Jeremy speaks of us?

Don't take this the wrong way, jayhawk, but... no-one cares about the American point of view. I hope you haven't wasted your time asking for more 'American-friendly content', it will never happen. Quite right too.

Top Gear is a British programme; it's made with British money for a British audience and I don't give a stuff what Americans (who download it) think. Get what your given, accept it and don't be 'American' and think it should be changed in any way for the United States.

Sorry, but sometimes, you just have to be told.

No offense taken! In fact, I figured someone would point out the obvious. :)
 
I feel that all that cocking about and being humourous and fun while dealing with cars is what makes Top Gear, well Top Gear. If I didn't want all of that, I would be watching that Fifth Gear so and so. But I do understand what some people are saying, that they want the perfect balance of the past seasons; car reviews and three blokes cocking about in holy matrimony. If they go back to this or something resembling this, I would be happy either way. I don't ask for much but I am going to ask for one thing if TPTB are reading this:

Do not cater to us fans too much. Just do what you guys do best. Throw in a Lambo or two (even though I hate the modern ones) if it makes you happy. Whatever.

If this didn't make much sense at the end, I didn't get much sleep the previous night AND I'm starving.
 
More like season 7!

Like everyone else has said, a mixture for both tastes. I mean, the perfect episode for me would be the mixture of taking the supercars to the bridge in paris, and attempting to make a toyota float with two engines on the back, with a bit of the M3 CSL around the isle of man again. :lol:

I think everyone has their favourite season. It's kinda like saying that my fav Doctor is Five but I have a soft spot for Three while others like Four or think Nine/Ten is teh ultimate Doctor and Rose is his true luv or some twaddle like that (can you see I don't like Rose much :lol:). Don't know what mine is yet so that's why I've been watching all of them these past few days! I do know which ep is one of my top faves and it's the one with the Bugatti race. It was the first time I saw that car and I swear my first instinctual reaction was to lick it. That surprised the hell out of me. :D
 
This is a comment I submitted on the article, Hoping for Clarkson or anyone on the staff to answer. Comments on this will be appreciated.


Of course the last season was a blast rating wise, it was what most people wanted. A funny show with three normal blokes cocking about and entertaining the viewers. And of course, if you keep the show the same the rating will be astonishing like the last series.

But is this what Top Gear was for? Was it made as a entertainment show featuring cars like the last season was, or was it made for being a car show like you said?

Combining the two, of course, would be the best plan. entertaining us but still doing car reviews. Seasons 7 and 8 were good for this. The races were good for this, because they were very funny but you still did a review on the car while driving it to the destination.

Another thing to think about: Super Cars. As an entertainment show, Super cars are barely seen, because you dis-mantel a Zonda and try to mend it with an Enzo. This is what the car reviews are for - showing us the super cars we dream of and probably will never buy or drive.

So will Top Gear become a motor entertainment show, or stay the old good car reviewing show petrol heads love?
 
Really, to keep everyone happy, they need a mix of Season 7 and 8. Lots of car reviews/challenges and stunts.

Thats exactly how I feel. When they did the first Car vs Public Transportation show was the season that had a great ratio of "mucking about / reviews."
 
Ideally I'd like to see:
- 1 supercar review
- 1 normal car review
- news
- the rest of the time 'cocking about' (or screwing around as we americans would say)

Even without star in a car there might still not be enough time to fit all that in though.....
 
Some say that Series 7 was when TG peaked, and that these days there's way too much cocking about ... all I know is, they're right ... except for when TG peaked. I reckon that the two best ever series of TG were S5 and S6. S7 seemed a little too polished, and S8 - whilst funny as - seemed laboured in parts.

Dunno what Jezza and the boys can pull out of their hats for S10, all I know is that I'll watch it anyway. Even the last two series, where TG lost its way a bit, still spanks the crap out of pretty much everything else on TV. :thumbsup:
 
I'm confident that the TG producers can find a balance between cocking about and making the audience laugh, while still slipping in genuinely interesting information about the automobiles they feature. As it stands now, they seem to be completely seperate. Here's a purely informational segment regarding a car, here's a purely entertaining segment regarding a "How hard can it be?" bit. Make us laugh with your antics, wow us with insightful commentaries, and most importantly, steal a Veyron and lap it!!
 
Thats exactly how I feel. When they did the first Car vs Public Transportation show was the season that had a great ratio of "mucking about / reviews."

I find myself watching series 4-8 the most. If they can get back to that, with a bit of series 9 chucked in over 10 episodes, then it would be (to quote Zane Lowe) Awesome!

Don't forget though, they havent got a test track yet now that Dunfolds being developed.
 
You think so? Read the article again. It's very obvious that he speaks of us. This is irrefutable proof that Jezza lurks among us! :)

Now I'm really looking forward to season 10!

He definitely is speaking of us... lol!

Although I kinda agree with him, but this isn't how the BBC deals with their viewers (take them to the lavatory?). Remember when one of the crew members posted here when they were looking for a Camaro (it was a Caw-maro right? :D).

Anyway, what Jeremy doesn't realize is that it's not just the people in "cyberland" who want less cocking about and more cars. Any petrolhead out there wants that. Cars... That was what the show was all about when it started and until a couple of seasons ago.
 
Hello. I think its fantastic that you are asking for public opinion. I am an internet downloader, from Australia, I started watching it for the cars, and thoroughly enjoyed cocking about a couple of times a season. Series 9 I still enjoyed, but can understand the problem you are having, Are you sure that you will able to keep it fresh and entertaining? because the whole 'it can't be that hard!' type segment got old quickly. I really think that you could fit in a series wide story about something big and slowly go through it. This mean there would be cocking about, but I really do miss the cars. If you wanted full cocking about is there enough time in your schedule to have a spin off tv show? that would just do that type of stuff, not always related to motoring? I really do miss the cars, but I think that it is possible to find a balance between them both. I really hope you don't choose cocking about over motoring and at least try to keep automotive the main focus of the show. I also think that you, Richard and James need to still enjoy what you are doing, and not just doing it because thats what you think you should do.

Yeah there are other things i thought of after i typed it and submitted but it doesn't overly matter.

I didn't re-read it so i hope it makes sense, I want cars with a bit of cocking about. Mostly car related cocking about, I loved the cheap car challenges and miss them a lot. I use to find my self watching top gear to see what the latest cars are like, and looking to it for latest car news (even know yes they are filmed way in advanced, its still interesting). These days it doesn't really have that appeal anymore, I go to car sites for my news and reviews. I would love to go back to seeing it on top gear and see what it's really like not just some journalist who looks at it drives it around a circle a few times. They seem to tell us what we really want to hear about a car, what a lot of other places don't. They tell you the specs list with some nice language to jazz it up a bit.
 
U guys are making to much of a deal out of it!!! TG was never only about cars, and back in those days only 9 people probably watched it. TG is a great entertaining show about cars. U can not throw away cocking about and expect to be the same show!!!NO!!NO!!!NO!!!. no changes are needed. If I need a review of Opel/Vauxhall Corsa I go on the internet - I dont expect Jeremy's, Richard's and May's genius to be used on such BS. More cars are welcomed but plz dont change to FIFTH Gear or any other dull car show. ITS TG !!!! entertaining show about cars just like myth busters are about science. Oh ... almost forgot .... plz dont read any of the responses on forums. Its just not worth it. LOVE u all TG crew!!!
 
I somewhat prophetically did a poll at the end of series 9 asking the very question Jeremy asked.

http://forums.finalgear.com/showthread.php?t=16556

140 replies, so not an enormous sample, but interestingly 42% of people wanted more reviews, and almost exactly the same wanted it left just like it is (ie series 9), and the last 15% or so wanted more pissing about - which would be hard given there was so much in series 9.

So it is was very much a split decision.
 
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you still need to keep the connection between viewers and presenters and this is done with the cars: those you actually own, or those you could actually buy because you see them driven by our three friends and not a cold review on paper...

Look at the way James May spoke about the 80s Aston Martin V8 Vantage... utterly brilliant. And the "ASBO" Ford? totally funny...

leave all comedy and we are stuffed

besides... Jeremy ones was commenting on how bad was for car makers to ask their potential customers what car they wanted... and he was unhappy about the result

surely Jeremy the same should apply to Top Gear, should'n it?

AM
 
I don't mind tests being cut for something as brilliant as the American episode, or as inspired as the amphibious car episode (it only have one review).
But to cut car reviews for something thats just cocking about for the sake of cocking about it a waste. I get the feeling you guys used to sit there in the Top Gear production shed and someone would say "I've got a great idea for a bit of cocking about", where is now its more "how can we cock about this week?".

I think the point I'm trying to make is, I really don't have a problem with the cocking about, as long as its relevant, after all, "this is a car programme"
For example:
Cocking about playing football with cars = Absolutely hillarous
Cocking about while repaving a road = Amusing

Honestly, who gonna say "remember that time Top Gear repaved a road?"


The other thing aswell, let the comedy come naturally.
There is a difference between setup and scripted.
Take a look at the tractor episode. The minute Jezza ran through all the car that were in the parking lot, you knew something was gonna be hit (scripted). But on the other hand, if they hadn't of said anything then hit the car (setup) it would of been so much funnier.
One thing to note though, after all the scripted gags in that episode, the funniest part was stig falling off his seat.
 
I'm gonna have to agree with most people here.

Bottom Line, Less Cocking about - Bring the show back to the way it was with series 7 and 8. Series 9 was good for a laugh, but the show is losing it's substance and its soul.

If there is just cocking about and very few/no reviews - the show risk's losing its culture over time, and very slowly turn horrid. Like Fifth gear is, now. Don't get me started on how rubbish that show can be.

Looking at the history of TG however - Series 9, yeah fair enough it's perfectly excuseable with what happened to Hammond - they had to slap it together.

Now they have no excuse to really knuckle down and do the show properly like they used too.

Very VERY much looking forward to the new series
 
On the good side, it's not much more to "cock about" any more, since they've tried almost everything already.. :wink:
 
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