Like soft drinks, fragrances, and other consumer goods, well-known celebrities have easily identifiable brands. Ellen DeGeneres is cute and quirky and self-deprecating. Madonna is voluptuous and sexual and remote. George Clooney is all of the above.

The hosts of Britain’s Top Gear worked hard to establish their brands, too. Jeremy Clarkson is a brash, aging schoolboy. James May is an overly rational buzzkill. Richard Hammond is short.

But most importantly, they are all douchebags in their own way. They are bro-ey to the extreme. They carry out ridiculous stunts just to make things go “boom”. They say stupid and/or provocative things to get viewers riled up. Clarkson is especially good at that last bit.

And that’s not entirely bad. In their tirades, the trio frequently poke fun at politically correctness, and as PC as some of us tend to be, it’s kind of refreshing to be called to the mat now and then. It’s angering, but it also reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously.

That said, the Top Gear trio frequently cross the line. They are appallingly sexist, making jokes about women in the audience as well as the female celebrities on the show. (The notable exception: Sabine Schmitz, the undisputed Queen of the Nurburgring, who can trounce all of them on the track.)

They are also deeply homophobic. It’s evident in the gay jokes they crack and the eye rolls they make at gay guests or those who’ve played gay on film. Sometimes, it’s hard not to take that personally — especially in the case of Clarkson, who’s known for his conservative, knuckle-dragging views on many issues like climate change.

Now, after 27 years on Top Gear, Clarkson has been sacked for verbally and physically assaulting a producer. Hammond and May have stepped down in solidarity — and also perhaps because the trio is planning to relaunch a competing show on a different channel.

Meanwhile, the BBC has been searching like crazy for a new set of hosts, and rumor has it that three have been found: actor Philip Glenister, along with newscasters Jodie Kidd and Guy Martin. Ms. Kidd is allegedly being eyed as the Clarkson of the bunch.

I’m not especially familiar with any of the three, but I do know they’re not used to working together as a team. What made Clarkson, Hammond, and May work so well was the chemistry between them. They were three parts of a whole. They had very different personalities, but they complemented one another perfectly. That’s rare magic.

Beyond the problem of chemistry, there’s also the show’s tone to consider. It would be hard to believe that the show’s sexist, homophobic vibe could remain intact, particularly with a woman like Ms. Kidd at the helm. Sure, she’s a bit outspoken, she could muster some jokey, junior-high antics now and then, but can she and her colleagues really take that shtick and run with it? More importantly: can they make people believe they’re truly that way in real life, not just onstage, as Clarkson & Co. did? Will they be engaging enough to keep fans from following the former Top Gear hosts to their rumored new program?

My guess is that the show will have an entirely new tone — or at least one that accurately reflects the hosts’ personalities. The question is, when a brand is as personality-driven as Top Gear‘s is, can it survive in new hands? The so-so success of America’s Top Gear suggests that the transition is anything but easy.