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Top Gear Falls to New Lows, Drops Under the Two-Million Viewers Mark

The new and revamped Top Gear show has had a bumpy ride, to say the least, and almost all fingers are pointed at the new main host, the red-headed Chris Evans. We say "most fingers" because some are still waving theirs towards BBC's decision makers for letting the old team go, but that's just living in the past.
Chris Evans 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
The new format launched with a team of six plus one, where "the one" (or is it The One?) is none other than the Stig. However, not all men (and Sabine Schmitz) are created equal, and so it was Chirs Evans who was chosen to lead the team, a decision that could go down in British TV history as one of the worst ever made.

Ever since the first episode was aired on May 29, the already very skeptical public shook its head in disbelief: most voices said it was going to be a fiasco, while others continued to hold on to some very thin threads of hope that were long gone by the time the second episode had finished airing. Yes, it was bad. But there was some flicker of hope.

The show's co-host, American actor Matt LeBlanc (also known as "Joey from Friends) showed great promise, while the two handling the derivate show called Extra Gear - Chris Harris and Rory Reid - were also received with great enthusiasm. Still, not nearly as enthusiastically as the confirmation of the new Clarkson, Hammond, and May show that'll be streamed on Amazon.

The last episode of Top Gear's 23rd season was broadcast yesterday, and it provided the greatest paradox yet. While those who watched it agreed that it was one of the best productions of the new team so far, it somehow managed to reach new lows, sinking below the two-million viewers mark with a registered audience of 1.9-million (according to The Mirror). That's way off the numbers of the previous seasons, not to mention Chris Evan's optimistical predictions from before the relaunch when he was hoping for five-million-plus.

Unsurprisingly, after being singled out as the main reason the new show is so unwatchable, Chirs Evan's future with the team is under severe doubts. It's reported that he's being given an ultimatum that he probably won't be able to fulfill (BBC is basically asking him to change who he is), so the most likely alternative is him leaving the show and Matt LeBlanc stepping up as the main host.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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