Top Gear looks to 'Joey' from Friends to salvage ailing show

London

IN the US television sitcom Friends, struggling actor Joey relies on a winning personality to compensate for his naivete, stumbling into everything from advertising gigs to dates. Now Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey, has lucked into a similar role in the UK.

The American actor is poised to take the lead at Top Gear, the British Broadcasting Corp's most lucrative entertainment franchise, after star presenter Jeremy Clarkson left the car show and his replacement, radio host Chris Evans, flopped almost instantly.

A lot is riding on the success of LeBlanc. In addition to entertaining viewers at home, the show is one of the UK's biggest cultural exports. It generates more than £50 million (S$89 million) a year in international sales of programming, toys a…