Top Garden Ground Gear Force [March 14th, 2008]

[Kenyeres]

And I just loved the part where Jez picked up Richard...but I am rather filthy.

I'm not a girl, probably that's why I don't get it, so please explain me why on earth did you love that moment

[Ooter]

I thought it was funny at parts, but just a bit too staged for me

[justvisiting]

So was it not Sir Redgraves home? Hopefully they fixed it... or the real GRoundForce should come fix it for sport relief.

[killpanda]

Who cares if it was scripted or not ? Of course it was, and it was brilliant !

[Phila]

What the hell was that.

I understand it was for relief, and I respect that, however, it felt like just another stupid segment they would do on Top Gear.

Top Gear is way too overexposed. You can have too much of a good thing, but the BBC never heard that.

[skylock]

Do you remember when James, Richard, and Jeremy built that Caterham kitcar? They managed to make it a funny segment, while not being too overly scripted. It's okay if they write out their dialog/reviews/narration ahead of time. Or even play jokes on eachother or purposely try and piss eachother off. But you don't have to script and stage every minute of footage just to make sure you get a laugh or two. That much predictability can ruin the humor in anything, which is what happened in this episode quite a few times.

The only thing that seemed vaguely real, was James' reaction/anger towards Jeremy about his shed. But even then, James must just be a great actor.

I know, but having the boys of TopGear redo your yard should be spoof enough. Instead they tried to make it seem real, not telling whatshisname about the project, etc. and then scripting the whole segment.

I agree with you. I think it was scripted to try to make sure there were funny bits, but they underestimated the talent of the three to make it funny just because of who they are and how they get on with each other.

[edkwon]

lol, the wiki entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Ground_Gear_Force

This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy.
Please share your thoughts on the matter at this article's entry on the Articles for deletion page.

[h-p]

The Wiki entry probaply will not be deleted. Every other Top Gear special has its own page too.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I wonder under what criteria they'd consider deleting it.

[Lemmy]

I think the whole Polish thing has to do with Clarkson's dislike for the EU. I've never heard/seen him say/write it straight out but there are small signs here and there (Meet the Neighbors Spain anyone?).

Basically labour can move freely within the European Union, so obviously people will go where they get paid the most. Especially (Polish) carpenters seem to be taking advantage of this, and of course their services are rarely taxed. Due to this they can do jobs for much less than say a Brittish carpenter (who pays tax), and it's still much more than they would get in their home country.

Decent TV-entertainment, something to watch when you're bored - but they really are trying too hard. The whole shotgun thing? Come on...

[Viper007Bond]

I wonder under what criteria they'd consider deleting it.

Who knows. Wikipedia is full of edit-nazis.

[upyourego]

I loved it - I haven't laughed that much in a really long time - by the end of it my stomach was hurting from all the laughter.

Yes it was scripted but Top Gear has been scripted from day one of the new format - the only difference is that, over the last eight years the show has evolved to suit the changing tastes of Jeremy Clarkson.

Slightly OT for a second...

Instead of being about cars and driving it's about having a mid-life crisis and reverting back to being a kid pissing about with your mates.

And to the person that said Top Gear is too overexposed - It's mainstream show now - like it or not it gets a MASSIVE audience in the UK (based on series 8, 9 & 10) and because of the way the BBC is funded - when a show slips from niche to mainstream it needs to cater for that new audience.

Unfortunately this may mean that a number of hardcore fans (from the start) who are obsessed with cars and love it as a car show will be 1) disappointing and 2) left behind.

Anyway - back to topic

The shed was the funniest bit and Sir Steve's face was worth everything.

[upyourego]

Oh and if you watched the bit after the show - in the Sport Relief studio with Davina, Gary and Richard - Richard seemed pretty geniune when he said Sir Steve knew nothing about it.

[ahpadt]

Unfortunately this may mean that a number of hardcore fans (from the start) who are obsessed with cars and love it as a car show will be 1) disappointing and 2) left behind.

[tedb43o2o3]

I feel bad that Jeremy destroyed a trombone in front of the band.........but the chicken part was really funny.

[phuckingduck]

I laughed, but it wasn't the best thing they've ever done nor was it particularly compelling. I'd watch it again, and probably laugh just the same. Good gag humor.

[aaurora]

I'm not a girl, probably that's why I don't get it, so please explain me why on earth did you love that moment

Well.....it's going to be hard to explain.....but it's kind of a sweet 'awwww' moment, Jeremy to the rescue and Richards just so tiny, that it's just....well, cute I know this is not the right forum to 'fangurl' on which is why I don't do that here....but you asked

[BigFord]

I gave it a 6: very entertaining and funny, but just too fake. At least it was for a good cause.

Wow, Clarkson looks like his stereotype of an American,...big bellied. He must have been eating a lot of burgers during his holiday. At first, I thought it was just his many layers of clothes, but it does indeed look as if he has packed on a few pounds (or kilograms) since the season 10 finale.

[wien]

I for one am really fed up with the direction Top Garden Ground Gear Force is going. This is bullsh*t!

While your point is taken, the reason people are getting all uppity about this is (I assume, since that how I feel) that it just symbolises everything that's gone wrong with the Top Gear format the last few series. It's gone from a fairly honest and "real" entertainment program about cars, whose main attraction was the chemistry between the three hosts, their personalities and the situations the managed to get themselves into, to a blatantly scripted slap-stick "comedy" show. It's just not funny any more. It didn't even make me smile, much like the last two seasons of Top Gear. (though this was much worse obviously)

They may get better ratings by going low brow to appeal to the lowest common denominator, going for the "Jackass" crowd basically, but in doing so they've lost what made them something special in the first place. They've certainly lost the thing that made me watch. The only thing missing at this point is the canned laugh track.

Why can't they stop the asinine scripting and just film the guys cocking about in their usual way? Watching the guys having fun, IS fun. Watching them following a blatantly obvious script to force a funny situation just isn't.

/rant

[gregster]

That was shite!
I don't care if it was the team we've grown to love, it was appalling tv at best