[13x01] June 21st, 2009

[svb]

Actually you?re correct, Dr. Grip.
The term I should have used is story ? boarded, it had an understandable story line.

Sure, but Hammond falling way behind didn't make for as dramatic a finish as they could have done if they'd really faked it.

 

[Spectre]

And James did poke fun at Jezza--both during the race ("You are such a cockhead") and after he arrived ("You have permission to say 'oh, cock!'."), not to mention that--for once--he was behaving very unlike his usual "Christian motorist" self.

It was the car. No, really.

"This set the tone for Jaguar - cars for rotters, for cads... for absolute bandits!" - James May, Top Gear 2x04.

 

[Plissken]

Why am I not surprised Michael Malric-Smith was flying the helicopter...

Wrong Mike Smith.

It was Mike Smith the ex-Radio 1 DJ, not Michael Malric-Smith (ex "Mikey" from The Interceptor).

 

[DarthKalEl]

I rate it between 8 and 9, it was really good episode. Race was fun, lotus review was ok and Stig gag was cool and funny. But, as much I like these new episodes from series 11, 12 and now 13, I am just missing the old TopGear. It feels to short, like this one ? race, bit of news, stig and one car review. For me, the best series are 3, 4, 5 and 6, when we have a lot more stuff in one episode. Like I 4.3 show ? 100 pounds cars, news, dodge charger, guest, 360CS vs. 911 GT3. Or 4.4 with economy run, James pigeon race, news, EVO vs. Subaru, guest and Carrera GT. That is packed show and it will be good if new episode would be more like that.

 

[Red_Bull]

the "in the cooler" is a reference to one of the greatest movies of all times, The Great Escape.

It was a sort of punishment device for the allied prisoners of war (the heros of the movie), a very small isolated cell that the Germans would lock them into for being disobedient.

'Cooler' was what the Allied prisoners called it, and the Germans picked it up and started referring to it that way as well.

And to those saying that Schumacher is the greatest living F1 driver... Conjecture. Not to mention bollocks. Mika kicked his ass, then F1 suffered a huge void when it came to talent and he dominated. The instant Alonso starts dominating and it's clear the Ferrari isn't a dog of a car, "Oh yes, I'm retiring"...

The man is like the Red Baron. Surrounded himself with talented people and never put himself in a situation where he was disadvantaged.

Well if the rumours are to be believed, Schumacher was kinda forced into retirement by Montezemolo. The decision wasn't entirely his.

Guess we'll just ignore his 1996 move away from the very successful Benetton team to the woeful Ferrari team of the time then?

The interview was a bit lacking I must admit. Schumacher has always been very defensive regarding the British media given his battles with Damon Hill and the fact that he was portrayed as a seemingly cold and arrogant German. I also remember when those pictures of him at that end of season party first surfaced and he was pretty unhappy about that, and they caused him some embarrassment at the time (2003 I think). He made a few good jokes though, and even with all that I described, was still a damn sight better than most revent interviewees.

 

[Karoug]

A pretty average ep. IMO.. Good race, but the news and the Schumi, Stig thing was woeful.. And the Evora review was standard Clarkson with nice camera angles.

 

[jzmn]

The episode was good enough to make me register haha.

I loved the episode, really. I think a lot of it had to do with the anticipation. Rated it a 9 because I have a feeling it might get better over the course of the series.

I still can't get over the apparent road legality of the FXX. Even if it can get over a speed bump and be available to some members of the public, they aren't exactly street legal.

 

[stiggles]

9. It needed a proper Schumacher lap.
Other things of note:
The Jag. Beautiful in every way. May should've put the roof down at some point for extra 6-cylinder win!
The Tornado. One of the coolest trains ever, and Clarkson's evident passion for the engineering behind it is infectious.
Hammond was always going to lose on the motorcycle.
The Evora review was rather gushing, but then it seems to be quite a car.
News - forgettable, sadly, as there was so much to talk about.
MS, awesome, even though he's not the actual Stig, and the FXX is incredible. But still slower than a DBR9, IIRC.
Is it just me, or is May becoming rather foul-mouthed?

 

[Armunn]

the "in the cooler" is a reference to one of the greatest movies of all times, The Great Escape.

It was a sort of punishment device for the allied prisoners of war (the heros of the movie), a very small isolated cell that the Germans would lock them into for being disobedient.

I thought it's probably a reference to the TV series Colditz. Both Jeremy and James have given mention on more than one occasion about this series.

 

[kurthest]

Explain?

If its as you say, an average episode, you should give it 5/10.
Lots of people giving it 9/10, 10/10.
10 should almost never be used. To give it a 10, it would have to be better than perfect.
I guess those people doesnt look forward to the next episodes then, since they reckon TG cant do better.
I just dont understand why people bother rating the show, when they give it 9/10 or 10/10 each week.
Might as well just have a vote with 2 options; good or bad.

 

[amsung2]

it's absolutely clear that the stig isn't shumacher,
the FXX was actually driven around the track by schumacher, and he delibrately made a scham of his SIRPC lap.

 

[vRS]

Good first episode; loved the train. How lucky is JC for getting to go in it. Stunning machine.

 

[hardcoreep]

Is it me or am I the only one not having a issue with the FXX. Its basically an Enzo and makes the 'sleeping policeman' rule on top gear.

 

[jed]

Hey

Waou, a perfect season opener for me. So I gave a 10. It has been a long time I wanted to see MSC on TG but he seemed to prefer 5G and maybe too busy.
And I was waiting a new ep of TG for so long that this episode was a real pleasure to watch. It worth a 10 easily. All the stig/MSC stuff make me smile for the entire evening. The race was pretty good too (what a jag !), and JC was hilarious at the hotel being dirty from toe to head (and leaving traces on the wall :lol.
The lotus was also damn good, with always the same excellent video quality of TG (slow motion things).
And finally what a sound for the FXX

Can"t wait to see the entire season as the preview really was promising.

 

[Reboot]

If its as you say, an average episode, you should give it 5/10.
Lots of people giving it 9/10, 10/10.
10 should almost never be used. To give it a 10, it would have to be better than perfect.
I guess those people doesnt look forward to the next episodes then, since they reckon TG cant do better.
I just dont understand why people bother rating the show, when they give it 9/10 or 10/10 each week.
Might as well just have a vote with 2 options; good or bad.

Surely you should rate against TV as a whole. So if something like "Piers Morgan talks crap" is a "1", then no TG episode would ever be less than a "5". So an average TG episode, on that basis, would be 7 or 8.

 

[Pauline]

I gave 8/10. I really enjoyed the race. The train was absolutely brilliant but what a hard job it was to shovel the coal to make it move!
I think that joke with Dacia Sandero was good.

 

[dawes]

Surely you should rate against TV as a whole. So if something like "Piers Morgan talks crap" is a "1", then no TG episode would ever be less than a "5". So an average TG episode, on that basis, would be 7 or 8.

You just said everything I wanted to say in response to kurthest

 

[invisiblecake]

I gave it an 8/10. I think it was up there, because of the race and the Evora bit, but the news was kinda lacking, and I was bored to death by Schumacher.

I know it'll get better over the next 6 episodes, but I went high just because it's been 6 months since new Top Gear and I got all excited just from anticipation. If it hadn't been the first ep of the series, I'd probably have given it a 7.

Also, it stands up well to multiple viewings so far, but I find that most TG does.

 

[tripbeat]

I'm waiting for green peace to start making a fuss.:lol:
He could just say he was feeding the birds

Oh no! Feeding the birds with eggs - outrageous! Imagine the headline: "Jeremy Clarkson made birds eat their children!"

Lets say it was his caring for public health: imagine how many carcinogenic particles could have been in that meal. So he had to throw it away to show people not to eat eggs baked in a coal kiln.

 

[spicysaurus]

Surely you should rate against TV as a whole. So if something like "Piers Morgan talks crap" is a "1", then no TG episode would ever be less than a "5". So an average TG episode, on that basis, would be 7 or 8.

Yes, exactly! You lucky few across the ocean aren't subjected to Jon & Kate every 10 seconds. If we rate TG against all other programs, it's hard to give it less than a 9 even on its worst days.