Kiskaloo
Well-Known Member
I personally love Top Gear, no matter what they do on the show. I'll admit there are pieces that I don't like as much as others, and I find myself skipping over some parts in the episodes now when I re-watch them just to get to certain other ones (for example, series 10, episode 7: I re-watch it solely for the British Leyland cheap car challenge. I skip just about the entire rest of the show these days).
But the one thing I can say about Top Gear is that, for me, it NEVER gets old. Even the old stuff, I never get tired of it. And when they come out with the latest episode, I always watch it and watch it again.
There will always be certain races, challenges and reviews that will remain "eternally fresh" in my mind. No matter how many times I watch them, I don't get tired of them. I know what's coming and yet it still feels spontaneous.
But none of those are from Season 13 and, so far, none are from Season 14. It's to the point I'm not even downloading the SD feeds anymore to get my fix ASAP. I wait for the 720p HD release and download that, so at least if nothing else, it will look nicer.
Recently its lost something that used to be there. The spirit...its kind of gone - but I don't think that its the boys' fault, really. I've seen a lot of television shows that end up like this.
In the US, it is often between the fourth and fifth seasons. Often at that time the writing staff changes, for a variety of reasons. Contracts are up. A desire to pursue new projects. Whathaveyou. Sometimes the "fresh blood" takes the show in new, improved directions, and sometimes it changes the product to the point the audience starts to drift off.
In the case of Top Gear, the writers - JC and AW - continue to handle the writing duties 14 series and 7 years in. And as you noted, perhaps it is not so much running out of ideas as it is running out of steam.
As you and others have noted, they all have so many side-projects. Do they have the stamina for a two or three day 1000km-plus road-trip like Bolivia on Sunday? Much less a straight-shot 1000km-plus trip like the Economy Run to Blackpool?
I loved the tension of the Blackpool run. But that was 40 minutes of a trip that ran over a dozen hours. hat has to be hard on the body and the mind, even in a Jaaagggg.
But the thing is, they persevere, and that's about all that we can ask from them. Giant arguments on the internet, really, don't do anything. As Jeremy said to the art gallery dude: "I value your opinion, I won't necessarily pay any attention to it."
I'm on record as saying I'll watch it because, as many have noted, even when it's kind of lame, it's still better than so much else on the tele. And indeed, I am but one consumer of hundreds of millions, so I understand my opinion carries equivalent weight.
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