[13x03] July 5th, 2009

[13x03] July 5th, 2009


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You mean other than the producers calling up Fiat and telling them to bring a bunch in, just to make the boys look like idiots as revenge for the terrible first Cheap Cars segment? :D

It's pretty much work for a short scene then, such as calling up at least 30+ cars from Fiat, clearing the WHOLE street so that even all the cars parked at the road side are 500s, and even making some of them drive here and there. Much logistics work there, if you're thinking practically :p

Good episode though, would've preferred a normal news segment instead though ;)
 
AWSOME episode.

What can anyone want more?!?!
I mean... this episode has all the great Top Gear ingredients - very fast car... rubish cars which are completely trashed about... amasing images...

It's perfect! 10
 
I was so happy that they reviewed my dream car - the sl, until I found out it's not that good :D
 
Muzika, the regular SLs are just fine, as Jeremy said - it's just the SL Black that's rubbish.
 
I dunno, it fell quite flat for me. The episode looked fantastic, filmed wonderfully and I loved the light effects with the SL Black. But the substance was lacking.

The small car thing seemed quite gimmicky and not very funny. The second part was a little better, but it dragged on for me somewhat.

The Ken Block stuff was cool, but I was expecting them to give him a challenge, or a race (Carmichael didn't really count) but as some people have said before it seemed like a collection of clips.

I enjoyed Michael McIntyre, but mainly cause I'm a fan of his already. He has a very loud, hyper, crazy manner which I can totally understand why people get frustrated by him. But he was funny, and that last corner was mental.

They're enjoying going offtrack in the news at the moment, it was a bit odd this week. Although, the car sauna thing was good.

The Black review was good, very good looking, pretty typical Jezza review. Very pretty, very smokey. Not his best, but still good.


I think the most obvious thing about this episode is that I wasn't entertained that much. That was the biggest disappointment. A lot of the episode felt lacklustre. Sadly, I had to give it a six.
 
I liked the episode very much. If there was one let down, it was the cheap car challenge ... although funny, the 2nd part with the tests didn't really do much for me.

A sold 9/10 from me.
 
I enjoyed it. I don't get tired of the Mercedes reviews, particularly when they involve a race. It's nice to find out what the SL is like, they haven't reviewed the normal one yet.

I think Michael is great if a bit scary at times like he's about to explode, but he had Jeremy in tears so he's doing something right. He's right about the loser lane too, it feels bad when I get overtaken by lorries and coached full of ancient people all of the time. The lap was a laugh too, I think we can safely say he's not the best driver they've had.

Car sauna was brilliant, I'd have a go in mine if it weren't for the bad seals and luke warm heater. TG Dog also got a mention in the News, but for the wrong reason.

Cheap cars were fine, always funny seeing them rip cheap machinery to shreds, and interesting to see the ones they had chosen in the second part.

I've never been a fan of Ken, but it was interesting to watch. About half way through when the bike appeared I was thinking "Surely he's not going to do that with James in the car", then he did. (the jump) Very interesting to watch, looking forward to seeing him in the WRC in the not-too-distant future. :) Overall I'd say an 8, let down by the copper in London and Jeremy not running him over or driving away.

Edit: Stupid HTML. Why does this happen?
 
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Wow, really can't understand why some have disliked the series so far. I think they just don't like what Top Gear has become, in which case, go away and watch Fifth Gear....yawnnn

This episode, like the other two, was pretty good, if not great.

I wasn't looking forward to SIARPC but McIntyre suprised me - I thought he was pretty good. That lap was epic as well. Brave.

The first part of the challenge was good. Loved what they megaphoned and what they said to the bankers. James' ramblings, lol!

Ken Block segment was great. Some people wanted more, I can understand that. However the balance of the whole ep was great IMO. The cinematography for the Block segment was the best I;ve seen from TG.

The second part of the challenge was great! I'd have a 500 :)

Overall a solid 8/10 and perhaps not quite as good as last week, but pretty darn close.

I know it all comes down to opinion but those who are consistently rating the new series badly...why are you even here? It's almost troll like as I really can;t see how they are bad episodes?
 
^Where they live has a big effect on their opinions, which is to be expected, because the show is and will always be aimed at the British viewers. Americans will of course be more familiar with Ken, and not know who Michael is, for example.
 
I know it all comes down to opinion but those who are consistently rating the new series badly...why are you even here? It's almost troll like as I really can;t see how they are bad episodes?

You want this forum to be populated solely with people who are mad about anything and everything Top Gear?

I've been watching the show for years now and have been posting on these message boards, yet, I've probably rated most of the episodes from the last two or three series as average (around 5-7/10, and I'm usually generous). So you think I should stop posting here?



Anyway, opinion is really divided on this episode and looks like once again I'm in the minority. Oh well, at least now I know why Top Gear has reverted to doing entertainment and over the top challenges instead of car reviews - because a hell of lot more people enjoy the cocking about!
 
Finally, The News was actually funny again. Ok so there wasn't any actual news but if it's going to lack news it had better at least be funny. Top Gear, you get your point back for news from me, finally.

What's the point of calling it The News when they don't actually have any news in it these days? Might aswell call it Random Rants.

Also, you have to be completely and utterly bonkersly insane to buy that SL Black Series.
 
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Pretty good episode, a solid 9 IMO.

Except the SIARPC though, they should've thought twice before inviting a comedian, especially an unfunny one like Michael McIntyre to the show, the whole thing would just get out of control.
 
Pretty good episode, a solid 9 IMO.

Except the SIARPC though, they should've thought twice before inviting a comedian, especially an unfunny one like Michael McIntyre to the show, the whole thing would just get out of control.

ill just say, if you dont like the guy and you didnt wanna see him then skip it. i never base my rating on the guest because i dont like most of them, well, except for billie piper, that epp was a 10!
 
Good Episode, liked the car sauna, Michael Mcintyre and the small car reviews (specifically the Alfa MiTo, which I am in love with).

But... did anyone notice the SL Black's door was a different colour to the body? (care to take a screenshot if you like, I don't know how to)
 
It's funny, but I always seem to enjoy the more pared-down episodes like this one when a lot of other people seem to find them a bit 'meh'. I loved that it was scaled back a bit, mostly shot fairly locally (apart from Ken Block) and it just got back a bit to what Top Gear is at heart - a show about why people like cars (which still leaves room for lots of car-related cocking about), and not just the exotica. The road tests actually did have some - shock, horror - actual information in them and do you know something? What I've really been missing is TG driving normal cars on normal roads occasionally. Watching them driving and talking about trim quality, ride comfort, load space and performance... put it this way, it's information I can use, but it wasn't presented in a dry style and I enjoyed it. I suppose it helps that I really like Michael McIntyre, and watching him reduce Jeremy to tears of laughter was lovely.

That isn't to say I don't enjoy the spectacle - I watched last week's episode again last night and there were times watching the Lambo film I was on the verge of, er, crisis. When the episode finished, I was breathless with laughter and my heart had been thumping with excitement (which I was also aware of when I was watching the steam train in the previous episode). Spectacle is glorious, it's like champagne and foie gras with onion confit... but I'd get sick of foie gras if I ate it every day. Sometimes I'd rather have pie and mash - simple, unpretentious, and it makes me smile. This episode was pie and mash, and I'm happy with that.
 
Beh, pretty average. Nothing particularly interesting or exciting, but points for trying. The whole Ken Block thing came off as a bit of a Mountain Dew commercial.

My girlfriend loved the dog tests, but quite frankly, they could have been in a paddock and she would have loved it.
 
I got negatively repped for my review of last week's epsiode, not that I care.

Once again, another terrible episode. I mean, it wasn't a 4/10 like last week, but we're talking about 6/10 here. Nice to see they took my idea about spraying rude messages on the side of their cars relating to financial figures and the economy, but they didn't really do much with it.

They also missed an opportunity to review the Fiat Abarth against the new Fiesta, instead of doing all those crap small car challenges.
 
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I haven't laughed this hard in a while. That was a fantastic episode for me, definitely a 9... Ken Block bit was incredibly done.
 
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