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[02x04] August 14th, 2011

[02x04] August 14th, 2011

  • Total voters
    98
Loved it. I laughed several times, especially watching Rutledge's trailer bounce around on the rocks and eventually wipe out spectacularly. Both the Jeep and the Chevy did well, the Ford probably would have too were it not for Adam's crappy driving...but it made for some funny scenes so that's ok.

The editing and transitions were better in the episode as well, much quicker and back to the action. I only wish the show was longer to give time for a review or news or something.

Still, I was well entertained, which the whole point of any TG series.
 
Have to agree with other posters is that they are starting to really hit their marks. Still wonder why Tanner is being a dick on each episode. Definitely wasn't that way last season. Starting to actually like Rut more than him as a result :rolleyes: Have driven all of those off road but never with a trailer especially a popup camper with tiny wheels. What was he thinking when he picked it? I noticed when they "struggled" over the top and onto smooth road you could see all the camera crew vehicles parked on top of the ridge behind them. Looked suspiciously like a white Ford Expedition. The only unexpected thing was just how long that tire took to blow after the fix. Has anyone ever cooked something on an engine that doesn't end up tasting like engine oil? When I was a kid my dad did some fish with a lot of veg etc added and it still had a tang of 10-30 to it. Do think the beans were poetic justice.

As far as the entertainment verses information well TG (all exports included) are entertainment. There are shows that show you how to chop weld and bolt stuff together. Lots of rather goods ones follow that more serious car test or mod style and as a result don't get the audiences TG does. "The car show" is just pain inducing to watch. Both Adams were stand up comics but only one of them was really funny on stage hint he drove a red bronco recently. Think Jezzer himself stated this best when he has incredulously said to various guests "You bought a car on what we said?" Actually we should get someone to setup a simple pole on why they watch TG entertainment or information.

I wonder if someone on staff studied TGUK and realized that season2 and 3 are when the UK guys really jelled together as a team and when they started doing the challenges that gave them the first spike in ratings.
 
I guess they're only doing shows about trucks now? Season 1 ended on a high note and it has gone downhill since then
 
really enjoyed this episode.. best one for season 2 so far
 
They shouldn't even call this show Top Gear. It feels more like some cheap reality TV garbage. The cinematography is non-existent. It's pure reality TV video quality. Shoot in 24p, get some depth of field, and use some color correction to get a more epic feel History Channel! Have they even watched the real Top Gear to see how this is supposed to be done?! And the stock music on all these episodes are just complete garbage. The music sounds like reality TV junk where in the real Top Gear you get amazing pieces of music from actual composers and artists. So all the artistic factors that we see in the real Top Gear are completely absent here - cinematography, editing, music, everything.

On top of that the hosts are just boring. All 3 of them are just completely wrong in my opinion. Rutledge is just annoying and talks at the speed of a special olympic hurdler. Just everything about this show is wrong. It's still hard to even watch these without just shredding every single aspect of this show completely apart. Was hoping for some improvement but I'm sure it's not going to come now. They've got their reality TV formula and they're sticking with it. Too bad.
 
I really liked it. Definitely the best episode so far this season. I'd been looking forward to this one since I went to the filming back in July. It was as good if not better than the Alaska episode last season. I look forward to where they are taking TGUS.
 
The show is definitely better. I wouldn't say up to Top Gear UK quality. But it is watchable and helps with my car show fix now that another series of TGUK is over. It was fun seeing them beat the hell out of those trucks especially Adam's rear end and Tanner's canned fruit ruin his wiring.

Like one other person said, it seems like its almost all trucks being featured, this is the third episode in a row now, I think. What about the sports cars? They had a Vette and the 458 and that's been it so far hasn't it? I know they have to cater to Americans, but there are still plenty of Americans that prefer cars. While they're all a few years in to production now, a Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger shootout would be perfect for American viewers.
 
I think the producers are still feeling out the sponsors on what they can get away with. I think they maybe afraid to do a straight up honest comparo. For you truck haters next week is featuring used exotics.
 
What bothers me about these reality-TV style "challenges" is that it doesn't seem to maintain, I guess, an internal continuity. Things happen with no explanation, and they don't seem to affect anything later on.

Case in point, this episode kind of lost me with the Bronco's axle breaking and subsequent repair.
1) Assuming the show is aimed at a popular audience with an interest in cars, can we get one of those transparent 3D graphics that shows the structure of the axle and suspension, the force on the wheel, and what exactly broke?

2) Did Adam fix the wheel himself? If so, how did he think to pack a welding torch but not a cooking stove on his trip? If the repair was done by the production team, why isn't that acknowledged? Is the external brace the best solution they could come up with, or just something they did for the sake of TV?
There's obviously a ton of production going on behind the scenes, so it's not like the three hosts are out there in the desert all alone shooting video on handheld and in-car cameras. In a situation where the host receives outisde help, it makes sense to acknowledge it.

3) If Adam stayed up all night to fix the wheel and drive up to the other two, why isn't he tired and yawning?
4) For that matter, if it wasn't the poop-shaped meat, what did they end up eating for dinner? :)


These may all seem like petty nitpicks, but it takes away from the authenticity of what's supposed to be a "real" adventure. In scripted / "fictional" programming, no one notices that Jack Bauer never eats a sandwich or goes to the bathroom. We know it's scripted and we suspend our disbelief. In "reality" TV, these otherwise acceptable breaks from reality are jarring.


And for that matter, can we have less bickering and more scorekeeping for these "challenges"? Listening to how the Rutledge's Chevy didn't make it up the hill without coaxing from Adam and Tanner got annoying real quick. The Chevy made it up, with Rutledge (supposedly) driving it, and with the trailer intact. End of story. It would have been nice for the hosts to actually agree on and crown the winner of the challenge, or for a third party to actually make the decision for them. As it stood, it just felt a little.. unfinished.
 
wasapamati said:
I have no understanding of the fact TG USA is on a commercial cable network with much more limited resources than the BBC where they can use whatever music they want and a larger budget.
Click to expand...

:p There. Fixed.

Odeen said:
1) Assuming the show is aimed at a popular audience with an interest in cars, can we get one of those transparent 3D graphics that shows the structure of the axle and suspension, the force on the wheel, and what exactly broke?
Click to expand...

Most people who watch would not give two shits about that, IMO. They don't even do that on the UK version during specials when one of them breaks down or something goes wrong; they just say what happened/what broke and get on with fixing it or trying to fix it.
 
yay.. another... truck.. episode.. where they hit eachother and stage accidents... very origingal... I wish i could be a groupie like half this forum and find a way to stomach this show but i just cant make it through a full episode.
 
From my deathbed, I watched episode 4 (Stupid flu!). I rate it a 6, only because I am growing a bit tired of cheap car challenges. It would have been nice to see a review of some car (any car really). I would have even taken SIARPC, and I HATE that segment!

Everything about the show was pretty damn good overall, but I agree with Odeen that some of Adam's repair job should have been shown; this is done on TGUK and does add an element of completion if you will. Doesn't matter whether Adam gets help or not, just stress that it needs to be repaired in a certain amount of time, or he has to switch to a Suzuki Samurai back up car. In Neon Pink. With no roof. And a stereo that continually blares Aqua's "Barbie Girl", even with the key in the off position.

And yes, I agree with whoever posted it that the area where Adam broke his Bronco does look like where James May drove the Evoque. And those sand dunes. Hmm. Perhaps they shot them at the same time to save some production money?

It doesn't bother me that they've had a lot of truck challenges. The US is a huge truck market, whereas the UK is not, so it makes sense that trucks appear here often.

So, how about a tractor challenge? John Deere, Ford, Case IH; let's see how much of a mess they boys can make.
 
I nearly died laughing when Rut (Tanner) trashed his camper!
 
I'm feeling generous -- that's an 8.

It started out feeling very much like the TGUK Bolivia Special, only without the water. All the choices were obvious: classic Jeep, classic Bronco, classic Blazer. And of *course* they're going to recall OJ (though I was a bit surprised when Adam started calling the Bronco "girl").

The trailers -- that felt like it came straight outta TGAUS, only the Yanks did it better.

Actually, what we wound up with here are a bunch of TGUK segments from various challenges, all done with the same car per presenter in one mega-challenge. I think they earn points for chutzpah that way.

I think what bothers me most about this ep is that the boys didn't really bond with the cars the way the UK boys do -- I mean, Hamster woulda been in tears if he'd been running the Bronco.

But like I said, I'm feeling generous tonight.
 
Of course the Brits would have done it better, they have personality, and can go off script. But then again, they hired journalists for their program, and you know not, a stunt driver, a comedian, and a NASCAR guy.
 
9/10

9/10

I haven't laughed this hard at top gear since Clarkson built that 3 story camper van on his Citroen!
 
I really enjoyed the episode, but one thing I notice about these challenges is that when something breaks, we get no explination of how it gets fixed. I really enjoyed seeing tanner working on the car, but I have some serious doubts that adam even touched it.

I'm enjoying them, but they still feel a bit unatural and scripted, in a negative way, unlike the UK show.
 
I thought it was very funny, I wish they had other sections but they have very little time and I think they are making the best with what they have. This is what a lot of us asked for, that TGUSA will be a different show from the original and I think they are making it, plus I got Adam Ferrara to be my Twitter friend :)
 
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