[01x05] December 19th, 2010

[Viper007Bond]

Whoops, sorry about the delayed thread creation.

 

[Kiskaloo]

Effectively a re-hash of Series 10, Episode 07's "Did British Leyland Actually Make a Good Car?" skit (which I am watching now). Not as good, of course, but it had it's moments and I the hosts seem, at least to me, jelling quite well, so I give it a 7.

 

[jetsetter]

The very presence of a Buick Roadmaster station wagon, Oldsmobile Cutlass, and Pontiac Fiero makes this episode better than 98.5% of all TG UK episodes.

 

[mrferg]

Granted that it's all been done before, but I was thoroughly entertained. The hosts have really loosened up in the past few episodes, their interactions seem so much more natural now. Now I want a Roadmaster...

 

[Gyvon]

Thank god the torrent's up so quick. Missed it because of Survivor

 

[jfrenchy]

Oddly enough TGUSa seems to be able to pull off the rehashes. Frankly if the best ideas of the original aren't going to work not much will. Pretty solid episode overall, I'd give it a 7 being right on par with the last 3 episodes. Although someone should tell them that they really don't need to have a point to cheap car challenges. Premise yes, morale of the story no.

 

[Kaervak]

I came into TGUS expecting to hate it and it being complete garbage. It's had it moments of true suck and there are still things that need to be worked on, but I am very pleasantly surprised at how good TGUS is so far. Yes this episode copied TGUK, so what. It was still entertaining and well worth watching. When you have the same writing team as the original, of course there's going to be overlap. Not necessarily a bad thing provided they don't go overboard with it. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

As far as this episode goes, the studio stuff needs some more work. Still seems a bit stiff, kinda like there's a big "APPLAUSE" sign in there. I do think the show would benefit from being 90 minutes long. Having the extra time would help the flow out since it feels a little too compacted.

 

[Rossco]

Well, this episode makes it the first time I legit LOL'ed during an episode of Top Gear, since the Brits were on during their season 15. The proving grounds part was just hilarious. While they did have to sacrifice 3 great cars (including that vintage Cutlass ) to make this episode,it still was worth it.

It was nice to see more hazing and just outright slapstick humor in this cheap car challenge. IIRC I could count the number of pranks of the Moonshine run on one hand. (Stealing the Caddy's emblem, jumping on the back of the caddy, ditching Rut, breaking Tanner's mirrors?)

This one however had flying soda, eggs, bowling balls, and some fender benders for good measure. All key ingredients to consider when whipping up a batch of Top Gear.

Even the Star in a Car bit wasn't bad. This episode gets a strong 8.

 

[DubyaStep]

ok, 8/10, i had fun. YES, i know it was a copy of the BL epp but as they say "if it aint broke, dont fix it". im very sure we will still se plenty of 1,2 and 3's and the quote "im not watching anymore, this is crap" or even "wow, they are ripping of TG UK" ect...

anyways, i think Rut is the best one again. he fits this so well and he is very natural but im getting sick of adam. i hate to say it, but, after 5 epp's im still not warming up to him. at first i didnt like Tanner but im starting to see his role show and i think him and Rut will mesh very well but Adam, well, i just dont see him in it, it just dont fit.

another thing, i think that what makes this show work are 4 main ingredients:

1) Car reviews
2) challenges
3)BSSM/SIARPC
4)the news

any combination of atleast 3 of those in the correct format and written (cuz its scripted for all you noobs who dont understand that) well will work but there is one thing that MUST be in every eppisode with the exception of a huge 1 hour long challenge like an Africa special or something along those lines and that item is THE STIG. this show must find a way. i like that the news was included and im very glad they are trying but the news tonight was kinda lame and short. i will say that the studio segments are getting better but i dont like the show intro and i hope its just a season 1 thing and i dont like the outro of the show. "on that bombshell" or "on that crushing note" are fun parts of TG and i think that the US guys need to find thier tag lines to end the show each week.

but, these are just some points i would like to see worked on. as i said before, i had fun again and im glad its still getting better. its a real chllenge to fit this into a 45 min show. those missing 15 minutes are very important and i just wish that they could find a way to fit them in.

on my last note (for now). remember all those people who were comming on here and promicing to never watch again because they didnt like the pilot or even eppisode 2? well, i think after crunching some numbers and conferring with the folks at the Final Gear Tech Center i may have proof that they are fulfilling thier word! if we take a look at the post show thread numbers for the last 5 weeks we will see that the user replys in each thread as dropped since episode 1, here are the numbers as of the time i wrote this:

S01E01: 481
S01E02: 223
S01E03: 151
S01E04: 103

is this a good trend? hard to say. i would hate to think that they are losing viewers because of a bad pilot. anyways...

 

[rccardude04]

I didn't think this one was as good as last week's Raptor bit, but it was still rather impressive.

Tanner even smiled.

AND laughed!

-Eric

 

[Mike Nassour]

Overall, this is the first episode where they hosts actually seemed to be enjoying themselves, rather than reading from a script. Congrats on that!

But even more important, they are doing things that appeal to an American audience. So what if the Brits have done exactly the same tricks several years back? The TGUSA crew put their own spin on the same party tricks. On top of that, they managed to tie it to the American bailout of GM, one which (fortunately) seems to be much more useful than the millions of Pounds poured into British Leyland .

The hosts are finally finding their voice. The show is finding its soul. This one was a hard-earned seven, and that's to be taken as a compliment.

 

[zackwatt]

For me, the show seems to take a huge step up with every new episode. If they keep it up, this show will be just as awesome as TGUK in a few seasons.

 

[slkrug]

I know some people hate Tanner, but I've got to be honest, Tanner was a cool guy throughout the entire challenge and kind of reminds me of hammond. I'd give this show an honest 8/10. This episode is probably matched with some of the lower quality TGUK shows, which is right where it should be.

 

[coloradoSTi]

Funny insults as the cars roll in...
Actual music from Vacation...
Watching a neck win a drag race in a station wagon...

its getting better.

a 7.
(That gives me room to go up to a 9 later. There will only be two 10's ever - Vietnam and 15x05 (Veyron Supersport and Aryton Senna video))

 

[TheNormsk]

I want a Roadmaster!

One of the twists with this challenge versus the UK BL cars challenge was that the BL cars were notoriously badly mad and so having the car just not break down and fall apart was part of the challenge which they mostly failed in spectacular ways. The US version didn't seem to have the same sense of drama. For example the cobbles test didn't include points for bits falling off the car..... Also I noticed that they didn't try to fill the cars up yo the roof with water. Perhaps they just could not, because they leaked too bad? LOL.

Anyway, I might sound like I'm complaining but I enjoyed the show. I gave it an 8. Now I want that new Roadmaster (in that Cutlass's green). I love wagons...

 

[Gyvon]

Holy crap, that wagon concept they showed at the end was absolutely gorgeous.

GM, please make this car.

 

[DubyaStep]

Holy crap, that wagon concept they showed at the end was absolutely gorgeous.

GM, please make this car.

YES! i forgot to mention that. GM wont make the car because it would be a nice car and they stopped doing that years ago!

 

[Dezert_al]

Not bad for being a case of deja vu

 

[Thedanielrecord]

had I not seen this exact same segment done on the the original TG, I would have thought better of this episode. That being said, it still was pretty good.

 

[JipJopJones]

I really enjoyed this episode. Gave it an 8.

Rut was great. I love his idea about the Roadmaster revival. Roadmaster/Caprice/Impalla SS/El Camino... sounds good to me

Tanner actually had some personalitity this episode and I'm starting to warm up to him.

It's good. I'm liking it.