Season 14 slid off track

ozgirl said:
:nod: What they both said! Even if TG had never been any good (which it has and sometimes still is), it gave us Mr May, and for that I'm eternally grateful.


I also wish Jezza would do another one of his docos, when he's being serious he's bloody good to watch. Guess he's been way too busy writing TG and TG Live this year. I can tell you from personal experience he rewrote TG Live in the middle of the night sometimes!

I thought Hamster's Engineering Connections was quite good too, all the presenters are capable of good work on their own.

Maybe other posters are right, they need some time off and apart to reinvigorate the show. I think TG Live, budget cuts, the advancing years...I dunno, a bunch of things are conspiring against them. Will I still watch? Hell yeah, I've said before Ready Meal Top Gear is still better than the Pot Noodle shit most channels dish up!
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Careful! I suggested they take a break to refresh and allow their creative juices to flow once again and was knee deep in trolls!

I'm with you on this. The show is IMHO getting stale and repetitive and to my mind has been for some time. They should do what all good rock bands have done over the years - take a break, concentrate on some solo projects and then come back bigger and better than ever.

Some more of Jeremy's more serious documentaries would be fabulous - I still can't bring myself to delete "The Greatest Raid of All Time" from my Sky+ and each time I go to do it I have to watch it just once more and then have to keep it. and I'd like to see Hammond tackle some more serious subjects to instead of being the short one the girlies like with the puppy dog eyes.
 
Mineworksfine said:
The show is IMHO getting stale and repetitive and to my mind has been for some time.
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Absolutely! It makes sense, too. If you look back a few seasons, they constantly raised the bar further and further, still managing to jump higher and higher with growing fame. Now, it seems they've raised it so much it simply doesn't go any higher. They still jump and make it, but we've become so obsessed with TG constantly outdoing itself that we're bored easily when the quality levels out.

I don't even think it has to do with budget cuts. It's a natural flow. As hard as it is, now they need to lower the bar again, come to rest, settle down, take a breath. That's the only way they can gather new strength to really become good again. TG has become repetitive because they simply ran out of innovation. And except of blasting nuclear bombs at Dunsfold, what more can they do anyway?

Right now, the only way I see for them is to take a step back, do some self-analysing and see where they can change. And I hope they do, because I'm just afraid the current format is good enough for the average viewer, and they'll keep going like this for the upcoming seasons.
 
solsticeviolet said:
Really? And this is based on... what? How would you know whether or not the show is "viable"? In what way? If you don't like it anymore, why do you come here and complain? Why keep watching it? The only thing I see here is another person whining about how the show has failed to meet their own intangible, unrealistic standards. Either provide something concrete to back yourself up or just give it up already. :rolleyes:
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Intangible, unrealistic standards? I think the OP just wants the show to not become a cash cow and appeal to the masses by shamelessly scripting and faking everything to gain a broader audience. Perhaps in the world of television, this is something that is unrealistic and intangible, unfortunately, but then again, this is Top Gear we are talking about, a show we all thought would be immune to the the conventions of television.

This doesn't mean I think the show will get canceled, though, quite the opposite actually. The way the show is going right now, it could still rehash tons of material from old seasons of Top Gear new viewers haven't seen, and they could fake it up quite alot to create some more "incredible" moments that so many will just gobble up. However, this is a trend that will always, inevitably lead to failure, as even the people who like Top Gear now will eventually realize its just the same competitions, the same jokes, the same "accidents" that keep happening over and over again.

The OP perhaps just came here to complain, but most people here "complaining" are just offering criticism towards the show so it wont just become a shameless cash cow (which in some sense it has already).

I will even admit my first post on these forum was almost 3 years ago, and is quite embarrassing look back on: (http://forums.finalgear.com/top-gea...january-28th-2007-a-16393/page-10/#post394865) I basically said screw all of Top Gear's shortcomings, just watch it because its a good show. Even I changed as someone who once rejected any negativity about the show.
 
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be careful out here guys... anyone with fewer than a gazillion posts is at an advantage to get neg rep points for saying something that doesn't reflect absolute conformity to the opinions of those who are enjoying these not quite up to par episodes.

and we all know what happens with neg rep points... oh no, we get red squares in our profile... crap!
<<<<<<see :-D
 
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I make it a point never to negrep someone for a well-stated opinion. But then I usually stay out of threads like these :dunno:

9 posts and the worst person on the forum though... that's got to be some sort of record!
 
The problem that I have with TG is that I can't let go of it. I don't want to let go of it. Ever. And so maybe this season has been a bit mediocre, but still I watch it and look forward to the rest of the season too, even if it's not as ace as Series 10. And I don't want to look back when I think about the show and say that I was there when they had their downfall. I want to say that I was there when they were great. And they will always be great in my heart and in my mind. Not to mention gave us three talented men to look upon to.

And I know I will let go of it once it's all over. But I will never forget it, because it has enchanted me so much, to the point that it has helped finding who I am. The last time that happened was Pokemon when I was 7. I think we will all miss it once it's gone.
 
Richmondgal said:
The problem that I have with TG is that I can't let go of it. I don't want to let go of it. Ever. And so maybe this season has been a bit mediocre, but still I watch it and look forward to the rest of the season too, even if it's not as ace as Series 10. And I don't want to look back when I think about the show and say that I was there when they had their downfall. I want to say that I was there when they were great. And they will always be great in my heart and in my mind. Not to mention gave us three talented men to look upon to.

And I know I will let go of it once it's all over. But I will never forget it, because it has enchanted me so much, to the point that it has helped finding who I am. The last time that happened was Pokemon when I was 7. I think we will all miss it once it's gone.
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Another point well made. I owe you some rep for that. All the things many of us I am now sure are thinking.

It's become LCD TV - that's lowest common denominator not liquid crystal display. I believe they are so concerned with retaining the popular audience that they are alienating the fans who have always been there. The "Go and watch Fifth Gear" argument is no longer valid, partly because there is a chance we won't have that choice and also because TG has moved even further away.

To clarify the point I haven't walked into the office on a Monday morning for over a year and a half to the "How good was TG last night?" conversation. Sure it gets viewers but noone I know is talking about it any more that I know. We were with some friends yesterday for Sunday lunch and the show is normally a prime topic of conversation particulary in the middle of a series but it never came up.

We did, however, spend a good ten minutes waxing lyrical about "James May's Toy Stories"......
 
^^^Just wait til you see the Hornby and Lego eps!:)
 
I need to reply to this thread and sorry in advance for my long comment, but this needs to be said...

I don't think it's gonna be canceled soon, since more and more the show is aiming successfully at the mainstream (running after the ratings), with what I feel is now (especially this season) an comedic entertainment show with some car bits instead of being a great car show with some comedy in between made by petrolheads for petrolheads who don't take everything too seriously!

If they continue like this, I think in the longterm it will kill the show for me...

I don't think Jezza, Hammond and May should be the clowns on sunday night for the family audience... I like Jeremy because he is combining his humor with serious and interesting topics to make it entertaining and educational at the same time... Look at his older series like speed, motorworld, extreme machine etc were he used the same entertainment "ingredients", kinda what James May is doing lately in his own projects...

I also liked their honest (sometimes biased) comments on cars and the boys being themselves without giving a sh!t what other people think and staying REAL at the same time... IMO they showed character, but nowadays they are using their characters as entertainment value and I can feel that...

I don't know why they went like this, maybe they are all very busy with other projects, so they don't have the time to make the great and unique shows like before... Or maybe the budget cuts (andy wilman announced budget cuts a year ago in his blog) are showing their results... But in my opinion, if they continue like this, they are better off, taking a longer break and use it to come up with some new ideas instead of recycling the old stuff...

And don't get me wrong, I know that the other seasons had their up and downs with some boring episodes or filmbits... But most of the time they made up for it by surprising us with a really great and epic episode the next time. Even in season 13 i got this feeling, when they had great reviews like the Murci?lago LP670 or the Z4 vs 370Z OR the great cars like the FXX, veyron, mclaren and V12 vantage OR the nice journey with the panamera OR the great (and unique) films with may and ken block or jezza and may making the advertising AND ofcourse some fantastic guests with schumi and jay leno in the studio. Even if season 13 wasn't the best season for me and they already went a bit comedic at some times, the above highlights very well made up for it at the end. With season 14 I had no highlights till now... Here a short summary what I got till now:

14x01 (i rated 8/10)
Romania trip: nice scenery, especially the road at the end; the tunnel-bit was great; the part with the gypsies was actually funny... But the whole trip felt very staged, scripted and not spontaneous; concept recycled from the "best ever road" in episode 10x01 (which was really good); the cars weren't too special (not that I won't have them), these cars were already reviewed and tested in other episodes (atleast the "not-convertible" versions); some stupid and pointless challenges, which were at times predictable and not funny (example: james getting lost at the sat-nav race)

News: Only interesting news bit was the new mclaren and the first part of the porsche boxter, the rest they were desperately trying to be funny...

760Li vs S63 AMG: The beginning was really good, but then they overcooked it in my opinion by going crazy with the stig... Atleast I was laughing a lot :) ... But if i compare it to the other S-Class review from jeremy in episode 8x04, I think it lacked alot...

SIARPC: Great guest, don't need say much more

14x02 (i rated 6.5/10)
Electric car: To make it short, it had some nice and funny bits in there, but basically it was kind of a copy of building something and testing it, like they did with the caterham, the limousines, boats (twice) or police cars... It is getting boring to be honest...

News: No car news really, but to be honest it was quite funny, so they compensated it :)

R8 vs Corvette: Fantastic review... BUT only complaint I have, it was a bit boring (for me atleast). Because they already tested both cars! The R8 V8 in episode 10x02 and jeremy tested the R8 V10 in his film Duel. The ZR-1 was tested by Jeremy in episode 12x02... So why not test some other great cars they didn't had on the show yet?

SIARPC: Was OK

14x03 (i rated 7/10)
Gallardo vs Caravan: I liked the part of James, because a caravan under a flying balloon was a nice and new idea and I got the feeling James liked it even when it didn't went well. On the other hand the part of Hammond was ridiculous, they could have done this film without the Gallardo. I think they were better off, testing the R8 V10 vs the Gallardo Balboni in a seperate part and making the balloon thingy a bit shorter...

News: The Danish supercar was interesting (and the only car news) and the rest off it went comedy show again

Lancia film: I don't know how to rate this ... I think it had potential with these great cars but in the end it averaged out because they were cocking about too much and trying too hard to make it funny... It also felt a bit too long

SIARPC: One of the better guests since he was a petrolhead

14x04 (i rated 7/10)
Airport cars: Boring and dull, since it was cheap copy of the bus, caravan and something else race i forgot...

News: Again, only one interesting car news and that was the M5 CSL... for the rest they went comedy show *again*

SUV review: Great review but with the wrong cars ... But i liked the studio bits with the RR and H&H RR... The fast laps showed how pointless these cars were, u don't need to be Einstein to predict that these cars are going to be slow...

SIARPC: I was disappointed by Guy, maybe I expected more

Renault Twingo: This had some very funny parts like when Ross Kemp was popping up or the green car question. But for the rest, it was a bit predictable and not as far as good as the ford fiesta film from episode 12x06 which was really epic and a unique film.

To sum up the season till now and why I think this isn't a great season for me:
- Too much stuff we already seen in some form / nearly no creativity
- Too much comedy and trying hard to be funny
- For a car show, way to little (new and interesting) cars / only 1 proper top gear review per episode
- No highlights so far in this season; no real epic journey (the romania trip didn't do it for me) that glued me to the telly; no hypercar tests so far; no exotic car you never heard off; no unique films
- Yes I know this is a scripted show, but top gear never felt this staged, scripted and not spontaneous before...

Maybe I'm too harsh, but I think the missing highlights and this not being a car show anymore makes me think like this... To be honest, I enjoyed reading the Top Gear Magazine more than watching the shows this season, this tells a lot and this is the first season ever I got this feeling... When Jeremy announced they weren't on next week, I couldn't be bothered for the first time...
But still this is a great show compared to most of the crap that is on the telly nowadays, thats why I watch it and also because I'm waiting for the next highlight(s)...

I think a lot of people (including me) are afraid that Top Gear on a longterm is going the direction of trash mainstream tv and that is maybe why me and others here on this forum are overreacting and being harsh (especially this season).

Edit: I nearly forgot ... I think one of best things this season so far is, that they finally went HD!
 
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I agree with your last sentence (sorry skipped some of the rest :)).

The gradual "dumbing-down" of an iconic institution like the BBC is starting to depress me, and I'm worried that TG has fallen victim to this trend as well. I had a very clever female friend years ago who would act like a bimbo to attract blokes and it pissed me off immensely. The TG 3 IMO have been doing the same just lately, in the relentless hunt for ratings in which all TV shows must partake if they don't wish to be cancelled. Even my beloved QI this season seems to be spending more time on the guests' dicking about and anecdotes than the fabulous facts we're used to.
We know that Jeremy, James and Richard are intelligent and witty men, that's why many of us became fans in the first place. The breaking things for the sake of it, continual dick jokes, childish behaviour and lack of proper news all warn me they are succumbing to the ratings pressure.
As braintumour said, I think it's because other people feel my dismay that they're being so harsh. It's like having an A-grade pupil who turns in a C essay: that's always going to upset you more than a C student who turns in a D essay.
 
ive been enjoying it so far, havent watched e04 yet so NO SPOILERZZZ PLZZXX!
lol
but otherwise s14 has been a blast for me
 
I'm not going to rehash my thoughts about Series 14 (those are over in the 14x04 episode thread), but it's interesting that I'm not the only one that feels this way.

I think it's a case of TG gently skewing its focus over the last few series. As it has gained more mainstream popularity, it seems as though the producers are focusing more on the lowest common denominator. One suspects that the pressure to keep the masses on board to get the ratings and buy all the merchandise must be immense.

I really REALLY hope that Wilman & Clarkson know when to pull up stumps. Whilst I guess it must very tempting to keep pumping out the current incarnation TG for as long as people keep throwing money at them, it seems to be at the expense of the show's integrity. I'd hate for TG to go the same way as The Simpsons; yet another brilliant program ruined by producers that didn't know when to quit.
 
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I feel that Top Gear has gone from a motoring show to more...an entertaining motoring show. I still love Top Gear, but, I have to agree, it does seem like they're doing these reviews more for the people who don't give much care about cars. :tvhorror: For some reason, season 14 to me, doesn't have much of the magic. For me the best season of all was Season 10, which had like everything that made it great. Especially because it was about cars, but it was also entertaining. Today, they're trying to reach a broader audience. I have to say in 14x04, the airport vehicle thing felt pretty...repetitive (That might be a spoiler...I don't exactly know how to put in spoiler text SORRY helluvagood!!), we've seen Richard and the Touring car drivers smash RV's, then it was bus's, and now airport vehicles. It just seemed, each time, those races got a bit dull. 14x01, was my favorite so far, the beautiful roads of Romania just brought me back to the 10x01 episode, just with cars that were prettier. I remember the old days of the News segment, they'd talk about cars, and now, they just talk about barely related stuff. Ah heck, don't know if I've gotten off track or not myself. :bangin:

TopGearManiac said:
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Also as one user here mentioned this before. In the old days you could sense that they were having fun, it was original and true. Now, they do everything because of the ratings. its fake. It was fun for them to go with three cars to teh beach and race. Now they have to race a boat vs daytona for the ratings.
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It does feel that way, the Daytona vs. Boat didn't have much...magic for me as the older races. It just seemed, that that episode was more for...entertainment. Btw, when did they go to the beach and race? Was that the Audi TT vs. 350Z Roadster vs. Crossfire Convertible? :?
 
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I think people here might be confusing going for the LCD with just going for what worked before. In 14x04, for example, there's nothing that really was a big change from old material, which was actually part of the problem. There's nothing about it that's gunning for a different audience, and really the first time the features were used - thorough review, inappropriate race, driving a Range Rover on places that weren't the track - they worked absolutely brilliantly. They were old segments, not intrinsically bad or dumbed down ones.

That's really the problem here, they've done things they have already done before. That's less going for the LCD than it is just trying to be safe, forgetting that the best episodes are when something unexpected happens.

As for the "death" of TG, or any jumping of sharks, remember Series 10 came after Series' 8 and 9. More than once there has been an awful episode immediately followed by an amazing one. Let's give a chance for redemption before digging the grave.
 
I enjoy every episode, and most all of them are re watchable. And I really cannot complain; I do get it for free.

Maybe...it would not be a bad idea if they took one year off and ask the BBC viewers what they like or do not like, if it is going in the wrong or right direction.

Myself I would not mind if during one of the seasons, that one episode was solely dedicated to reviewing cars in their unique way and no SIARPC. Just back to the basics for one episode a season. Call it Top Gear Unplugged. :dunno:
 
I am surprised at the negative reaction to 14x04! I understand the electric car stuff not being that captivating and all, but I thoroughly enjoyed this latest one the most thus far... I think it is just a case of the show just polarising further - pushing the grumpy peoples further away and still totally satisfying the others.
 
Average or even crap Top Gear is still Top Gear and i'll take Top Gear over something like X-Factor anyday.
 
While I didn't think that 14x04 was a particularly good episode, there is no way that Top Gear will be canceled anytime soon due to poor ratings. All shows have a bad episode or two, and Top Gear is no exception. I think they could have taken away the "airport machines" segment and replaced it with another car review by May or Hammond.
 
jayhawk said:
Myself I would not mind if during one of the seasons, that one episode was solely dedicated to reviewing cars in their unique way and no SIARPC. Just back to the basics for one episode a season. Call it Top Gear Unplugged. :dunno:
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I love this idea.
 
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