Spoilers: Tickets for the Show


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topdeck said:
They did the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car first, to accommodate the guest. The celebrity guest was actually The Hoff! David Hasselhoff himself. Actually a funny segment and a great way to loosen the crowd up once we saw the track was a respectable copy of the original. The first turn is called Talledega and the last big left turn is called the Al Gore.

They then reset for the show open, the three guys introduced themselves and they showed the opening titles which got everyone excited. The shots from that 20-30 seconds looked amazing. After the titles they introduced the fourth team member, The Stig. This was another film with an Ariel Atom dropped from a cargo plane by parachute and The Stig with a parachute pack chasing it. The car lands but you don't see The Stig open his chute, it cuts right to Stiggy driving the Atom through the desert. The photography is exactly what you would expect from Top Gear. I assume that's because its the same people making the show and they know how its done.

Next was the cheap car challenge. Each guy was given $2500 in Las Vegas and told to buy a classic 80's sports car. Adam had to buy an American car and the other two had to buy a foreign. Eric bought a Porsche (not sure what model I'm not a car buff), Tanner bought a Japanese car I can't remember and Adam bought a Pontiac Firebird. The first challenge was to drive to a track, with penalties for breakdowns. Once they were at the track, Stig set lap times with the fastest time winning. They then set up a corridor of junk and the guys had to drive the car through the corridor at 30 MPH with no hands on the wheel. This had some great 80's TV crash references with boxes flying everywhere. They were then given $100 to prepare their car for a trip to the bottom of Death Valley. After the guys wandered around a junk yard looking for ideas there was a commercial break.

Next was a Adam reviewing the new Audi R8, which was then joined by Tanner in the new Aston Martin. Both cars were in the $120K range for comparison. They then argued about the cars in the studio before showing the Stig taking both out for a lap. These were the first two cars on the leaderboard. Adam made fun of the Aston Martin for being the "third best Aston Martin on the market" and Tanner called the Audi boring and German.

And now, the news. There were a few reshoots of this segment so the guys could adlib new takes and I'm sure only a few will make the cut. Adam Corolla is very, very funny. Clarkson is the best at the in car review obviously, but I really enjoyed watching Adam in the studio. There was a planted bit where a girl in the audience was asked a question and I'm pretty sure she was an actress I have seen before on television. She stayed for the whole shoot as an audience member though, so I'll give her props for sticking it out with the rest of us.

After the news they finished off the cheap car challenge. All three guys had made ridiculous "cooling" modifications to their cars in true Top Gear fashion. In fact, I could easily see the same gag being used for their UK counterparts. They then drove to the bottom of Death Valley where they were given one final challenge. This was the highlight of the night. Each car was dropped off a bridge, connected to a massive bungee cord. There would be points deducted for each bit that fell off of the car.

After the film the guys went over the points for each challenge. This was reshot several times. Mostly because none of the guys could do math or remember how many points each challenge was or why they were assigned. There was plenty of opportunity for Adam to adlib some funny lines with each retake so it wasn't too boring. Everyone was dead tired by this point but they had to bring up a shot from the opening of the show (which was like 6 hours ago) and rearrange everyone into the same positions they were in the audience to do a 10 second pickup. Mercifully that was the last shot.

The show looks great, everyone had fun watching the filmed segments, the audience was filled with fans of the original show and I think everyone was impressed with how much they were able to live up to it.

Great review BTW!
 
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Andy Wilman is an awesome guy he really wanted to hear from the final gear people.

After the filming was over a group of about 10 including me randomly got into a conversation with Andy that lasted about 10 min and were able to ask questions and have a conversation about both Top Gears, it was really cool. He seemed to really want to hear what people had to say and wants to make the best show possible. I think he really respected what the people from final gear said because he knows we are real fans and know what to expect and wants to make sure that they are surpassing those expectations. One interesting thing that Andy said was, before the tapping he didn't think that this show was going to be broadcastable, because the guys would need more time to get in a grove. After the show he was really excited and said that he would probably use the show, not as the series premier but as a later episode. He also said that Jeremy is fun and funny but only because he writes out everything that he is going to say, and Adam is just funnier because its all on the fly. During the taping about 90% of all the dialogue is improve. I also asked when would this premier but he didn't have an answer. What he did say is he would want the premier to be some time like next January.

Also Viper he was very saddened that you were not there and asked for you by name!!!


Andy is a really super cool and super nice.
 
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Also Viper he was very saddened that you were not there and asked for you buy name!!!

Haha!

Yes sadly it would have been a 15 hour drive or a few hundred dollar plane ticket. :(
 
Also Viper he was very saddened that you were not there and asked for you buy name!!!

Guest! Guest! Guest!


(they'll probably pay for the trip :p)
 
Guest! Guest! Guest!


(they'll probably pay for the trip :p)

That would be the coolest thing ever if Viper got to be guest on the show.
Lets start a petition

Also they said that the track is in Toro.
But they are probably going to change the track layout becuase its not a good television track. There were no memorable corners or really fast crazy straits like by the tires.
 
Well now I'm kind of disappointed I missed out (sadly all I could get was tickets to the 1pm part). OH well, anyone willing to join me when they do filming for the next ep?

/throws not so subtle hints at anyone who may take the 91 to get there from east of Fullerton ;)
 
The only people who got to stay the whole time were the people who got there before 1:30 and then told to come back at 2:30 (i just stayed at the gate the whole time which is why i was on of the first 30 poeple let in) . We were allowed onto the lot around 2:45 to sit for another hour then let in to the stage around 3:45. We then had to stand for the next 5:15 hours until around 9:00 when they finished. I am 23 and fit but standing for that long in was really physical tiring.



Oh by the way I was the one who did the black astronaut joke that nobody laughed at.

What do you call a black astronaut?



An astronaut you fucking racist.
 
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I just got back, and I am very happy. Not that there were not flaws, (Eric didn't seem to mesh for me, at least in the studio, on the taped sections he was fine), but it was so much better than I expected.

The crew was super nice and professional ( the line issue was a little crappy, 250+ people got the shaft), and while it was a long time to stand, it was worth it.

not going to say any more, and if possible, don't read the spoilers.

woof
 
not sure, I think he thinks of himself as a cattle dog, always herding people around.
 
Trying to lighten the mood, maybe?

Also, one of the staff, maybe it was Andy Wilman, opened with something along the lines of "If the producers move you, it's because you're ugly."
 
Trying to lighten the mood, maybe?

Also, one of the staff, maybe it was Andy Wilman, opened with something along the lines of "If the producers move you, it's because you're ugly."

Yeah, word to the wise ladies, if you want to be put up front in every shot, wear a skimpy dress. I was asked to back up a few times so they could add in the eye candy.
 
read the spoiler, and i'm eagerly awaiting the first broadcasting

next January andy said? NO!!!
 
I think Viper should be a Star in da Car. He kinda helped bring TGA (That's Top Gear USA) to life. If it where not for this website alot of people over here in the US would not of known about it, alot of people in the whole word would not know about Top Gear. Yeah, it would be very much for the Final Gear community, but I think it would be an awesome one, as it's to the fan base, us!
 
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