[10x06] November 18th, 2007

[10x06] November 18th, 2007

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Extremely good ep with top notch editing, especially on the Airfield. A bit of mucking about and lots of reviews! I like...
 
2 best moments:

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OldSkoolGP said:
I'm not sure if this was the worst episode of Top Gear I've ever seen, but it's close. You'd probably have to go back to Series 1 and 2 to find one that's worse. I fell asleep 2/3 of the way through. I thought it was because I was tired, but I watched it again this morning. Unfortunately, it was the programme that put me out. Since I have so many complains about this show, I'll do them in chronological order:

1) Civic Type-R rwview. Generally no complaints. Everything I expect from Jeremy. But what was all that jackjawing with the audience member afterward? I don't care about his opinion on the car, that's not why I watch.
Grade: B

2) The news. This is where we're supposed to get a few good laughs and hear about cars. I laughed twice and they talked about one specific car. The girl and the vibrating seat was cute, but then they let James talk about foxes and it all went downhill.
Grade: C+

3) Alfa Romeo 159 Review. Soul and passion. Two things this review didn't have. Apparently this car is so bad, they had to prop it up by racing it against a man walking across a river? Please! And if it was supposed to be a race, which I say it isn't, why was Captain Slow behind the wheel? If I had to donate a pound for every time I nodded off during this review, I'd be on my way to that first liter of bull sperm I've been hearing so much about.
Grade: F--

4. Jeremy's interview with the Rugby Player. This has to be one of the worst interview's Jeremy has ever given. I'm sure Lawrence whatever was quite interesting, and yet I learned nothing about him because Clarkson asked some of the most asinine questions ever. I also noticed he brought a book out with him, obviously to plug as is the new trend with guests on Top Gear (Shame on you, Mr. Wilman by the way), and they didn't even mention it. At least it was mildly amusing when he didn't fit in the Lacetti.
Grade: D

5. BMW M5 touring and Merc AMG 6.3 Estate review. Unlike most of the supercars featured on Top Gear, which few if any could or would buy, they devoted 10 minutes to a pair of cars that nobody will buy. If you want a BMW M5 or a Merc CLS, you buy a BMW M5 or a Merc CLS. You don't buy them as an Estate car as if that suddenly makes them practical, because they're still way more than any off roader that Jeremy mentioned.

That aside, if you're going to review them properly, why on Earth would you take them to a runway that isn't the Top Gear test track and drive them up and down it very fast at night so you can't see them? All I learned about the cars that no one will buy is that they can go up and down a runway very fast, and the Merc is slightly faster. When Jeremy tested the M5 proper two years ago, he drove it on the B-roads in the hills to show that it could really handle. Wouldn't it have made sense to do the same thing with the Estate car to show it too could handle the corners?
Grade: F

6. Richard's Motor Home race. They've done this sort of thing a couple times now. First it was people carriers, then remote control cars, now this. I will admit it was funny in that sort of "Hooray for Destruction" kind of way, but it felt stale and recycled watching it. Then they end show talking about a $1.5 million motor home than can hold a Weismann in it's belly. That's all well and good but you don't end the show with it! That ending felt completely tacked on and when Jeremy said that was the end I was surprised because I thought they would do something else after that. If anything they should have talked about the motor home first, then showed the race.
Grade: C-

7. Intro Music. What the hall happened there??? Why did they start the show with the Series 1-3 version of Jessica? At first I thought it was because it was the 100th programme until I remembered that next week is the 100th programme. I can't grade that, but to say the least that changed the feel of the whole episode from the start.

Overall Grade: D-
In my opinion a poor job by all involved. Save the Civic, the reviews were terrible, the news didn't make me laugh like it should, and the edit cuts were far too obvious. And I hate to say that because I am the biggest fan of Top Gear in the states and I think this series has been excellent until this point. I really hope that this show was simply not given the full attention it should have because they're planning something spectacular the 100th programme. I hope they're back on form next week.
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Good review mate, I'm with you most of the way. Though I completely disagree with you about M5 vs AMG and the news. I liked Jezza's review because it did a decent job of mixing super saloons with an angle on practicality. OK yes, so it's not exactly a textbook example on practical roadtests, but by TG's standard it can be considered 'sensible'. They almost made a valid point about estate cars being much better at doing tasks which 4x4 owners require of their vehicles, though this admittedly was ruined by JC stating his preference for a Range Rover at the end. But all in all I thought it was a good road test and the night shots made for some great camera work IMO.

About the news, that was just a plain let down. The news, almost by it's nature, should be relatively short and sweet. It has been a huge success for the show in the sense that it's become one of the most popular segments, but the downside, as we saw this week, is that the show is now relying on it more by giving it too much airtime and focusing less on news and more on (scripted) jokes.

But, as I say, by and large I agree with your opinions. :)
 
watch this
HTML: 
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vBgwWDRhj7E
and them pay attention to number plate of the Alfa 159! The 159 review was made to put in the 8th series but I don't know why they done that.
 
Thanks, Lone Wolf. I see your point about the M5 vs. AMG segment. The point I was trying to make, and perhaps I didn't do a good enough job of it, was that no one is going to buy those 2 particular estate cars, and they way they shot that segment was completely pointless. In my opinion, estate cars, or station wagons as we call them over here, are great, because they give you room to carry people and cheese without havng to get some outlandish American SUV that weighs 3 tons and is as tall as most lorries. And you don't have to suffer an imagination free American people carrier either.

But if you are looking for an estate car in Europe, are you really going to pay that much for one? To me, these cars have a whiff of the Porsche Cayenne about them in that they are purpose built vehicles that are trying their hardest to also be sports/supercars. I like Clarkson's trying to make the case that you don't need an off roader, but what would have been wrong with a normal 5 series and E-class estate?
 
I thought it was a super episode!!! That "performance" bus thing at the end was phenomenal...can't find it on the internet though.

I agree that the race against the mud guy was a bit weak. I bet that after he slugged it through the mud for almost 2 hours he was a bit peeved to see how little impact it all had on TV.

I thought the news was BRILLIANT this week. The girl in the vibrating seat was really hilarious. The motorhome race was pretty good but a little boring. Those estate wagons made me want to buy one TODAY if I could!

Overall it was really packed full of goodies, and great to see Hamster wearing the helmet again!
 
found the performance mobile home on the web
if you look closely at the side of the bus when JC and RH are getting on it, there is a name on the side 'Volkner'
little google magic and, voila:
http://www.volkner-mobil.com/Reisemo/R_english/Perf_en.html
not much to go on, but this is the site (also available in german for those who speak it)

service kindly provided by CyCo_CyBorG
(btw: the performance is like the coolest thing on the planet, especially with that Wiesmann in its belly)
 
Not bad. My favorite part was the M5/E63 review, two great cars and fantastic cinematography. Who cares if it was light on relevant consumer information, it was good to watch, and that's all I really care about.
News was OK, the girl he asked to sit on the vibrating chair was pretty cute. I skipped over the star segment (it's just not as good as it used to be before series 8).
Civic and 159 reviews were good too, and the motorhome race was, like the "Historic People Carrier" race before it, funny as hell.

I gave it 4/5.
 
kenbujutsu said:
watch this
HTML: 
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vBgwWDRhj7E
and them pay attention to number plate of the Alfa 159! The 159 review was made to put in the 8th series but I don't know why they done that.
Click to expand...

Good point!
Maybe it was too dangerous to put it in S09? (too boring??)
 
Civic review, 100% percent Clarkson :thumbsup:

Although the 159 challenge was a bit boring. The car on the other hand was beautiful and full of soul and passion <_< (Damm)

But I was rolling of my chair with laughter when that girl sat on JC's vibrating cushion. :lol::lol:

The guest......... you have to be British to like that. And I'm not. But it was okay.

And the E-AMG and M5 were absolutely sublime. The sound and visuals :thumbup: The caravan race, almost the same as the MPV race. But nevertheless, I liked it.

I'll give it a 4 star rating, because there must always be room for improvement. :)
 
I enjoyed that a lot.

As a local, it was interesting seeing all the jump shots of Manchester (now out of Salford onto Deansgate, turning right into... GMEX? No that's impossible! A mile away!) The Ape and Apple is a very nice little pub, with Manchesters best open mic comedy night every Wednesday and they serve Holts.

Couldn't quite see the point of filming at the airport - it would have be at the dead of night (the airport averages almost 600 takeoffs or landings per day). I figure it was one of those ideas that seemed good on paper. Plus that nice long runway gave them chance to hit some huge speed, which Dunsfold might not have allowed.
 
Martyn said:
Indeed, it makes me laugh that they always put the hotties at the front. I guess if they let you stand at the front, it's a good sign that you're pretty!
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I hope they don't really do that. That would be sad...
*thinking...*
Nope, they don't do that. There's some pretty ugly girls up front sometimes. I don't mind though. I've got a beard (oh my...)
 
niccce said:
Also, these two chaps crack me up :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/19/chaps.jpg

no offence guys :lol:
Click to expand...

:lol: Yeah, that dude had a SERIOUSLY intense look on his face, like "Jeff Golblum is watching you poop" kind of look.
 
I thought it was a good episode, with lots of stuff in it. They reviewed more than two cars, the news segment was funny, the star was very interesting for me and the Alfa review wasn't that bad, only this river crossing man was a bit unnescessary. And they destroyed stinky mobilehomes. The Estates bit was typical Clarkson: recorded at an airfield, with a burning plane, powerslides and a silly conclusion at the end.

tedb43o2o3 said:
Why the theme song of TopGear in the beginning change?
Click to expand...

You're right, it sounds more like the old one. Maybe because they're now on the way back to old style ;).
 
yeah....the old top gear theme only have one EG, and the new one have 2 EGs. I like the new one better~~.
I feel bad to the new Type R.......the new Honda Civic Si in America is better.
 
Sony said:
It was quite good but we've had better. I also didnt like the caravan racing very much. They could have at least used a track not drive in circles.
And Clarkson forgot the bhp of the merc and gave us the M5' bhp instead.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought, but according to Edmunds.com:

In its state of tune for U.S.-bound E63 sedans and wagons, the 6,208cc four-valve DOHC V8 puts out 507 horsepower at 6,800 rpm compared to the E55's 5,439cc three-valve SOHC supercharged V8's rating of 469 hp at 6,100 rpm.
Click to expand...
 
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