James May reveals the secret behind Top Gear's phenomenal global success 

The great thing about Clarkson, May and Hammond is that they are smart people emulating stupid. Usually on TV it´s the other way around.

You start watching Topgear for the cars by the end of it because of the hosts you are watching it for them, now even if they don’t do cars you will still watch them do anything together

funny to hear james may call people dull after years of clarkson and hammond calling him dull

What I miss the most is Sunday’s, roast dinner then afterwards watching Top Gear with beer.

It’s easy. Those three. I will happily watch them build a Lego set for hours and still have better entertainment than anything on TV now provides

It's about you guys. Clarkson, May and Hammond. You guys could have a cooking show and it'd be a hit.

For me, I have fond memories of watching Top Gear with my dad-later the Grand Tour. It’s become a show that comforts me in a sense. It got me into cars, but like others have said, I realized that I began loving it for the ‘three stooges’ that presented it.

No trio has better chemistry, than Clarkson Hammond & May. Old school Top gear rules, the Grand tour is all that, & more. 😁

You also have to give some credit to Top Gear of the CMH era in that is was very well produced. The photography, music, editing, original ideas, etc. all made for a top notch show. It was entertaining to watch even if you didn't care about cars. Just think about the episodes where they turned cars into boats and sailed across the English Channel, turned a car into a rocket, or 50th anniversary of the E-type.

It worked so well in my opinion because you all love the same thing but you show it outwardly in three different ways.

It was also the very British banter, I don't care about cars at all about from the cooler ones just being cool, but I'd still watch it for them.

I know it's over. but I think I speak for everyone that we would love to see another series....of.....anything really- miss you guys

He's on to something. Mythbusters was that way. Jaime and Adam didn't like each other.

It’s that they are all 3 genuine blokes, living their lives. They don’t feel like they are putting on a show, they generally, together, feel as though they are bouncing nuanced conversation from very different viewpoints and the chemistry/frank nature of their banter. There wasn’t anything that felt fake even though we know we are seeing a great production. People are looking for honesty and honesty requires Negative as well as positive reactions and in a world of “paid for” media, that is rare to truly find. Same reason Rogan is so endearing.

Me seeing the thumbnail thinking the secret behind top gear’s success was the office intercooler

Top gear top show! Top three blokes. It will take another 100 years to find trio like them!!! I wish them all the best whatever they do! ❤

I'm not a car guy whatsoever in top gear is one of my all-time favorite shows

The different hosts from three distinct backgrounds and experiences who share a common passion, was a stroke of genius that brought viewers together who wouldn't usually take the time to spit on each others sneakers.

They were/are ‘naughty schoolboys’ on top gear and the grand tour. You can't manufacture it; it just happens. You either got it or you haven't. So, why try to analyse it? They are great shows that copies cannot replace.

You supposed to do it the other way around.. the most interesting part of an interview is released before the full interview as a teaser.. at the end you say when the full video will get released.. usually a day or two after.

The 3 amigos have that fatherly knows best but often times funny crap outcome attitude towards cars and other stuff which is appealing because in many ways we also do those things. And their camaraderie is genuine.

I think of it like they were a band. The beatles of car tv

Older brother explained Top Gear to me as: it's a comedy show with 3 men and some cars.

Without the massive fame, if they left after old topgear. I’m fairly sure clarkson would be a farmer now. Hammond would have left men&motors. Worked as a local radio presenter again. Then he’d be working with classic cars into his old age. Maybe a small garage, or just a home garage. I’m not sure what May does so much. He has the pub. Can’t see him getting one without the big fame money at all tho. He’s still be in a pub.. just as a the drinker. Drinking his monthly pip money💯 lol

Un programa muy bueno sigo viendo los episodios a día de hoy no me canso de verlo lástima que no sigan

I really, really don’t want this all to end. I hope the three of them continue to collaborate on projects together even if it’s not at the same level as the grand tour

It works for the same reasons why my wife and I work. Very different minds have differing solutions. What seems hard for one seems a simple fix to the other. Or hearing how the other explains their answers is equally enlightening to understand them but also can be used to better your thinking and wider understanding. Be a drag to be around clones of yourself your whole life.

Yah got stuff on here for 3 years..😮.. but this is your most popular show 😅.. star 🌟 🤩 power is amazing.. even if it is captain slow 🐌 😊. Thanks for the show it was amazing 🎉

It wasn't one thing that made TG a phenomenon. It was the cars, expertise, dialogue, comedy, cinematography, music, risks, adventure, chemistry, fun, unpredictability, exclusivity, and familiarity. Of these, I would say that one thing that's missing from all the copycats is the risk. Think about how often the 3 got injured. You don't see that anywhere else.

Top Gear is The Goodies formula 👍

It is 3 different guys / friends doing funny / crazy / stupid things ... They enyoj doing that + we love to watching that.

I think the "imbalance" is the whole charm. There are three different ways in which two can gang up on the third. With two it's always the same dynamic.

It’s amazing tbe hights these found together. It was all clarkson tbh The debt they have for him can never be stated

Last of the Summer Wine was also three men arsing about.......

Top Gear the original was best and probably will always be 2nd to none when it comes to car shows. Anyone who doesn't think it was a car need look no further than the great road n driving tests the hosts n Stig did. They showed many of latest super cars plus best saloon performance cars. Then throw in the amazing chemistry of three hosts not to mention the budget for the series. The recipe made a great series for any Gear ⚙️ head who appreciated the cars shown n driven hard. Plus got to laugh along the way!

it was the Monty Python effect. That sort of silly humour.

This is similar to the reason why mythbusters worked with Adam and jaime

Don t think / analize too much ... Just watch them and have fun.

The reason it worked was because it was those 3. i would watch those 3 watch paint dry and it would be entertaining. Cars or not, these 3 together will always be gold. The car stuff was just a bonus

i love the way you add tremendous value by constantly interrupting your guest with wonderful gems such as 'yep', 'yeah', 'umm', 'yes', 'err' etc

Actually, Clarkson kinda revealed the formula for Top Gear during one of his initial interviews about Clarkson's Farm, because he used the same formula to make his new show successful. (Note that Clarkson's Farm is, of course, not [yet] to the level of Top Gear in success, but it's certainly miles apart from what the solo efforts of May and Hammond.)

Very similar to Mythbusters and the relationship between Adam and Jamie. In big part why they were so successful

The whole show came across as having a laugh with your dad or if you are older having a laugh with your mates on a road trip

Clarkson, May and Hammond had a great camaraderie and coupled with their slightly juvenile humour and ability to poke fun at various groups in an increasingly PC world, it led to Top Gear becoming a massive money earner for the BBC. Unfortunately it seemed they pushed their luck a couple of times too far, specifically with the Burma and Catagonia specials that led to major backlash. Then Clarkson's alleged assault of a producer led to his sacking from the BBC and May and Hammond quickly followed him out the door to form The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime. That new show flourished on the new platform while Top Gear floundered on the BBC, with the awful and idiotic Chris Evans brought in to be the main host, lasting one terrible season before he was ousted. Aside from Chris Harris, Top Gear never recovered from the dumping of Clarkson, May and Hammond and now the show is dead and buried after Andrew Flintoff's terrible accident.

People want watch a show that the people who make want to make it. That will always show through.

I miss those 3 idiots! The escapades that they got up to was just a joy to watch!

The boys have "the right stuff" as. An assimilated quote from Chuck Yeager

The best chemistry since the Three Stooges (and yes, that’s intended as a compliment).

I never really watched for the cars ,it was all about 3 mates dicking about, strangely i did get a top gear vibe from the "Gordon, Gino,and Fred" series , but the chemistry needs to be right and not forced like the revamped top gear failure ..

Why it was so successful is because it was funny! Intelligent humour coupled with oversized school boy pranks.

My observation... James May was the secret. He is us and Clarkson and Hammond were the bullies. I'd give a nice wad of cash to sit and have a meal with May. He is conversant, charming, affable and a truly nice man. The other two are yabbos...

Those three ARE Top Gear! even now watching GT, its still Top Gear, its not a show, its the people and thats what the producers dont understand. This is why it will always fail.

Shouldn't we just be using our cars less? Therefore lifestyle changes that involve shorter journeys will negate the need for charging anywhere other than at home.

I laugh when the sprogs here talk about the "old" TG. It's been around since the 70's boys!

This light is bad for May's toupee lmao

It's success has never been a secret, it's 3 grown up children having a laugh.

top gear is about two guys mocking a third guy, then they rotate again and again

Marketing

Sounds like you are describing an American TV show ... Three Stooges.

I'd have been in May's gang. I knew the "Clarkson" type and I hated them. And never took much notice of the "Hammonds".

The reason is was successful is partly that people must like fake-jeopardy-set-up-films, which was a large part of Top Gear. Personally hated that bit.

May protests too much. Top gear is a romance about how 3 straight men fell in love (like they must do in public school).

Today is still the early days of EV, so no worries, soon enough, there will be enough chargers everywhere for everyone, you just have to plan your trip in advance. As for the 30 minutes charging times, for everyone,, after driving 3 hours, it would be nice to stop for 30 minutes. It works out just fine. Grab a burger, hit the loo, sometimes i find 30 minutes is not enough time to eat and poop. Most people travel between cities with kids and Wives where they need at least 45 minutes at a rest stop. It all works out just fine. They will built more Charging stations as EV grows, I dont see that as a problem at all, in fact, it only gets better and better as time goes on.

Wilman, Clarkson and Hammond were the reason for the success.

💯James would be in that gang of really really annoying self impressed condescending kids. Hammond would be the nice normal one. Clarkson the one on his own with the weird mate at that age. Lol I could see Hammond and clarkson being mates at some point.

harris is terrible new top gear is unwatchable

I find Grand Tour boring and childish. Feels too staged. And I like cars more than your comedy so I miss CARS in Grand Tour A LOT.

Top Gear was rubbish. Unwatchable. I was glad when it was taken off air.

Clarkson over did the 'shock jock' at a time when the political landscape seemed to be going the same way. The 'free speech' lot must have s seen a lot of themselves in Clarkson and didn't like it, which is why they were always looking to bring him down. People who considered themselves 'woke' weren't that concerned about him as they knew he was a clever man being deliberately controversial, but not to be taken seriously as he was clearly being self deprecating.