“[I]f we promised not to be entertaining” i.e. Top Gear returns to the U.S.
What?
The State Department has decided that TG’s last visit to the states demonstrates that it’s not a “factual documentary”, but rather a “entertainment”? And this changes Jezza’s visa status? And generates a slew of jokes on fact versus jokes? Have they never heard of Peter Watkins?
And then Chrysler won’t lend them a car because they’re “horrid” about their cars?
This is why Top Gear will never work on commercial television in the US. PBS must step up.
I’ll shut up now.
Plus the real possibility of getting shot and killed during any routine traffic stop has made US cops cranky and humorless. TG guys do better with police who are good sports. Seeing them lectured sanctimoniously every week (as, say, they chuck a hilux down the grand canyon) would be a drag. The closest show to TG in the US might be Mythbusters, which is a low-quality exercise is tedium.
Any car show in the US that lets the hosts gleefully eviscerate a car they don’t like would need either PBS or an ad scheme that was smarter than keyword-based (i.e. no car ads).