[02x01] July 24, 2011

[02x01] July 24, 2011


  • Total voters
    168
8 for me, pretty entertaining. Do think it suffered from the time restraints.
 
Solid episode, a little rough around the edges but good overall. The new theme is not bad and I like that they are doing their own thing; however, I do wish that the studio bits get better, a little introduction to the challenge would be nice in the beginning but otherwise there was no need to return to the studio in the middle of the challenge, that felt a little contrived. I believe it is good they stuck with only one segment so that it did not seem rushed, you have to remember that they have at least 15 min less time for the program than the British version and fitting a review or any other material in there would be tough. I'm still getting used to the whole "high-fiving" dynamic they have going, but again, they need to fall into their own rhythm and so far I would say that it is working for them. A very promising start to the new season.
 
I agree that going back to the studio after every commercial was a bit contrived. If they had only done it at then end, it would've been fine. I was originally only going to give it an 8 or 9 because of it.

Then Rutledge accused Tanner of putting on makeup, and I fell out of my chair.
 
This looked like a test to try and nail that production quality Top Gear UK has in cinematography. I noticed a lot of sweeping, ariel views and different angle jumps. Plus the color tone of that episode was very unique, the sharpness of the picture quality was great, and there was a lot of licensed music. Even the new opening had some thought put into it with the shit exploding and vehicles flying out from it. Very "AMERICAAAA. F**K-YEA!" which we get poked fun at by the UK crew. Maybe it was tongue-in-cheek on purpose?

I had some good laughs with this episode. I'm surprised not one of them found an El Camino. As for people complaining about the vomiting and poop I'm guessing that based on the other programming "History" channel now shows these sort of jokes rate high with the average viewer.

8/10. It's higher simply because they seemed to have found some legs after the first season (which I'd give a 6/10 since they were new)
 
I thought it was a pretty mediocre episode. A bad way to start of a much needed successful second season in my opinion. Next weeks episode looks like it's going to be much better though.
 
7/10

It wasn't bad - certainly better than the majority of last season. And I agree that this episode didn't feel that "special".

Last year, I really didn't like Adam at all. He seemed to know nothing about cars, and for a comedian, I didn't find him all that funny. I started liking him a bit more this episode. He seems to be a bit more at ease in front of the camera than last year.

Tanner - I know I'm going to be in the minority here, but I think he was being a dick in this episode. With him tear-assing about in the BMW and making the cattle run, apparently he never watched the movie Risky Business: "Never fuck with another man's livelihood." And the times he kept ramming Routledge's car were not that funny, either. And in the final Monster Truck race, at one point it looked like he was going to deliberately ram Rut's Miata. If he had, I was going to fire off a letter to the History Channel and I don't care if they read it. :p

Oh, and memo to the TG:USA production team: if you are marketing a show towards gearheads, don't assume that we can't tell the difference between a 1975 Ford Maverick with a 302 V8 and a 1972 Ford Maverick with a 250 I6. I mean, the two cars had completely different interiors!

And it was nice to see the Miata Mafia (Miafia?) proven wrong. There are some things a Miata just is not suited for. Hauling manure is one of them.
 
I enjoyed the episode overall, I liked it better than the train bit UK TG did recently and still miles ahead of TG Aus. The challenge was a bit pointless though (plenty of 4 cylinder Rangers and S-10's around for cheap). I like the new theme, very "American".
 
I enjoyed the episode overall, I liked it better than the train bit UK TG did recently and still miles ahead of TG Aus. The challenge was a bit pointless though (plenty of 4 cylinder Rangers and S-10's around for cheap). I like the new theme, very "American".

I find myself comparing it more to TG Aus than TG UK. As long as it is doing better than Aus then i feel we are in the right direction. Seems they took what they learned from that one and applied it here.
 
Yea I was surprised by the new style.. I wanted the classic style beginning with the studio part first. except for that it was pretty good..
 
8/10. I really enjoyed this episode. I don't think I've ever laughed this much throughout the course of an entire episode of a TV show for a long time. This episode was really well done, mostly because it relied on largely unscripted dialogue and showed off drastically improved chemistry. The jokes seemed natural and unforced, except in the studio segments. I thought the challenges were hilarious and I was shocked that they drove their cars with all the manure in them on the freeway.

What I didn't like so much: the opening sequence. I was irritated that they dropped the Jessica theme. But I'm not convinced that the rest of the season will have the same intro as the premier, mostly because the whole advertising campaign for season 2 relied heavily on the stupid 'expert, wrecker' etc business. I think they just wanted to carry the theme through the first episode so people who saw those commercials would know they were in the right place. My other gripe is that the studio segments, as many before me have stated, have a screwy audience dynamic and the scripted dialogue is very weak.

Final dislike, when they were modifying their cars to hold more manure, that would have been a perfect opportunity the play the A-Team music. I always appreciate that. They also should have shown some of the process of lifting the cars---something about going from a bone stock 3 series to a monster truck in 12 hours but cut down to about 5 seconds bothered me.

Just my opinions there. Hope I'm right about the title sequence. Overall I loved the episode though, and I'm looking forward to the next.
 
I liked it a lot, they still need to work on the studio segments but the adventure is Texas was hilarious. I enjoyed a lot. An 8 from me, the same as Sundays Top
Gear UK
 
This episode was pretty entertaining. I'm interested to see next week's episode, when they go back to the more traditional formula with guests etc.
Feels way less scripted and false than TGUK. I wonder if the brits can ever go back to seeming somewhat sincere.
 
I thought this episode was pretty good. I agree with others that say they should use the old theme song.
Other than that, I thought the show was well put together and entertaining, even Adam didn't seem annoying as last year.
Looks like we are in for a good season.
A side note, about the middle of the show, my wife out of no where said, she like the TGUK host better.
 
I didn't like them constantly going back to (the outside of) the studio after commercials. That made no sense to me and made the film seem a bit choppy. I did like the main film, though.

And while I like the opening title sequence, the personal jury is still out on the new theme music. Maybe after next week my mind will be made up.
 
Slow start, but overall a pretty entertaining episode. Foust's "BMW bounce" had me on the floor. First time I've laughed that hard in a while.

Overall it gives me reason to expect TG:US will turn out to be pretty good, which is exactly the opposite opinion I held halfway through the first season.
 
in classic fashion, i happen to miss the first 10 minutes of the season premier, no thanks to my sister, some welfare recipient, and Stater Bros. so i missed out on the new opening and had to wait a couple of hours to see the encore.



but seeing it the 2nd time, i'm starting to get excited about the new season. they're coming into their own and i'm sure the UK boys are very proud of what they're going to accomplish in the States. i shouldn't be too surprised that the intro changed seeing how it has become common for American broadcasters to take British imports and make them their own. this episode had me very entertained and i can't wait for the second episode....


seeing how i'm in the audience for that episode.


9/10.
 
I've actually stopped my DVR to get up and post here that the manure challenge is making me laugh. :lol:

And how many times can Rutledge Wood puke in one episode? What a wuss.
 
Huge improvement from the last season. They need to do some better editing on the studio sections. Overall, I loved it, especially the manure part.
 
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