[01x07] January 2nd, 2011

[01x07] January 2nd, 2011


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Viper007Bond

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Please stay on-topic. :)
 
I really liked the car selling challenge, especially since its finally something the UK guys havent already done. I want to know why the Stig didnt take the CRZ around the track though :/
 
Please tell me I wasn't the only one who knew the results of the San Francisco race the instant that Adam said, "How hard can it be?"
 
It was good, they made two massive mistakes though.

First, hey test drove a Honda, and second, they failed to put Stig in it.
 
Loved this episode. Rutledge is getting more comfortable in front of the camera, and there was definite chemistry between him and Adam during the CR-Z race. The detour into Castro had my family laughing.

Tim Allen was a great guest.

The Used Care Salesman challenge was fun to watch, and the auction at the end was a great way to end the episode.

finally something the UK guys havent already done.

It could be argued that they did do it because there was 1 or 2 challenges where they had to sell the car, but that was at the end of a road trip, so that'd be splitting hairs.
 
Yea I thought the episode tonight was good, had some genuine lol moments. Really wish they would of put the CRZ around the track. You can really see Rutledges Honda Fan Boyism coming out in that review.
 
I'm a bit surprised by Tim Allen's lap time, I was expecting a bit better considering he used to race Saleen Mustangs.

That poor woman sure had a bad day, being offered as trade for an old Lexus with a lousy paint job and then being overlooked for a members only jacket. :(
 
There was one big thing bothering me, and I've seen it in a few of the "challenges". In the CR-Z race, they seemed to forget that the race was even happening! When they stopped to explain something, like the engine shutting off, it just seemed to me to kill the mood of the race.

"There's a race going on, but..... Look! The engine shuts off in neutral, and there is a hill assist!"
 
8/10

i had fun with the used car thing, just seemed a tiny bit canned but still good. season 2 will be fun if they let these guys loose as they said they will. as far as the bike vs car, well, i liked it but its only a matter of time till the noobs come in here and rip it apart because of the UK race with james in france (i think)

overall, the epp was fun. oh, and yes, the members only jacket is just as cool as a shitty lexus (arent they all?) with a bad paint job being pushed by a fat guy.

the real question for this eppisode is did Tim Allen feel like he was back on the set of Home Improvment with a fat bearded guy wearing flannel? i also expected the lap to go better but i loved the joke he made about the Stag i mean Slug i mean Stig. im kinda wondering if this car guy is a top gear fan. intersting to think that someone that much into cars doesnt watch. im basing this knowledge off of the fact that he seemed to not know what the Stig was called. im hoping it was just part of the joke.

one last thing, i have said for months that i think that Tim Allen should have been one of the hosts and i still stand by that today. im waiting for Chris Titus to come on the show now...
 
The CR-Z race was a bit of a disappointment. I'm getting used to them rehashing bits from the original show by now, but the CR-Z definitely got fanboy treatment and I'm glad that the other presenters at least called Rutledge out on it a little. It's just a big red lump of do not want. Why wasn't the Stig allowed to flog it around the track? That non-sporty "sport" hybrid making with the slow would've been lulz.

The used car sales bit was really quite funny, though. Auction beaters = win!

5/10. The chemistry between presenters is getting better and they at least tried to do something TGUK never did this time, but the CR-Z race/review was meh and the same ol' shakycam effect in the cars that's plagued the whole season hasn't been fixed yet. Those last two are deal-breakers. TGUK's had beateriffic challenges before and somehow manage to have relatively stable in-car footage. What's the issue here? I wanted to see the inside of that 914 in all its kooky 70s glory, man!
 
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I loved it. Rutledge is really coming into his own.
 
im rewatching and i think i have an idea for improvement, i think the music really sets the tone for the films in the UK show and what we are getting here is very generic music. i think its what makes the films kinda bland. am i wrong?
 
I liked the episode. Living in SF made it more entertaining because I knew the streets and where they were going. Also I liked the Castro part. It is really that crazy and about Rutledge stopping every block i think it shows he is a bit like James may, a guy who has different priorities when racing - such as not getting first - Finally the used car challenge was good, what I wished they have done was a table and add points like in TGUK but the final auction was a cool way to end stuff. Second best ending only to the peeing dog.

I FEEL SAD I DIDNT SPOT THEM ON THE STREET. SAME AS WHEN TG UK HAD THE MUSCLE CARS CHALLENGE....
 
Very well done on the sales challenge, and the auction at the end was just the cherry on top. The CR-Z segment was a snooze fest, maybe befitting of a snooze fest of a car.
 
8 / 10, auction at the end made the show and I laughed quite a few times watching it. Not going around the track in the CR-Z was a disappointment.
 
This show was good fun, though I agree about the CR-Z sentiment expressed here already. I kind of suspect the girl & jacket offers were plants, but who knows.
 
I thought this was Top Gear not Motorweek. The CR-Z segment was a joke. It was a race with the intent to win not an Abbott and Costello routine. It is becomming a fact that most of the UK remakes are being done to make the Americans look stupid. First Rutledge does a review of the CR-Z and then in the challenge he continues to do a review. Why was Adam even in the car? I knew something was wrong when I noticed the production values were too good to be normal.
 
The real problem with the race was that they never really made it dramatic or exampling bits and pieces while on the go. It seemed that they were going on tangents way too much with the car and not giving a shit about two mountain bikers racing through SF.

But it was balanced by the Used Car Salesman Challenge which I found a brilliant concept and liked how they did the auction at the end.
 
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