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Top Gear
瘋狂汽車秀
High-octane antics
高辛烷值的滑稽
Motormouth Jeremy Clarkson is suspended from the BBC's hit show
快嘴快舌的杰里米·克拉克森被BBC熱門節(jié)目停職
WHEN Jeremy Clarkson suggests switching off the VSC on a Toyota GT86 sports car to do better doughnuts around the “Top Gear” test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, his audience is more than likely to know what he is talking about. That audience is huge: “Top Gear” is the world's most widely watched factual television programme, with more than 350m viewers in 214 countries. That presents BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, with a problem, because on March 10th the broadcaster suspended Mr Clarkson for being involved in what it called a “fracas” with one of the show's producers. The next episode will not be broadcast and another two may be dropped.
當(dāng)杰里米·克拉克森在薩里的敦斯福德機(jī)場(chǎng)建議將豐田86跑車的車輛穩(wěn)定性控制系統(tǒng)（VSC）關(guān)閉，好讓跑車在“瘋狂汽車秀”的測(cè)試跑道上更好地回旋時(shí)，他的觀眾很可能不知道他到底在說些什么。這個(gè)節(jié)目觀眾數(shù)量龐大：“瘋狂汽車秀”是全球受關(guān)注最廣的真人電視節(jié)目，在214個(gè)國(guó)家擁有約3億5千萬名觀眾。這給BBC的一個(gè)部門BBC Worldwide（英國(guó)廣播公司商業(yè)公司）帶來了麻煩，因?yàn)樵?月10號(hào)，該廣播公司辭退了克拉克森，原因是他與該節(jié)目的一名制片人發(fā)生了所謂的“爭(zhēng)吵”。下一集將不會(huì)播出，余下兩集也可能被砍掉。
Mr Clarkson's satnav seems to steer him towards controversy. In May last year he said he had been given a final warning by the BBC after it was claimed that he had said “nigger” while reciting a rhyme during the filming of an earlier series. In October 2014 the Top Gear crew had to flee from Argentina after being attacked by angry crowds during a road trip because the registration of a Porsche they were using appeared to refer to the date of the Falklands war. The BBC says it is investigating the latest incident, which, according to some reports, involved Mr Clarkson throwing a punch in a row over a lack of food on an assignment.
克拉克森的導(dǎo)播可能將他推上了爭(zhēng)論的風(fēng)口浪尖。去年五月，他說BBC聲稱他在之前的錄制過程中背誦詩時(shí)提到了“黑鬼”這個(gè)詞，給了他終極警告。2014年10月，瘋狂汽車秀中使用的一輛保時(shí)捷牌號(hào)與馬島戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)日期一樣，因此在自駕路上受到了憤怒民眾的攻擊，工作人員被迫逃離阿根廷。BBC表示正在調(diào)查最近的事故，據(jù)某些報(bào)道，與克拉克森在某次任務(wù)中因缺乏食物而出拳斗毆有關(guān)。
“Top Gear” earns a good deal of money for BBC Worldwide and for its star. The commercial rights to the series used to be controlled by a company called Bedder 6, a joint venture with BBC Worldwide, and 30% owned by Mr Clarkson and 20% by Andy Wilman, an executive producer. The dividends from that company alone made Mr Clarkson a multimillionaire. In 2012 the pair sold their shares to BBC Worldwide. Mr Clarkson is said to have received ￡8.4m ($12.6m) for his stake.
“瘋狂汽車秀”幫BBC Worldwide和明星大賺了一筆。該節(jié)目的商事權(quán)利曾由一家名為Bedder 6的企業(yè)管理，該公司是BBC Worldwide的合資企業(yè)，克拉克森擁有30%的股權(quán)，一名執(zhí)行制片人安迪·威爾曼擁有20%的股權(quán)。僅該公司的分紅就讓克拉克森成為了千萬富翁。2012年，這對(duì)合伙人將股份賣給了BBC Worldwide。據(jù)說克拉克森將自己的所有權(quán)賣到了840萬英鎊（1260萬美元）。
Mr Clarkson and the show's co-presenters, James May and Richard Hammond, are believed to have been negotiating new contracts with the BBC. The politically correct and those who have found themselves the butt of Mr Clarkson's jokes—greens, truck drivers and Mexicans are among those on a long list—would be happy to see him go. Some think Danny Cohen, the BBC's director of television, shares their feelings: he hinted last year that he did not see the presenter as “untouchable”.
據(jù)說克拉克森和該節(jié)目的合作主持人詹姆斯·梅、理查德·哈蒙德一直在與BBC就新合同事宜進(jìn)行協(xié)商。政治傾向正確的人和克拉克森取笑的對(duì)象——綠黨、貨車司機(jī)和墨西哥人在這份長(zhǎng)名單之列，他們將樂見克拉克森的離開。有一些人認(rèn)為BBC的電視導(dǎo)演丹尼·科恩和他們有同感：去年克拉克森曾暗示他認(rèn)為導(dǎo)演并非是“無法企及的”。
The BBC has a strong incentive to overlook Mr Clarkson's transgressions. But it is a bureaucratic machine that must try to please everybody, because everybody pays for it. So it could be that commercial rivals such as ITV and Sky will be taking out their chequebooks to sign Mr Clarkson to present a rival series. They would not be able to use the “Top Gear” brand, but whatever the contracts say it is Mr Clarkson who is the real franchise of this show. An online petition in support of the presenter collected nearly 500,000 signatures in barely 24 hours. Mr Clarkson might be seen as an overbearing joker, but that is precisely what his fans like. And, petrolheads all, they know he is not afraid to call a new car rubbish if he thinks it is.
BBC絕對(duì)有忽略克拉克森越矩行為的強(qiáng)烈動(dòng)機(jī)。但它是一架官僚機(jī)器，必須取悅每一個(gè)人，因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人都向它支付費(fèi)用。所以像ITV和Sky這樣的商業(yè)對(duì)手有可能將拿出支票本簽下克拉克森，開創(chuàng)一檔競(jìng)爭(zhēng)欄目。他們無法使用“瘋狂汽車秀”的名字，但無論合同怎么說，克拉克森才是節(jié)目的真正賣點(diǎn)。支持這位主持人的在線請(qǐng)?jiān)冈?4小時(shí)內(nèi)收集到了近500，000個(gè)簽名。也許克拉克森給人的印象是一個(gè)自大的愛開玩笑的人，但他的粉絲所喜愛的正是他這一點(diǎn)。而且車迷們都知道如果克拉克森認(rèn)為一輛新車是垃圾的話，口無遮攔的他毫不諱言。譯者：王穎 校對(duì)：唐宇
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