Have they lost the essence of the old series?

[shellygrrl]

Rutledge is also my favourite, hands down, for the same reasons as Nugget. I'd like to see Tanner and Adam loosen up a bit more.

I also think, in S2, Rutledge should do all the interviews, rather than have him and Adam split them up.

 

[bwkrupp]

I don't understand the argument that some of you guys put, essentially saying TGUK stuttered initially too. Of course it did; TGUK was the pioneer of this new car show format.

Umm, you do realize that Top Gear (old format) was around from 1979? And that Clarkson himself made it what it was in the 1990s? And that Fifth Gear had one series out before Top Gear (current format) debuted? The first 3-4 series of TG (new format) seemed essentially like TG (old format) with a live audience. And...it stuttered, terribly, as a result. It had to adapt around its hosts, as it was taking an old format and pasting in new hosts. Now its being done again, taking an old format (current Top Gear) and pasting in new hosts. And it suffers as a result until they find their own groovitude.

They havn't lost the essense of the old series, they simply need to find their own.

 

[shellygrrl]

Exactly! And I think they're getting there. It just needs a little polishing. I don't think current TG (UK, obvs) hit its stride until about S4 or S5. While the first three series had some good bits, what I've seen of it (mainly from S2 and S3; I've not watched any S1) was largely boring, IMO.

Pedantic mode: Old TG debuted in 1977/78.

 

[The Spie]

I don't think current TG (UK, obvs) hit its stride until about S4 or S5.

I've always maintained that the first episode of the "real" current Top Gear was 4x01. First Epic Race, first truly goofy car test with the Exige and Apache gunship. You had a few moments before that episode that had the current TG spirit (most notably the Hilux Destruction), and a few moments afterward that were holdovers from the first three series (nun in a monster truck, for instance), but 4x01 was the turning point. After that, the chemistry was there and visible and the formula was clicking. At that point, the Trio were together for 19 episodes. I'm willing to give TGUS the same amount of time to gel.

I think that, given time and a sufficiently long run, we might be seeing the Alaska trip as that same kind of watershed demarcation moment. If it's good, of course.

While the first three series had some good bits, what I've seen of it (mainly from S2 and S3; I've not watched any S1) was largely boring, IMO.

Agreed, and a lot of this was due to the format still being The Jeremy Clarkson Show With Special Guests Richard Hammond and James May, tacked on to a lot of the Old Top Gear format, which Fifth Gear was doing just as well or better (or so consensus opinion says). James was still doing those consumer advice bits well into S3.

I've been rewatching some of S1 lately, and, honestly, it's at the same standards of S2 and S3. The Jason Dawe Question, though, is still vexing. I think he was better at what he was doing than S2/S3 James. Would he have been allowed to expand his repertoire like James eventually did had he been kept on? Would he have had the ability to do so? James coming into his own is one of the key factors in what made New Top Gear a success. It's interesting to think about.

 

[shadragon]

TG US is getting better slowly. Got to give them some time. The Aussie version was painful for the first season. TG US will get better in time.