James May: 20th Century starts on July 10

well this is a slight let down if im honest

it had 2 shows, both 30mins long and honestly the first one seemed to be really aimless, he chopped and changed between cars and planes n stuff just too quickly. you couldnt really get into any of it. he has the passion, its jus it comes across as the anorak passion

the 2nd show about the space race/space exploration was definately a lot better, he had a bit more energy for what he was talking about and i enjoyed it.

but, IMHO, so far these barely keep touch with JC's inventions that changed the world and his 2 WWII pieces
 
Saw the two first episodes yesterday and I kinda liked them.
It wasnt as bad as many here wanted it to be and bts obvious that the show is ment to be an informative show, and James presents that type of shows very well.
 
they need to be longer, clarkson knew it best when he told the stories of the people behind the invention, he didn't even mention von braun and so on.

however they're good for what they are.
 
they need to be longer, clarkson knew it best when he told the stories of the people behind the invention, he didn't even mention von braun and so on.

however they're good for what they are.

Yeah, agreed. The first episode probably would have been better if it focused more on some of the more significant things. Parts were a bit vague. Been watching some of Clarkson's "Inventions that changed the world". Both very entertaining and informative.

In other news/witchcraft, Xbox Media centre crops 4:3 letterboxed movie files and gets them up to 16:9!! Crazy.

*puts on tin foil hat*
 
I just finished watching the first episode, and I quite enjoyed it. I really like the way of filming, using color filters and interesting camera angles. Are all BBC shows like that, or is it just the same production team responsible for TopGear?
 
I think the reason that these shows skip over the fine details of everything is because it's meant to be an entertainment show more than a documentary. It was great watching James get excited about everything and acting like he was 7. He really gets into things and that makes it really fun to watch.
 
This looks interesting, I may have to check it out...pardon the pun.
 
Have to say I'm quite enjoying this series, loved last nights episodes and (***minor spoiler***) it was also interesting learning that James has a lot of German DNA inside him. Also notice how Jezza puked when he went flying in the F15 but Cpt Slow was perfectly fine in the EF-Typhoon ;)

On a side note, I think too many people, especially here on FG, are watching/downloading JM 20th Century expecting some sort of extension of TG. It's nothing like it, there is more to Slow (and indeed Jezza and Hamster) then simply TG. I'd personally like James to do more shows outside of TG in the future, as I find they lean more on the informative side then the humourous side, whereas with Jezza it's the other way round (still highly enjoyable though).
 
James is good, but Clarkson is much better in making Documentaries. Maybe because Andy Wilman procduces all Clrakson + BBC videos.
 
I rather enjoyed both episodes, more so than Clarkson's Inventions That Changed the World series (he just blathers on about how Americans stole various inventions from the Brits :p)
 
Have to say I'm quite enjoying this series, loved last nights episodes and (***minor spoiler***) it was also interesting learning that James has a lot of German DNA inside him. Also notice how Jezza puked when he went flying in the F15 but Cpt Slow was perfectly fine in the EF-Typhoon ;)

On a side note, I think too many people, especially here on FG, are watching/downloading JM 20th Century expecting some sort of extension of TG. It's nothing like it, there is more to Slow (and indeed Jezza and Hamster) then simply TG. I'd personally like James to do more shows outside of TG in the future, as I find they lean more on the informative side then the humourous side, whereas with Jezza it's the other way round (still highly enjoyable though).

It would have been even better if turned out to be french :lol:
The show is ok, but it's certainly not trimmed for entertainment as Top Gear, but is much more informative. It's good for what it is, but I wouldn't watch it constantly. ;)
 
I missed the first 2 episodes but saw the other 2 yesterday, I loved it. Very interesting stuff.
 
It would have been even better if turned out to be french :lol:
The show is ok, but it's certainly not trimmed for entertainment as Top Gear, but is much more informative. It's good for what it is, but I wouldn't watch it constantly. ;)

Yes, but that's my point. A comparison with TG is pointless.
 
If there's anything to compare this to, it'd be James May's Top Toys, where he really enjoys it and puts at least some fun into what he's doing. This feels like the Open University just happened to select him as a presenter and slapped a script and fee into his hands. Compare this to Clarkson's war documentaries and his Brunel promotional; those felt like he'd marched up to a producer and told him "Right, I'm doing this show, I'm presenting it, and I'm writing it." Sure, this is the kind of stuff that May enjoys, and does well, but it's not the kind of thing that he's putting his heart and soul into. It's that little bit of extra passion that's missing from this series. It's good, but not great. I'm still going to watch it though.
 
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