Top Gear in the states

Well, there's the conspiracy theory about it.

Basically it boils down to this. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Jeremy Clarkson wrote an editorial for _The Sun_ entitled "Flood that released America's Demons" in which he was less-than-complementary. Indeed, he wondered how the “most powerful nation on earth could be so crippled by a bit of wind and rain" and then offered this bon mot: “America may have given the world the space shuttle and, er, condensed milk, but behind the veneer of civilization most Americans barely have the brains to walk on their back legs.”

Add to this his vision of the "default setting" of American public authorities
("violence") and, well, the Discovery Channel might well have taken the show off to avoid criticism...


- begin quoted material -
" I’m not talking about the armed gangs now. I’m talking about the authorities who, rather than try to feed the poor and needy, summoned the Marines and started acting like they were in a Hollywood film.
“They’ve got M16s which are locked and loaded,” said one official. And I bet she hadn’t the first idea what “locked and loaded” meant. She’d just heard Bruce Willis say it at some point and figured it sounded good.
Hollywood has taught America that the military can solve anything. It’s full of chisel-jawed heroes who never leave a man on the field and never fail to get the job done. So they’d have New Orleans sorted out in a jiffy.
Unfortunately, on the street you’ve got some poor, starving souls helping themselves to a packet of food from a ruined, deserted supermarket. And as a result, finding themselves being blown to pieces by a helicopter gunship. With the none-too-bright soldiers urged on by their illiterate political masters, the poor and needy never stood a chance. It’s easier and much more fun to shoot someone than make them a cup of tea. Especially if they’re black."
-end quoted material-

 

The following is excerpted from an E-mail my brother received from Discovery Channel when he asked the same question:


Thank you for contacting Discovery Channel. We appreciate you taking the
time to share your thoughts and concerns with us regarding "Top Gear."
Your comments will be forwarded to our program management and executives
and will be taken into consideration.

The "Top Gear" show was not "taken off the air" but rather ran its pattern.
It is being revamped for a U.S. audience and will return later this year.
Look for it in December.