[23x01] May 29th, 2016 -- First Episode With New Cast

[23x01] May 29th, 2016 -- First Episode With New Cast


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Not my area so a request; Chris Evans is shouting via twitter ?THE FACTS? about 1st episode this series, better audience than 1st episode last series, consolidated (inc iplayer ) over 5m, won the night on UK TV with audience share etc.

Is he right?

Have they found a new audience to satisfy the beeb tweebs?
 
You know what needs to happen? Le Blanc, Harris, and Reid need to spin-off and do their own show. xD
 
Watched it a second time, impression didn't change. But I couldn't help noticing the track getting really dirty with the new offroad parts, which means they'll probably have to clean it up after each star segment now -- which might be costly. And I hope the track is always perfectly clean for the power lap times...
 
I wanted to hate that. I wanted to come on here and say that I had skipped through all of it. I didn't though, I was entertained all the way through.

I didn't actually find Chris or Matt annoying, even in the studio sections.
Viper and 'Vette: may have been pointless but I felt that it fitted in. I don't remember guns on cars being done before like that.
The challenge: Started off silly but I liked the actual challenge of Jeep vs. LR. I liked the reference to Gladiators and the general silliness.
SIARCC: More fun but I miss the followthrough. Shame they only invited one person with an interest in cars
Nomad review: Enjoyed it, the challenge was a little pointless but no more than I would expect and was quite funny.

I wasn't expecting it to be anything like the previous incarnation so the fact that it is probably helps it IMO. I'm genuinely pleasantly surprised and will be watching future episodes, until Eddie Jordan appears and fucks it up.

8/10 for me based on low expectations. Haters gonna hate but hopefully they can keep that number up because I actually want them to do well now.
 
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Finally got around to watching it!


I have no real prior experience with Evans, although I had seen a couple Youtube clips after he was confirmed as host and I found him a bit annoying. This was a whole different beast - minute after minute of his constant wailing is just insufferable. I get you can do the "excitable" thing, but please, no more screeching. His review of the Viper amounted to him rattling off some specs and driving it poorly. The Viper vs Vette thing was pretty stupid and shoddily executed. Didn't get enough screeching in the studio? They brought along Sabine so you can have more! She's a good driver but a godawful presenter and her voice is nails on the chalkboard.

Audience call-and-response? Oh god why. This is Top Gear, not a daytime TV game show. Kill it with fire.

Leblanc is basically the only part of the show worth watching. I like his casual delivery and he legitimately seems to be enjoying himself. The Nomad segment was genuinely good and I'm looking forward to his solo segments.

SIARPC has managed to take an already sometimes dull segment and smeared it liberally with poo. Two questions (First Car? Best Car?) interspersed by more Evans-prompted audience shouting. I know SIARPC has had some terrible guests, but the new format pretty much kills any chance of having any good, interesting interviews either and Evans doesn't seem to know how to run an interview anyway. Rallycross looks fun, but kinds defeats the point of putting rich celebs in shit-tier cars.

The Jeep/LR challenges were surprisingly fun, more Evans yelling but being excited seems to be far more natural when you're in the middle of a challenge than in a studio.

5/10, hopefully it improves.
 
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Watched it a second time, impression didn't change. But I couldn't help noticing the track getting really dirty with the new offroad parts, which means they'll probably have to clean it up after each star segment now -- which might be costly. And I hope the track is always perfectly clean for the power lap times...

Yeah, this is gonna be an issue. For some reason, they suddenly think that neither the stars nor the fans actually give a shit about fair competition and good lap times. Hell, back in the day, everyone would always have an excuse for a poor lap: too hot, mildly moist, very wet, etc. What're they gonna do now? Complain about it being muddier than the last guy who did it? Or the ruts that'll get worn into the dirt corners?

If they wanted to do a rally course, they should have made it 100% offroad. I wouldn't mind that, honestly, as it would be a level playing field for any weather condition.
 
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won the night on UK TV with audience share etc.
Is he right?
I suspect like everyone here and anyone who's ever watched TGUK even occasionally the past, these viewers are watching just to see the relaunch - will it sink or float .... for a bit? Add those who've never seen TGUK before, but after reading in the tabloids of all the fuss and controversy this relaunch has caused, figured they'd sit down and watch a bit for the first time. And I assume (it's a crazy world) CE has fans from his radio and TV work who popped in to see the shouty ginger one in action once again.

It will be interesting to see if he has some similar FACTS to Tweet by Episode 3.

I struggled to give it 3/10. I think if I'd not used the Fast-FWD button once or twice and not nodded off occasionally, it could have been 2/10 :sleeping:
 
It's interesting looking at the statistics of the ratings on imdb.

As of right now, out of 1150 people, 80% of people voted 3 or less, 15% of people voted between 4 and 8, and less than 1% voted 9. But for some ungodly reason, 4% voted for 10.

Guess we know how many people were bribed by Chris Evans.
 
I wanted to hate that. I wanted to come on here and say that I had skipped through all of it. I didn't though, I was entertained all the way through.

I didn't actually find Chris or Matt annoying, even in the studio sections.
Viper and 'Vette: may have been pointless but I felt that it fitted in. I don't remember guns on cars being done before like that.
The challenge: Started off silly but I liked the actual challenge of Jeep vs. LR. I liked the reference to Gladiators and the general silliness.
SIARCC: More fun but I miss the followthrough. Shame they only invited one person with an interest in cars
Nomad review: Enjoyed it, the challenge was a little pointless but no more than I would expect and was quite funny.

I wasn't expecting it to be anything like the previous incarnation so the fact that it is probably helps it IMO. I'm genuinely pleasantly surprised and will be watching future episodes, until Eddie Jordan appears and fucks it up.

8/10 for me based on low expectations. Haters gonna hate but hopefully they can keep that number up because I actually want them to do well now.

I thought similar after a first viewing, too. Maybe because my expectations were so low that I was kinda forced to at least acknowledge their effort. Hence my 5/10.

But after a second viewing today my guts won over my brain in the end. It just doesn't fit my expectations of a show with the name "Top Gear". If they want to keep the brand name, fine. But then they also have to deliver and keep up the quality of the established brand. And that's just not the case, it's as simple as that. If they had made a totally new show, new design, new concept, new logo and called it "6th Gear", I definitely would have looked at it in a different way and would have given them more benefit of the doubt.

But it's still called "Top Gear" and I'm sorry but I connect that brand name with lots and lots of fun and laughter in the past 12 years or so. And I shared that fun with friends and relatives, who one by one also became Top Gear fans, despite the language barrier. The former Top Gear had the effect of even capture people who weren't interested in cars at all, for crying out loud. The reason for that had a name: Clarkson, Hammond and May. With them gone that special quality is lost. What's left is an empty shell.

Don't get me wrong: I respect your opinion and if you're honestly happy with the show, so be it. But the abyssmal evaluations all over the internet are not simply the result of "haters gonna hate"... that's rubbish. The reason why most people put their thumbs down is because something was taken from them and the BBC tries to satisfy them with an inadequate substitute.

I think I will watch all episodes of the first series, though (I refuse to call it "series 23", because it is something completely different now) and who knows? Maybe they somehow find a magic touch but frankly I doubt it. Truth to be told, I currently feel only motivated to watch it in order to be able to have a say in the upcoming discussions. And if it keeps annoying me as much, I might stop watching it at all.

Also I might point out that my view is the view of a guy from a country where Top Gear wasn't aired until a couple years ago. I am one of those 350 million worldwide, who were captivated by its unique qualities. Maybe a Briton looks at it in a different way, because Top Gear existed since the 1970's there. For me, though, Top Gear exists since 2002 and is forever and only linked with Jeremy, Richard and James. Without them, Top Gear will very likely return to what it was before 2002: A car show nobody outside of Britain will take any notice of.
 
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I thought similar after a first viewing, too. Maybe because my expectations were so low that I was kinda forced to at least acknowledge their effort. Hence my 5/10.

But after a second viewing today my guts won over my brain in the end. It just doesn't fit my expectations of a show with the name "Top Gear". If they want to keep the brand name, fine. But then they also have to deliver and keep up the quality of the established brand. And that's just not the case, it's as simple as that. If they had made a totally new show, new design, new concept, new logo and called it "6th Gear", I definitely would have looked at it in a different way and would have given them more benefit of the doubt.

But it's still called "Top Gear" and I'm sorry but I connect that brand name with lots and lots of fun and laughter in the past 12 years or so. And I shared that fun with friends and relatives, who one by one also became Top Gear fans, despite the language barrier. The former Top Gear had the effect of even capture people who weren't interested in cars at all, for crying out loud. The reason for that had a name: Clarkson, Hammond and May. With them gone that special quality is lost. What's left is an empty shell.

Don't get me wrong: I respect your opinion and if you're honestly happy with the show, so be it. But the abyssmal evaluations all over the internet are not simply the result of "haters gonna hate"... that's rubbish. The reason why most people put their thumbs down is because something was taken from them and the BBC tries to satisfy them with an inadequate substitute.

I think I will watch all episodes of the first series, though (I refuse to call it "series 23", because it is something completely different now) and who knows? Maybe they somehow find a magic touch but frankly I doubt it. Truth to be told, I currently feel only motivated to watch it in order to be able to have a say in the upcoming discussions. And if it keeps annoying me as much, I might stop watching it at all.

Also I might point out that my view is the view of a guy from a country where Top Gear wasn't aired until a couple years ago. I am one of those 350 million worldwide, who were captivated by its unique qualities. Maybe a Briton looks at it in a different way, because Top Gear existed since the 1970's there. For me, though, Top Gear exists since 2002 and is forever and only linked with Jeremy, Richard and James. Without them, Top Gear will very likely return to what it was before 2002: A car show nobody outside of Britain will take any notice of.

I would add to this that one thing we must not forget is that Top Gear UK is not alone.

Top Gear France and US are still rolling hard and If a Top Gear Canada would have be what we saw last sunday I would not still be happy but at least I could have think that it was not the real thing... But it was... The real thing.
 
I tired to clear all my expectations and come into the first viewing as neutral as possible, but that clearly didn't happen since I read a lot of this thread prior to my viewing. Undoubtedly that influenced my 3/10 rating.

- The Viper/Vette segment has some great cinematography, but I just didn't like the commentary from either Chris or Sabine. Also hiding in the hangar? Common, that was crap.
- The "we won custody" yelling during the Stig intro was totally uncalled for. The catering bit was fine, but I do wish they did a proper acknowledgment of what Top Gear was and where its going.
- Chris needs to stop slapping the Viper during the Stig lap segment.
- Did they rewrite all the lap times to get rid of Jeremy's handwriting?
- Evans telling Matt off with the "see you later" so that he could have his time in the spotlight came off really douchy.
- Jesse was totally unnecessary and added all of nothing of value to the show.
- Reliant segment was ok.
- I wish Matt was a bit more mechanically inclined. The little bit about the Nomad would've been nicer if he gave some more technical details - not that Clarkson could explain the suspension any better, but I feel like Matt's lack of explanation doesn't work with his character.
- Jeep/Land Rover segment was too forced and short. Would've loved to see a longer and more natural set of challenges.
- Evans really needs to stop yelling all the time.
- Get rid of the rally cross segment and go back to the proper circuit. That way you can compare the stars' times with the Stig's laps.
- Did anyone else notice how Evans kept trying to avoid using the corner names until he let out a "Gambon" towards the end of the SIARPC segment.

I'll still give the next episode a chance, but I'm ready for The Grand Tour.
 
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Finally, watched the second half of it and found more or less as underwhelming as the first. The US v. UK bit towards the end wasn't bad but everything else felt warmed over. TBH, I think Joey's lack of enthusiasm and general awkwardness on camera was more distracting than Chris' over-exuberance and obnoxiousness.

Extra Gear is a MUCH better show.
 
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Not my area so a request; Chris Evans is shouting via twitter ?THE FACTS? about 1st episode this series, better audience than 1st episode last series, consolidated (inc iplayer ) over 5m, won the night on UK TV with audience share etc.

Is he right?

Have they found a new audience to satisfy the beeb tweebs?

As well as the ratings, in the UK we have what is called the AI figure- basically, audience appreciation. I have no idea how it's worked out, but I do know that TV bosses take a LOT of notice of it; fans of shows like Doctor Who actively obsess over the AI figure every week. A good AI figure would I believe be 80 or above. Want to know what Evans' Top Gear got?

60.
 
As well as the ratings, in the UK we have what is called the AI figure- basically, audience appreciation. I have no idea how it's worked out, but I do know that TV bosses take a LOT of notice of it; fans of shows like Doctor Who actively obsess over the AI figure every week. A good AI figure would I believe be 80 or above. Want to know what Evans' Top Gear got?

60.
Where can I find these figures and what did Top Gear get in 2015?
 
Evans got to learn the difference between "Scandinavian Flick" and a "Handbrake turn"...
 
Evans now bragging about increased viewing figures with time shift and catch up taken into account, and having a go at the 'haters'. Does he not realise that just because a reasonable number of people watch something, it doesn't mean they can't be sat there thinking that it's shit?!
 
Top CVT is so far the best call.

This makes the most sense to me. This show seems to kick up to an incredibly annoying tone, and just stay there for about an hour. Top CVT it is!
 
Evans now bragging about increased viewing figures with time shift and catch up taken into account, and having a go at the 'haters'. Does he not realise that just because a reasonable number of people watch something, it doesn't mean they can't be sat there thinking that it's shit?!

His ego will not allow him to understand that general response to 'his' new show is just not that positive, so obviously in his mind we are all haters and CHM fanboys.

This will get worse as he will stubbornly keep doing 'his' thing, might even start doing the things we 'hate on' even more, the quality of the show will go down, ratings will plummit, criticisms will increase, and he will get more and more vitriolic in his reponses, digging his own grave further....

Classic arrogant, inflated ego celeb paradox.
 
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