Matt LeBlanc's 'Top Gear' Debut Gets Tepid Reception

The new season of the venerable BBC hit series Top Gear was supposed to be a reinvention, a chance to move into exciting new territory after the departure of host Jeremy Clarkson. It didn't turn out that way, as the debut of the show's new look drew unimpressive ratings and unsupportive comments from viewers.

The new version of the show features host Chris Evans - a veteran presenter in the UK, not the actor who plays Captain America - and co-host Matt LeBlanc, the American actor of Friends fame. The pair replace Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

The season's debut episode was watched by 4.4 million viewers, enough to win the night but still the smallest audience that a season-starting episode of Top Gear has drawn since 2005. Worse, Evans had already set the bar high by saying last week that he'd be disappointed in any audience smaller than 5 million.

Worse still, audience reaction to the episode on social media was swift, voluminous and overwhelmingly negative. Viewers called the episode boring, rubbish and "a bit of a car crash."

Clarkson was fired from Top Gear last year after some infamous clashes on the set. He, Hammond and May are set to debut their own car-focused show, The Grand Tour, on Amazon Prime in the fall.