[11x01] June 22nd, 2008

[11x01] June 22nd, 2008


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Justin Lee Collins and Alan Carr are usually quite funny. Alan Carr in particular. but last night they didn't really get going at all. Ironically, James Blunt was laugh-out-loud funny.

All the supercars at the beginning were joyous and that whole piece was one in the eye for the lentil botherers.

Loads of funny lines from all three: I particularly liked Hammond's police mission statement: The Police - call 999 for details. When Hammond turned up in the Suzuki I thought: 'hello, someone's due for a haircut'. So for them to take the piss and call it a hairdressers car was particularly funny. And wasn't James's idea to put signs warning you about deer - on deer, excellent? Logic that a woman would be proud of.

Top Gear Stuntman was OK, but I would have preferred Top Gear Lady who parades in a White bikini.

Not the best Top Gear episode, but I enjoyed it. Oh and Spain won, so a good night.
 
i pissed my self when the wheel came off.
news was funny, scuderia didnt impress me. new stunt stig is a flop, SIRPC was thumbs DOWN. i wana see Rowan Atkinson as star guest.

i think that was a pic of big vagina with lots of pubic hair.
 
The series preview was brilliant. I'm not joking, with all the crashing cars and stuff. Supercar fuel economy... average. Would've been better if Richard and James got to drive supercars alongside JCs Lambo. The M3 versus Prius thing was boring to say the least, the stunt segment was a good addition but didn't blow me away, the SIARPC was horrid, as is the case most of the time.

The Police car challenge was brilliant though. Okay, it's not as epic as some of the other challenges I've seen on the show but it was good enough to make up for the rest of the episode.

Overall a 7/10 I guess.
 
it was ok, didn't like the editing on the ferrari clip, especially that in a frame there was i think or a piece of clothing or the metal from the camera car showing in the right lower corner of the screen :D

and why wasn't the star in a reasonably priced car segment SHORTENED ??
 
I think if they took out the supercar fuel economy race and focused more on the M3 and Prius race, it would have made it more interesting.
 
I think everyone has troughly trash the SIARPC, but nobody seems to be talking about the news.
The news didn't cover much of things that happened since TG went off air. For one, Red Ken is gone! Doesn't that count as news?
What about the TATA Nano? that seemed rushed.

I guess the news is the thing i like the most, and it lacked some of the zing, but still, miles better than anything on US TV. (well, except some mythbuster episodes)

I'm with you guys who say the episode felt like it 'lacked' something. If the producers are reading this (and you too American TopGear guys!), don't cut down dialog that is good to do a nice clean transition to a car clip (ala the 430 in this one). TopGear is 3 guys who know little about the mechanicals of cars, but know enough to push the loud pedal hard. Thats what we like, three guys, dicking about, having fun with cars.
 
My word there's an awful lot of whining in here.

If you drive a BMW or like to bring up at parties how your car has 40 more HP than another of similar price, or that the new exhaust or filter you've installed just gave your car another 12hp, Top Gear is not for you. Please kindly step over there into the Fifth Gear line.

It is, after all, about the passion, and it seems to me there are more anoraks here than not.

Did the Scuderia seem like a past review... say the F430? Well I would hope so, since the Scuderia is an F430. And that's the point. It's an F430, it's as brilliant as an F430, but then it takes it one step further. Remember Jeremy never once turned off the traction control in the F430 and here he's doing the whole second half of the review with it off. He wants to get away from focusing on all the fiddley computer bits and instead talk about the heart of the car and prove that there was still some honest passion left in an Italian car company that's starting to take a page out of the Japanese makers with all their computer controlled everything.

Much like the old EVO review, all the computery bits start to take away from the simple joy of driving. Sure you can take a corner hard and generate lots of smoke and tire squeal, but you don't feel like you're responsible for keeping the car on the road. It's all those damn computers. Jeremy's trying to find a car that puts some honesty (or at least the feeling of) back into driving.

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SIARPC was crap. Long and unfunny. Alan Carr's tick to elongate the last syllable of the last word in every sentence of is nothing short of torture. Give him to the Americans; they can scrap waterboarding, use the Carr technique, and the international community can't get up in arms that it's inhumane torture (even if it's worse than waterboarding).

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The stuntman bit is suppose to be quick, simple, candy for the viewer. You're not suppose to dwell on it like everyone here seems to be doing. Watching a car go off a jump backwards and have a big crash is suppose to bring out the 10 year-old in you. Then it's over and the adult comes around and takes over again. Enjoy it for what it is and stop overanalyzing it.

The only critique I'd have is that it was too long. Don't give the stuntman a story or a personality. Just give him a helmet and some dark glasses. I don't want to know who he is, where he's from, or what stunts he's done in the past. I want to see a silly stunt end in a big crash. That's it.

Treat him like the Stig.

And for God's sake take that stupid pillow out of his belly. You're suppose to make the viewers feel like 10 year-olds, not script something as if it were written by a 10 year-old.

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I'm assuming there's a reason behind the editing of Richard's lap in his police salon. It's far too obvious of a mistake to have it get by Wilman and company. I'm guessing the footage for that part of the lap was either lost or just not taped at all and that wasn't discovered until they got into the editing room. That said, I don't think it detracts, in any way, from the enjoyment of the film

My favorite bits are the unplanned ones. The wheel coming off and nearly taking out Richard and the camera man had me in stitches. I also love the blind stupidity of Clarkson's wheel spikes. Let's see what happens when we ram them into another car. It's like the space shuttle rocket. No idea what'll happen. It'll probably kill someone. Let's get to it.

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Again, if you want numbers tune into Fifth Gear. If you want serious commentary on a car's handling tune into Fifth Gear. If you want balanced and fair opinion tune into Fifth Gear.

If you want to have fun and feel like a 10 year-old tune into Top Gear.
 
Very very average for Top Gear, which is better than many other shows. They didn't have the great cinematography in this episode and my stomach didn't hurt from laughing at the end. Can't wait to see the GT-R episode though...
 
6/10 based on all other Top Gear. It was average for the show but vs. anything else? Well that's obviously a 9/10.

Felt short to me, maybe due to the amazingly rubbish star in a shitty car? Didn't even dare to watch it....
 
Gave it a 9.
I laughed my ass of with the police cars! :D
This is the Top Gear I love.
 
Intro: LOVE the new intro! Good on you guys for keeping up with the latest season clips! :thumbsup: 9/10 at this point

Fuel Economy segment: Kind of interesting, but really the least energetic start for Top Gear. M3 vs Prius was pretty interesting, supercar race was pretty silly 8.5-9/10 here

Stunt: Kinda boring. Moves it down to about 7.5/10

News: WHERE WAS THE NEWS?!! :( The only funny and interesting part was the unmentionable censored picture, but otherwise I felt it was lacking a lot.

Moves down to about 6/10

Scuderia: Dull. Only memorable part was the noise 5/10

SIARPC: I don't think this really needs mentioning. Everyone else has pretty much covered how horrible these 2 were. I think they need to scrap SIARPC for some extended challenges or more stunts or something and just say "we don't have a star this week... we're going to set the stuntman on fire and try to burn off James' hair and then put it out with a Kawasaki ninja.". Or in the very least find someone that has a decent car history and not just one where the best car they've ever driven is a plastic fisher price pedal thing. <_<

So far it's a 3/10 but then

Police challenge: zomfg this was the most hilarious thing I've seen in a LONG time. The sirens, Hammond's barbie van, the wheel on JC's coming off. Solid gold randomness and humor. Just perfect. The ice cream siren and Jeremy's cow moos as they come to the "scene of the accident" was getting me in stitches. I couldn't stop laughing and I had to go back and watch it again. :lol:

Overall a 7/10 but with a note. I understand why some of us including me felt uneasy throughout the episode. It just seemed to lack the energy and crisp and witty, funny commentary that we see in the better TG episodes. BUT, I forgive that all solely because I'm sure JC, RH, JM and the producers were nervous about coming back after such a solid season. They need to stay fresh and entertaining and it's tough. I completely understand. Take it easy guys, we still love ya. I do still look forward to the coming episodes.
 
Supercar economy: pointless
Scuderia: solid
News: pretty good
SIARPC: boring
Reverse stunt: pointless
Police challenge: had its moments

Rated 6 out of 10.
 
Just watched it again... and I have a new gripe. And its with the Scuderia review...

Old reviews you could actually SEE the car in the film. THERE IS NOT ONE IN FOCUS SHOT OF THAT CAR DRIVING AROUND THE TRACK DURING THE ENTIRE THING. The "soft white" filter they filmed it in ruins the edgy definition of the car and makes it look blurred in every shot. To add insult to injury it looks like the director from the Bourne Supremacy made and edited it all together.

I'm all for editing together drifts, etc... But let our eyes focus on the subject of the film on occasion. My dad watched it and said it made his head hurt. And i can't blame him.

Go back and watch the Carrera GT review, or the SLR, yes they are edited together in a edgy and fast fashion, but you also are able to see how the car handles and reacts in the corners, how it handles the slides, and for me that is what I really want to see. Much more than some over-stylized representation of the cars fast and edgy nature through the camera effects. LET THE CAR STAND ON ITS OWN AND TONE DOWN THE EDITING.
 
Btw, does anyone know what that one car was during the intro segment where they showed all the challenges and cars for this series? It was beige and had a funky looking front end.

I would go back and give you a time code for it but I'm at work right now and don't have the video on me.
 
I asked this before but didn't get any reply

what was the picture that JC showed in the studio and everyone had a laugh? someone from here must have been there!
 
Great start but it sputtered after peaking with the Ferrari Scuderia. The TG Stunt-man is pointlessly boring and the "worst guests ever" was painful to watch. Luckily I was watching it on the computer and skipped it altogether.
 
*mixed feelings*

I really really hated the star(s) in a reasonably priced car. -.-
It just wasn't funny...

And the TG stunt man is utterly pointless! :?

The police car part was hilarious. :) I nearly had tears in my eyes when Hammond arrived in his white/pink softroader. :lol:

But JCs enthusiasm for the Scuderia is a bit exaggerated because it's much more expensive, has no radio and I think a normal F430 looks better as well.

The Porsche GT3 RS is for example (in my opinion) a much better lightweight supercar.

But I'd still give a 8/10
 
Btw, does anyone know what that one car was during the intro segment where they showed all the challenges and cars for this series? It was beige and had a funky looking front end.

I would go back and give you a time code for it but I'm at work right now and don't have the video on me.

Mitsuoka Galue, there was also a Mitsuoka Orochi in the preview.
 
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9/10 for me

9/10 for me

Thought about it all night. Here is my take.

Liked the new opening.

The supercars on 1 gallon of go juice, ok. Could be valuable comsummer information if someone wants to know what a high milage super car is. And if I am ever asked, now I know.

The prius is absolutely true. It depends on what type of driving you do. My friend has a 12 mile commute home from work through the city. Takes 40 - 50 min. She spends a lot of time crawling at 1 mile per hour. So it is a perfect car for her. I have a 42 mile commute to work. My drive is at 35-45 miles per hour for the first 17miles then 50 the rest. I have 4 redlights and if I can make the first one, I sail usually through the other 3. I would be using the electic motor none where she is on the electic motor most of the time. The prius is a heavy car. My Civic is perfect for my drive, the prius for her, but the average person that can't think for themselves and believes what they see on tv would think the pryius is a good car for everyone and it is not.

SIAPC. Oh Dear. I think it would have been more interesting if they had picked 2 people out of the audience at random. And I like that part of the show. But we did learn that Jamie Oliver must really like TG as he invites people over and performs "challenges" with them. Does water on the lap and winner ring a bell with anyone?

I did not like stunt man, but I do not like that type of thing, however, it was short and if I have to see it, I prefer them not to succeed, so that happened. I can live with it.

The news. Great.

The cop cars. Loved it.

I think the thing I like best about seeing this top gear was seeing James appears to have really been enjoying it. I have never seen him laugh so much and so hard. I was getting the impression last season that he was getting a bit tied of the show and the picking on from the other two, but this time the mood definiately feels different.

Can't wait for next week.
 
hahaha "softroader", I think they've got to stop trying to force the humour, the police segment was ok, but its nothing compared to the $100 car,the $10,000 supercars or the boat challenge. I am really totally looking forward to that Nissan GT-R race.
 
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