TV Shows BBC Top Gear

The last series was pretty pants, so I'm thinking it probably should.

 

That's an understatement but I also found the Grand Tour on Amazon very tedious, maybe I have outgrown this type of fare?

 

The last series of TG was ****, but I have high hopes for this one. The trailers have at least struck really the right tone and they are still doing the Extra Gear stuff, which is more car-enthusiast.

 

20 mins guys.

 

Well imo it didn't completely suck... definite improvement over the ginger whinger...

 

Pah missed it and iplayer on my new vermin v6 box is flaky

 

iplayer was/is crap on the virgin boxes... always has been iirc... it works... ish... eventually...

 

Yeah, think vermin are trying to sort it on the new box. On the previos tivo hd box was unusable

 

Not bad, not bad at all.

studio segments were quite poor, they are obviously scripted as to be expected, but the delivery was just a bit stale.

Fortunately the rest was a lot better.

 

This did absolutely nothing for me. Far to scripted, segments overly long and filled with pointless camera angles and shots. The presenters did not come across as having any personality at all. I think the program has had it's day but of course the BBC as always will keep making it as they struggle for new ideas across their programming and I resent having to pay for something that I do not want.

 

I thought it was really good. The film in Kazakhstan was excellent - funny, beautiful and interesting.

The studio bits were ok - at least they were trying to change things up a little. New set, new format (inviting the guest on early) and no Stig. All in all, an excellent start to the series. Here's hoping they can keep it up for the rest of the season.

Hopefully it will give the Grand Tour boys a bit of a poke to try and up their game.

 

I liked it, but there is a real lack of chemistry between the presenters. Harris is still awkward, Rory wooden, and Matt clearly autocue dependent.

I find it a real shame they dropped Evens.

 

It's kind of like the american top gear now for me. Presenters that don't seem to have a personality or are trying to manufacture one, outside of the script which they are obviously following.
Glad the muppet Evans is out but they haven't found the winning combo yet and i'm doubting they ever will.

 

This^

The studio bits need to be presented individually. The scripting is baaaad. Watch the very start of the episode and they're all bobbing around like some sort of caffeine OD awareness PSA. I skipped through the whole celeb nonsense as usual. But the rest of it really had me smiling a lot. They're genuinely having fun in KZ. It was refreshing.

When TG restarted in early 00s it was similar. They've got to work on it, relax and get more comfortable. Chris is really not comfortable with presenting though. The difference between the intro and him in the FXXK was night and day. Actually I think Rory is the best here. Matt can deliver lines but he is wooden.

 

People tend to forget that the Top Gear reboot we are all familiar with wasn't exactly born fully formed:

 

^^Not even Dave shows those episodes.

I think it might be an idea to get rid of the studio altogether, I don't really see what it adds to the show, I enjoyed the other stuff though.

 

Personally I think Evans was made a scapegoat from the first episode of the last series and even though he (and the others) got better as the series went on the writing was already on the wall for him. Without him so far this series I think the studio sections were actually worse.

I wonder at this point how much of the studio bits are down to bad writing rather than the presenters as the outdoorsy bit are quite good. Maybe they need Richard Porter back?

 

Still not quite as good as Top Gear used to be but on a par with Grand Tour I think, worth a watch!

 

I thoroughly enjoyed it, made me laugh a lot which is unusual for telly (then again I am sleep deprived so who knows what my brain is doing!).

Studio pieces weren't great but at least there weren't any really overly extended celebrity awkward (whatever the hell last season thing was) bits.

All in all a B+

 

Definitely an improvement over the last season! They just need to get more used to presenting