the-nonracist-things-jeremy-clarkson-has-said--l14ffimcfe http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/here-are-all-the-nonra... http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jeremy-clarkson-does-not-see-a-problem-with-his-racist-language-on-top-gear-says-bbc-9683097.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jere... Here's a useful Graniad opinion piece about Clarkson: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/08/not-enough-for-jeremy-clarkson-to-say-not-racist http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/08/not-eno... It's a persistent pattern. Whether that should affect what he's allowed to publish is another matter, but it's probably wrong to say he isn't overtly racist. Some people say "it's just a joke" - fair enough. Here's Stewart Lee responding much better than I can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc
        omonra 11y ago
        Thanks for the links. The more I read from this guy, the more I like him. It's sort of a fine balance - we can't have everybody on tv making fun of gypsies and mexicans. On the other hand it feels too sterile when nobody can say what 90% of the people think. I'm glad he exists.
        ris 11y ago
- omonra 11y ago
  I'm happy to see Amazon not give a toss about non-issues that keep SJWs up at night. Not that I watch the show or care for Clarkson.
  - ris 11y ago
    I must assume you consider it a non-issue because you didn't see a clip of, e.g., the "slope" incident, which is unmistakeably a racial reference. The shot in question makes no sense otherwise. Allowing "clever" references like this continue to signal that it's A-OK to use these terms casually. It is not a non-issue. And I suggest you would not consider it a non-issue if it were the word "nigger".
    - omonra 11y ago
      I did not see it - but I read the Wiki article about his controversies. All of them appear to be no more than play on words, there is never any ill will or desire to humiliate anybody. The reason these particular jokes get noticed is because some people are obsessed with crying foul when certain groups are offended. He could make 10 jokes about the English/Scotts/Welsh and nobody would bat an eyelash.
      - ris 11y ago
        So a play on words with the word "nigger" would be ok by you? "...never any ill will or desire to humiliate anybody" - this is the sort of very flimsy faux-naivity that I come to expect in these debates - especially on technical forums with a very literal-thinking crowd. "He could make 10 jokes about the English/Scotts/Welsh and nobody would bat an eyelash." Context. You cannot ignore context as much as you try. In the modern day, the English, Scots and Welsh are not typically discriminated against for their racial "traits". Certainly not in any serious way. Derogatory racial terms are not ok.
        omonra 11y ago
        The word nigger still has pretty heavy connotations in our society so I don't think it would be ok. As you said yourself - context matters. Likewise, I'm not aware of asians being discriminated in our modern day. That's really the point - I don't have a problem with Clarkson's play on words because to me it's a meaningless sound. And the fact that an asian guy might be called slope/slopes (?) and that's a feature of the bridge is a pun - hence it's funny. They probably make an average of one joke/pun for 30 seconds of the show. Some of them may be unfunny or crude - but unless you can actually demonstrate ill will (simply alluding to the naivette of your interlocutors isn't sufficient) - it's ok.
- jo909 11y ago
  How many comedians do you know that never make any offensive jokes? Gender, race, handicaps/health etc are very common themes in almost every comedy program I know. I won't judge on the quality of specific jokes and where exactly a bad joke ends and a racial slur begins, but in general it is an accepted part of comedy.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    It's fine for people to tell offensive jokes. Is it fine for me to call Roy Chubby Brown lazy and stupid and unfunny because of his bad jokes? Is it fine for me to ask people providing me content to try harder to be funny, rather than just flinging shit and calling it a joke?
    - jo909 11y ago
      I completely agree with you, there is lots of comedy that I dislike and that I choose to live without. Still, implying that Amazon is ok with "racial slurs" is not quite the same than saying that Amazon is ok with "bad comedy". I'm pretty sure some of the existing Amazon Prime original productions will fall into my personal "bad comedy" category already.
    - msandford 11y ago
      I always thought in HN land you got a certain amount of leeway to complain about how X needed to be better and it was OK. But then at some point -- because we recognize how the world actually works -- if you see that X can be better and nobody else can, the onus is on you to actually do X better and prove it. In the business world this is a startup. In comedy, I guess that means being a comedian. From what I can tell it's about the same as startup-land, there's a power law distribution where a few comedians get really wealthy, a bunch of people get by, and tons of folks fail outright. Given the very long road that folks travel to become widely known and "successful" I'd guess that the jokes they tell are in some way reflective of society's preferences. But hey if you know better than all these folks, have at it!
      - DanBC 11y ago
- koonsolo 11y ago
  Maybe it's a statement on how they feel of everything needing to be politically correct. The shows popularity is probably also an indication on how most people feel about needing to be politically correct. The recent github 'retard' ban is a nice example of forced political correctness.
  - wesomefolks 11y ago
    Precisely. Why must every single show on Earth be politically correct and socially sanitized lest it offends anyone? You don't like Clarkson, turn the TV off. It's not hard at all. But to go on and on about a show you dislike, is to be a serf to the zeitgeist of Political Correctness and Cultural Marxism that has been progressively censoring so many aspects of our life, culture and history. This is being done on purpose, but most of the public will never see it or admit it if they see it because most people are programmed to follow the leader(ship) whatever they do. For instance, the Confederate Flag was banned, but the sickle and hammer flag which killed upwards of 100 Million people isn't. So you can tell who is doing the censoring. Meet the new censors, same as the old censors.
SCAQTony 11y ago
Everybody loses with the Clarkson fiasco. The Amazon deal will garner fewer viewers and lack the production quality that the BBC offers. The BBC reboot will have fewer viewers (from what I am told by British friends) and lack the brand personality of the former three hosts. Perhaps this could be likened to Howard Stern moving to satellite radio. Is he as popular as he was when he was "free." The once self-declared "king of all media" is rarely talked about now.
JohnTHaller 11y ago
It's a shame they went to Amazon instead of Netflix since Amazon's video apps universally suck in comparison (I'm especially looking at the Xbox 360 and Xbox One Amazon apps). Heck, you can't even watch Amazon Prime Video on your Android device without compromising the security of the device and enabling untrusted app installs.
- akilism 11y ago
  What's wrong with Amazon Prime on the Xbox One? I use it all the time and have had less problems with it than Netflix on the Xbox One... The android thing is annoying.
- stevewilhelm 11y ago
  Amazon's video app on Fire TV over XFinity Blast 150Mbs service is brilliant.
- 9point6 11y ago
  Also, no Chromecast support is a deal-breaker for any VOD app for me.
- cmiles74 11y ago
  Pretty much the only acceptable way I've found to watch is via their Fire TV Stick. I don't understand why their apps for other platforms is so bad; they are literally the last place I look before I give up.
  - matwood 11y ago
    > I don't understand why their apps for other platforms is so bad; I assumed it was to push people to the FireTV.
    - JohnTHaller 11y ago
      That's my guess. Especially since they hold Amazon Prime Video hostage from Android users - even though we've already paid for it - until you install the Amazon App Store on your device and give it every permission under the sun.
johneth 11y ago
As much as I enjoy watching those three mess around on TV, I'm not giving tax-dodging Amazon £80 (~$125) a year for the privilege. Prime seems to have a poor UI (and from what I've read has an inferior service in the UK in terms of apps and content). I wouldn't benefit from the next day delivery because I don't order enough from them. Their (Clarkson, Hammond, May) audience will decrease wherever they ended up, but Amazon is probably their worst choice in that regard (compared to Netflix or even Sky). All I can assume is a lot of money was given to them, which suggests Amazon is aggressively expanding into Europe (where C, H, M are popular).
- omonra 11y ago
  To be fair, Amazon doesn't appear to be making any money to dodge taxes on :)
- vollmond 11y ago
  Are they doing anything illegal in their "tax-dodging"? If not, why would they ever choose to pay more? I've never understood the point of vilifying companies for using "loopholes" to pay less taxes. If there was a loophole that allowed me to pay less income tax, I would absolutely take advantage of it. Why give away more of my money than I have to? If you want them to pay more, close the loophole that allows them to pay less.
  - century19 11y ago
    The tactics that some companies (I don't know about Amazon) use verge on abusive. I remember hearing about Vodafone being subject to a tax investigation regarding billions they had in accounts in Luxembourg. They hired key people in the investigation to hamper progress. E.g. http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1774186/top-taxman-ditches-civil-service-mobile-giant http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1774186/top-taxman-dit... I think in the end the HMRC took a deal on Vodafone's terms. Nothing illegal but I think you could vilify that behavior.
  - justincormack 11y ago
    Almost certainly it was illegal, yes, certainly highly dubious process which at one point threatened to being down the European Commission president. The European Commission is investigating eg see [1] and Amazon have stopped doing it. Oh and Amazon's head of tax was Luxembourg Honorary Consul to the Seattle are, hum. [1] http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/15/amazon-luxembourg-tax-arrangements-scrutinised-brussels http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/15/amazon-lux...
lsaferite 11y ago
I know this adds nothing to the discussion, but... Every quote from those three is internally in their voice and cadence. I find that quite amusing. Anyone have some links or keywords I could look up to read more about that phenomenon?
jkaljundi 11y ago
Available in just 5 or so countries out of 200 in the world. Another win for Pirate Bay.
- stephenr 11y ago
  Not to mention the people who could use it legally but refuse to subscribe to Amazon.
  - matwood 11y ago
    > Not to mention the people who could use it legally but refuse to subscribe to Amazon. Is that any different than those who refuse to subscribe to Netflix, HBO or Showtime, etc...
    - stephenr 11y ago
      I believe so yes. I would have no problem subscribing to a company that provides access to TV shows, movies etc. I would have a big problem subscribing to Jeff Bezos' attempt to control the entire commercial world.
  - OedipusRex 11y ago
    Agreed, Top Gear is not enough to warrant an Amazon Prime subscription for a majority of people.
- smackfu 11y ago
  No reason Amazon can't sell the show to local distributors in those other countries.
andreamazz 11y ago
Hope they can also bring over the production values and the photography of BBC's TG.
- hyperpallium 11y ago
  While the lads are great, the cinematography, writing, crazy ideas (eg attack-helicopter race) - and actually making them happen - are what make the show IMHO. The hosts surely contribute a lot of the writing and ideas, though I don't know how much, but much less execution. I understand the show runner also left with them. Unfortunately, they can't copy the format of TG due to copyright (eg game-show formats are protected copyright subject matter). It's possible they'll come up with something even better, but more likely to be like Titanfall after CoD.
- nailer 11y ago
  I think the main producer is with them, do they probably will.
- brc 11y ago
  It woudo be interesting to find out how many production staff they poach. Perhaps they used a lot lf contract staff anyway and won't be a big deal. Either way, with Andy Wilman in charge and undoubtedly a bigger budget, I would say it will improve, if anything. That said, I doubt it will be a clone of TG. They probably have had some ideas they have wanted to try, but couldn't because of the BBC and because they wouldn't be 'top gear'.
lmorris84 11y ago
It'll be interesting to see how Amazon respond to the inevitable complaints when Clarkson does a "Clarkson". The BBC used to fall over themselves to apologise and give him another final warning - you'd have to assume this was discussed by both parties. Personally I hope Amazon just stay out of their way and let them get on with it.
- surge 11y ago
  I don't know, they stopped selling the confederate flag stuff, but they used to be renowned for selling books regardless of controversy of the content. So it could fall down either way. Both incidents the BBC have him for he was coerced into situations (singing a song he didn't want to sing because he only knew the racist version from when he grew up and didn't want to say the word, then being kept up for 24 hours, and made to drink profusely as part of a show stunt) he wasn't comfortable with. They were looking for reasons to cancel such a popular show because it had such a disparate budget from the rest of their shows and that was upsetting parties within the BBC.
  - darkr 11y ago
    > singing a song he didn't want to sing The scripts are written by the cast & the script editor (Richard Porter). > made to drink profusely as part of a show stunt It's well known that Clarkson is a fan of the booze to the point where you could reasonably categorise him as a functioning alcoholic. He recently publicly announced after the death of Charlie Kennedy that he was giving up. So I'm pretty sure that no-one was making him drink.. He likes to paint himself as the last bastion of free speech, innocent victim of the facist Big Brother Corporation, and a lot of other things inbetween; but the reality is that he's just that embarrassing Uncle who you have fond memories of when he used to let you smoke his cigarettes and drive his car around the block when you were 10, but now you're all grown up, going through your contacts, deciding who to invite to your wedding; you just skip past because you just know he'd end up shitting in the font and asking anyone with a tan what weddings are like where they're from.
  - SmellyGeekBoy 11y ago
    He assaulted a co-worker. I'm sorry but he only has himself to blame. I genuinely don't understand why people think his sacking was part of some grand BBC conspiracy. He was good for ratings, they paid him well, it was in both parties' interests to keep him around as long as possible. Remember we're talking about the most popular TV show in the world here. Unfortunately he put them in a situation where they really had no other choice.
richoakley 11y ago
In the same way as House of Cards isn't exclusive to Netflix, "Top Gear 2.0" will be sold to multiple broadcasters and distributors all over the world. Top Gear was worth about $80m a year to the BBC in selling the series globally.
surge 11y ago
Now if only they'd fix their apps so A) could easily find shows they offer B) won't play a video and just shows a spinning circle if the app sits idle for 5 minutes or just finished playing another video and going to the next episode (always have to restart the app to fix it, happens on PS3/4 and Roku). I have a great experience with Netflix, YouTube, even CrunchyRoll (for my anime watching kid) and every other video platform. I want to use their app more, I even buy seasons of shows off of it, but the persistent problems make me hesitant to buy more.
tiernano 11y ago
Feeling half and half on this... Good cause the lads are back... Bad because its Amazon Prime... I'm an Amazon Prime customer, but live in Ireland... Which means i can get stuff delivered (with the help of a UK address) for free, but i cant stream content... Keeps telling me about "Licensing issues". So, VPN will need to be used then...
- samch 11y ago
  "Amazon can also license rights to the show to broadcasters or streaming services in other territories around the world where Prime video isn’t available." Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/07/30/former-top-gear-hosts-to-launch-new-auto-series-for-amazon-prime/ http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/07/30/former-top-gear-ho...
andy_ppp 11y ago
I love this mockery of Top Gear by Stewart Lee... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

85 points by charlieirish 11y ago

ris 11y ago

This is an interesting statement by Amazon about its stance on (persistent) racial slurs.

JosephRedfern 11y ago
If you were to follow the same argument, you could also argue that the continued popularity of Top Gear is an equally interesting statement by society about it's stance on (persistent) racial slurs.
- ris 11y ago
  I don't think racial slurs are Top Gear's primary appeal. They're just slipped in by the hosts (and clearly with the approval of the production team in some circumstances) as a (quite sinister) wink-and-nod to appear chummy with viewers who "think like them". It validates their behaviour and views.
- jarcane 11y ago
  Indeed you could. There's more than enough evidence to bear it out.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
  It should come as no surprise that there's a huge segment of society whose stance on racial slurs is 'more, please.'
stephenr 11y ago
Which racial slur is that exactly?
- abstractbeliefs 11y ago
  It's well known in the UK and in that article that he ~ambiguously~ mumbled the word "tigger" in a nursery rhyme.
  - stephenr 11y ago
    I'm not sure how a guy saying something that offends some people once, is "a persistent racial slur"?
    - DanBC 11y ago
      And there's the stuff about "slopes". And the stuff about gypsies. And the stuff about Mexicans. And all the other stuff. http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/here-are-all-the-nonracist-things-jeremy-clarkson-has-said--l14ffimcfe http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/here-are-all-the-nonra... http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jeremy-clarkson-does-not-see-a-problem-with-his-racist-language-on-top-gear-says-bbc-9683097.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jere... Here's a useful Graniad opinion piece about Clarkson: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/08/not-enough-for-jeremy-clarkson-to-say-not-racist http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/08/not-eno... It's a persistent pattern. Whether that should affect what he's allowed to publish is another matter, but it's probably wrong to say he isn't overtly racist. Some people say "it's just a joke" - fair enough. Here's Stewart Lee responding much better than I can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc
      - omonra 11y ago
        Thanks for the links. The more I read from this guy, the more I like him. It's sort of a fine balance - we can't have everybody on tv making fun of gypsies and mexicans. On the other hand it feels too sterile when nobody can say what 90% of the people think. I'm glad he exists.
        ris 11y ago
omonra 11y ago
I'm happy to see Amazon not give a toss about non-issues that keep SJWs up at night. Not that I watch the show or care for Clarkson.
- ris 11y ago
  I must assume you consider it a non-issue because you didn't see a clip of, e.g., the "slope" incident, which is unmistakeably a racial reference. The shot in question makes no sense otherwise. Allowing "clever" references like this continue to signal that it's A-OK to use these terms casually. It is not a non-issue. And I suggest you would not consider it a non-issue if it were the word "nigger".
  - omonra 11y ago
    I did not see it - but I read the Wiki article about his controversies. All of them appear to be no more than play on words, there is never any ill will or desire to humiliate anybody. The reason these particular jokes get noticed is because some people are obsessed with crying foul when certain groups are offended. He could make 10 jokes about the English/Scotts/Welsh and nobody would bat an eyelash.
    - ris 11y ago
      So a play on words with the word "nigger" would be ok by you? "...never any ill will or desire to humiliate anybody" - this is the sort of very flimsy faux-naivity that I come to expect in these debates - especially on technical forums with a very literal-thinking crowd. "He could make 10 jokes about the English/Scotts/Welsh and nobody would bat an eyelash." Context. You cannot ignore context as much as you try. In the modern day, the English, Scots and Welsh are not typically discriminated against for their racial "traits". Certainly not in any serious way. Derogatory racial terms are not ok.
      - omonra 11y ago
        The word nigger still has pretty heavy connotations in our society so I don't think it would be ok. As you said yourself - context matters. Likewise, I'm not aware of asians being discriminated in our modern day. That's really the point - I don't have a problem with Clarkson's play on words because to me it's a meaningless sound. And the fact that an asian guy might be called slope/slopes (?) and that's a feature of the bridge is a pun - hence it's funny. They probably make an average of one joke/pun for 30 seconds of the show. Some of them may be unfunny or crude - but unless you can actually demonstrate ill will (simply alluding to the naivette of your interlocutors isn't sufficient) - it's ok.
jo909 11y ago
How many comedians do you know that never make any offensive jokes? Gender, race, handicaps/health etc are very common themes in almost every comedy program I know. I won't judge on the quality of specific jokes and where exactly a bad joke ends and a racial slur begins, but in general it is an accepted part of comedy.
- DanBC 11y ago
  It's fine for people to tell offensive jokes. Is it fine for me to call Roy Chubby Brown lazy and stupid and unfunny because of his bad jokes? Is it fine for me to ask people providing me content to try harder to be funny, rather than just flinging shit and calling it a joke?
  - jo909 11y ago
    I completely agree with you, there is lots of comedy that I dislike and that I choose to live without. Still, implying that Amazon is ok with "racial slurs" is not quite the same than saying that Amazon is ok with "bad comedy". I'm pretty sure some of the existing Amazon Prime original productions will fall into my personal "bad comedy" category already.
  - msandford 11y ago
    I always thought in HN land you got a certain amount of leeway to complain about how X needed to be better and it was OK. But then at some point -- because we recognize how the world actually works -- if you see that X can be better and nobody else can, the onus is on you to actually do X better and prove it. In the business world this is a startup. In comedy, I guess that means being a comedian. From what I can tell it's about the same as startup-land, there's a power law distribution where a few comedians get really wealthy, a bunch of people get by, and tons of folks fail outright. Given the very long road that folks travel to become widely known and "successful" I'd guess that the jokes they tell are in some way reflective of society's preferences. But hey if you know better than all these folks, have at it!
    - DanBC 11y ago
koonsolo 11y ago
Maybe it's a statement on how they feel of everything needing to be politically correct. The shows popularity is probably also an indication on how most people feel about needing to be politically correct. The recent github 'retard' ban is a nice example of forced political correctness.
- wesomefolks 11y ago
  Precisely. Why must every single show on Earth be politically correct and socially sanitized lest it offends anyone? You don't like Clarkson, turn the TV off. It's not hard at all. But to go on and on about a show you dislike, is to be a serf to the zeitgeist of Political Correctness and Cultural Marxism that has been progressively censoring so many aspects of our life, culture and history. This is being done on purpose, but most of the public will never see it or admit it if they see it because most people are programmed to follow the leader(ship) whatever they do. For instance, the Confederate Flag was banned, but the sickle and hammer flag which killed upwards of 100 Million people isn't. So you can tell who is doing the censoring. Meet the new censors, same as the old censors.

SCAQTony 11y ago

Everybody loses with the Clarkson fiasco. The Amazon deal will garner fewer viewers and lack the production quality that the BBC offers. The BBC reboot will have fewer viewers (from what I am told by British friends) and lack the brand personality of the former three hosts. Perhaps this could be likened to Howard Stern moving to satellite radio. Is he as popular as he was when he was "free." The once self-declared "king of all media" is rarely talked about now.

JohnTHaller 11y ago

It's a shame they went to Amazon instead of Netflix since Amazon's video apps universally suck in comparison (I'm especially looking at the Xbox 360 and Xbox One Amazon apps). Heck, you can't even watch Amazon Prime Video on your Android device without compromising the security of the device and enabling untrusted app installs.

akilism 11y ago
What's wrong with Amazon Prime on the Xbox One? I use it all the time and have had less problems with it than Netflix on the Xbox One... The android thing is annoying.
stevewilhelm 11y ago
Amazon's video app on Fire TV over XFinity Blast 150Mbs service is brilliant.
9point6 11y ago
Also, no Chromecast support is a deal-breaker for any VOD app for me.
cmiles74 11y ago
Pretty much the only acceptable way I've found to watch is via their Fire TV Stick. I don't understand why their apps for other platforms is so bad; they are literally the last place I look before I give up.
- matwood 11y ago
  > I don't understand why their apps for other platforms is so bad; I assumed it was to push people to the FireTV.
  - JohnTHaller 11y ago
    That's my guess. Especially since they hold Amazon Prime Video hostage from Android users - even though we've already paid for it - until you install the Amazon App Store on your device and give it every permission under the sun.

johneth 11y ago

As much as I enjoy watching those three mess around on TV, I'm not giving tax-dodging Amazon £80 (~$125) a year for the privilege. Prime seems to have a poor UI (and from what I've read has an inferior service in the UK in terms of apps and content). I wouldn't benefit from the next day delivery because I don't order enough from them. Their (Clarkson, Hammond, May) audience will decrease wherever they ended up, but Amazon is probably their worst choice in that regard (compared to Netflix or even Sky). All I can assume is a lot of money was given to them, which suggests Amazon is aggressively expanding into Europe (where C, H, M are popular).

omonra 11y ago
To be fair, Amazon doesn't appear to be making any money to dodge taxes on :)
vollmond 11y ago
Are they doing anything illegal in their "tax-dodging"? If not, why would they ever choose to pay more? I've never understood the point of vilifying companies for using "loopholes" to pay less taxes. If there was a loophole that allowed me to pay less income tax, I would absolutely take advantage of it. Why give away more of my money than I have to? If you want them to pay more, close the loophole that allows them to pay less.
- century19 11y ago
  The tactics that some companies (I don't know about Amazon) use verge on abusive. I remember hearing about Vodafone being subject to a tax investigation regarding billions they had in accounts in Luxembourg. They hired key people in the investigation to hamper progress. E.g. http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1774186/top-taxman-ditches-civil-service-mobile-giant http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1774186/top-taxman-dit... I think in the end the HMRC took a deal on Vodafone's terms. Nothing illegal but I think you could vilify that behavior.
- justincormack 11y ago
  Almost certainly it was illegal, yes, certainly highly dubious process which at one point threatened to being down the European Commission president. The European Commission is investigating eg see [1] and Amazon have stopped doing it. Oh and Amazon's head of tax was Luxembourg Honorary Consul to the Seattle are, hum. [1] http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/15/amazon-luxembourg-tax-arrangements-scrutinised-brussels http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/15/amazon-lux...

lsaferite 11y ago

I know this adds nothing to the discussion, but... Every quote from those three is internally in their voice and cadence. I find that quite amusing. Anyone have some links or keywords I could look up to read more about that phenomenon?

jkaljundi 11y ago

Available in just 5 or so countries out of 200 in the world. Another win for Pirate Bay.

stephenr 11y ago
Not to mention the people who could use it legally but refuse to subscribe to Amazon.
- matwood 11y ago
  > Not to mention the people who could use it legally but refuse to subscribe to Amazon. Is that any different than those who refuse to subscribe to Netflix, HBO or Showtime, etc...
  - stephenr 11y ago
    I believe so yes. I would have no problem subscribing to a company that provides access to TV shows, movies etc. I would have a big problem subscribing to Jeff Bezos' attempt to control the entire commercial world.
- OedipusRex 11y ago
  Agreed, Top Gear is not enough to warrant an Amazon Prime subscription for a majority of people.
smackfu 11y ago
No reason Amazon can't sell the show to local distributors in those other countries.

andreamazz 11y ago

Hope they can also bring over the production values and the photography of BBC's TG.

hyperpallium 11y ago
While the lads are great, the cinematography, writing, crazy ideas (eg attack-helicopter race) - and actually making them happen - are what make the show IMHO. The hosts surely contribute a lot of the writing and ideas, though I don't know how much, but much less execution. I understand the show runner also left with them. Unfortunately, they can't copy the format of TG due to copyright (eg game-show formats are protected copyright subject matter). It's possible they'll come up with something even better, but more likely to be like Titanfall after CoD.
nailer 11y ago
I think the main producer is with them, do they probably will.
brc 11y ago
It woudo be interesting to find out how many production staff they poach. Perhaps they used a lot lf contract staff anyway and won't be a big deal. Either way, with Andy Wilman in charge and undoubtedly a bigger budget, I would say it will improve, if anything. That said, I doubt it will be a clone of TG. They probably have had some ideas they have wanted to try, but couldn't because of the BBC and because they wouldn't be 'top gear'.

lmorris84 11y ago

It'll be interesting to see how Amazon respond to the inevitable complaints when Clarkson does a "Clarkson". The BBC used to fall over themselves to apologise and give him another final warning - you'd have to assume this was discussed by both parties. Personally I hope Amazon just stay out of their way and let them get on with it.

surge 11y ago
I don't know, they stopped selling the confederate flag stuff, but they used to be renowned for selling books regardless of controversy of the content. So it could fall down either way. Both incidents the BBC have him for he was coerced into situations (singing a song he didn't want to sing because he only knew the racist version from when he grew up and didn't want to say the word, then being kept up for 24 hours, and made to drink profusely as part of a show stunt) he wasn't comfortable with. They were looking for reasons to cancel such a popular show because it had such a disparate budget from the rest of their shows and that was upsetting parties within the BBC.
- darkr 11y ago
  > singing a song he didn't want to sing The scripts are written by the cast & the script editor (Richard Porter). > made to drink profusely as part of a show stunt It's well known that Clarkson is a fan of the booze to the point where you could reasonably categorise him as a functioning alcoholic. He recently publicly announced after the death of Charlie Kennedy that he was giving up. So I'm pretty sure that no-one was making him drink.. He likes to paint himself as the last bastion of free speech, innocent victim of the facist Big Brother Corporation, and a lot of other things inbetween; but the reality is that he's just that embarrassing Uncle who you have fond memories of when he used to let you smoke his cigarettes and drive his car around the block when you were 10, but now you're all grown up, going through your contacts, deciding who to invite to your wedding; you just skip past because you just know he'd end up shitting in the font and asking anyone with a tan what weddings are like where they're from.
- SmellyGeekBoy 11y ago
  He assaulted a co-worker. I'm sorry but he only has himself to blame. I genuinely don't understand why people think his sacking was part of some grand BBC conspiracy. He was good for ratings, they paid him well, it was in both parties' interests to keep him around as long as possible. Remember we're talking about the most popular TV show in the world here. Unfortunately he put them in a situation where they really had no other choice.

richoakley 11y ago

In the same way as House of Cards isn't exclusive to Netflix, "Top Gear 2.0" will be sold to multiple broadcasters and distributors all over the world. Top Gear was worth about $80m a year to the BBC in selling the series globally.

surge 11y ago

Now if only they'd fix their apps so A) could easily find shows they offer B) won't play a video and just shows a spinning circle if the app sits idle for 5 minutes or just finished playing another video and going to the next episode (always have to restart the app to fix it, happens on PS3/4 and Roku). I have a great experience with Netflix, YouTube, even CrunchyRoll (for my anime watching kid) and every other video platform. I want to use their app more, I even buy seasons of shows off of it, but the persistent problems make me hesitant to buy more.

tiernano 11y ago

Feeling half and half on this... Good cause the lads are back... Bad because its Amazon Prime... I'm an Amazon Prime customer, but live in Ireland... Which means i can get stuff delivered (with the help of a UK address) for free, but i cant stream content... Keeps telling me about "Licensing issues". So, VPN will need to be used then...

samch 11y ago
"Amazon can also license rights to the show to broadcasters or streaming services in other territories around the world where Prime video isn’t available." Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/07/30/former-top-gear-hosts-to-launch-new-auto-series-for-amazon-prime/ http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/07/30/former-top-gear-ho...

andy_ppp 11y ago

I love this mockery of Top Gear by Stewart Lee... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc

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