[21x06] March 9th, 2014 [Burma Special, Part 1]

[21x06] March 9th, 2014 [Burma Special, Part 1]


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Hitler DID it - in Czechoslovakia, until 1939, the people drove on the left.
Well you live and learn - evil dictator = "Change the side of the road you drive on - check." You have not gained your evil dictator status until you pull that stunt.

I just don't understand all the low ratings for this show. I'm curious, those who rated it low, what would you consider a "10"? I'm serious, I'm not being a dick, I'm genuinely curious.
Scoring is subjective, as on many times someone gives a score of 1 or 2 with others giving an episode a score of 9 or 10. Probably (Viper may actually be able to do this if he can be 'arsed') you can get average weighted scores for each and every show and in the aggregate you may have a way of telling the better shows from the less good shows and you could do it per series.
 
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But you still have people rating TG compared to other television shows (like "ok this episode wasn't really good but still better than 99 % of the other crap that's on television, so I'll give it a 9") versus people rating TG against itself. Since both groups contribute to the rating, it's kind of meaningless to look for exact numbers. I agree that it would be pretty interesting to have weighted averages for each episode, but on the other hand we are quite far away from anything scientific ;) And for everything else it's probably enough to just look at some bars and do a rough average in your head.
 
I just watched the Polar Special from series 9 and it had so many hilarious/interesting moments.
Great comedic timing, and Hammond was more subdued.

By comparison, this Burma Special is about a 3/10 (so far).

Could it be "Hammond was more subdued" because of (a) the circumstances of his part of the challenge, or, perhaps more importantly, (b) he was still deep in recovery from an accident only a few months earlier where he'd almost died?
 
But do not go "script seeking" on every episode.

The thing is though, you don't even need to "seek" or "look for" the "scripted moments", because they're so obvious. And that's what bugs people. Mostly, because this is a relatively recent development (ok, a few years...actually quite a few...but it's gotten worse each year), and Wilman & co used to rely on the spontaneous much more.

It's about underestimating the viewer and his/her intelligence. It's about not taking advantage of the genuine chemistry and comedy between the trio.

"Scripted", as has been pointed out many times by others, is a poor choice of a word to begin with, because all shows are scripted. Even reality TV.
 
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Scoring is subjective, as on many times someone gives a score of 1 or 2 with others giving an episode a score of 9 or 10. Probably (Viper may actually be able to do this if he can be 'arsed') you can get average weighted scores for each and every show and in the aggregate you may have a way of telling the better shows from the less good shows and you could do it per series.

Thats not what i meant. I guess i was asking "what do people thing a 10 is? Its clear that driving across two country's in old trucks through rivers and down mountain roads on the way to build an actual bridge all while teaching you something about Burma and having a blast together isnt a 10, so, what is a 10 for these people? And they cant say "land on the moon" because we all saw what happened when they tried to launch a car rocket! Seriously though...
 
Thats not what i meant. I guess i was asking "what do people thing a 10 is? Its clear that driving across two country's in old trucks through rivers and down mountain roads on the way to build an actual bridge all while teaching you something about Burma and having a blast together isnt a 10, so, what is a 10 for these people? And they cant say "land on the moon" because we all saw what happened when they tried to launch a car rocket! Seriously though...

Well, I always tend to vote quite generously for Top Gear, since it is just a bit of fun IMO (also, I love massive road trips of any kind). :p

For other stuff though, I only give something a 10/10 if it's a) 100% flawless (eg. the last two Nolan Batman movies) and b) if it's a life/worldview-changing experience (eg. Life of Pi, The Shawshank Redemption and NIN's Year Zero all did this to me). If it does one but not the other, it's an 8/10 or a 9/10.

I'm sure there are people out there who consider 10/10 physically impossible, just like how they'd consider 0/10 physically impossible - because 10/10 suggests perfection. :/
 
That was fantastic. I'm impressed with their bravery again to travel to such a remote place and drive absolute wrecks that could kill them at any moment. A few butt clenching moments like the death road in Bolivia. I'd like to shake Jeremy's hand just for having the guts to take his old fat body through stuff like this. Props to the cinematography as usual. Good one lads.
 
I just don't understand all the low ratings for this show. I'm curious, those who rated it low, what would you consider a "10"? I'm serious, I'm not being a dick, I'm genuinely curious.

I don't remember if I ever rated it or not but the Vietnam special is probably about as close to perfect as I can think of. I haven't rewatched it in forever but I can't ever recall any "jesus that looks scripted" moments in it (although I'm sure there were quite a few). It felt a lot more "real" than this Burma special.

But you still have people rating TG compared to other television shows (like "ok this episode wasn't really good but still better than 99 % of the other crap that's on television, so I'll give it a 9") versus people rating TG against itself.

I think the vast majority of this site is in the first group. Take a look at the ratings for the India special. Pretty much everyone hated it and yet most of the scores were still 7 or higher. I'm in the second group though.
 
I don't remember if I ever rated it or not but the Vietnam special is probably about as close to perfect as I can think of.
I have to agree, that was a great 'adventure' special. I guess I have a 'multi-speed' scoring system, rating each against previous ones of similar format - adventure, project, race, etc. I reckon one of my rare 10's would be for the Reliant Robin shuttle, but I probably gave it a 9 at the time. It's a bit hard figuring out the best tree when you haven't seen all the forest.
 
I liked it, Jame's idea of sleeping off the ground and then Jeremy pulling him higher was quite funny to me. I laughed and that's what these specials are about. I also learned a lot about Burma that I knew, starting with the scenery and then a bit of history. That's rare in today's "entertainment" TV.

And honestly, the pedantic people around here saying "X and Y is getting old", are getting old themselves.
 
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Over the last years I'm more and more annoyed by Top Gear.

The last episode 5 got a little bit better, surprisingly, but now ....

Finally! This was the first ever ("new") Top Gear episode that I didn't finish watching.

My lifetime is too valuable for this. What a waste of download bandwidth.
 
The real question is WHO GIVES A FUCK! Just enjoy the damn show and don?t go looking for "scripted moments". Why must people keep doing this?

Speaking only for myself, I?m not against ?scripted moments? because I understand most of the show is scripted - it?s not live, after all. I?m sure many (probably most) of my most cherished Top Gear moments were scripted.

But I think they did a much better job of ?hiding? it in the earlier series. And the failure to do that now is actively taking away from my enjoyment.

My favorite special is Vietnam and I harbor no doubts whatsoever that they intentionally went to Hanoi on the train instead of Hai Long. But you could arguably make a point that both trains were (supposedly) on the same platform, just different sides and Vietnamese Romanization is such that Hanoi and Hai Long maybe look a bit similar.

But now they just seem to be playing to the tropes and stereotypes and it seems, at least to my eyes, to be obvious to the point of now being ridiculous. James May is ?Captain No Sense of Direction? so of course they?re going to take the wrong highway out of Rangoon. Nowadays, the original idea would have been to NOT take the wrong road.



Thats not what i meant. I guess i was asking "what do people thing a 10 is? Its clear that driving across two country's in old trucks through rivers and down mountain roads on the way to build an actual bridge all while teaching you something about Burma and having a blast together isnt a 10, so, what is a 10 for these people? And they cant say "land on the moon" because we all saw what happened when they tried to launch a car rocket! Seriously though...

I score Top Gear episodes like the US education grades students. So a 9 would be an "A", an 8 would be a "B", a 7 a "C", a 6 a "D" and a 5 an "F". Most episodes since Series 12 (IMO, the last great season) have been 7s or 8s. I've never handed out a 5 and this episode is one of a handful that have received a 6.

Under this rating system, a 10 is an "A+" and my ?10?s? are the first episode of Series 12 (IMO, the best episode they ever did), the fourth episode of Series 12 (I seriously wondered whether any of them would make Blackpool) and the Vietnam Special (like the Botswana Special, they looked like they really were three mates sharing a great adventure). And I?m sure all three were scripted up the yahoo, but they didn?t feel it.
 
"Scripted", as has been pointed out many times by others, is a poor choice of a word to begin with, because all shows are scripted. Even reality TV.

Point taken. Let?s say "predictability" then.
 

I enjoyed reading that. I think those people need to make a behind the scenes show on the making of the show.

I am giving this one an 8. I have now watched it about 7 times because there is so much to look at and there are still parts that made me laugh. I love how the trucks were modded, but I am really worried about James's wheels staying on if they have to go thru any more rough places.

I also think it was another lucky moment that Richard was riding the 5 legged horse when the accident happened because can you imagine if it had been one of the other two.
 
I also think it was another lucky moment that Richard was riding the 5 legged horse when the accident happened because can you imagine if it had been one of the other two.

At least Richard didn't break his bottom when he fell from this horse. :lol:
 
8.5

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Could it be "Hammond was more subdued" because of (a) the circumstances of his part of the challenge, or, perhaps more importantly, (b) he was still deep in recovery from an accident only a few months earlier where he'd almost died?

Wait what accident?
 
Only just seen it in preparation for part 2, fuck me it's been a while since we've seen that amount of TG comedy.
The only part I laughed at was the horse scene. Which was a nonsense scene, but backfired on them.
 
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