TV Shows BBC Top Gear

Chris just annoyed me - he was ok on the presenter parts in the studio but his review was over the top staged and was pretty dull even though it looked action packed. It just felt massively fake rather than an actual bit of fun in a car laser tag game.

I know there is always some element of fixing but it felt like organised fun which your parents might arrange for you thinking it will be awesome and in reality its dull.

I did enjoy the matt review mainly because he was funnier.

the joint challenge they did seemed pointless? what did they prove? It wasnt very fluid and was trying to be epic when all that really happened is they drove up north in some reliant robins then switched to 4x4 and some dull challegnes which made no sense.

what the hell was the tug of war thing ?
what was strong man and tri-athlete thing about ? just PR for them as they brought nothing to challenge.

overall it was OK but i felt the outcome was pre-ordained and it massively showed.

 

Found a replacement for Chris Evans already

 

I felt the efforts of Evans to gee up the crowd like he'd do on TFI really cringe worthy.

 

This.

I watched the first ep and Evans is annoying AF. It's TFI Friday with cars. I feel like I've grown up from the 90s but he hasn't (well, only his face has).

Matt LeB is much better than I had originally expected. A proper presenter and it's quite funny to watch him out of his depth in British weather, although failing 26 miles into the challenge was ... BS, basically.

I really hope they don't run with the US vs UK thing. It'll get old, quick.

Also BBC STILL DOESN'T GET ONLINE SHOWS. BBC3 should have an undefined show-length. Extra Gear IS BETTER THAN TOP GEAR. Let them shoot as much film as they want, it doesn't matter, it doesn't have to fit a timeslot on TV now.

Get rid of Chris Evans and put Chris Harris in there. Job done.

 

This! I found extra gear to be much more enjoyable, and the chemistry between the two presenters was much more natural, the dialogue between chris and matt felt forced in the studio.

 

TG is crap with Evans.

I watched it on Iplayer and was using headphones, I took my headphones off 3 times because Evans was SHOUTING! Considering he's been a presenter for the last umpteen years you would of thought he could do a better job!

LeBlanc I thought was funny, it was all scripted I know but he was funny. I do like him as an actor so maybe that helps.

Haven't watched ExtraGear so will give that a go this evening as everyone is saying it's better!

I'll watch it again to see if Evans is still shouting, if he his I might watch it with subtitles.

 

What I thought was lacking from both the main show and the extra show were satisfactory conclusions to any of the pieces. Both shows just seemed to drift from one thing to the next, making it feel a bit flat. Hopefully this is something that'll improve with time.

As for Evans being immature, like it or loathe it, that's been part of Top Gear since the Clarkson era revamp - grown men behaving like boys with their toys.

 

Anyone else watched Extra Gear yet?

Rory Reid was surprisingly good - he's a very natural presenter that clearly knows his stuff. Chris Harris did a decent job, but looked a little uncomfortable (compared to his YouTube videos). All in all, I enjoyed it but there's a bit of work to be done to make it a bit more slick.

I haven't mustered up the courage yet to watch the full Top Gear.

 

I think extra gear will turn out to be pretty good once Rory and Chris get a bit of chemistry going on, as the first episode felt pretty contrived in the studio. There's definitely potential there IMO.

Chris Evans isn't doing it for me on TG - trying to hard to be Clarkson as other have said. I actually quite liked Matt on it in the breakouts - apart from the bits in the studio where the exchanges between Matt and Chris pained me (but mostly because of Evans).

 

IMO Evans is undoubtedly, 100% the problem...

Yes LeBlanc and Harris at times looked like they didn't want to be there on their respective programs.. but Evans was what really set of the 'Nope!' alarm.

I hadn't noticed the lack of proper conclusions to the review segments, but looking back I agree they could do with them. All we got out of the Vette/Viper duel was [essentially] Evans wouldn't buy one and Sabine has a knack for making people carsick. Neither Harris nor LeBlanc really gave a conclusion for their respective Ariel go-cart reviews.

But there are 5 eps to go, it may get better... it may not...

EDIT: Someone likened Clarkson Top Gear as a bit like Last of the Summer Wine... 3 old men growing old disgracefully... they know they're old and uncool and aren't really that bothered about it...

Evans is that middle aged man who thinks and acts like he's still 18 and just ends up being cringe-worthy and embarrassing...

Like Bindi hints at -

Evans: HELLO!
Audience: Oh, hey it's you, you haven't changed a bit... [since the 90s]
Evans: Thanks!
Audience: That... that wasn't a compliment...

 

I think the conclusion on the Nomad was pretty clear, I didn't need a X/10 summation. To the point that I'm thinking I might start looking in to them (not just TG, I've been thinking they're the best thing since bread of any sort since I first head of them, I just always assumed they were a limited run mega-money toy, until they mentioned they're 30k)

 

Just watched the first episode. Matt leBland was surprisingly good - both the Nomad video and his parts of the Blackpool challenge were great.

Chris E just needs to calm down a bit and stop trying to imitate Carlson. There are some good ideas (E.g. star in a rallycross car).

Here's hoping it improves over time.

I've also signed up to Amazon prime so will be good to see Carlson and co's new show in the Autumn.

 

Carlson?

 

Yeah, he was Clarkson's double that frequently stood in for him. You can tell if you really pay attention.

Do your research, man.

 

Yes, to me the segments (or most of them at least) felt like they needed wrapping up more positively before moving on to the next. As it was, it felt a bit like it was just meandering from one thing to the next.

 

I would have liked a bit more of a conclusion after the viper/vette segment, but at the same time, if I want to actually know about a car, I go on youtube (and probably check out one of Chris or Rory's videos). TG has been nothing more than light automotive entertainment for ten years - stuff happens in cars, there's some nice noises, it's occasionally amusing and then it ends.

 

Yes, by "conclusion" I don't mean more info. I mean "drawing to a conclusion"/"wrapping up". Hmm, I don't think I'm explaining this very well.

 

The Clarkson-era 'conlcusions' were usually May/Hammond telling Clarkson how wrong he was... but they served as a clear end of the 'review' before moving on to whatever came next...

 

Exactly. They were really very good at that.

Looking at the audience reaction in between the segments on last Sunday's show, they often looked a bit "lost".