RoamingGnome
Well-Known Member
Well I will give this one 3/10 for the effort. Yes it is a first, did not totally suck but unless things will have improved dramatically by the 10th episode, I'm thinking it will have some serious trouble justifying its existence thereafter.
Star deductions:
2 for soundtrack. Which in a word was utter shit. Everything else aside, how could they not get this one right.
2 for presenters. Rick Astley can definitely drive but that's about it. Adam, I actually do otherwise like, but apparently is contractually obligated to leave his personality at home. And Ruthledge....he's the Jason. For now, no, there's no chemistry at all and frankly they all sound and behave absolutely the same. And boring too, with Adam bordering on sufferable and Ruthledge on "somebody-fucking-kill-me-now". This can be worked on, but it will need a lot of work.
1 for no funneh whatsoever.
2 for production. What a letdown. You can definitely see the TG "touch" but I'm afraid the severe budget restrictions are rather apparent.
It really reminded me of TG AUS, and that's not a good thing. The Lambo segment was only so-so. Felt like a better produced version of Motorweek. The Viper/Snake race had a potential but fell flat, and if Tanner was excited to drive the V10 monster, he kept that to himself. Or maybe he wasn't really. Adam's "Fuck" on every shift was actually pretty funny but on a whole, either have History not bleep it out (not gonna happen in this retarded country) or clean the language up, cause it makes you sound like a simpleton while all we hear is a goddamn beep...beep...beep.
Other than that I think that the show exhibits the same shortcomings the BBCA and old Discovery mash-up attempts did: it seemed neutered. Of course obligatory "Coming Up", "Welcome Back" and "Here's what you missed" not to mention History Channel's love affair with crawlers, overlays, pop-ups and other kinds of distracting nonsense. I'm quite certain History's execs tried to convince TG folk that it would be all really super cool with their WWF-styled intro instead of this "Jenny" or "Jasmin" thing that's so unimpressive. The show's only 42 min so of course no time for news or other banter, which most agree is rather a big part of it. This, also being the prime time to talk shop, I would rather see the BS-SC go. It all felt really droning and rushed at the same time.
I tried to view it as its own car show but you really can't because it does try to imitate it in so many ways; and if they truly want to make it so, they'll have a hell of a time trying. To be perfectly honest I don't think the BBC/TG producers truly have a grasp on why is it that the (original) Top Gear is so unbelievably successful and loved by so many people - all around the world.
Star deductions:
2 for soundtrack. Which in a word was utter shit. Everything else aside, how could they not get this one right.
2 for presenters. Rick Astley can definitely drive but that's about it. Adam, I actually do otherwise like, but apparently is contractually obligated to leave his personality at home. And Ruthledge....he's the Jason. For now, no, there's no chemistry at all and frankly they all sound and behave absolutely the same. And boring too, with Adam bordering on sufferable and Ruthledge on "somebody-fucking-kill-me-now". This can be worked on, but it will need a lot of work.
1 for no funneh whatsoever.
2 for production. What a letdown. You can definitely see the TG "touch" but I'm afraid the severe budget restrictions are rather apparent.
It really reminded me of TG AUS, and that's not a good thing. The Lambo segment was only so-so. Felt like a better produced version of Motorweek. The Viper/Snake race had a potential but fell flat, and if Tanner was excited to drive the V10 monster, he kept that to himself. Or maybe he wasn't really. Adam's "Fuck" on every shift was actually pretty funny but on a whole, either have History not bleep it out (not gonna happen in this retarded country) or clean the language up, cause it makes you sound like a simpleton while all we hear is a goddamn beep...beep...beep.
Other than that I think that the show exhibits the same shortcomings the BBCA and old Discovery mash-up attempts did: it seemed neutered. Of course obligatory "Coming Up", "Welcome Back" and "Here's what you missed" not to mention History Channel's love affair with crawlers, overlays, pop-ups and other kinds of distracting nonsense. I'm quite certain History's execs tried to convince TG folk that it would be all really super cool with their WWF-styled intro instead of this "Jenny" or "Jasmin" thing that's so unimpressive. The show's only 42 min so of course no time for news or other banter, which most agree is rather a big part of it. This, also being the prime time to talk shop, I would rather see the BS-SC go. It all felt really droning and rushed at the same time.
I tried to view it as its own car show but you really can't because it does try to imitate it in so many ways; and if they truly want to make it so, they'll have a hell of a time trying. To be perfectly honest I don't think the BBC/TG producers truly have a grasp on why is it that the (original) Top Gear is so unbelievably successful and loved by so many people - all around the world.