I've got to say that I'll be disappointed to lose Top Gear. I know we can still see it on Dave, but to be honest I've seen them so often they've become pretty boring.
But, to me I can never watch another car programme on television again that doesn't feature the unholy trinity. To listen to people banging on about one boot capacity versus another or how much the steering column adjusts more on one compact executive than another would just about drive me to drink. The point of Top Gear is that it's more light entertainment than factual motoring programme and if you want to know about how family friendly the latest Korean hatchback is there are plenty of magazines in W. H. Smith's to satisfy that particular desire.
The entertainment is that here we have three middle aged blokes who really don't care if they look a prial of complete prats, which is totally at odds most people in the media. They keep/kept to their motto of "Ambitious, but useless" whether it was Hammond sliding down a ski jump or May naked in an Aston without air conditioning or Clarkson just generally looking a numpty.
As for his alleged use of the "N" word, I don't use it and I don't like it being used, but don't forget the word is a corruption of the word "niggra" which in turn is a southern US state pronunciation of the word negro, which, as far as I'm aware, is a legitimate description of people of African descent.
When Guy Gibson the leader of 617 Squadron at the time of the "Dam Buster" raids had a dog called Nigger nobody batted an eyelid. When my Grandmother once referred to a brown coat she had as being nigger brown, nobody batted an eyelid then either. The reason? The use of the word was not meant to be insulting or derogatory. You could use the word daffodil when referring to somebody and it could be an insult.
If you want further evidence, does anybody remember this?
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-removes-part-of-their-humanity-10010506.html
During my late teenage years anyone on the general "liberal left" was telling anybody who'd listen that you shouldn't call Afro-Caribbean people people black because of the negative connotations of that word, that we should instead call them coloured. Now it would seem that coloured is out and black is back in. Still, everybody needs to make a living; even members of the "liberal left".
It's my belief that Clarkson's comments about and criticisms of that group and the BBC in general is why he's got the push. In other words the "Establishment" were just waiting for him to make one mistake too many, and now he's made it.
There's a saying that in the end we get what we deserve, and now Clarkson's gone we're liable to get the sort of homogeneous television by committee that we deserve.