[23x01] May 29th, 2016 -- First Episode With New Cast

[23x01] May 29th, 2016 -- First Episode With New Cast


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Chris is kinda annoying

Kind of? He's yelling so loud in the studio you can hear his voice echo back. The CHM folks, you'd hear some reverb and that's it.
 
Watching now, just a few minutes in and Chris Evans is really getting on my nerves.

same. And the music? And the "Tonight" business. Had to use the same opening? Come on.
 
I thought it was all right for their first ever episode. Not too big on the revamped stars in a rallycross mini but the rallycross bit was good. Their first film was a bit uninspired but the thing with Sabine and the Vette was okay. I like that they didn't have a half hearted attempt to change the music though Chris probably needs to work on his voice over. Maybe they could shake it up and have a different person do it each week.
 
I thought it was pretty good. Really liked it. Fast forwarded the stars in a rallycross-bit.
 
Honestly, I struggled to pay attention to it. Evans is so god damn loud and the show had a lot of pointless segment/parts to it (the downforce visual segment etc). Why is it a rallycross track now?

I know it's early days and i'll keep watching, but I'm not sure I'll ever enjoy it as much. Bring on the GT.
 
Given what they were following, they had to knock it out of the park --- they failed

It was far too much over the top by Evans, all the jumping and screaming. I have no idea what his radio show was like - but how it lasted if he did the same thing there is beyond me.

Not surprised that they dropped the news. That was one of the areas where the chemistry between the three shone through, and they have no chance to copy that.

Overall, 4 / 10 only because the cinematography is still top notch.
 
watched a bit more. So, they still have the cars with the track times that the Stig set, all rewritten in new readable letters. yelling "we got custody" was a bad joke. weird.
i'll say this, I never, ever, fast forwarded through a segment like I did with the Navy one. Odd that the first ever segment on the new TG is with American Cars, in the USA.
 
Chris Evans, tone it down ffs. I would say it's just nerves, but after seeing a bit of TFI Friday, I think this is just his presenting style. It's annoying and cringe worthy.

Viper ACR/Corvette Z06 segment was alright, but too much of a focus on the boring challenge we've seen a few times already. No substance in this segment.

Star segment was useless. Are they really going to ask ALL the celebrities what their first and current cars are? This again, is just cringe worthy and it's going to be inevitable that they're going to get guests who don't give a fuck about cars (like Jesse Eisenburg!). I like the idea of the rally cross track, so it'll be interesting to see if they can sort these kinks out.

The UK v USA challenge was alright, first part was boring, the second part was alright, but not without it's scripted bullshit (oh no, we've gone too far! the big angry guy is going to be angry with me!).

Ariel Nomad segment was the strongest, that felt like a good honest experience of the car, but I can't tell whether LeBlanc actually knows his shit, or he's just really good at remember the lines that he's been fed. Regardless, he came across mostly genuine and seemed to know how drive (...if that was him driving).

I far preferred the dynamics in Extra Gear, dump Evans and get Rory, Harris and LeBlanc together. Evans is not the goose with the golden egg that the BBC were hoping for.

But to echo other people's thoughts, this feels like Top Gear Light, no substance and there's a lot of kinks that need to be worked out.
 
What I liked:

- The segment with the Nomad.

What I disliked:

- Anything with Chris Evans in it.

3/10, and I feel I'm being generous.

Extra Gear with Chris Harris? YES PLEASE.
 
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I went in without any expectations and still was sorely dissapointed.

Only redeeming thing is Matt le Blanc. Everything about the whole show screams been there done that and it's so boring. Chris is absolutely unfit for the role.
 
I didn't hate it. Some part of the format could have been better, like the amount of scripting. But that was also the case with the previous hosts.
CE is a bit annoying, but I guess I could get used to seeing (well, hearing) him.

I'm gonna go full blasphemy here; perhaps they should have dumped the Stig and just let Harris do the hot laps with some comment.
 
I'm gonna go full blasphemy here; perhaps they should have dumped the Stig and just let Harris do the hot laps with some comment.

They won't. The Stig is a marketing machine and as long as they have him "in custody", they will stuff him on every printed mug and on every action toy.
 
What do we all think of the Evans version? ....:?

It has me missing Jason Dawe......

With one exception it was not bad, certainly better than I thought it was going to be, sadly that one exception happens to be the host.

Whoever thought a screechy voiced would be a good idea just doesn't get Top Gear, while at time LeBlanc lacked a little energy, Evans was just f*****g annoying.

The chemistry will come, that's a given, but the BBC needs to make a change with one of the hosts.
 
First off I will say I tried to watch it as its own show without comparing it to the last incarnation. Most things look bad compared to previous versions when you first look at them that way - film sequels or reboots anyone?

Overall I felt it was a solid opening show. They seem to have kept the recognisable bits and not thrown the whole lot out and started fresh. Let's face it, they should have called it anything else if that's what they were going to do. The production was as good as ever. The escapism and seeming ability to go anywhere and do anything is still there. That's why I liked the show before - they would do things and drive things that I will likely never have the chance to do.

Matt was good and I like that style of delivery. CE was too loud and bouncy but hopefully that's just the pressure of the opening show and the he felt the need to "go big" on the first show.

It will take time to settle and, on that opening show, I think it deserves the time to do that. I will be watching future episodes as I thinks its great to have another car show on tv and I appreciate how long it to the CHM version to settle.

Just my thoughts....
 
I didn't hate it, didn't even dislike it, I was however pleasantly surprised about how well LeBlanc carried himself. Once Evans drops his hands from the bear-hug position and stops shouting, it'll be alright ?\_(?)_/?.
 
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Decided to sleep a night before giving a review.

I was looking forward to this. I had good hopes. I am now disappointed.

The hosts
Chris Evans: I didn't understand the hate up front for this guy. I listened to his radio shows sometimes and liked him there. He worked as a guest on TG showing his Ferrari collection. But damn is he bad on the show as a host.
Matt LeBlanc: Never watched Friends (shoot me), no expectations. Pleasent surprise. I like him. He's calm, feels natural.
Sabine: I've always been against her as a host. I don't like her style. She shouts so much, her jokes are so forced. I just don't like her presenting style. Didn't like her yesterday either. She's fun as a segment, as a guest, but she's not a good host IMHO.
Chris Harris: WHERE WAS HE? The best guy on the show and he gets stuck on iPlayer extra's duty. This is the man that can make New TG. And you don't include him. Sigh.
Rory: I knew he would be on Extra Gear, but come on. Give the guy a spotlight.
Eddie: Ooh yeah, Mr. Jordan is also a host. Not that we would ever know.

The episode:
That's not how you start a reboot/re-format of a show. This sort of felt like half business as usual/half look at all the new stuff.
It's simple. You open with Evans. You say welcome to the new and improved Top Gear. Make a joke about not being rubbish and very ambitious. Then you introduce your co-hosts, using that stupid entrance door thing you have. You let the people know who your hosts are, then explain your new format. "You'll see them in various segments throughout the season, and CH and RR will be on Extra Gear after every episode".
Seriously. Swallow the pill, acknowledge you are a new version of the show. Introduce yourself. Then continue.
As for the segments: not super good. Nomad piece was quite nice. Cinematography still epic as always. SIARCC super bad. Also, stop forcing the audience, they are not the laughing tape of Friends.
 
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It actually felt a bit like very early (season 1-3) of Top Gear in that it's still very forced and hasn't really found its groove.

I'm happy to give it a bit of time bed in and for the presenters to become more comfortable with each other and also to drop things that aren't really working.

Evans is still trying too hard to be 'Clarkson', when he settles down and finds himself I think it will get better.
 
Evans manages to make even the introductions annoying as hell, he's terrible throughout the whole episode. Worse, and it actually makes me angry, not mentioning the whole "yup, we're new" just reeks of insecurity. Without Evans it'd be less bad but I can't watch it, didn't even make it to the end.

Also, TALKING about putting laserguns on cars is one thing, actually doing it means you missed the point.
 
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