Why I love Top Gear

Top Gear (Monday nights, 7.30pm, SBS) is the funniest show on TV. And it's a show about cars, something I have only a passing interest in. How is this possible?
Is it because most TV today is crap? Partly. There aren't many great comedies around. In fact, are there ANY good comedies around?
These days the only thing that gives me a real belly laugh are snippets of the Colbert Report on YouTube, Andrew Hansen's whacky songs on the Chaser (I'm still humming his "I need a hammer") and Family Guy.
Okay, so why is Top Gear so great then?
For starters, it's beautifully shot, wittily scripted and the three presenters, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are funny, intelligent and charming. Clarkson's quips are utterly hilarious. And the in-jokes between the three are fantastic.
Apart from last week's "make a car into a boat" challenge, the funniest thing I saw on Top Gear this year was a segment where they invited celebrities to do a lap in their reasonably priced car. A few B-graders turned up, among them Princess Diana's former shag James Hewitt.
Hewitt turned up to the race track, was greeted by the gents, did his lap, hung around and chatted and left. The trouble was, the hosts had absolutely no idea who he was. So his lap time went on the leader board as "Well Spoken Man". I really love this show.