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

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


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What confirms my assumption of the BBC not having any idea why Top Gear was so popular, is this:
Mark Linsey, director of BBC Studios, the corporation?s production arm, defended the decision not to radically overhaul the programme.

He said this week: ?I?m delighted with the first show, it's BBC Two?s highest rating programme of the year. We wanted to be faithful to the original for the people who do love it. We want new people to come to it. It will evolve and change as the series goes on but definitely we wanted to be faithful to a much loved show by the viewers.?

Hello Mr. Production Boss! The show wasn't popular because of the concept but because of the people who made and presented it!!!

Seriously...
 
I have to agree. The format is just the vehicle [pun acknowledged] to move the show along. What is really needed are presenters who can work together and have the possibility of chemistry developing between them. I think LeBlanc might be able to, but Evans shows no sign of being either a team player or developing chemistry. I don't think that Sabine will fit in well either. Remove these two and replace them with Jennifer Saunders and I think the show would improve 200%.
 
Exactly.

All those "technical" things like cinematography, editing, sound design, music selection, etc. are interchangeable. Those are things you can actually learn at a school. You have employees for that and by the way the "new" Top Gear is being made, you can tell the BBC has a big pool of people who can pull that of.

What the BCC does not have, though, is a pool of people who have the charms, the charisma, the chemistry and the public appeal to be loved by viewers of all ages -- from small children to elderly people. One of the reasons why CHM were so popular was because they didn't have a problem making a fool out of themselves. It's the Laurel & Hardy effect: Adults behahing like children are funny. So be an idiot. People respect you more and might get to love you when you don't take yourself too serious and have a knack for self-mockery.

Another reason for their continuing success was that they functioned as a team - no matter how good or bad the end result was, that always worked. Despite Jeremy being the alpha male in the studio, in the movies all three were equal and that was important.

Some people mentioned that the first Chris Evans episode wasn't as bad as the India Special. Maybe but do the litmus test: Imagine the India Special with Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc and Sabine Schmitz. You can try to imagine that but be warned: You could end up with a severe headache from knocking your head on the wall for an hour.

I cannot see Chris Evans or Matt LeBlanc behaving like children. Well, maybe Matt with the right team, dunno. He seems to be able to embody a convincing sidekick -- after all, he's an actor. But Chris? He seems too self-involved for something like that and would need to get the stick out of his butt first. I don't think they work well together in a video, so it would be better for the show (and the audience) to keep them separated.
 
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This came up on my YouTube suggested list, posting it here.

 
Positives - nil
Negatives - everything

Inane rubbish, worse than Top Gear Australia at it's worst. Curiosity is the only excuse one could use to watch the second episode.
They should've bought back Quentin Wilson, William Wollard and Steve Berry .. made a motoring magazine show (like in the olde days), saved millions of pounds and made something worth watching rather than insulting the audience with this poorly done parody of three middle aged men who have run out of ideas.

They could have broadcast a picture of a car for 30mins and it wouldn't and couldn't be worse then Top Gear Australia. Actually now I think about it, they threatened to have Shane Warne as a host - that could have actually made Top Gear Australia worse. Quite an achievement.

Maybe the new Top Gear should broadcast the Australian episodes before theirs. It will help make the new show look good.
 
Actually my own solution would have been to port over Top Gear USA, with their format, for one year on BBC2 before relaunching TGUK. At the very least that would've lowered expectations to a reasonable level.

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What the BCC does not have, though, is a pool of people who have the charms, the charisma, the chemistry and the public appeal to be loved by viewers of all ages -- from small children to elderly people. One of the reasons why CHM were so popular was because they didn't have a problem making a fool out of themselves. It's the Laurel & Hardy effect: Adults behaving like children are funny. So be an idiot. People respect you more and might get to love you when you don't take yourself too serious and have a knack for self-mockery.

They *do* have a pool of people who aren't afraid of looking like fools: Alan Davies, Phil Jupitus, Ian Hislop, Johnny Vegas, and yes, even Sue Perkins. The trouble is, they're not all that terribly interested in cars and driving culture to the extent that The Boys were.

The other thing they need? People in middle and upper management who *actively* supported the program no matter how much trouble the presenters got into. And the real problem is, middle management tends to come from that exact class of people who wouldn't understand TGUK's appeal because their mindset isn't geared up for it. So they have a hard time supporting the program as well as seeing things from the fans' point of view. (Why do you think there were so many stories about TGCE's teething pains? Because certain middle managers, both involved in production and on the outside, didn't like the decisions on how the show should be run and had media contacts on which they could vent. That's a sign of not understanding the show's appeal.)

You know the Peel P50 segment that was afterwards suggested as a preview of W1A? At least the network is self-deprecating enough to acknowledge that the problem exists.
 

Just because there's always got to be a Der Untergang reaction to everything :D
 
Am I right on saying this is the lowest rating for any TG episode since ww started doing these polls?
 
I don't know. The cringy series 15-16 probably were rated low.
 
If you watch all Top Gear episodes again (like I did not too long ago), you will find out that merely a handful episodes were as bad you insinuate -- and even those had good moments.

In hindsight things get kinda blurry.
 
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CHM TopGear at it's lowest, most India-special-ground-gear-sports-relief-eagle-I-thrust-bullcrap episodes was never as bad as Evansgear.
 
If you watch all Top Gear episodes again (like I did not too long ago), you will find out that merely a handful episodes were as bad you insinuate -- and even those had good moments.

In hindsight things get kinda blurry.

It's really a case of the "bad" episodes being the worst of an exceptional bunch.
 
New Top Gear is feeling like the Total Recall remake

The name is the same and the main plot is somewhat similar, but the main char is a wuss, it's not on Mars and there's no midget stripper with a uzi.

Great analogy, I refused to watch the new one for the exact reason I won't watch TG anymore. The original was a classic and can't be replaced.

I actually just came on here to see if the reports I heard were shared by the TG fans. I have no desire to watch Chris Evans kill all that was good about Top Gear by being his annoying Big Breakfast, Toothbrush TFI Friday - overbearing self.
 
Great analogy, I refused to watch the new one for the exact reason I won't watch TG anymore. The original was a classic and can't be replaced.

I actually just came on here to see if the reports I heard were shared by the TG fans. I have no desire to watch Chris Evans kill all that was good about Top Gear by being his annoying Big Breakfast, Toothbrush TFI Friday - overbearing self.

Is it such a great analogy? Especially since the "Original" in this case actually was a remake. I can't help but wonder if this show isn't getting a fair shot by the fans. After all, if I recall from Richard Porter's book Clarkson's first episode was actually his 3rd episode because the pilot and is subsequent attempt at a do-over were so terrible not only did they never see the light of day but they didn't even let James May watch them.
The funny thing is back when they were still looking for a host for the new Top Gear many here were advocating for Chis because he liked cars or whatever and I was against it because I thought he'd be terrible and now here I am saying he's not so bad he'll get better. I watched the episode over again today and it was a little better then I remember it, the studio bits weren't so good and the reliant stuff was all a bit pointless but it wasn't that much more pointless then Jeremy going booze shopping in France to avoid taxes or whatever that was about.
 
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I'm not aware that Paul Verhoeven's "Total Recall" was a remake. What was the original then?
 
I'm not aware that Paul Verhoeven's "Total Recall" was a remake. What was the original then?

Along comes the literal internet, Top Gear with Clarkson Hammond and May wasn't the original it was the remake.
 
Ah, now I get it.
 
Main photography and editing was crisp and very enjoyable, 10 points. Writing tried hard to be Clarksonian but felt inauthentic, 5 points. Matt LeBlanc was serviceable, if a bit muted, 7 points. Chris Evans was every bit as terrible as I had imagined, 0 points. Watching the Top Gun segment I couldn't help but thinking this would have been really good with Clarkson and Hammond or May. However, Evans and Co. will never be able to pull off CHM's Top Gear as well as CHM did. Until the new Top Gear crew come up with their own unique vision with their own voices, style, chemistry, running jokes, and even theme song, they will continue to fail. With the exception of Chris Evans I feel sorry for the new Top gear crew. A series of disastrous decisions by BBC management put them in an impossible position. As Evan's aggressively lobbied BBC management to replace Clarkson, watching him fall flat makes me smile.
Overall, 6 points and I doubt I will bother to watch the second offering any time soon.
 
Along comes the literal internet, Top Gear with Clarkson Hammond and May wasn't the original it was the remake.

Well, the only thing CHM Top Gear had in common with the original Top Gear was the name and having cars in the show.
So CHM Top Gear was the original of its format, while The Annoying Ginger has done a poor job trying to copy that format.
It's a huge difference, so I thought the analogy with Total Recall was spot on.
 
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