[09x01] January 28th, 2007

What is the internet for if not spouting one's own opinion. Point well taken, but I like people's long opinion posts - occassionally I even read them.

Frankly I had very high expectations - and I think generally it was great - EXCEPT
1. The camera work in XKR segment was a little too epileptic
2. Not their fault, but not even our beloved TG presenters can fully overcome the dullness of road works
3. There was definitely a tense, rushed mood
 
WAY to short. Just because Hamster nearly lost his head, they let us wait for half a year, then just give us an hour. :lol:

But I laughed the whole ep. Though Jamie Oliver would be daft, but he was kind of fun.

I love the XKR, the thing with the road works was great, the entrance was.. interesting.

The XKR is impressive, that's for sure.
 
Frankly I had very high expectations - and I think generally it was great - EXCEPT
1. The camera work in XKR segment was a little too epileptic
2. Not their fault, but not even our beloved TG presenters can fully overcome the dullness of road works
3. There was definitely a tense, rushed mood

I agree 100%

The camerawork once reserved for films have made their way over to reviews, just seems out of place.

The whole ep definitely seemed rushed, almost like they didn't have enough time to show everything so the films got edited down. Hopefully the BBC is honest when they say "next week is back to business."
 
Last edited:
Oh my god, what a shitty episode.

Already after reading the preview I was concerned about the coming ep. The roadwork "How hard can it be" had scrpited all over it before the episode aired and the jag vs. AM was going to be "Yaaaaay british rule, omg this Jag is da bomb".

And so it was.

I'm sorry but the roadwork segment was just utter rubbish, nothing more, nothing less. I mean come on, the "accidentally" shut down a whole quarry. Yeah....right. It was almost as bad as the sad caravanning trip in last season. Clarkson wasn't one bit funy with the megaphone and May was up to his usual captain slow thingies.

The XKR vs. AM V8 was also really poor. "Oh this new Jag is too slow and not new enough, the new Aston is waaaaay better 'cuz it's an Aston, you can't beat that even with a naked Cameron Diaz in your bedroom. No wait, this Jag is aaaaawsomeeee". So boring and predictable, didn't enjoy that one bit.

Jamie Oliver on the other hand was funny as hell. Yes, he IS a clot and a bit of a wanker, but his child like enthusiasm to beat Ramsay was so much fun to watch. And the reaction after Clarkson said "Four"....."Chamonnn' AH!" Laughed my ass off.

But. And it's a big, round, full bodied but (J.Clarkson). When the time came for the Hammond crash special, all is forgiven. First of all I was so glad they did not make such a big fuzz about it as I was afraid of. Really calm, intimate, even humorous. I think that was actually Jezza's only way to avoid being unmanly, to tell jokes and ripping on Hammond. It was short enough, but it had everything. And am I the only one who thinks that Hammond looked liked crap, I mean reeeeeally bad. Understandable to say the least, but still.

However the best thing. By far the best thing of all was finally see something genuine on Top Gear. It actually brought a smile to my face when I saw Jeremy almost crying at the end and I am the most cold hearted son of a bitch there is. I haven't seen anything like that on Top Gear since season 7 when the guys took supercars to that bridge in France and Jeremy started his speech about supercars and why they are bought with hearts not mind. "All I know is, I love this big Ford, more than I love the others. And who can explain love?" That was one great big gem of Clarkson.
This weeks episode showed finally, that maybe, just maybe Top Gear could return to what they were before season 8. Real passion, real feelings and genuine love of motoring and cars. That's what I want to see. Not all of them cocking about with a stupid caravan or trying to fix a road.
 
Great episode.

I'm just glad that TopGear is back. I've been deprived of it too long. Been watching the old episodes for too long I think i have the lines memorized.

Anyone think that the high crosswinds (49:14 Hammond showed w/ his flying cup) is what caused the crash? The high crosswinds made the car pull to the right (51:43 Hammond shouts this going 220 mph), which he had to correct by steering to the left. Now after his 2 runs at over 220 mph, his constantly steering left must have put a lot of stress on the right tire which might have worn it down and made it blow. This thought occurred to me right when he said that there was heavy crosswinds. This seems like a possible explanation.
 
^^do you watch fifth gear (Brother Michael). that is basicaly fifth gear and that's what i like about TG, it's not full of road tests of volvos and saabs, telling you that the carpet is 1cm too tall and the doors smell of cows ears...

i love the cocking about. it keeps it unboring
 
^^do you watch fifth gear (Brother Michael). that is basicaly fifth gear and that's what i like about TG, it's not full of road tests of volvos and saabs, telling you that the carpet is 1cm too tall and the doors smell of cows ears...

i love the cocking about. it keeps it unboring

Yes, I have wathced Fifth Gear, but that's not what I mean. Fifth Gear is boring, well Tom Ford is excellent, but otherwise it is just boring, because you cannot see the 5-year old's glance in the eyes of Vicki Butler-Henderson or Tiff Needell. I have nothing against cocking about, but that shouldn't be the point. For example caravan conkers was just hilarious. That's brilliant, but for me Top Gear is just boyish love of cars full stop. Fifth Gear is like every other motoring magazine, but transferred to the telly. They just plainly tell the facts and what car is the cheapest to run etc. I can read that from the magazine and make my own conclusions.

I don't want that from a TV-show.. Top Gear has that X-factor and the episode I was referring to, the Milau bridge, it is simply the best episode of all. The Focus ST-bit is a great example. I don't like the car on bit, I think it had a bit too much fancy cinematographic styling, BUT Clarkson's endless ranting about how great the car is for modern England and how superb it is to drive make it a fabulous review. Now that, my friend is what I call real passion. The ability to make a rather poor review (to my mind at least) into a good one just by being a 7-year old all over again.
 
Last edited:
i see what you mean now :) i agree
 
I have nothing against cocking about, but that shouldn't be the point. For example caravan conkers was just hilarious. That's brilliant, but for me Top Gear is just boyish love of cars full stop. Fifth Gear is like every other motoring magazine, but transferred to the telly. They just plainly tell the facts and what car is the cheapest to run etc. I can read that from the magazine and make my own conclusions.

I don't want that from a TV-show.. Top Gear has that X-factor and the episode I was referring to, the Milau bridge, it is simply the best episode of all. The Focus ST-bit is a great example. I don't like the car on bit, I think it had a bit too much fancy cinematographic styling, BUT Clarkson's endless ranting about how great the car is for modern England and how superb it is to drive make it a fabulous review. Now that, my friend is what I call real passion. The ability to make a rather poor review (to my mind at least) into a good one just by being a 7-year old all over again.

Thats pretty much what Im thinking. Take presenters, give them a challenge involving interesting cars (whether thats the races, the Cheap car challenges or the roadtrip to france) that they can get their teeth into and let them get on with it.

Take the Isle of Man Coupe test. 3 blokes in the pissing rain on a mountainside. James even falling over. Very funny, but it was a small section of the overall test. Or the whole car park in Paris thing. Again a small percentage of the roadtrip. When the cocking about becomes the section (like the Roadworks/Caravan Trip or Radio show were) its not engaging to me. They tend to be more obviously scripted and the humour doesnt seem improvised. You really think James' throwing the megaphone was spontaneous. Whereas JC's retaliation with the chips was which made it funny. The humour needs to predominately come from the cars not from themselves.

Anyway, in a "Did anyone spot"

James Porsche and Hammonds Land Rover were visable in the Roadworks section. :D
 
[rant]

I find it ironic that Clarkson constantly takes jabs at Big Brother and how they're only concerned with ratings while the exact same thing is happening to Top Gear. Top Gear used to cater to a specific audience... petrol-heads. Now, it's almost as if the show is aimed at people who are just looking for a cheap laugh. Screw those people; Top Gear should go back to it's roots and forget about "labradoodles", caravan holidays, and all those other scripted segments that have no relevance whatsoever.

[/rant]
 
If not, then at least do more car reviews. Thats my only complaint. It is still a car show after all, so why not do cars, and caravan holidays? It seems like most of the time is taken up by irrelevant but funny challenges.
 
If not, then at least do more car reviews. Thats my only complaint. It is still a car show after all, so why not do cars, and caravan holidays? It seems like most of the time is taken up by irrelevant but funny challenges.
its been mentioned before i would bet, but there arent really that many new interesting cars to test.
 
I don't understand why they don't make more fun pieces with car (review)s within them. For example the audi rs4 vs the climbing guys, sniping a mercedes, driving the land rover up the hill and stuff like that.
I mean in the whole road works movie there isn't a single thing said about a single car. I'm not saying I don't like top gear anymore, it just could be a lot better in my opinion.
 
Really dont get most of u guys! I know some of the challanges are a bit scripted but they are really fun to watch. Top Gear from the beginning was not suppose to be an ordinary TV-motoring show. Its Clarkson genious that made it this big. His hilarious car reviews and the general view on life ;) I do think there should be more car reviews but its definatelly not a dawn fall of TG. Its high peak is right now and I think that it will get even bigger. For me the acomplishment is that I study in the US and none of my friends have heard of this show before and now most of them (not car maniacs) cant get enough of TG. The whole floor was waiting for the new series ;)
 
I don't understand why they don't make more fun pieces with car (review)s within them. For example the audi rs4 vs the climbing guys, sniping a mercedes, driving the land rover up the hill and stuff like that.
I mean in the whole road works movie there isn't a single thing said about a single car. I'm not saying I don't like top gear anymore, it just could be a lot better in my opinion.

Personally I like more of the crazy stunt segments than just plain car reviews. I'm not going to ever own an Aston Martin, so the specifics about it aren't really that important to me. I still like the reviews, but i don't think it should be the main focus of the show. I do agree that it would make more sense if the crazy segments involved cars.

Overall I loved the episode, and I'm glad to have Top Gear back. It's still way better than Fifth Gear, particularly this last series of Fifth Gear.
 
Wonderful episode. I loved the camera work of the Jag chasing the Aston..Just beautiful cars!

After the crappy 10th season of fifth gear no top gear for 6 months, I'm just excited that the show is back on!:mrgreen:
 
Hello people, Im a new member here, from the good ol' usa, and I have been a big fan of Top Gear for a while now, Ive always been lurking these forums as a guest reading what people said about the episodes and I figured its about time for me to chime in.

Ill start out with some background info about me first though, Im 15, and live in NJ, and am forced to download top gear like all us Americans :( I have seen just about every Top gear episode, all 8 seasons, and most of Clarkson's other shows (Speed, meet the neighbors, inventions that changed the world) I have to say Im not a car fanatic, I dont really know much about them other than what Top Gear has taught me but i still love the show

Now then, onto expressing my generally worthless opinions......upon browsing these forums for nearly a year, I have to say, all these arguments you people always talk about, I just cant see how you get so mad. You keep saying how the show is so scripted, I may just be horribly ignorant, but if they are scripting the show, its truly great acting (compared to the first few seasons of top gear, which i watched recently, and those i could tell were horribly scripted.....strange how most of you want to go back to those so called old episodes, which to me, generally were just boring because they were filled with car reviews, but hey, maybe thats becuase im young, or dont care about reviews of cars ill probably never get to own because of how damn expensive they are). Also, I keep hearing about how the show is getting too "cocky", well in my opinion, I see it not too different than older seasons, and I think the last season was the best out of all (again maybe because im young or something else)

And after reading some of your reviews, it angers me even, how you criticize the show so much, saying how boring every little part is, and how scripted it is, and how wrong it is, and so on and so forth. But honestly, its just a TV show, its meant to entertain you, please, for the love of god why cant people just sit down and enjoy a damned good show, the best Ive ever seen, instead of saying how "shitty" it is as one person said

Thats all i gotta say, make fun of me all you want, or tell me how bad the show is or how wrong i am, but Ill still enjoy it because its still a show with three "blokes" (I gotta get adjusted to this British lingo) talking about cars and whatnot
 
We forgive you mike, you're only 15. The term "critical thinking" does not apply to you...yet.

Why are you angry at critics of the show? You should thank them. You know why? Because with constructive criticism comes improvement. If everyone sat on their ass and accepted the status quo then we wouldn't be where we are today.

And besides, haven't you learned in school that you must look at everything from all points of view? Sure you can love one thing, but you must also approach critical views of that thing with an open mind. Skeptics are not "bad" people they are merely expressing their own opinion and many times they will be able to improve that thing whereas if you only had "fanboys" ferociously licking Top Gear's nuts...well that doesn't get you very far.

Oh and if everyone simply accepted the show for what it is, then there is no point to this forum. Every post would be like "great show dude" "yeah man awesome" "sweet" "cool" etc. etc.

By engaging in intelligent discussion of various opinions on the show, we stand to not only learn from each other but also approach the show from a more enlightened attitude instead of the fanboy attitude.
 
Last edited:
We forgive you mike, you're only 15. The term "critical thinking" does not apply to you...yet.

Why are you angry at critics of the show? You should thank them. You know why? Because with constructive criticism comes improvement. If everyone sat on their ass and accepted the status quo then we wouldn't be where we are today.

And besides, haven't you learned in school that you must look at everything from all points of view? Sure you can love one thing, but you must also approach critical views of that thing with an open mind. Skeptics are not "bad" people they are merely expressing their own opinion and many times they will be able to improve that thing whereas if you only had "fanboys" ferociously licking Top Gear's nuts...well that kinda sucks.

Oh and if everyone simply accepted the show for what it is, then there is no point to this forum. Every post would be like "great show dude" "yeah man awesome" "sweet" "cool" etc. etc.

By engaging in intelligent discussion of various opinions on the show, we stand to not only learn from each other but also approach the show from a more enlightened attitude instead of the fanboy attitude.

Ok, I guess I agree with you there, your right we need to criticize it, but some people just get way to crazy over the show, going as far as trying to enforce their opinion on people that the show is bad, and you cant achieve improvement from that :(
Well whatever, ill stop the off topic-ness in this thread and get along with whatever i have to do.....
 
Top