The Old TG What If….Updated

Posted by Beahner@reddit | thegrandtour | View on Reddit | 20 comments

I don’t know if many have done this before, but I’ve occasionally wondered over the last decade what TG with the big three would look if it never ended (ie: if a tired and possibly glucose challenged Jeremy kept his hands at his side). How long would it go. It would seem that answer is forming up to “about another decade”. Or would it? Playing alternate universe but let’s say they stay on there and the next Universe goes with a slight waning of the heights the show was at, maybe akin to what success TGT has done. And by this point they are tired of the grind of it. Would the studio show still be going 10 years later? I believe it would. It would be 10 more seasons similar to the first three of TGT. And maybe this would have worn them down sooner? At any rate….the big question I ponder is when they got to the point of no more in this universe and it still drives eyeballs would the BBC really push to start bringing in younger talent to take the heavy lifting and the big three work as ringmasters of a sort? Would that even fly with the three of them? And if they went along could it even work to the point of having a young team ready to take the torch at around this time and keep TG going solid into the future? Very real wild card….the landscape of TV media consumption has changed so much in 10 years would there still be any appetite for a show like this without the three guys that made it under any circumstance? It’s totally pointless mind experimentation on drivel and nonsense, I know. But it has been running in my mind recently. TL;DR….the big three never leave TG, they are arriving at the end of it for them now….how does that go and how does it look?

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20 Comments

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beartheminus@reddit

I think we got everything out of Grand Tour and more that we would have gotten out of Top Gear.

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antipositron@reddit

Yep, The Grand Tour is just the best bits of top gear, and if the guys hadn't gotten so old and frail, perhaps we could have had way more grand tour episodes and seasons. I would have preferred a natural evolution. Like what if the trio had brought in someone into the mix and established a successful quad.And they say James retires and we will still have the continuity, and they get someone in and we all evolve together to like the new bunch of lads with Jeremy or Richard still doing less physical work and yet doing most of the slagging.

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TerritoryTracks@reddit

>matures into more detail oriented parts That happened in 1932.

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beartheminus@reddit

honestly they arent even that old, they just take shit care of themselves. My dad is 75 and could run laps around Jeremy. Its, frustrating to see.

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markhewitt1978@reddit

Surprised that Jeremy is only 63. That isn't that old really. Ironically perhaps he would be better suited to a studio based presenting job with shorter filmed segments. Rather than the big road trips which have to be mega tiring.

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markhewitt1978@reddit

Absolutely. Going to Amazon gave them a new lease on life and new ideas. So yes we got way more of the trio there than we ever would on the BBC. Mostly because Clarkson wanted to prove a point!

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SharkSmiles1@reddit

I’m pretty sure it was a set up. They were held on leashes by the BBC and wanted something where they wouldn’t have to work nearly as much for A LOT more money.

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thepandaken@reddit

I think given the social climate of the UK/BBC and the nature of Jeremy and the show, they would've gotten permanently "cancelled" for some kind of "offensive" comment long before now. In a roundabout way, I think his fracas saved them from a much earlier end. Going to Amazon really insulated them from a lot of the craziness that got out of hand not too long after they got the boot from the BBC.

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johndoe24997@reddit

I think something would've broke before then. Either the bbc with complaints or the trio because jeremy has said before that towards the end things were getting worse. https://youtu.be/HJx5JpNR4mo

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AsboST225@reddit

Pretty sure they were already on a fine line towards the end in regards to complaints (especially Clarkson), so I honestly think it wouldn't've lasted much further than it already did.

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Beahner@reddit (OP)

Naturally. I’m suspending a major aspect here of the long line of complaint on them (read: Jeremy), but it would have stayed very real if he never threw a hand at a producer. And I’m doing that willfully as usually the complaints were loud, but from few overall. Back not long ago they could poke fun at it with a fake apology or just wave a hand at it. But that’s not been the world the last decade and it would have swallowed them for sure through some incident. I don’t like it, but it’s fact.

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markhewitt1978@reddit

I don't believe it would have continued very long past when it did end. There was a rumour at the time that they were looking to sign a new 3 year contract and that would be it. So going up until 2018. The BBC back then seemed very keen to continue the format so it may well have gone on with the likes of Chris Harris. Perhaps it would have been better received if there wasn't all that unpleasantness hanging over it.

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Beahner@reddit (OP)

Great callback. Thank you. I do remember those rumors now. I remember the Patagonia special and Jeremy in his old man outfit and hat and thinking “these guys are starting to get old”. It made sense that maybe they do a few more years. Which addresses the timeframe, but also touches well on the next steps. I remember them having Chris Evans on towards the end of their run and the talk being that he could take over. I know Chris Evans now and I like him. But, I had no clue on him then and thought it dumb. However, to your point, if they had a more appropriate torch passing over those few years I think the show continues to do well for a while. I think it’s also just as pointless by now as it turned out, but that would be due to changing viewing habits and not so much the bad feelings, as you pointed out. Great input!

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Repulsive_Sherbet_68@reddit

Honestly? I think not very well. The last seasons were - I don't want to say falling off - but they were. Don't get me wrong. I really miss the super car reviews. And I miss them and the stig. But them not being on a lot over the last few years I think likely extended their run.

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Beahner@reddit (OP)

Agreed. I don’t believe the BBC was going to be all hog to cut back on episodes or eliminate the cheaper aspects of the show (studio). Then again, a contract would have come up for renewal at some point the last decade and the guys could probably force it. Admittedly I’m wavering hard on the “one more decade” if they stayed there. It probably would have been that long, and they might have faded harder sooner. But whatever the timeframe I think the BBC was always going to try to get them to phase in fresher blood as they wind down. And I don’t think they ever would have taken it well. Likely they push it and Jeremy punches one of them and then they are on Amazon anyway lol

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RGeronimoH@reddit

I think they reaaaaalllllly put a lot of extra effort into the first season of TGT just to make sure it was successful. There was so much more visible effort than the preceding seasons of TG. I’m sure a lot of it was Amazon pushing, having a bigger budget, etc., but they put a lot more into it as well.

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Beahner@reddit (OP)

The traveling tent season. I think as a whole production unit they…..maybe didn’t regret it, but didn’t want to do that again. It was surely this massive budget driving it. I’ve always felt the massive Amazon budget was more a hinderance than a help to TGT. They had to use it, and in doing so they often enough did what felt like flat and scripted silliness. Even with Sandjob and the “big explosion Mr Wilman needs” they just found their own way to make fun of it. But I don’t think they ever liked these things at all.

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Grunt636@reddit

Judging by what the trio has said over the years since it was basically a ticking time bomb ready to go off, Clarkson detonated it but it was only a matter of time before something happened.

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w1YY@reddit

The format was getting tired and it was clear to me that the producers were going more down the route that I don't think suited them. Really all we wanted was to see them test cars, do some car challenges and have some epic challenges trips. It became too staged and yes I know they did unscripted later on to try and make a point but they shifted the balance too much that way. It was something that IMO they have struggled with in TGT and maybe that's on willman. Maybe that's on them. I think it was likely because they ran out of good ideas

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Beahner@reddit (OP)

You make a great point on ideas. They are more so out of good ideas now than they are just too old to do them IMO. Hell, lots of TGT was just rehash of things they had already done before to some decent degree. That doesn’t change if they stay on BBC. Highly likely that within a few years of when it did end they come up for contract and just throw their hands up.