My Biggest Issue With New Top Gear

bgrams7

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The thing that I dislike the most about the new incarnation of Top Gear is the 'Star in a Rallycross Car' segment, primarily the interview segments where it's a comparison of first cars and best cars. Really? Is that the best you can come up with? I understand that Clarkson can rub people the wrong way, but one thing he did very well was give genuinely good interviews most of the time and never had to resort to cheesy nonsense such as this. I do like the concept of switching it to a rallycross car, although I personally had no issue with the SIARPC format, however the interview portion has made me cringe through the first two episodes. I will say that episode two was more enjoyable than the first one (which I fell asleep twice when trying to watch, no joke), but it's kind of sad that this is what the show has become. I'm still hopeful that it will get better, but I am seriously considering watching Top Gear America again as what I once thought was a dismal show now puts the BBC version to shame. Joey, I mean Matt LeBlanc is better in the recorded segments but comes across too much like an actor (shocker!) in the studio segments. I do hope though that Eddie Jordan gets more airtime as I enjoyed his debut in episode two.
 
SiaRcC is stupid.
with the new layout for the Rallycross track, they ruin the "old" track with all the dirt and other crap.
and Matt should rename himself to Matt LeBland, because he is so boring in the live segments.
 
I would agree with that and was thinking the same thing. Luckily with it being England rain helps wash some of that crap off I'm sure, but they seem to have changed this portion of the show just for the sake of change when in my opinion, it didn't need changing. Have you also noticed the hand gestures that Matt keeps doing in the live segments? I shake my head every time.
 
yeah, it feels so weird. maybe he tries to signal his "homeplanet" to get him away from that shouty english guy :D

I wouldn't say, it washes off that easy. more like it covers all the track in some weird sticky goo, that makes the track even worse.
 
You're probably right. I wonder if they waste even more money paying someone whose sole responsibility is to clean the track after the rallycross segments.
 
You're probably right. I wonder if they waste even more money paying someone whose sole responsibility is to clean the track after the rallycross segments.

Oh No! That's the worst thing ever!
 
The star in the car segment has been the worst thing about Top Gear for years, when a guest who likes cars or wants to be there is on, it is usually interesting and fun. Most go on to plug their movie/show/cd though and it shows.

What Jeremy was very good at was lightening the mood and getting the guest to open up a bit and talk about cars, even if was clear they couldn't care less about being there.

It needed a refresh or dropping completely, unfortunately I think the refresh they have given it has made it a lot worse and not better, and Evans with his crappy interviewing style is a major reason. The rally car idea is OK but I think there is going to be huge time gaps which in the long run will not make it interesting. Credit to them for trying something a bit different but I think it hasn't worked and needs to be dropped, the number of people who say they don't like or skip over it is says it all really.
 
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The point of SIARPC was to get guests who were genuine petrolheads, i.e. they loved cars (or motorbikes; witness JC's reaction to Ross Noble and Ewan McGregor talking about their vehicles).
When Jonathan Ross's show got suspended, somehow the BBC managed to get TGCHM added to the talk show circuit. The difference being that Clarkson encouraged them to talk about their overall car history, as well as letting them plug their projects. In Ron Howard's case, since the project in question was a race car movie, it made for one of the better interviews. Michael McIntyre took the approach of using patter based on aggressive driving with a sub-par car, which meant he's a great judge of his audience and made for a nice segment too.
And of course what was *really* fun was when celebrity laps don't go as expected. I think one of the reasons they changed the format to "rallycross" was to put in a car that was genuinely safer to drive due to more standardized crash protection, and I don't expect them to show "off" laps. Which is a shame, because things like Margot Robbie and Lionel Richie and Jimmy Carr are genuinely fun to watch, because of the element of the unexpected.
And that's one of the things this version of TG really needs: the freedom to let the guests screw up and let them laugh it off.
 
Oh No! That's the worst thing ever!

Not really, I could think of worse. Plus I'm not British so it's not my tax dollars at work.

I agree 100% with the comments made by Hal and TopGearNorthAmerica.
 
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The point of SIARPC was to get guests who were genuine petrolheads, i.e. they loved cars (or motorbikes; witness JC's reaction to Ross Noble and Ewan McGregor talking about their vehicles).
When Jonathan Ross's show got suspended, somehow the BBC managed to get TGCHM added to the talk show circuit. The difference being that Clarkson encouraged them to talk about their overall car history, as well as letting them plug their projects. In Ron Howard's case, since the project in question was a race car movie, it made for one of the better interviews. Michael McIntyre took the approach of using patter based on aggressive driving with a sub-par car, which meant he's a great judge of his audience and made for a nice segment too.
And of course what was *really* fun was when celebrity laps don't go as expected. I think one of the reasons they changed the format to "rallycross" was to put in a car that was genuinely safer to drive due to more standardized crash protection, and I don't expect them to show "off" laps. Which is a shame, because things like Margot Robbie and Lionel Richie and Jimmy Carr are genuinely fun to watch, because of the element of the unexpected.
And that's one of the things this version of TG really needs: the freedom to let the guests screw up and let them laugh it off.

Here's my problem with what you said, Star in a reasonably priced car wasn't about petrol heads it was about getting a star in a reasonably priced car. Specifically it was a gimmick so that Clarkson could do the talk show he always wanted to do.
The problem with what Evan's is doing isn't that he's not "encouraging people to talk about their over all car history" Jeremy didn't encourage it he just asked about it. The problem with Evans is that he's turned that into a gimmick rather than just a casual chat where they can joke about it. The rallycross car isn't safer then the old car rallycross just gives you a more interesting lap by combining a road circuit with of road in a more interesting car.
 
Yeah, it has to be cut down significantly. On Extra Gear, you see all the decent footage they cut to make room for clips of Kevin Hart thinking he's funny.
 
They need a way to bring on guests for the live show bit.

Just need to tighten it up a bit.

If you consider they started later, they put the team together very late, they had some big staff changes while all this was going on, the show is running so far behind schedule they shorten the run by two shows, maybe they need to stretch because they have nothing else ready to show?
 
Yes, the new "star" bit is CRAP. All CRAP, all the time. I actually enjoyed Jeremy's work with the "stars" -- it was always a nice, fun discussion, and just the right length.

Now it is just AWFUL, and made even worse by how they have made it INSANELY long. I could possibly stand the new Top Gear, if not for this half-hour-long (here in the US on BBC America) utter waste of time. There is just no way on Earth that the new Top Gear will be any kind of success with this wretched nonsense.
 
I've always thought the "star" segment was terrible. Evans does make it less bearable and I don't like the modifications to the track. But given that I never liked the segment anyway I don't really consider it a big problem.

I do agree with thoots though. It's now way, way, way too long.
 
I think new Top Gear might be more watchable when it reaches the repeat stage on Dave TV because they will have to cut 15-20 minutes out to fit in the ads. Hopefully that means most or all of the SIARC segment will go and maybe even some of the Evans segments too. I'd rather watch ads currently. :D
 
Clarkson actually has opinions and he's intelligent, he's a very good interviewer.

Evans is .... I don't know what he is because he has no personality, character or seemingly any thoughts. This is why 90% of his SIARPC segment depends on input from guests or audience because he has nothing to say, or rather shout.
 
Clarkson actually has opinions and he's intelligent, he's a very good interviewer.

Evans is .... I don't know what he is because he has no personality, character or seemingly any thoughts. This is why 90% of his SIARPC segment depends on input from guests or audience because he has nothing to say, or rather shout.

It's interesting how you tried to spin that in a way that's just saying "Evans is shit" reality is Chris really does know how to do an interview since he's only been doing them for years on his radio show on a regular basis and that the new format for Rallycross car probably has more to do with trying to make it different, than anything Evans' can or can't do.
 
It's interesting how you tried to spin that in a way that's just saying "Evans is shit" reality is Chris really does know how to do an interview since he's only been doing them for years on his radio show on a regular basis and that the new format for Rallycross car probably has more to do with trying to make it different, than anything Evans' can or can't do.

But he's right, so there's that.
 
It's interesting how you tried to spin that in a way that's just saying "Evans is shit" reality is Chris really does know how to do an interview since he's only been doing them for years on his radio show on a regular basis and that the new format for Rallycross car probably has more to do with trying to make it different, than anything Evans' can or can't do.

Yes I know he's been conducting interviews since forever, but you wouldn't think so based on what he does on TG. He really is shit.

I think he's uncomfortable in front of a camera and just can't do his job. That's why everyone on the set reports it takes him many many takes to film his segments. Has he done any tv shows before?
 
Yes I know he's been conducting interviews since forever, but you wouldn't think so based on what he does on TG. He really is shit.

I think he's uncomfortable in front of a camera and just can't do his job. That's why everyone on the set reports it takes him many many takes to film his segments. Has he done any tv shows before?

Like I said, the problem isn't that he doesn't have the talent it's that he's made creative decisions which seem to work against his strengths. If he was doing just straight forward interviews he'd be fine but I guess the consensus was that the mouth breathers would complain that it was too similar to the previous Top Gear.

The real problem isn't that he's shit it's that you want him to be shit.
 
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