Backdraft

Anyone back from the taping yet tell us what it was like/first impressions?

Harlock

got there an hour early and was denied some fire marshall b.s im from Florida too lol. They were giving away "VIP" passes if you couldn't get into this showing though for the next episode

Viper007Bond

Word was taping was to go until at least 8:30PM (it's 6PM now).

infinitespecter

Just got back. Huge disappointment. The way that they handled the line was horrible. First, the early 1:30 taping was pushed to 2:30, and they didn't even get it started until 3:30. The crowd for the early taping (those that were guaranteed access) was HUGE (easily 200-300 people). They forced all of us with tickets for the late taping to wait in an area with no sense of who got there first, so when they called us to line up, people that had just arrived ran to the front of the line.

In all, I think maybe 20 people from the late taping actually got in (I was not one of them). They left several hundred of us standing out there in the sun for hours only to tell us that they didn't need anyone else, but offered "guaranteed" access to the next taping (whenever that is). I put guaranteed in quotes because some of the guys in line with me had guaranteed access to the 1:30 taping and didn't get in and we have to trust that they are going to contact us somehow with these VIP tickets. Yeah, right.

Viper007Bond

Bah, well that sucks.

Hopefully they do it better in the future.

Prost264

If you see an NBC show in New York, they also handle the lines horrendously.

NBC needs to learn how to deal with large groups of people.

ThatVietGuy

Shall I be the first to spoil everything or should I let someone else be the one to get sued

I'll tell you one thing though, Andy Wilman, during his introduction, kind of surprised me by stating "Who from the Final Gear mafia is here?"

There was a lot of shuffling of the crowd while they set up for the next shot(s), which gets REALLY tiring after being on your feet for 5 hours.

All in all, though, I think we can put our fears to rest about this being a bad show. After editing, I think it can be an epic show.

fbc

That's awesome - did anyone put their hand up?

edkwon

Yes, Andy Wilman reads the forums pretty closely as we all know and when i spoke to him, he kind of implied he doesn't want too many details of the pilot ep leaked early, so i'm not sure how much we can talk about.

ThatVietGuy

I say we just be very vague about everything; the last thing we want is this site to be shut down because of what we write.

edkwon

when ppl raised their hands (i didn't) he joked that since the finalgear ppl revealed themselves, he knew who to send the BBC lawyers after for piracy, which made me laugh.

Whats interesting is Wilman looks a LOT like Actor Tom Wilkinson who played Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins

ErMaC

Got back from the taping a little while ago. I shouted out when he asked if anyone from the Final Gear mafia was here. He then jokingly said "Great, the doors are closed, you can't get out, and the police are on their way!"

I think the show's going to be great. I think Adam, Tanner, and Eric have a great chemistry. So far Eric's my least favorite - in person he seemed a little dumb but on the films he was very good.
And there were films, very much in the vein of the original. They were witty, funny, and full of charm.

Adam is an excellent substitute for Jeremy. Not as clever, but still funny in his own (more American) way.

Andy Wilman thinks Adam is funnier than Jeremy. =D

Speaking of Andy, I talked to him and thanked him for being so open about Final Gear and its existence. He's counting on us to make the US show a success. He said he asked Viperbond for his phone # and Viper didn't give it out cause he was afraid the police would knock on his door the next day! But Andy really does appreciate the fan community and I'm really glad he's directly involved in the making of the US Top Gear.

I was really a skeptic before attending the show, but I think it's going to be great. It may not be quite as good as the original, but I won't complain about more Top Gear!

ThatVietGuy

Don't forget, he also said the main doors were now locked.

Also, I have to agree with your comparison. He's also much shorter than I imagined for some reason.

kylew

I agree that the line handling in the beginning was done very poorly.

Besides the hosts, everything is the exact same. The setting, the stig, the challenges, the news, SIARPC, etc...

I have 3 conclusions:
1. This show will be good as long as the hosts have more time to work together and learn to be a team.
2. Adam will keep this show alive until #1 is accomplished.
3. Chunky needs to die.

topdeck

Sorry you didn't get there in time. I was there at 1:30 and they told us where the line was forming so when I got back at 2:30 I went right up to it. There were a bunch of people hanging out under an overhang in the center of the building, I guess to get out of the shade.

The taping itself was amazing. My feet are killing me from 6 hours straight on concrete but it was well worth it. You can read my less-spoiler filled recap at http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....ost&p=10605770

macdonaldj2

I think Chunky got worse as my feet started to hurt more...then he had people come up to tell worse jokes then he was...I would still do it again...although this time I'll stick with sneakers

GDB Nick

Chunky FTL!

But it was a relatively fun night and a great privilege!

nocturne1

Way cool, although not quite sure I would want to suffer that long again. Although I assume that as time goes on, everything will run a lot smoother. Maybe they could practice their math skills before show number 2....

Viper007Bond

Great to hear (about the quality)!

cvrefugee

You're sort of right but I disagree with the "20" people number. I got there with my friend at 1:30pm. There were maybe 15 or 20 people waiting for the 4pm taping. The guy told me to wait on the other side of the railing, which I did, and it paid off. Around 2pm or so one of the crew came over to the group and wrote our place in line on our ticket. My friend and I got the #1 and #2 place in line. I think there were about 50 people or so who arrived early for the 4pm showing who got placed in line fairly. The guy said we could leave and come back at 3:30pm.

Now, when we came back at 3:20pm there were a shit ton of people there. I pretty much knew most of them would not be able to get in because they arrived way too late. I don't remember the exact time they moved us past the gates but I think it was around 4pm.

I totally missed that!

Hey, I saw you driving your Legacy in the parking lot...did you see my car? Kinda hard to miss

The Cinderella joke was freaking hilarious though...plus that one dude's Helen Keller joke