Going downhill a bit?

[Vette Boss]

Once I got thinking about it, now that FG lasts an hour, it seems they have trouble filling all the time they have with interesting stuff. I mean how boring is it watching Tiff Needell fumble to type in a laptime, and more of Jon Bentley talking about how different types of petrol perform?

If anything, FG was better when it was only 30min cos there was only time for the basics, now that they have more time, it's more boring to watch. I'd much rather have 30mins of excitement than an hour of boring stuff. I have also noticed recently their choice of music has been rather poor. Insulting TopGear really doesn't help their case any, only makes them look worse IMO.

Do you guys think it was better before, or am I alone here?

 

[SL65]

We already have a million threads about this but thats ok, I feel the need to speak out like you Vette Boss:

Old Fifth Gear definatly had quality OVER quantity.
The "office" segments are boring because its all so fake and its just annoying watching Tiff use a computer. Top Gear just use a permanant marker and a sticky board.
Not only are the "office" segments boring but the actual reviews and topics they choose are just BORING. This boring-ness can be attributed to having to fill up more time. For example, Toms review of the Continental Flying Spur was too long and went nowhere!
Another fault are the presenters. Tiff and Tom are great but Vicki's laugh irratates me and i'm not one to fall for "sex appeal" on a motoring show. I care more about cars than I do girls! And for some unknown reason, Jason is starting to annoy me. Maybe its that hat he wore in the last episode.

~RANT OVER~

 

[RichW]

We already have a million threads about this but thats ok, I feel the need to speak out like you Vette Boss:

Old Fifth Gear definatly had quality OVER quantity.
The "office" segments are boring because its all so fake and its just annoying watching Tiff use a computer. Top Gear just use a permanant marker and a sticky board.
Not only are the "office" segments boring but the actual reviews and topics they choose are just BORING. This boring-ness can be attributed to having to fill up more time. For example, Toms review of the Continental Flying Spur was too long and went nowhere!
Another fault are the presenters. Tiff and Tom are great but Vicki's laugh irratates me and i'm not one to fall for "sex appeal" on a motoring show. I care more about cars than I do girls! And for some unknown reason, Jason is starting to annoy me. Maybe its that hat he wore in the last episode.

~RANT OVER~

If you dont like it then dont...

To be honest I think you may have hit all the points. I like Tom, Tiff and Jon. I think they are a good mix of presenters. You dont need 2 further "Racing" drivers when you have Tiff, whose competed in F1 for gawds sake!

I was trying to imagine how the show could be without the Top Gear copied things. I dont really know though how they could beat the others. MAybe if they stopped giving away a car each week and plowed the money into the production values.

 

[bartboy9891]

its really only 45 minutes. they now do longer reviews, which is good. FG has never been as good as TG IMO. its just a continuing trend.

 

[Scud]

It's just as fake as TG news.

Heck that is even more fake and with bad acting.

Like Hamster acting all suprise when finds out about a name and then goes on and shows how the car looks inside and giving info about it.

Not the first time either.
They do it all the time just like in the so called challanges they have.
Where Jezza only spended one pound on the car both hamster and May couldn't belive it.
Then abit later he explained why it only costed jezza 1 pound.

That's more fake the FG.

 

[justin syder]

Jon Bentley is a boring bum, he needs to be tortured by the CIA to be less boring or something.

That's it Im done.

 

[Z Draci]

It's a bit discomforting how much some people worship Top Gear like it was the Bible . . . and Jeremy Clarkson as Jesus Christ. Just because they have the same initials doesn't mean anything. :lol:

In all seriousness, you guys should expend your energy on actually emailing the Fifth Gear crew if it bothers you this much.
It's like me saying I hate Smallville but watching it anyways . . . and complaining about it.

I personally think FG is still FG. It's more serious and driver oriented than TG.
I think TG is geared more for the general audience instead of the car driver's audience. This is why TG is far more entertaining. IT APPEALS TO THE AVERAGE JOE THAT DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT CARS! I watch FG because they can provide the insight from a race car driver's point of view. TG basically only has Clarkson and his style of reviewing . . . and entertainment.

For example, I found that Tiff's review of the V8 Vantage was far more informative than Jeremy's (comparing television reviews). I can also say the same about the E60 M5 review as well.

I just think both shows has their weaknesses and strengths.
I don't think Top Gear is better than Fifth Gear because Tiff & Co. isn't as funny or entertaining as Jeremy & Co.

 

[bartboy9891]

It's just as fake as TG news.

Heck that is even more fake and with bad acting.

Like Hamster acting all suprise when finds out about a name and then goes on and shows how the car looks inside and giving info about it.

Not the first time either.
They do it all the time just like in the so called challanges they have.
Where Jezza only spended one pound on the car both hamster and May couldn't belive it.
Then abit later he explained why it only costed jezza 1 pound.

That's more fake the FG.

actually in that challenge, JC tells of how his friend actually went and found the car. Hammond tells the reason of WHY such cars are so cheap.

 

[RichW]

It's just as fake as TG news.

Heck that is even more fake and with bad acting.

Like Hamster acting all suprise when finds out about a name and then goes on and shows how the car looks inside and giving info about it.

Not the first time either.
They do it all the time just like in the so called challanges they have.
Where Jezza only spended one pound on the car both hamster and May couldn't belive it.
Then abit later he explained why it only costed jezza 1 pound.

That's more fake the FG.

Dont normally agree with you, but thats a valid point. Its completely daft when you think about it. Its why the things like them standing on that mountain on the IOM are great. Its sounds improvised. When you try and force it, it ends up being a bit.... well..... Fifth Gear studio.

 

[Scud]

First hammond said why the cars where that cheap.
Like he knew ALL ALONG what was going on.

Then Jezza said he had a friend who went blah blah blah.



TG seems alot more fake to me.
I bet they even fake the races they have so that Jezza can win.

I still like it cause it make me laugh every now and then.
It's good entertainment and I only watch it cause of that like I would watch a comedy show.

FG is just better in everything else they know what they talk about and give good tips unlike TG who feed you shit in a funny way.

 

[bartboy9891]

First hammond said why the cars where that cheap.
Like he knew ALL ALONG what was going on.

Then Jezza said he had a friend who went blah blah blah.



TG seems alot more fake to me.
I bet they even fake the races they have so that Jezza can win.

I still like it cause it make me laugh every now and then.
It's good entertainment and I only watch it cause of that like I would watch a comedy show.

FG is just better in everything else they know what they talk about and give good tips unlike TG who feed you shit in a funny way.

Other way around, JC talked about his friend, and then Hammond explained how cars are that cheap. And i doubt that they races are staged, it would be way more complicated than just doing the race normally.

 

[awdrifter]

After watching some old Top Gear, I think the FG now is kinda like the old TG (1991), they have relatively inexpensive car tests, crash test (or other informative segments), and occassionally some racing and other stuff. But for some reason, the old TG still seems to the better than the current FG. Maybe it's the topic they chose and now they have to fill 1 hr. This week ep just sucked. They can easily double the length of the M6 review and give us a more indepth review instead of the same drift on the track. And I just skipped the crash investigation, it's boring. I don't expect FG to be better than TG, but usually it's still enjoyable, they should do more ep like that 24hr race ep, that was the best ep (imo) of this season.

 

[SteveM]

First hammond said why the cars where that cheap.
Like he knew ALL ALONG what was going on.

Then Jezza said he had a friend who went blah blah blah.



TG seems alot more fake to me.
I bet they even fake the races they have so that Jezza can win.

I still like it cause it make me laugh every now and then.
It's good entertainment and I only watch it cause of that like I would watch a comedy show.

FG is just better in everything else they know what they talk about and give good tips unlike TG who feed you shit in a funny way.

So, uh, why do you think Hammond knew in advance how much JC paid? All three of them bought their cars for less than a hundred quid. Why? Because of the new laws requiring cars to be recycled and scrap dealers charging ?150 to take a vehicle away which in turns means dealers would rather sell P/X cars for pennies than simply scrap them. That was the whole point of the segment. That does NOT necessarily mean that they knew how much the other cars cost to buy. In fact it would go some way towards explaining why the other two were so shocked as they'd all bought their cars in the same fashion and didn't think JC could have got a car cheap enough to beat them. Sorry but your logic just doesn't hold on this one...

As for the races, the DB9 / Train WAS faked, in that JC actually got to the end over an hour before the boys arrived and some of the editing showed things to be closer than they really were. The other two though seemed to be completley kosher, they must have got better at doing the maths when setting up the challenges

As for the topic at hand FG seems to be suffering a bit from not having any real identity of their own. This year they had the chance to go off and do something different, instead they grabbed the TG format and altered it just enough to miss the point. I also think that having to break for adverts really hurts them as well, makes it very difficult to build up any momentum in the show.

 

[HeadRusch]

Guys, TG is a scripted comedy show where the premise is putting cars that 80% of their viewing population will never be able to afford through the ringer.

Its a laugh. I mean, I wouldn't buy a car based off a Top Gear review....its an entertainment show thats kinda sorta pretending to be an automobile show. At TG they are concerned with speed, handling and looks. Not actually living with the car, repair costs, gas mileage and so on. Its like "lets take this car out and be 12 year old boys!". And god bless em' for it

Whereas 5G is more down to earth, tho at 1 hour they are now trying to compete with the TG formula and offer up more "whimsical" reviews as well, on cars that most people can't afford....their 1/2 hour shows are definately more on the informative side. Honestly I think the shows compliment each other quite well.

 

[SL65]

This is old and relates to opinions of the last series. My comments have vastly changed since then...but feel free to discuss if you want.

 

[MasterEvilAce]

I felt TG was awesome before this new season. They said they changed it so it wouldn't get boring.. but it actually... got boring.

FG just sucks!
Tiff gets a Z06 and all he does is basically burn the rear tires around a corner.
How vague is that? And it was at the end of the episode.. as if they just threw it in there.

Not to mention they try to use similar music to TG, but they fail horribly when they try to incorporate it

 

[SL65]

FG just sucks!
Tiff gets a Z06 and all he does is basically burn the rear tires around a corner.
How vague is that? And it was at the end of the episode.. as if they just threw it in there.

It was one of those reviews where Tiff was sold on the car from the beginning so there was nothing much left to do but have fun. And it doesn't matter where in the episode that is...who cares!

But the review on the VW Eos was BAD! It was short, Jason didn't have any complaints with the car (and its far from perfect..) and it was just short.

 

[rove80]

I would have to agree that since going to hour long episode the show is not as interesting as it was that said i have an EXCLUSIVE about a segment of the next UK episode.

Apparently they are reviewing if the new ashtry in BMW M5 is bigger than that in the equivilent Mercedes (I will be setting my Sky+ for that!)

 

[trionic]

Sometimes it feels that program is made for 8 year olds with learning problems. So much time is wasted in picture angles and repeating same things over and over again.

I would like to have more information and more deep/complex way.

Time is wasted enormously.

 

[Top Gear Girl]

Re: Going downhill a bit?

Jon Bentley talking about how different types of petrol

Jon's items are of far more use than the, Power Lap Times, and, A Star In A Reasonably Priced Car, on Top Gear.

The Power Lap Times, are completly meaningless, so what if the Zonda can go round the TG track in 1.28, or whatever, even if you had a Zonda, you're not going to drive it round the TG track, so it is meaningless.

Again, so what if, Patrick Stewart can drive a crappy car round the TG track in 1.42, or whatever, again meaningless.

But, with Jon's items, you use petrol, the crash tests are interesting, so its of use.