[16x00] December 26th, 2010 [Middle East Special]

[16x00] December 26th, 2010 [Middle East Special]

  • Total voters
    636
10/10

Because I don't want to be beheaded on the internet. lol.

It is not an odd ending... it could be the birth of a new driver "The Stig". Actually some parts of the show are more sophisticated than first thought, you may spot new meanings and ideas sometimes when you rewatched it.

I especially love them going out of England and explore new places in the world. & Clarkson simply can't dress in an Arabic women costume, his belly give him away.. hahaha.
 
Niedermayer said:
Yup you're right. My knowledge of Arabic has waned a lot due to unuse but the number plates are in Arabic. If anyone wants to know, the number on it reads (from left to right): 26773(2?)5.
binarypower, consider yourself emancipated from your initial ignorance on this issue. It would've took less than 5 minutes for you to go and look up whether it was Hebrew or Arabic: Arabic Numerals
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Lol, I'm Iranian. Well, born in the state, but know limited Farsi... not Arabic. Consider me enlightened!
 
biggie said:
Sounds like someone needs to move to a new country. This one was founded on religon and I don't see it going away anytime soon, buh bye now.
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No, it was founded by religious people. Who still didn't want the country to have one said religion. That's why they wrote the first ammendment. Granted, they were a bunch of sorry old cotton candy arses, but they got that right.
 
Ayman said:
I reviewed that scene, Jeremy says "Oh my god, that's so fast".. But whatever the translated script said, I could not fathom a word of it as being Arabic.
So I'm guessing, that no.

To back this up, Syria doesn't appear in the list of countries that broadcast Top Gear. According to this
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Actually, Syria do get Top Gear through the network MBC Action, and they broadcast in Arabic.
 
Well, I'm going against the grain but colour me unsatisfied. I'll always defend allegations of scriptedness because TG is an entertainment show first and a documentary second, but there were so many staged bits that really got to me. Suddenly "realising" they were in Iraq. "Oh no, we can't get into Iran". Even "we must drive through the desert... except we don't really". You know this stuff well beforehand so even trying to produce spontaneity isn't going to work.

Just seems like the crew feel the need to invent drama, rather than just letting it happen. The US trip was brilliant because it was about three mates having fun. The Africa one was an adventure through the wilderness. Things accidentally happened, like Oliver and discovering the state that New Orleans was still in. You can't script magic like that.

Reality TV has the same problem - ("We put a Muslim who hates gays together with a racist homosexual. What could possibly happen?" Erm... the entirely predictable?)

In its favour, there was some wonderful moments. "Told you there was a mouse" killed me. The careful (and welcome) dodging of the various issues with "for political reasons we had to..." except the "peace and goodwill bit" at the end which was magnificently understated. Chariot racing. James getting knocked out cold - leading to the leaving hospital sight gag which was gloriously funny.

So don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad. Just lacked that sense of magic for the most part.

But that shot of the kid running behind the camera crew was right up with TGs best.
 
I have a question about the episode. When they are near the Iranian border and JC says that the BBC is not allowed, they talk about some not BBC shows and people that would be allowed. They mention ?Ant & Dec", Simon Cowell, Fifth Gear...and some others too, which i haven't heard before, could someone tell me those names? (i'm trying to do a translation of the episode). Thanks :)
 
Clarkson: "Ant and Dec, Simon Cowell, Chris Tarrant, Fifth Gear, Emmerdale Farm but not David Attenborough, not us."
Hammond: "Springwatch?"
 
javierel22 said:
I have a question about the episode. When they are near the Iranian border and JC says that the BBC is not allowed, they talk about some not BBC shows and people that would be allowed. They mention ?Ant & Dec", Simon Cowell, Fifth Gear...and some others too, which i haven't heard before, could someone tell me those names? (i'm trying to do a translation of the episode). Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Ant & Dec", Simon Cowell, all work on a show called the X factor which is on a different channel called ITV1, and I'm afraid to say can kill top gear in the ratings if they went head to head.
And Firth gear is a car show on channel 5 which I believe where top gear presenters go to retire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X_Factor_(UK)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_gear
 
javierel22 said:
I have a question about the episode. When they are near the Iranian border and JC says that the BBC is not allowed, they talk about some not BBC shows and people that would be allowed. They mention ?Ant & Dec", Simon Cowell, Fifth Gear...and some others too, which i haven't heard before, could someone tell me those names? (i'm trying to do a translation of the episode). Thanks :)
Click to expand...

are you saying you havnt ever heard of Fifth Gear? <_<

iam-nobody said:
Ant & Dec", Simon Cowell, all work on a show called the X factor which is on a different channel called ITV1, and I'm afraid to say can kill top gear in the ratings if they went head to head.
And Firth gear is a car show on channel 5 which I believe where top gear presenters go to retire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X_Factor_(UK)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_gear
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Correction, its where they go to DIE
 
javierel22 said:
I have a question about the episode. When they are near the Iranian border and JC says that the BBC is not allowed, they talk about some not BBC shows and people that would be allowed. They mention ?Ant & Dec", Simon Cowell, Fifth Gear...and some others too, which i haven't heard before, could someone tell me those names? (i'm trying to do a translation of the episode). Thanks :)
Click to expand...

http://forums.finalgear.com/video-offers/top-gear-season-16-subtitles-47486/#post1552546
 
Plissken said:
Well, I'm going against the grain but colour me unsatisfied. I'll always defend allegations of scriptedness because TG is an entertainment show first and a documentary second, but there were so many staged bits that really got to me. Suddenly "realising" they were in Iraq. "Oh no, we can't get into Iran". Even "we must drive through the desert... except we don't really". You know this stuff well beforehand so even trying to produce spontaneity isn't going to work.

Just seems like the crew feel the need to invent drama, rather than just letting it happen. The US trip was brilliant because it was about three mates having fun. The Africa one was an adventure through the wilderness. Things accidentally happened, like Oliver and discovering the state that New Orleans was still in. You can't script magic like that.

Reality TV has the same problem - ("We put a Muslim who hates gays together with a racist homosexual. What could possibly happen?" Erm... the entirely predictable?)

In its favour, there was some wonderful moments. "Told you there was a mouse" killed me. The careful (and welcome) dodging of the various issues with "for political reasons we had to..." except the "peace and goodwill bit" at the end which was magnificently understated. Chariot racing. James getting knocked out cold - leading to the leaving hospital sight gag which was gloriously funny.

So don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad. Just lacked that sense of magic for the most part.

But that shot of the kid running behind the camera crew was right up with TGs best.
Click to expand...

Loved your post. Incredibly balanced, safe, judicious and pertinent!

I agree, the scriptedness of the show slaps you in the face on many occasions, and it's hard to recover from it.
But for TG's defense, I think that "letting things happen" as you put it doesn't always produce a decent finish product, so I do see the need in staging things a little, it's just a shame that no matter how good the staging is pulled out, its context always makes it pop!

I do love how the funniest bits on a TG episode are always rushed and hushed. The "Springwatch" was faded, the "Told you there was a mouse" was a quickie... That's part of TG's originality! I adore that.
Jeremy also adds in originality with his unmatched humor, the "The News" bit made me pause the video and take some time to laugh. The "Just pay, I don't wanna be beheaded on the internet". The "How you go through a corner in Irak" ... All were key moments.

Ayman

PS: That kid was indeed magical!
 
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Accidental double-post. Appologize for that.
 
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Chris Tarrant hosts "Who wants to be a Millionaire", Emmerdale Farm is a soap opera (though it hasn't been called that for years, it's just called Emmerdale now), David Attenborough fronts natural history programmes and Springwatch is a UK natural history prog (they also do Autumnwatch). Hope that help complete the set.
 
Plissken said:
[...] Suddenly "realising" they were in Iraq. "Oh no, we can't get into Iran". Even "we must drive through the desert... except we don't really". You know this stuff well beforehand so even trying to produce spontaneity isn't going to work. Just seems like the crew feel the need to invent drama, rather than just letting it happen.

[...] In its favour, there was some wonderful moments. "Told you there was a mouse" killed me.
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I think kids will like the story. Yes it's made up, I don't mind; they still ended up going through beautiful places and tried to drive through the desert.

The mouse joke was planned as much as the story was. If you don't want the scripts and planning, there can't be a mouse joke.
 
I almost died laughing at the end, I just couldn't believe it lol
 
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