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[02x01] July 24, 2011

[02x01] July 24, 2011

  • Total voters
    168
I don't mind the labels too much. One thing they didn't do very well during the first season was give a rationale regarding why these three guys were hosting, and the labels at least help the audience by giving them a bit of a framework to go by. New Top Gear didn't have that problem due to the fact that all three presenters did car shows before, so the labels are at least a decent attempt at a shortcut in getting that familiarity over to the audience.

There are two things that could make this a disaster, though: locking them into those roles, and TGAUS copying them directly. The two shows already have the same cast, and Shane's on his way to becoming an Adam-level wrecker (witness what Shane did to his caravan). We'll have to wait and see.
 
I liked it a lot, definitely better than the 1st season.

btw, The Spie can fuck off and die painfully, or just sodomize himself with a retractable baton.
 
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California Cars?

California Cars?

I'm convinced the worst part of 2X01 was that all three cars had California registration! My gosh, don't these yahoos know that if you want a car that runs in Texas, then buy in Texas?

It took me precisely three minutes to come up with three local cars that are not only more appropriate, but more entertaining as well!

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/2465231851.html

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/2514560510.html

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/2502969400.html


And no, I have no financial interest in any of the three cars above!

:lol:


Oh and one more thing, and I'm dead serious here.

There are many people where I love who would consider that opening slide more than offensive.

You do not....under any circumstances...stand on the American flag.

Yea, lots of folks outside of the U.S. don't understand why we are the way we are about the flag...and that's fine. But whomever came up with this graphic has no concept about how NASCAR country feels about the Stars and Stripes.
 
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admerwill said:
I think that top gear US is still lacking something in the hosts its not that any of the hosts themselves are bad.. but none of them are the obvious leader that Clarkson is.
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Why does there have to be an obvious leader? Why can't this version have an equal triumverate? (Sometimes I think Jeremy exerts his "powwwweeeeeeerrrrrr!" too much, and I wish James and Richard would stand up to him more often.)

It reminded me somewhat of season 12 episode 2 of UK . American Muscle cars.. where they only went with one Muscle car.. the Challenger, ignoring the mustang and the cameo, to round out the big 3. It was alright, it just didn't quite workout.
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Fixed. :)
 
Apart from the studio cuts throughout all the episode (they seemed unnecessary and certainly didn't help), the campfire stuff (boooring!), bits that should've been smoother and small details here and there, pretty entertaining. I'll give it a 7/10
 
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Mike Nassour said:
You do not....under any circumstances...stand on the American flag.

Yea, lots of folks outside of the U.S. don't understand why we are the way we are about the flag...and that's fine. But whomever came up with this graphic has no concept about how NASCAR country feels about the Stars and Stripes.
Click to expand...

Oh please, you are just trolling.
 
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This episode needed a lot polishing. They are trying too hard to be funny to the point of silliness. It was like watching the Three Stooges do a Jackass episode whole having a hangover. If they are going to do a challenge episode, then make a real effort to win. These episodes always looks forced and unnatural
 
I enjoyed the episode, and the different intro didn't bother me at all because it's them saying they aren't trying to be TGUK, no reason to copy everything they do.

Yeah, the studio bits were kind of cut-and-paste in, but overall I had fun watching the episode and hope it continues to improve.
 
Mike Nassour said:
I'm convinced the worst part of 2X01 was that all three cars had California registration! My gosh, don't these yahoos know that if you want a car that runs in Texas, then buy in Texas?

It took me precisely three minutes to come up with three local cars that are not only more appropriate, but more entertaining as well!

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/2465231851.html

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/2514560510.html

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/2502969400.html


And no, I have no financial interest in any of the three cars above!

:lol:


Oh and one more thing, and I'm dead serious here.

There are many people where I love who would consider that opening slide more than offensive.

You do not....under any circumstances...stand on the American flag.

Yea, lots of folks outside of the U.S. don't understand why we are the way we are about the flag...and that's fine. But whomever came up with this graphic has no concept about how NASCAR country feels about the Stars and Stripes.
Click to expand...

Probably because whoever designed the graphics knows they are graphics and probably aren't married to their sister. As a designer I personally thought they way the did it was very cool, the graphics in general for teh intro were very cool.

I enjoyed this episode and it got some good laughs from me. The editing needs some work so the cuts aren't so abrupt and we don't need a recap of what just happened 3 minutes ago, so it should just go right back into the action after the commercials.

I think a scoreboard would have been a nice finisher.

I was pleased that this episode didn't feel rushed, though it could have been cut down a but to fit in the news or quick review in, or add another mini challenge, because it did get a bit too slow, especially the campfire.

My final nitpick is they didn't address fuel economy at all...should have been a challenge added in there.

Overall though I think its off to a good start. The hosts have much better chemistry and its only the first episode of Season2. I've got high hopes.
 
Doctor Blade said:
Major step backwards for me. My wife hated the short opening, and I found the episode full of recycled jokes.

I did like the Maverick, but that's just me.
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Agreed.

Not really engaging for me. Tanner was just being childish while at least the other two were trying to have a crack at the challanges. Tanner actually starting getting on my nerves a bit which is a first. Rutledge was his usual endearing self and gave me plenty of smiles, but overall the episode felt disjointed, slapped together and quite mundane. Nothing new, no really great moments and was quite predictable. I loved most episodes last season but this was a real let down for a season opener.

6/10
 
"I hate manure"
They don't get golden envelopes, but a scrunched up A4.
Studio parts still awkward.
Adam seemed less annoying.

"I'm gonna start off with some just gentle tugs..."
 
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phoenixsac said:
7/10


Tanner - I know I'm going to be in the minority here, but I think he was being a dick in this episode. With him tear-assing about in the BMW and making the cattle run, apparently he never watched the movie Risky Business: "Never fuck with another man's livelihood." And the times he kept ramming Routledge's car were not that funny, either. And in the final Monster Truck race, at one point it looked like he was going to deliberately ram Rut's Miata. If he had, I was going to fire off a letter to the History Channel and I don't care if they read it. :p
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Nope you are not alone there.....my thoughts exactly.
 
Finally got it downloaded and watched it and while there were no "on the floor" elements I really enjoyed it.

I don't believe there needs to be a "leader" and I think all of them bring something. And since Adam is clearly the funniest and mischievous of the bunch I'm not sure why he is copping so much flak.

Looking forward to the next one.
 
MWF said:
And since Adam is clearly the funniest and mischievous of the bunch I'm not sure why he is copping so much flak.
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It's mostly fallout from Season 1 when Adam was just generally annoying. He is much better this season, however.
 
Watching all of TGUS I think I have found what I don't like about it. Yes this will be a vs TGUK.
TGUK have established their characters.
Jeremy being the old fun uncle you want to have. Adam is the closest to this.
Richard is the small cute hamster everyone wants to pet. Tanner maybe?
James is the classic car/plane/ historian. I don't know yet.
In this season they have changed up the lineup and I feel annoyed for the audience. "Hey lets get tickets to TGUS! Woohoo lets go!" Now they stand in the group hoping to see more than 10 seconds of studio time. That would irritate me to the point of wanting a refund, I paid money to see great interaction with the host and the audience.
Another point that I notice in this episode is that their dialogue is so vulgar, how many times do they have to bleep them out? And it is not even in the immature sense, they don't poke fun enough of each other, I am think this because they haven't had enough time to establish a relationship. Hopefully they find something that clicks soon enough. Last bit I notice is that their vocabulary slacks a lot. Ok I'm done complaining. On a lighter note it is nice to see road trips across America, I can relate a little bit more to TGUS than the UK.
 
jasonof2000 said:
Oh please, you are just trolling.
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No, it's true, talk to somebody in the military, there are a whole hosts of things you are not supposed to do with an American flag. They aren't supposed to touch the ground, they aren't supposed to stay out overnight (at least not without a spotlight), they are supposed to be disposed of properly, et al. They aren't supposed to be used in a product.

To bring this back to cars, the crossed flags on the Corvette when it was introduced at Motorama in 1953 originally had a checkered flag and an American flag crossed. Since you aren't allowed to use the American flag in a product, the government made them change it so they made up the flag with the Fleur de Lis in honor of Louis Chevrolet. (I think the "made in usa" union stickers are an exception)

1stemblem.gif


Corvette_Logo_C1_GM0228SA.jpg


EDIT: found this

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagcode.htm

Section 8b:
The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

8d:
The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
 
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I also don't like the delivery of the challenges -- or non-delivery.

I get the labcoat-guy thing is British and comes from other UK shows and they needn't do that, but there needs to be some schtick. How about make the Stig deliver the challenges, try to incorporate him. I always loved when TG UK did that a few years ago, such as including him in the race across London or when they have him delivered somewhere as cargo. They are missing out on a lot of comedy.
 
This whole debate reminds of Bill Hicks on the issue of burning the flag etc.

"Hey, buddy, my granddaddy died in Korea for that flag!"

"That's a coincidence, mine was made in Korea!"
 
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