[14x02] November 22nd, 2009

[GullWing]

I thought it was a good, solid episode. Sure, parts were predictable (traffic jams in Oxford) but parts were really great.

I'm really curious about the mythology behind the Peter Bowles/mustache thing. It was funny, but sort of came out of nowhere.

Richard in the "pope box".

I could listen to James talk about his, um, chakras all day - even though he has a tendency for TMI. It's part of his charm.

Loved the cartoon penises (I counted two). I'm a big fan of low humor.

Loved the Sheffield accent thing because Jeremy is so good at it.
"If Fernando Alonso twats into our car..." :lol:

Great cinematography in the car review.

Michael Sheen was funny and put in a good time. Great.

Geoff part two was stronger than part one.

 

[ladyblue]

It was an okay episode, but really funny in parts.

The eco car was an interesting idea, but it felt in parts that it was played for shits and giggles. It was great to see them build a working car and see it driven on the roads. The fact that they would have problems with the car was expected though. Still, it was funny to watch Jeremy trying to find somewhere to somewhere the plug the car in to charge.

The bit with them being crash test dummies was hilarious. The face painting was a little childish, but I generally find that kind of thing funny. The slow motion crash and the side swipe was not really that brilliant. It was the kind of thing I felt was played for shits and giggles. That, death of Geoff (eco car 1) , the auto car review and the killing of Green Stig kind of brought the eco car challenge down for me.

The news was funny, but I felt that it should have ended differently. Jeremy should have introduced his question about which car company has made the best cars before James' revelation about tingling feelings and nice cars. Then, as the embarrassed audience member joined James on stage, Jeremy and Richard could have disappeared into the audience and do their introduction to the Audi review.

Other than that, the show was okay, but more room for improvement.

 

[moonlightallan]

Well I can honestly say I am a big TG fan. However there has been some dud episodes in recent years and I'm afraid this one ranks pretty much high on that list. First off the idea probably seemed quite good on paper and it should have been. However the actual episode was lazily put together copying parts and gags from older episodes. It simply didn't work (unless you are 10 years old) most of the gags just were really lame, drawing a cock on Jeremy's face I mean come on.. It seems everything they do these days is far too over planned and scripted. How many times have they been to MIRA now.. with the same boring joke its off the A40.. blabla.. The Audi R8 review may as well just been the previous R8 review (i.e. not very interesting and Jeremy screaming round the track without much of anything interesting to say as all it was, is another R8 with a bigger engine.. yawn). The end of this episode summed it all up.. they ran out of material so stuck the 3 of them together to fill in a few minutes.. Very disappointed!!!!!

 

[tone76]

4/10.

It's as if TG has gone from being a funny car show to a comedy with cars in it, and has then evolved into a half-arsed sketch-based variety show.

What confirmed it for me is that TG managed to take an idea from TGA, and then actually make it worse. The Geoff piece seemed so forced and unnatural. I would have preferred to seen a direct ripoff of TGA's take on electric cars (i.e. get the 3 presenters to each buy a standard road car, convert it to electric in 3 different ways and then challenge each other properly), with the usual banter, biffo and other fun stuff we've come to know and love from similar challenges in the past. Look back on the ?100 Car Challenge where Hammond was singing in the car because he didn't have a radio ('Now can you sing "If I Were A Tall Man"?' ) or the ?1,500 Porsche Challenge (Cadbury Creme Egg in the 928's radiator - genius!) to see what I mean about how much more fun those challenges were. This humour was simple, real and very funny. It's still simple, but now it's simple in a Carry On 'Ooer Missus' way. Yuk.

The R8 v Z06 piece was superb. I can never tire of Clarkson's serious car reviews, along with the sublime production values shown by the film crew, editors, directors and the other guys that chug along in the background to produce TG. However - and maybe it just because we've been spoiled with world's best production values for so long - I felt it wasn't quite good enough to lift the whole episode.

And the Twilight plug in a Reasonably Priced Shitbox bugged the crap out of me too.

Worst. Episode. Ever.

 

[The Bloody Awful]

4/10.

It's as if TG has gone from being a funny car show to a comedy with cars in it, and has then evolved into a half-arsed sketch-based variety show.

What confirmed it for me is that TG managed to take an idea from TGA, and then actually make it worse. The Geoff piece seemed so forced and unnatural. I would have preferred to seen a direct ripoff of TGA's take on electric cars (i.e. get the 3 presenters to each buy a standard road car, convert it to electric in 3 different ways and then challenge each other properly), with the usual banter, biffo and other fun stuff we've come to know and love from similar challenges in the past. Look back on the ?100 Car Challenge where Hammond was singing in the car because he didn't have a radio ('Now can you sing "If I Were A Tall Man"?' ) or the ?1,500 Porsche Challenge (Cadbury Creme Egg in the 928's radiator - genius!) to see what I mean about how much more fun those challenges were. This humour was simple, real and very funny. It's still simple, but now it's simple in a Carry On 'Ooer Missus' way. Yuk.

The R8 v Z06 piece was superb. I can never tire of Clarkson's serious car reviews, along with the sublime production values shown by the film crew, editors, directors and the other guys that chug along in the background to produce TG. However - and maybe it just because we've been spoiled with world's best production values for so long - I felt it wasn't quite good enough to lift the whole episode.

And the Twilight plug in a Reasonably Priced Shitbox bugged the crap out of me too.

Worst. Episode. Ever.

Three blokes cocking about. If the Geoff piece wasn't that then I'm a dutchman.

I'm sure you know that they have said that is what the show is about - three blokes cocking about - surely when you saw the description for this episode, that's what you expected??

Sometime I don't know why people bother watching Top Gear when they clearly don't want to see James, Jeremy and Richard mess about in the "technology centre".

And comparing this challenge to the cheap car challenges - which are entirely different - was a bit of a stupid thing to do really. Just shows how desperate you are to criticise the shows current format.

Get a fucking life.

 

[brydie76]

Haven't watched it all yet (skipped the Audi/Corvette thing and SIRPC), but I quite liked this ep- whilst it wasn't my fave ep ever, it was still very good imo. 8/10 based on what I've seen so far.

Score primarily brought down by that kid who came up on stage, that was a bit cringe-worthy. You could tell he just wanted to get his mug on the tv.

 

[tone76]

Three blokes cocking about.

Geoff wasn't about 'three blokes cocking about'. It felt like 'three Z-grade actors playing the roles of three blokes cocking about'. The authenticity of earlier TG just wasn't there. Much of Geoff was just cringeworthy.

Granted, the slow-mo crash test was mildly amusing, but it was just too hammy.

If the Geoff piece wasn't that then I'm a dutchman

Nice clogs there, mate.

 

[ozgirl]

Uneven....thy name is Top Gear.

The photography/editing and other production values completely blew away the content this time. Many, many thanks to the folks who did the work on the R8/Vette segment. It was truly a visual treat, a work of art.

SIARPC: Where is it written that the star has to be a car person? I barely know what "Twilight" is, but found this person rather engaging. And contrasting Clarkson with someone who really doesn't care about cars is really kind of entertaining.

And Jeremy, Richard, James....we know you're on after 9:00 and can say "penis" on the air. It was cute the first couple of times, then meh, now it's lost all its value. Good writers know when to be crude for effect. Your writing should be better than that.

Just for grins, after this episode I revisited a couple of the old segments, the original 100 Pound car challenge and Darts with Cars. The first I still found fascinating, the second still funny for the very audacity of the concept. I'm afraid that...and I know it's difficult...fresh new material is becoming thinner and thinner at Top Gear. Perhaps it's to be expected. Perhaps there needs to be one or more new writers. I don't know.

I think Clarkson may have hit upon the very spirit of Top Gear in the R8/Vette comparo. In the end, he chose the Vette because he had fun in it. We choose Top Gear because we have fun watching it.

After the first few minutes, Geoff wasn't much fun. He was just incompetent and the guys were trying to make it look fun. Maybe the guys know each other too well now for there to be any real surprises and we're reduced to drawing pictures on the sides of each other's faces.

When you combine spontaneous humor with the soul of the automobile, you have a classic Top Gear episode. As you can tell, I didn't think 14X02 fell into that category. But I'm hopeful for a return.

I think you really nailed it there. When they have crap to work with and thus produce crap (ala ?1000 supercars) then it's funny because it has a hint of reality to it. I mean, I doubt if anyone on the planet could find a supercar for ?1000 that would make it across several hundred miles of road and not break down a few times. Situations like that don't make them look stupid, they're just funny on their own.

And when they go over the top doing something completely impossible, like making a convertible minivan (people carrier to you Brits) or strapping a Reliant Robin to a few thousand pounds of jet fuel, those are good too because it's so ridiculous there's no way it will work, but they do the best they can and enjoy the resulting explosions.

The fact is that we KNOW they're not absolute idiots, so the idea that they would actually leave a car, even a bad one, on a hill with no brakes is ludicrous. It just makes things look forced and awkward.

Apparently, though, there's still an audience for this. Well, all I can say is "Are You Being Served" ran for over a decade. If that's the audience TG wants, well, fine, but I thought they had more class than that.

This really hits the nail on the head for me. We KNOW they aren't stupid. We "know" the presenters far to well at this point and none of them are idiots. It's far beyond "James is the smart one." Most of us have read columns and books by all 3 and it's quite clear they're actually pretty damn intelligent men. I can't really be convinced otherwise at this point, and it's discongruent when they present themselves this way.

Even the mood room didn't do it for me. There was hardly anything in there that reminded me of Jeremy. It looked like something an artist put together, not an irreverent motoring journalist with a dicky hip and unfortunate denim.

I have always loved the car films and as usual the R8 film was beautiful. However, the challenges seem really forced these days. In past seasons I felt that funny things happened mostly by accident but now their antics seem really contrived. I feel that's a side effect of getting so popular and mainstream the last couple of years.

4/10.

It's as if TG has gone from being a funny car show to a comedy with cars in it, and has then evolved into a half-arsed sketch-based variety show.

The Geoff piece seemed so forced and unnatural. I would have preferred to seen a direct ripoff of TGA's take on electric cars (i.e. get the 3 presenters to each buy a standard road car, convert it to electric in 3 different ways and then challenge each other properly), with the usual banter, biffo and other fun stuff we've come to know and love from similar challenges in the past. Look back on the ?100 Car Challenge where Hammond was singing in the car because he didn't have a radio ('Now can you sing "If I Were A Tall Man"?' ) or the ?1,500 Porsche Challenge (Cadbury Creme Egg in the 928's radiator - genius!) to see what I mean about how much more fun those challenges were. This humour was simple, real and very funny. It's still simple, but now it's simple in a Carry On 'Ooer Missus' way. Yuk.

The R8 v Z06 piece was superb. I can never tire of Clarkson's serious car reviews, along with the sublime production values shown by the film crew, editors, directors and the other guys that chug along in the background to produce TG. However - and maybe it just because we've been spoiled with world's best production values for so long - I felt it wasn't quite good enough to lift the whole episode.

I've quoted a bunch of other people here (whilst editing them a bit - sorry) because they have all at various points conveyed how I felt about this episode, and maybe even TG in general lately

The whole Geoff thing: "let's be crap for the sake of it, let's hold up traffic, let's let it roll away down the hill" - sorry guys must try harder.

The news: wall to wall dick jokes? I like a dick joke as much as a fart joke (which is a lot!) but please can we have some actual news again?

R8 vs ZR1: As above, love the cinematography, otherwise standard JC fare. On a personal note the R8 is the only Audi I actually like! And ?100k is not that much for a supercar when you look at most of the ones TG reviews. Can I just reiterate from last week, I HATE the split screen laps. Spend less time cocking about and you could show the laps separately!

SIARPC: I'm biased as I like Michael Sheen -he didn't spend that much time on Twilight and he wants a Jaaaaag. If you've watched the outtakes, he was pretty brave too!

The "2nd Geoff" (ie hammerhead blah blah): Their going back to MIRA just made me aware how much less I enjoyed this than the British Leyland film they did there.

Here's hoping for a better effort next week.

liked stig dropping off car

 

[kurthest]

Three blokes cocking about. If the Geoff piece wasn't that then I'm a dutchman.

Speaking of dutchmen..
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mwxE7Ky5hs[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf_PiH1791s[/YOUTUBE]

 

[4G92Lancer]

...three blokes cocking about - surely when you saw the description for this episode, that's what you expected??

Wrong. This is three guys 'pretending' to cock about.

Sometime I don't know why people bother watching Top Gear when they clearly don't want to see James, Jeremy and Richard mess about in the "technology centre".

Because Top Gear is supposed to be about bloody cars!

Get a fucking life.

Got one. Which is why I get annoyed when I waste it watching ridiculous challenges that aren't funny...

 

[brydie76]

^ If you want a show purely about cars, go watch fifth gear. And that post wasn't even directed at you, so i wouldn't start arguing

Still haven't watched the rest of it yet, doubt I will for a while- things just got a bit hectic around here

 

[Dracwolley]

Watched this with some buddies of mine. They're complete TG addicts now.

I've seen all of the TG episodes so far, and this is, in my opinion, the best of them all. Sooooo funny. I've watched it 3 times in 24 hours now, and I still can't stop laughing about it.

TWA-KOOL

 

[shellygrrl]

Yes indeed, where the heck is the Cool Wall?

It'll probably be along in a later episode. Chin up!

 

[4G92Lancer]

^ If you want a show purely about cars, go watch fifth gear.

Oh, I wish.

The point I was making, was that Top Gear is a CAR programme about CARS. Our friend was bemoaning people who watch the show and don't expect to see a respected car journalist dicking about like a witless moron in a room that's full of stupid useless shit.

Believe me, if you think this stuff is 'funny', you'll love Steve Martin's Pink Panther movies...

 

[freefall]

So what would we do....spin off Richard, Tiff and Vicki into a new show?

How bout James May, Jon Bentley and Jason Plato :lol:

 

[Dr_Grip]

Three blokes cocking about. If the Geoff piece wasn't that then I'm a dutchman.

[...]

Get a fucking life.

Now that you got your new passport, why don't you go over to one of your coffee shops and smoke some pot.
That might calm you down so that you won't insult people anymore without the slightest reason.
Additionally, while high your insult skills might rise from "get a life" to "your mom". Sadly, you won't win any sword fights with either insult.

 

[ozgirl]

How bout James May, Jon Bentley and Jason Plato :lol:

Oh God please no to either suggestion!

 

[BlaRo]

 

[aaurora]

I knew I would find a mixed bag of reviews on here! That's whats so good about FG

I thought this ep was the funniest one I have seen for a while. It got me laughing hard quite a bit and I really enjoyed the jokes. I loved Geoff. My OH loved Geoff. I enjoyed the jokes - I loved the testing of the car at that car testing place ( can't remember the name, sorry). The way Jeremy called Richard by pressing the button (soooo not PC though!).

Great episode 9/10. Good work Andy, TG3 and co.

 

[TSX]

I joined this forum just to comment about how terrible and forced that entire episode was. Hate the split screen laps, hated the car rolling down the hill, star in the reasonably priced car wasn't amusing, hated the wind tunnel test, and everything that happened at the MIRA test track. They better get their shit back on track for next week.