Season 14 slid off track

Cucciolotto said:
I don't know you enough to be able to discern the seriousness of that sentence. Are you being serious or sarcastic?
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I'm quite serious -- Top Gear has, in some pretty major ways, turned into a travelogue program.
 
I can't plus rep you enough Interceptor, and I hope you still voice your honest opinion of the show in such an intelligent and well spoken manner. I've been complaining for years now, but I just get pegged as a troll by bandwagon apologist fanboys... err, I guess I do come off a bit too angry and insulting. I still love TopGear and rank it in my top 5 favorite shows currently being made, even season 14. But I don't believe for one second that the show is getting better. It's definitely getting worse. I don't expect Wilman to cater to us, but it would be nice if they would recognize the problems we're all noticing without completely blowing us off. Where would TopGear be today without the loyal fans?
 
Bottom near as Top Gear loses its torque

Bottom near as Top Gear loses its torque

This year, one of television's best-loved institutions will acknowledge itself as one of television's best loved institutions and proceed to crush itself under the weight of its own self-regard.

Top Gear Live, the spectacular incarnation of the world's most watched television show, returns in February. Once restrained in such matters, the BBC is a new exponent of that golden rule of the US entertainment industry: when you're onto a good thing, beat it to death.

Everyone knows blockbusters stink. To test this thesis, I went and saw 2012 . It was $15 well spent to remind me of all the money I've saved over the years avoiding the likes of Andre Rieu, U2 and Cirque du Soleil.

The warning signs came with the ads for last year's Top Gear Live. The four-ball voiceover telling you how huge it's all going to be. The flashing lights and frenetic backing track. The words ''Acer Arena''.
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Hope this isn't a repost

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/so...-top-gear-loses-its-torque-20100104-lq1j.html
 
warren said:
I'm quite serious -- Top Gear has, in some pretty major ways, turned into a travelogue program.
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You cannot be serious!

john-mcenroe.jpg


Bar landscapes, I would absolutely love to know what "in pretty major ways" you learnt about Bolivia, USA, Vietnam and Botswana since they hardly (if at all) mingle with the locals! Well to be fair they did in the US specials but that was to portray them as homophobic gun-wielding mullet wearer morons, you happy with that, is that very much you? That a travelogue program!
History? Customs? Politics? Environment particularities? Sports? Local celebrities? Yup I feel I know a lot more, and in a pretty major way!
David Attenborough Michael Palin they sure ain't.

Now for a proper in some pretty major ways travelogue program we have The Discovery Channel or internet . In fact I'm gonna quote the Great Philosopher:

warren said:
If you want hard facts, opinions, video, audio, high-quality photography, etc., it's all available on the Internet now in large quantities.
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I want cars in Top Gear 'cause it's always been the root of the program, otherwise I'd flick on the Discovery Channel. Simples.
 
warren said:
There isn't as much of a need for "serious" car reviews in television format, anyways. If you want hard facts, opinions, video, audio, high-quality photography, etc., it's all available on the Internet now in large quantities. This wasn't so much the case several years ago when the current-format Top Gear started.
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The internet was well established in 2002; I can't think of what we have now re:cars that we didn't have then. Car sites have gotten better and more sophisticated, granted.

I agree that the "serious" car review is superfluous in the age of the internet. That's my biggest complaint about our longest running car show in the US, "Motorweek". It's like listening to somebody read the window sticker and once in a while you get a heavily veiled criticism snuck in.

But what struck me about Top Gear's reviews, which were never hard-core factual, was being able to live vicariously through the reviewers and to get the "essence" of the car without reading the window sticker to us. Unfortunately that's largely been missing as of late.
 
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janstett said:
But what struck me about Top Gear's reviews, which were never hard-core factual, was being able to live vicariously through the reviewers and to get the "essence" of the car without reading the window sticker to us. Unfortunately that's largely been missing as of late.
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Quoted for truth! :thumbup:
 
Yeah, everything has been said pretty much.
I'm sure every Top Gear fan has a vast collection of episodes,
to relive the favorite moments. :lol:

Lets see what happens when they return in the summer.
Top Gear will definitely change.
It's going to be interesting to see in what way.
 
Dr_Grip said:
Can't we just stop it with these threads? We had one for every single "OMG TG overz" newsbite from every single paper....
...in the world!
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careful, you will be called a fanboy who cant hear anything bad about TG for suggesting that. :blink:
 
I can only recommend everyone to take a few minutes and read this article with an open mind. This has nothing to do with the misinterpretation of Andy's discussed blog article, rather than how the Top Gear live show represents an important step in the life of the show.
 
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the Interceptor said:
I can only recommend everyone to take a few minutes and read this article with an open mind. This has nothing to do with the misinterpretation of Andy's discussed blog article, rather than how the Top Gear live show represents an important step in the life of the show.
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You're right, it's a good, insightful article. They need to stop right where they are and re-think how Michael Bay they want to become.
 
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If the BBC wants to show the majesty of nature, they can do another special like Planet Earth or The Blue Planet. They have a Natural History Unit just for this purpose. They don't need Top Gear to fill that mission.

I appreciate the quality of the cinematography away from the track, but the show is about motoring. And I accept that travel is an integral part of motoring, but it's not the only thing.
 
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Cucciolotto said:
I want cars in Top Gear 'cause it's always been the root of the program, otherwise I'd flick on the Discovery Channel. Simples.
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And I want to see Aleksandr Orlov in the new Reasonably Priced Car.....

*sits back and waits for some Photoshop genius to put a meerkat into a Dacia Sandero or similar*
 
Now that Series 14 is over...

Now that Series 14 is over...

I was hearing around the workplace of some people saying that this incarnation of Top Gear is on its deathbed. As much as I like the nature of the current incarnation of the program, would anyone agree and believe that Top Gear should take a season or so off, and just "shuffle the deck"? Maybe bring in some new members to the crew, or alter the format slightly? All because it really seems too nonsensical nowadays, and IMO Hammond offers very little to the programme.

I know that some reviewer in the US quoted TG to be "Jackass on wheels" when BBC America began to air it. Does anyone else agree that they're epitomising that statement way too literally now? I miss the good old days from series 7 and 10.
 
I wish they would drop the guest segments, they're always boring. Other than that all they need to do is tone down the scripted "character" bs, and just have fun. That being said I thought epi 7 was really good, except for that Seasick dude. All three of their films were well done & entertaining.
 
It's a 5 post noob. Give it a chance!

Hang on wtf am I saying?









n00b! Get him!

Kidding folks! I was once a n00b too you know.....
 
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