I like it but I was always a fan of the Clarkson/Hammond/May gestalt so YMMV. I've always liked Clarkson's columns and take them with a bucket of salt and the degree of dry humour involved wherever he's concerned hits the spot for me. The fact that they were effectively handed a blank cheque by Amazon just adds to it, they probably spent more on the opening scene than was the entire series budget for the BBC. Suffice to say that I expect they'll make back what they spent manyfold, whatever name they operate under, as those three clowns are still some of the best, stupidest television you're going to find anywhere. They simply need to turn up in a stupidly small car and wear incredibly big shoes to point out to some people that they are just a trio of clowns.
Loved it. It was good to see the trio back on the TV. Having said that, the filler segment in the middle with all the 'dead' celebrities was a bit crap - an idea that didn't really work. I hope they find a better way of filling the show next week (or they could just cut this bit out to make the show 1 hr rather than 1 hr 10).
Really loved it. It was what I hoped for in that it was a re-branded TG with more money and what looked like less control over what they say. The Celebrity bit got boring for me quite quickly but hopefully as this is the first season any thing that isn't overly popular is spotted and looked at again for the next season. Really look forward to enjoying this season.
Not quite top gear in their prime, though, certainty a *lot* better than the last several seasons before they imploded on BBC. Time will tell, but I actually look forward to watching the next episode, I haven't felt that way in too long.
I caught it on a bootleg YouTube video. As someone said, it's TG turned up to 11, and that's OK. It was a bit hit and miss, but it was bread and butter Top Gear and that's exactly what I want it to be. There was nothing wrong with the old show and more of the same is just fine with me! That said, I think the American NASCAR driver replacing the Stig was a mistake. I don't know if the guy is an ignorant jerk or if he just plays one on TV, but he's not doing the show any favors. I think Amazon asked for an American to increase the popularity of the show in the US, but the guy is sort of a caricature of Americans and will end up hurting viewership.
yeah ep2 was a little rought, although they are still working stuff out. next weeks episodes sounds much better
I thought episode 2 was a good improvement on 1, much less of the godawful scripted comedy (with execrable comedic timing). They still have a problem dragging out some gags for too long though, if they needed to cram more into an episode and edit more harshly it would probably benefit. E.g. the 'we're not doing celebrity bits anymore' gag can be cut entirely, it no longer serves any purpose other than to waste time.
Well I basically zoned out during military training ground thing. Dull and protracted stuff. Dunno if the episode picked up after then, I give up watching.
As Yoda said the second part of it went all the way to the ed of the episode, but after a certain point they took it less seriously and it got really funny (IMHO, YMMV). At first they were trying to be serious Spec ops types and by the end they were just making fun of movie memes. Hammond "James, what are you doing?" May "Shooting them in the petrol tank so they'll blow up" Hammond "You idiot, that only works in films!" petrol tank explodes, followed by gas station exploding.
Yeah that was quite poor. The bit on the Vulcan was good, and the bit about Jacob Zuma was HILARIOUS (though that has a lot to do with proximity, I suppose). Had they taken things more seriously in the Jordan bit, it would have been better.
When the episode started, I was hoping they would take the challenge somewhat seriously and not be like a bull in a china shop but Nope.. The Vulcan was excellent, and despite the issues and cringe worthy stuff, I will still keep watching as at least we know what we are getting to a certain extent each week.
This. It was fun for about 10 minutes but by 2nd half I skipped through. Vulcan was great though. Looks immensely clostrophobic. Can't wait to see an actual review from Chris Harris though.
Yeah, I noticed that as well, there was no real way they could properly open the car up. After a good start with episode 1 I found this really disappointing, a slot about the Vulcan and the remainder of the show was just filler (big budget filler, but filler none the less).
Finally got around to watching episode 2 last night (the one with the trip to Jordan) and I thought it was fantastic. There was only a very short celebrity section where they killed Charlize Theron, but no one else. The piece in Jordan was funny, great to watch and superbly edited - just like a Top Gear version of the Tom Cruise film Live, Die, Repeat. I also don't think it was too long and for once the comedy elements all worked. Highly recommended.