[15x04] July 18th, 2010

[15x04] July 18th, 2010

  • 10

    Votes: 49 12.3%
  • 9

    Votes: 89 22.3%
  • 8

    Votes: 104 26.0%
  • 7

    Votes: 70 17.5%
  • 6

    Votes: 34 8.5%
  • 5

    Votes: 18 4.5%
  • 4

    Votes: 15 3.8%
  • 3

    Votes: 13 3.3%
  • 2

    Votes: 4 1.0%
  • 1

    Votes: 4 1.0%

  • Total voters
    400
I liked this episode a lot and was entertained for the most part.
 
I gave it a '3'.

Porsche review was good, apart from rehashing the 'wig' test.

Challenge was almost a carbon copy of their last camping trip. Crash at petrol station, holding up traffic, fire etc blah, blah.

Nothing much else to warrant any better a score apart from some laughs here and there. I drifted onto the internet during the last 20 minutes as it was getting so monotonous.
 
It was okay by Top Gear standards but still quite watchable. It's been patchy this season but I get the feeling they're trying to cater for everyone with the first and third episodes being for us car nerds, the second and fourth being for the people who want the fun gags.
 
loved the convertible episode. However the sprint, mmmh i had my doubts of jeremy in the turbo.. That turbo goes way faster from 0-60mph then 4 seconds but hey, i loved the part. He didn't started about volkswagen etc, so fine by me.

Loved the volvo part! It just went and crashed, lmao.

The motorhome stuff was funny too, but i agree, it is getting too much scripted. I don't know how they did it in the old episodes but still, i don't got a huge problem or whatsoevah. Only stuff like the part of james is upside down or jeremy motorhome flipped over, i mean come on. If that huge thing flips over, so should the other cars do.. Or when he is eating the icecream, it's just pure normal that he sits there and right behind him, you can spot clearly the truck, that's soo overacted.. It would be way better, if he was in that shop, and you would see it out of the window, and that the lads just said they were gonna do it, instead of putting it at the edge.. Still i gave it a 10.
 
There's some good stuff you can always recycle back into your shows and then there is some that you should not. Like the introduction for the two convertibles: the letter from some dude who has exactly $$$ to spend. And then the caravan segment. It was an "oh noes" moment as soon as I realized what the segment would be about while the last 15 min were unbearable. Come on...we've had caravan crushes; we've had caravan trips; we've had caravan races; we've had caravan fires - I think the subject was beaten to death - like the conversation topics of an old nagging lady.
 
Oh, for the love of croutons...

"You're walking down any regular high street in any regular town anywhere in the developed world. People are going about their business in that typical anonymous, don't look at me don't talk to me manner. Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you notice a group of tall, thin women shedding their coats. Intrigued, you turn your head, positively amazed to find Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangalista, Kate Moss, Cindy Crawford and a few other supermodels whose names you cannot pronounce, locked head-to-crotch in an endless 69, munching away at each other on the pavement, as if fresh kitten were the new fillet steak.

"As a distressed Germaine Greer walks hurriedly away, shouting something daft and inane no doubt, a large group of spectators, mostly male and mostly hooting, gather around the high fashion faux-lez fest. One of your friends, holding up his iPhone shakily in youthful excitement to record the action for later upload to YouTube, quips 'Oh my god this is incredible!'. Your other friend, the one wearing a tshirt with an air-lifted Morris Marina, instead says....

"'Meh... seen it all before, completely predictable. Cindy really needs to shave her moot... 3/10'." And then walks off.

If you're the sort of person who has been watch Top Gear for years, has every episode on your hard drive and has watched every episode 12+ times, then yeah, current episodes of TG will contain a certain amount of deja vu. Let's face it - there are only so many different things you can do under the auspices of a car show. These guys have redefined what a car show can be, but even they have limits. Short of putting a car on the moon (which they've already tried, of course), everything will be at best a new spin on an old idea.

Does that make it instantly shithouse then? Hell no.

The boys aren't infallible, but they wouldn't be one of the world's most popular television shows if they didn't hit pay dirt more often than not. Let's face it, most of the world - and virtually every one with a vagina - don't really get off on technical reviews on mid-range family wagons... and thus deeply enjoy crashing Robins, flaming caravans, preposterous metaphors and smoking power slides instead.

It also seems increasingly apparent to me that some FinalGearers approach each episode of Top Gear as an event that should be akin to something comparable to the birth of their first child, an Apple product launch and a religious experience, and thus end up being expressly disappointed when the show doesn't create waves of TV world rippling, African Special awesomeness.

It is, after all, just a TV show, albeit a fucking awesome one. Possibly even the best one. For those of you who genuinely felt suicidal after watching the episode, I'm sure there's some insipid show on the FOX network that might be unscripted enough to suit your needs.

Anyway, this episode was fucking awesome, solid 9 stuff. 911 vs R8 was classic Clarkson (his analogies are an inspiration), news was hilarious despite not containing much actual news, SIARPC was actually pretty decent for an American movie star with no clue doing the movie plug thing (hey, the promo clip had nice tits in it. What more do you need?). Rather than wanting to scrape my eyeballs out with my penis, I spent most of the 2 motorhome segments laughing my arse off. Granted, perhaps a bit of extra scripting wouldn't have gone astray to explain why Richard's folding metal castle suddenly caught on fire, but this is Top Gear, just like on The Simpsons, fires can start spontaneously anywhere, any time, without provocation or indeed an ignition source.

I actually thought James was on the money regarding his design, but considering the tests, I would have gone for one of these instead (Saab Toppola - like a shrunken down ute campervan):

Toppolo1.jpg

Saab_Toppola_Camper.jpg
 
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James? hair looks great.

As for the rest, I had been pleased with the direction taken in the previous 3 eps, (and have been busy so I haven?t been able to elaborate on how much I liked them, sorry) but this was a stinking clinker. I?m really having trouble remembering anything I liked about it, well, except for the above. The opening review and the news was ok, not great but workmanlike at least.

I?m not even going to waste time on the caravans. At least the guys appeared to be going for being silly. Go big or go home as they say.

As an American, I might have had more of a chance of recognizing the SIPARC guest than British viewers, but I had no idea of who he was and after the segment, I didn?t want to know any more about him. Why was he on except to plug his movie and serve as a vehicle for a gratuitous T and A shot? Not that the guest has to be a well known person, but they should be someone who is either interesting (at the very least an interesting car history) or has done something interesting. This guest was neither. And Jezza seemed uncomfortable talking to him, which is unusual.

I hope that this episode was TG?s equivalent of the ?big bath? theory in corporate finance, where, when you have lots of bad news (or in this case, a big film that?s bad and a terrible guest) you put it all in one quarter of results so you get it over with all at once and move on.

It?s a 3.
 
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"Motorcyclists, have you considered that there may be a cantankerous, pig headed, middle-aged man with pubes for hair, driving around on a stupidly over-powered Mercedes that should be a four-seater, but hasn't got a back seat and yet costs twice as much...(didn't manage to catch the rest of it)" :D

8/10 for me, though I felt that the Hammond's mobile home catching fire was rather predictable. JC's mobile home being pushed *unintentionally* down the cliff was hilarious!
 
A ten, ten, ten and a ten. I haven't been on Final Gear for months and probably thanks to that I've really enjoyed this season so far.

The camping segments of this episode were the funniest thing I have ever seen, not only on Top Gear, but anywhere. At one point I was laughing with tears pouring down my face one after another. It was the same kind of laugh as those of Hammond & May when they were watching Jezza's motorhome swing on the motorway. I actually had to pause the episode and take a break to calm myself down. Unbelievable. Epic. Hilarious. One of the best ever.
 
They did think of something new -- you just didn't enjoy it for whatever reason.

You must spread more Leaning Towers of Citroen before giving any to warren again.

I'm starting to wonder if maybe some of you need a break from watching the show.
 
Loved the volvo part! It just went and crashed, lmao.

It was the same story as with the Mercedes S Class from a few years ago. They forgot to turn the auto-brake system on :D
 
I laughed hysterically, and drooled over the sights and sounds of the gorgeous R8. So it gets a 10.
 
I'm getting a bit worried now. What other way is there to find your way? When I go from A to B, I know my route by the landmarks I'm passing as well. ("Turn right at the supermarket, etc etc") :blink:

This is how I get to A to B as well.
I can't give anyone directions because I don't pay attention to street names and I don't know know if the house you want is the 1st or second left because in my head I would just turn left when I get to the street with the big white house on the corner.
 
A ten, ten, ten and a ten. I haven't been on Final Gear for months and probably thanks to that I've really enjoyed this season so far. ... One of the best ever.

Told ya.
 
for the most part, I enjoyed the episode. The motor home segment was great until the very predictable and overly scripted ending. I am getting tired of them setting up scenarios and constantly playing their roles. They show case the other sides of their personalities on the non-TG stuff and shows like James May's Toy Stories and Jeremy Clarkson Meets the Neighbors are ridiculously entertaining without all of the shtick. 8/10 for me.
 
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