[17x04] July 17th, 2011

[17x04] July 17th, 2011


  • Total voters
    344
The difference is that just like the victim, hit in the plums is a surprise. Burning caravans can be seen a mile off. even before they catch fire.
 
6/10, 60%, D-

Cringe worthy at best, bolstered up to a 6 only by the fact that it did include a good review of the GT-R and XKR-S.

Repeating sound bytes has gone on now for multiple series and is getting very old. Lighting things on fire and destroying a caravan/camping equipment has also been done to death now. As much as this show would have been funny for a first time viewer, to a longtime viewer it feels like a format that has been done to death, is very predictable, old and unfunny.

With all the comedians the show has interviewed, and with all the people of comic genius that would surely lend a hand to a show with 350,000,000+ viewers, the problem with a segment designed to be funny, ending up lacking not only humor but fresh comedy ideas must be something that could be corrected.

Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks may be a little old, but they are good examples of people who have had massive success in comedy while still ably keeping new and fresh ideas in the mix.

With the BBC behind Top Gear there has to be someone, maybe even someone who isn't English, who would consider lending a hand to what has really become a comedy disaster.
 
Last edited:
And Rowan was good and I love his work but I got the feeling he may be a bit of a snob, I don't know why.

As has been pointed out, he's pretty shy (he actually had a stammer when younger, and even as late as Blackadder Goes Forth they had to rewrite a line on the spot because he couldn't get "Battersea Dogs Home" out without stuttering. Hence also why he's habitually done all the Mr. Bean promos in-character rather than as himself). Very much a comic actor rather than a comedian (unlike, say, Russ Noble).
 
Well, here goes:
Jag vs. GT-R: a typical Jezza review. Not really boring because of Clarkson's honest surprise with the GT-R's performance.
News: actually Richard's box ramble (and Jezza's interruption) was fairly entertaining. Clean, too, and universally identifiable.
Train Part 1: Um . . . well, it's a promising start.
SIARPC: My god. This is a rare occasion when Top Gear should be viewed by James Lipton's Actors Studio, as an example of how to "act with your eyes."
Train Part 2: I have a theory: The further TG's scripts get away from cars, the less it actually works. The only way to save it is to insert moments of genuine surprise, such as when James' Vietnam boat fell apart on him. Because there was no surprise in the end, it just simply wasn't entertaining.

Final score: 6 / 10. And all that drop is because of the Trains Part 2.
 
I'd much rather someone rolled their car on purpose than by accident, simply because it's prepared for and controlled, and so they are less likely to end up in a coma.

Oh, I can agree that I don't want to see anyone get hurt. But I'd much rather they not roll anything at all, if they're going to stage it on purpose.

They're usually prepared for such things though. Like the SIARPC Liana, Lacetti, and Cee'd. They all have full roll cages, racing seats, 4-5 point belts, helmets, etc. They're fully prepared for a roll over, but they're not going to force it to happen or anything.
 
A bit more light hearted than previous epps but with predictable humour in places.

Other than the mutton chop/fu manchu front end I think I'd rather have the Jaaaaag. Like the GTR, (loved my 70 240Z) but it just doesn't grab me. Better car but just doesn't have "IT" for me.

Now we know Mr Bean is the Stig (regardless of all the photo shopped evidence to the contrary ;-])

The train thing is on the fence. On the one hand I thing the boys hands down beat Jezzer. They not only got 4 caravans off the road but managed to destroy two.
Yes they are running out of new ways to smash or set fire to them but any dead caravan is a good one. A couple of chuckles in this. One was the shot of Hamsters scum class food service. About 4 seconds of funny. The other bit was them fighting over the announcements. Watch the faces of the passengers as they wince on the beeps.

Anyone have an idea on who writes the script/guides? They need to change things before the stale themselves off the air.
 
I call bollocks on their used car repair prices

No, just kidding. Just looked up the cost of an aftermarket ignition coil pack for the CL600 (rockauto.com), and it's $1,029...and that's the cheaper one for the right-hand bank. The coil pack for the left-hand bank is a whopping $1,222! :blink: What you save in depreciation, you sure as hell pay back in repair costs with these monsters.

My goodness, for $1,222 I found a '02 Suzuki Liana on autotrader :blink:
 
Last edited:
I am not sure why Hammond had to scream from the outside to tell James to slow down, whats the PA system for? lol
 
I was expecting Jezza would do his usual 'but would I buy the GTR? No - because it has no soul, and at the end of the day I don't have a Nissan, and that's all that matters" thing which he usually does, and was pleasantly surprised.

Rowan Atkinson for best SIARPC..... in the world !! I think so :)
And he didn't lean forward !!
 
So are half the people on this forum yet we still have fun. There's nothing wrong with being a snob.
Atkinson isn't a snob. He simply doesn't like talking to people. He's the kind of guy for whom sat navs are the most important invention because he won't ask for directions. He lives in a world of ill fitting trousers because he won't ask for help at Marks&Spencer.
Asperger's, maybe?
Snobbery, no.
That man is the queen bee of nerds.
AND IT WAS HIS F1! A snob would have had JC announce that to the world.
 
I was expecting Jezza would do his usual 'but would I buy the GTR? No - because it has no soul, and at the end of the day I don't have a Nissan, and that's all that matters" thing which he usually does, and was pleasantly surprised.

Nah, despite Jezza usually being not wery warm towards technological cars full of computers, he has a different feeling for the GTR, I always imagine he will refer to the car as his "pet robot", or something :lol:
 
It was the best episode of the last 3 series :lol:
I've cried a lot during the show.
 
6/10. I didn't expect to even like it that much when I saw the description. I'm not a fan of Rowan, but I thought he was a good guest. GTR vs Jag in the rain severely disappointed me, run 'em in the dry! Good review though. Trains thing gave me a few chuckles here and there and it was a cool concept. It was only better than average because I expected it to be worse...is that a bad thing?
 
Audi S8 eh? That year model was the last of the cool Audi's for me (flame suit on). Shame it had to be butchered.
I really enjoyed the train segment, particularly the awesomeness of the first class caravan.
This season has really been at a much higher level so far when compared to last years.

8/10
 
Absolute great episode this weeks i rated it a 9 I still can't believe the car train actually worked and they got the speeds they did Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) was a great guest and am extremely happy for him posting the fastest SIARPC lap ever in the Kia hatch. All in all an excellent episode of top gear.
 
I would have given it a 2/10 had it not been Rowan Atkinson, which only brought it up to a 5. The entire episode was cringeworthy at the very best, and flatout lied in the worst. The drag race was the stupidest part of all, it was so surprising to see a AWD car destroy a rear wheel drive car off the line.... in a soaking wet track, then no mention of how the gtr only just won after it's massive lead in the beginning. And then, the flatout lie of the 9 minute lap time for jag around the ring? Absolute bullshit in an episode of utter garbage. Don't get me started on the stupid train segment.
 
Top