[01x02] November 25th, 2016

[01x02] November 25th, 2016


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So the episode got out an hour early. What do you think?

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So this confirms it - Grand Tour is still the same old Top Gear, just with better cameras and on another platform. No problem with that though.

The theme and intro credits - I hate them, I really don't like them. The tent bits were much funnier and less stiff than the first show, but still, I can't help but feel like it's a stand-up comedy show.
Good to see that the news are just as funny as the old show's, because that was one of my favourite segments.

Aston Vulcan review was amazingly shot. So many great shots. Though with 4K it's easy to see each wrinke on Clarkson's face :D Loved James' spinning segment, it was awesome and beautifully shot. Also the Sauber C9 replica and the mini-interview with the creator was insanely cool. I hope they find interesting regional car guys like him in the next locations as well, it would give the show even more of that Grand Touring flair

So yeah. The elephant in the room - "Desert Stumble" film. I was expecting to hate it just like I despised the Ambulance, Sweeney or old people's Multipla segments in the old show, but as far as Top Gear comedy? goes, it was actually pretty enjoyable, I really liked it. Many great nods to war movies and parodies of movie tropes. I think that Top Gear Comedy? becomes bearable when they drop all pretense of it not being scripted.
So yea, how would I rate it? If I gave the first episode 8/10, this is going to be 7/10
 
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I admit I laughed.

Seeing them being killed over and over again was funny enough to make me forget it's all scripted :) I especially liked James' hairstyle after being electrocuted.

The rest of the show was also quite enjoyable, the tent bits definitely getting better.

I cannot help thinking what the BBC people might think: It definitely is a continuation of Top Gear, no doubt about it, only without the label. Whatever the BBC will do with the label they now own, it will feel like they have the bottle but the contents are missing. When Jeremy, James and Richard can make a better Top Gear without calling it Top Gear, the BBC will practically be forced to invent something new. Otherwise they'll just embarrass themselves even more.

So what celebrity will be killed next week? :D
 
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The Jordan part was awful. The rest was pretty good. But man the Jordan film was really awful and too long.
 
I enjoyed the Jordan bit it had me laughing especially when Hammond & May started shooting each and jeremy after being shot umpteen times still making it across the line.

Maybe some will find Jordan scripted but which television show isnt but its the lads going outside of their comfort zone and doing something different.

People have to stop likening this to Top gear because it isnt Top Gear its something else, simularities will be there due the previous show being based around the three.
 
Finally an episode devoid of any scripting.
 
Jeez listen to the whining. Just be happy it's on. Those who can, do, those who can't whine about it on forums.
 
I will add that I liked the Jordan segment. It's a car themed entertainment program, if you want straight up car reviews or a cure for insomnia Motortrend has a YouTube channel.
 
Yeah, count me amongst those who enjoyed the Jordan bit. Especially the guys shooting each other and so on. Not to mention Hammond finally being able to bash Clarkson upside the head with a shovel.
 
Three major points:

- Thought the Vulcan review was great, although seeing it being driven around the Eboladrome is still going to take some adjustment for me. The new test-track, although unique, is still missing a little magic (although we all still romanticize about Dunsfold). I'm sure that will grow on me.

- Still not a fan of the american. I know Mike Skinner can wheel, but I'm not a fan of the fact that they make him say the stereotypical "American from the south" drivel. If you have to make your tame racing driver talk due to the BBC over what is and isn't Top Gear, at least let him sprinkle some insightful thoughts about the car he's caining around the track. I feel like it would add an extra layer onto the opinions and takeaways ontop of the reviews from the boys.

- The Jordan bit gave me a few cheap laughs for sure (them killing eachother and Clarkson losing his trousers and what not), but it had very little (if anything at all) to do with the cars. Before, if they were up to nonsense, from my memory at least it was someone related to their (usually shitty) cars as a challenge or somewhat (see the cheap lorry episode).

- I know they're going to be killing off Celebs for the whole run of the show now, which is a little unfortunate as some SIARPC interviews with Clarkson have been gold for sure. However on the whole I don't feel that we'll miss the segment too much. Although missing out on Charlize Theron is unfortunate.

Overall, I did enjoy the first episode a little bit more in its filmed segments. However I will note that the studio segments were a lot better (read, less forced) in this episode. I'm sure as the series rolls on they will improve on what they have and the show will get better. They aren't starting from scratch for sure, but obviously there are new ideas in the show (for legal reasons :lol:) that are being tested out and not all of them are going to be great. I'm looking forward to more from the 3 gents.
 
Beware of intense nitpicking below.

Like the intro music and how it seems we will get a new, location-specific intro every time.

This talking segment isn't really working for me. It feels like I'm watching a recording of a Top Gear Live show where they are playing to a local audience. I get that they are in a way, but this is a TV show not a concert. The talking and the comedy needs to be aimed at the cameras, not the audience. The new format has some problems. the crowd noise is too loud. They face out towards the crowd too, meaning they project and react more to the audience than to each other, reducing the effects of that chemistry that's worth so much money and that means so much to us fans. I am aware, though, that the format is brand new, and they didn't get the chance to gauge audience reactions before they filmed this, as it was shot before the first episode aired.

Excellent review of the Vulcan. Beautifully shot and edited, of course. Great points by Clarkson and a fantastic car.
Oh, god. The American is still talking. I give them a pass on this too since they filmed the episode before the first one aired, no time to react to criticisms. It's weird they let it be on the lap board, considering it isn't road legal.

Agera One:1, plus more crowd-specific humor, but this was pretty funny overall. lol bike mine.

Ok, I really hated the Jordan stuff. First time watching these three I've ever had the urge to turn it off. I thought this was genuinely bad, not just flawed, but actually bad. I fail to understand how this is supposed to be entertaining. There's absolutely no tension, as it's all scripted. And it's really badly scripted. Does anyone believe that Hammond didn't know where Jordan was and wore snow camouflage or that Clarkson meant to say "smoke grenade?" No. The jokes need us to believe that to work. I laughed a couple times, but so many of the jokes were just awkwardly unfunny. Jeremy's being raped now? What the fuck is this supposed to be? Just think how much better this would have been if they actually played this game with fake guns like those used in the Porsche Boxter vs SLK AMG film. They could still script a few jokes as a comedy safety net but have some actual tension, something for us to actually be invested in, some element of jeopardy. That said, I liked a few of the jokes. I particularly like the line "Cry havoc and let slip the dog of understeer."

The spinning part was great. That moment where the guy stepped out of the car and James was genuinely surprised was way funnier and way more exciting than the Jordan stuff, just that little moment.

"And on that terrible disappointment, it's time to end." Operation Desert Stumble is a very accurate title. Still better Chris Evans by a long way, and I'm still very very glad it's back, better luck next time, boys.
 



Holy crap man!
 
Well, that was a couple of hours of entertainment. Yes, I watched it more than once or even twice. There was so much gong on.

8/10

Ironically, the 60 minute to show popped up on my YouTube page and boy did Andy put his finger on it when he talked about bit being able to find a racing driver capable of intelligence conversation.

I still don't like the American.
 
Episode 2 is "The Three Stooges" meet "The Wild Geese".

"The Wild Stooges"!!!! :D
 
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I don't care whether it's scripted or not, the problem for me is that Top Gear comedy just isn't funny. The acting is bland, the scripting is bad.

I turned off the Jordan bit because it was so BORING.
 
Overall this was fun to watch. I don't really like the american talking... ok, rephrase that: I really don't like the american talking, but the rest of it was good.
I found the Jordan segment really entertaining, with a couple of good jokes. Maybe because I've also seen the TC movie (no, not Cocktail).
It seems to me that few people liked that part, but I'm definitely one of them.
The South Africa-themed special bits were also fun to watch and listen to.
 
The Vulcan video was amazing. The Jordan bit, not so much. It was pretty boring, of course scripted and I wanted to skip forward at times. Here's hoping next week is better. Too bad, the first episode was outstanding!
 
[01x02] November 25th, 2016

I found the Jordan bit entertaining and funny. They tried to make real life like a video game with the deaths and restarting. I liked it.
 
I think that whether you liked the Jordan film or didn't depends on whether you enjoy war movies and military shooter games (spunk-gargle-weewees) or not. I'm a huge war movie geek and a Battlefield fan, and I enjoyed it as a parody of war movie tropes.
 
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