If you are reading this, than you will be happy to hear Top Gear USA has been cancelled. Thank the car gods!
History Channel decided to cancel Top Gear America after ratings have been in a steady decline. While the show still ranks well in History Channel's overall cable line-up the high cost of production makes it hard to justify the continued cost to make the show. The licensing fees that the BBC charges for use of the Top Gear brand in the US go up each year according to people who worked on the contractual agreements with the BBC. This is a major factor for Top Gear USA getting cancelled since you can't bankroll a show that doesn't make money, even if some idiots like the show.
Finances are not the only reason for the Top Gear USA getting cancelled. Rumors swirled that the 3 hosts of the American version of Top Gear; Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust, and Rutledge Wood have been fighting off the show. Inside sources claim the three of them claim get along fine on camera but really don't behind-the-scenes. Apparently Adam Ferrara wanted both Rutledge Wood and Tanner Foust off the show as he felt he was the best host. He even told the producers, and both hosts to their faces, that they should be replaced by people that are actually smart and funny.
Insiders close to the show have said that comments from Ferrara infuriated Tanner Foust so much he got into bit of a brawl with the New York comedian. “Ferrara kicked Foust's ass” is what one source told me. Wood seems to be more chill about the situation and it seems he will just go back to his position reporting full time on the NASCAR circuit. History Channel and the producers for the show apparently had strongly considered replacing both Tanner Foust and Rutledge Wood with other hosts when the show aired early on but nothing ever came of it. Wood would have been easy to replace but finding a driver that was a good TV host was a more difficult task for the producers who used a BBC subsidiary for production.
Top Gear America was cancelled for another reason, it was giving people eye cancer since the show was so bad. Reports from Ophthalmologists and Oncologists around the US, and around the world, have filed complaints and sent letters to the History Channel. Most of these doctors are saying the same thing, that Top Gear USA is so terrible people can get eye cancer from watching the show for even short periods of time. “Your chances of contracting eye cancer from watching Top Gear USA is almost guaranteed and we have seen some severe cases recently. Short periods of watching the show might be alright but if you have been exposed at all we recommend you go to a hospital immediately to get checked.” said Dr. Gomes who is head of Oncology at Brigham Hospital in Blue Balls, Pennsylvania. When asked about how many cases and if men or women were more affected, “We mainly see men getting cancer from Top Gear USA. It's not quite as severe as when people watch Keeping up with the Kardashians, but pretty close. We definitely see more women with Kardashian eye cancer. With regards to Top Gear USA eye cancer we've seen a thousands of cases here in Blue Balls.” When I asked about the original Top Gear UK on the BBC Dr. Gomes replied, “I love watching Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. Unsure of how any other car show could compare to them.” He also reassured me that all his patients were able to make full recoveries from the Top Gear America cancer. The cure is pretty simple, full episodes of Top Gear UK on DVD for several days in a row.
Happy April 1st Everyone! 🙂
*Note if you are not aware of what April 1st is you should Google it.