The show can still be saved

Defcon

Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2005
Messages
56
After ep3, its become very clear what they need to do if this show is to survive.

  • Fire Evans - he is just unlikable, can't talk, can't present, knows nothing about cars and brings nothing to the show
  • Get rid of Sabine - she can be a guest a few times
  • The main show should be Rory, Harris and Matt - 3 blokes mucking about, give them time to develop chemistry, till then focus on cars
  • Get rid of SIARPC - it should go along with Evans, I'm pretty sure he made it longer just to get more screen time
  • Add back news segment from Extra Gear

All of this is blindingly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain and eyes, i.e. if you aren't a BBC exec.
 
How about this for a change:
Let RR, CH & Matt host the show and kick the others out (keep the Stig).
the "3 guys fooling around with cars" formula works. and those are the hosts, people like the most.
bring back the news from EG, cut the SiaRcC stupidity and let the guys have fun in cars.

Thats what i want to watch.

thats what i said yesterday in the other thread about episode 3.

Good to see, that i am not alone with my opinion.
 
Most sane people would probably agree that both Evans and SIARC are the worst parts of the new show and it would be far better if both were cut down severely or axed altogether.

How likely is it that the Beeb would axe Evans? Very unlikely I would say and he would probably have to walk to go, and I can't see that happening. And while he's still there I can't see SIARC going anywhere, it was his biggest part in the show last week.
 
After ep3, its become very clear what they need to do if this show is to survive.

  • Fire Evans - he is just unlikable, can't talk, can't present, knows nothing about cars and brings nothing to the show
  • Get rid of Sabine - she can be a guest a few times
  • The main show should be Rory, Harris and Matt - 3 blokes mucking about, give them time to develop chemistry, till then focus on cars
  • Get rid of SIARPC - it should go along with Evans, I'm pretty sure he made it longer just to get more screen time
  • Add back news segment from Extra Gear

All of this is blindingly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain and eyes, i.e. if you aren't a BBC exec.

I would add get rid of MLB too. The show can work very well just with Reid and Harris. I think there is no place for Le Blanc there.

Cheers
 
Do we know who selected Evans to head TG? Was it Cohen, or someone else, or we don't know?
 
Agreed about 95% with Defcon's list. I would also get rid of MLB, though -- "we Americans" watched Top Gear BECAUSE it wasn't the same-old US stuff, rather it was foreign and interesting. No need, no desire at all, to water it down with an American, just to "attract" Americans. No offense to MLB, but I would think that three Brits would have better chemistry than a Brit or two with an American.
 
I completely agree with the OP. I hope they are really listening to the survey feedback they're receiving as well. And hopefully most people filling those surveys out agree with the OP as well.
 
Agreed about 95% with Defcon's list. I would also get rid of MLB, though -- "we Americans" watched Top Gear BECAUSE it wasn't the same-old US stuff, rather it was foreign and interesting. No need, no desire at all, to water it down with an American, just to "attract" Americans. No offense to MLB, but I would think that three Brits would have better chemistry than a Brit or two with an American.

Agreed, I'm in the US, the last thing I want to see on TG is same old American movie/tv celebrities most of whom are far less intelligent and interesting than their British counterparts. I wouldn't mind getting rid of MLB too.
 
why save it when proper show will be back on amazon soon. This new 'top gear' is more like bbc fifth gear now. Another cack episode tonight
 
Ok, I slept a night after the initial disappointment, I was planning on a binge watch yesterday but I just stopped.

If something can be salvaged then I'd keep Chris Harris first and foremost, probably also Matt as he hasn't really done anything wrong and manages not to be annoying and has shown he understands timing in delivering jokey lines, and do away with all the crazy stuff for the time being like jet guns on cars and other things that were great fun with the old crew but look forced now. Let Sabine be The Stig but drop "Stig" as a silent character (we've seen that too, it was great, move on)..

Mostly though, drop the snide nasty jokes at the expense of the old guys, it's pathetic an embarrassing, and Eddie Jordan really didn't make it better in any of his comments. So boot Jordan out FAR, and Evans I mostly want to see in a Game of Thrones episode dying a really horrible death and then never see him again ever.

Even after doing all that, it still needs one more guy.. Not necessarily a Clarkson wannabe, maybe someone who doesn't look like he's always trying too hard.. James May-like, dare I say it.
 
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and Evans I mostly want to see in a Game of Thrones episode dying a really horrible death and then never see him again ever.

You, I like you.
 
People are overreacting. Yes, new TG isn't as good as (some of) old TG. So what. Old TG also had it's flaws, and was far from perfect.
I'm glad Aston Martin gave the BBC the keys to a Vulcan so I can watch and hear it do donuts like I did last weekend... Beats watching 99% of all other crap that's on tv lately.
 
So many things are just plain AWFUL. Think of this week's episode, and the HORRID studio stuff -- and I'm just talking about the little bits introducing the segments and stuff, not the miserable star crap. There is no "chemistry" here -- it's just people standing there reading the teleprompter and following director instructions to high-five each other or whatever. The one bit with MLB, Sabine, and EJ was some of the worst television I have ever seen in my life. Until it was topped by the insipid EJ playing the spoons. That will have to go down as the worst television content ever aired on this planet.
 
People are overreacting. Yes, new TG isn't as good as (some of) old TG. So what. Old TG also had it's flaws, and was far from perfect.
I'm glad Aston Martin gave the BBC the keys to a Vulcan so I can watch and hear it do donuts like I did last weekend... Beats watching 99% of all other crap that's on tv lately.

I do not think the current TG should be compared to OLD TG. The original "NEW" TG might have some issues of its own, but only for the first few seasons. They have no idea what kind audience that they would be working for.

The current new TG has 22nd seasons of the productions behind it. Huge budget, but after 22nd seasons, Is this the best BBC can come up with? People did not overreacting, they just reacted to a very bad situation. I am glad that you like the show, but for most of the people that join this forum. We hate this crap.
 
I wouldn't call it an overreaction but it does seem as though most people are looking for reasons to hate or dislike the show rather than say look for the parts that they do like. There are people who pointlessly dislike every Top Gear video posted to youtube out of some misplaced sense of loyalty towards the old presenters and it's crazy. You can say that they have "22 seasons" behind them but it's not that simple, they had 22 seasons of a fairly consistent team where the key creative people have left. You make it sound as though making a universally liked show is trivial but it really isn't it's hard as hell. I found it interesting looking at the viewing figures that they are generally speaking back to where they were before Series 9 of the program.
That said saying it's AWFUL and HORRID really is an over reaction because it's not crap, you can say mediocre and that's more fair from my perspective but it's not crap.
I think probably a lot of the Top Gear hate will die down when The Grand Tour premieres but I'm a little worried that because the shows come out at different times of the year Top Gear hatred will just become what people do to pass the time between seasons of The Grand Tour.
 
Whether the show is "CRAP" or not it is certain your opinion, and your only.

I can even agree with you that when compared to what is on the TV those days, Classified it as "CRAP" might be bit harsh? It is just middle of pack shows. Mediocre at best.

However, when compared to what past 22 seasons that TG has done, IMHO, this is "CRAP". BBC has total lost what is there to make the TG so popular. I agree with most people of view on the show, the reasons behind I would not waste time to repeat them here.

Now, if you are willing to give it more time, that is all of power to you. You have a very kind soul. For me, I am not willing to give my time to this mediocre or "CRAP" show. Based on what they have showed me so far, I see no reason that things would be improved any time soon. Again, that is just what I felt right now.
 
It's crap compared to the CHM Top Gear, easily. I guess if you're satisfied with leaving behind witty dialog and real personal chemistry and being served a dose of wooden actors standing there reading the lamest, worst excuses for "humor" I've ever seen in my life from a teleprompter, well, have fun with that. I personally find it virtually unwatchable.
 
Evans is terrible, the guest segment is awful, Sabine has zero chemistry on screen.

Keep Harris, he's the only reason I bother to watch it (unless I don't fall asleep, its happened more than once). LeBlanc I actually kind of like. With some more time he'll be good, I'm sure. Rory is also a suprise, I was suspecting to hate him. Those three would probably be a good match.

And most importantly. NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE SCRIPTED! It's looking more and more like an American show, and it's been going on for years. A big part of the appeal of watching TG was being let in, be one of the boys and hang out with Clarkson, Hammond and May. Now when everything is scripted from A to Z the illusion is gone. The viewer isn't one of the boys any more, but just a simple TV-viewer watching something hatched out in some production office at Beeb HQ.

New Top Gear went in the wrong direction, it's worse than ever. Let's hope The Grand Tour doesn't make the same mistake.
 
Do we know who selected Evans to head TG? Was it Cohen, or someone else, or we don't know?
I don't think the Beeb was spoilt for choice, to put it mildly.
 
I have no idea why people want Matt Lebland to stay.
He seems very unnatural in his role, like everything he says is read straight from a cue card.
 
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