Season 14 slid off track

All style, no substance.

That is it exactly for me, there are some beautiful shots followed by...well nothing.

At this point I would be happy for the show to take a break, just every couple of months put out a two hour special, something like the Antarctic, Booneville, best road in Europe type thing.

Also, seriously, it's time to change the SIARPC car, that board is way to crowded now, change it to something that has pretensions of being sporty.
 
It looks like TG started shifting its target audience to idiots, imbeciles and women now.

You know, if you left the "women" part out of it, I'd have said nothing.

Women like cars, too. If you don't like that, kiss my tits.
 
Women like cars, too. If you don't like that, kiss my tits.

Quoted for posterity. Somehow I think the kind of guy who doesn't like that would gladly do so. And the kind of guy who does as well, but who's keeping track?
 
You know, if you left the "women" part out of it, I'd have said nothing.

Women like cars, too. If you don't like that, kiss my tits.

Quoted for posterity. Somehow I think the kind of guy who doesn't like that would gladly do so. And the kind of guy who does as well, but who's keeping track?

Umm, I'm sorry, I think I have the wrong room.

Would you two like me to put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door as I leave?
 
The actual moment was...

In the art gallery, with the art expert chap, May's "sculpture" and Clarkson and Hammond walking towards it.

I KNEW, it was coming down and Clarkson and Hammond would jump back in mock horror. And May would just stand there with a look on his face before saying "Clarkson you Oaf"

Except he didn't say anything, he just looked and I could see him thinking "Oh Christ, what have we become"...

This is TG as a Laurel and Hardy film :-(


I felt sorry for May, the butt of a primary school bully and his giggling mate. May had done a good job, much better than the other two (I liked his idea and the execution) and his reward...... ridicule and torment. Maybe not in real life but certainly the way it came over on TV and now this is what we've become..... the bully.

TG has morphed into paint-balls-in-the-balls, penis jokes, cardboard toilets and setting clothes on fire to appeal to "the masses" and let's face it begging the humble footie fan to visit the art museum just pokes at getting chaves on TV.

It was only a couple of seasons ago SIARPC was free of celebo's plugging sh!t and at the time JC was oh so proud..... saying it would never happen!! Yeah, times change.

The push for ratings, audience numbers, a world tour, fame, money and all the trappings have not only led the show astray but the "stars" as well. Get May in his own shows, for example, and a completely different character emerges, and a good one too.
 
It was only a couple of seasons ago SIARPC was free of celebo's plugging sh!t and at the time JC was oh so proud..... saying it would never happen!! Yeah, times change.

90-something percent of all SIARPCs have been there to plug stuff as well as have a go in the Liana or Lacetti. In fact, I'd say most of S12's guests were there to promote something, as Wossy was in timeout.
 
It just came to my mind;
that the current Top Gear is like seeing your mother drunk. :?

:lol:
 
I dunno, I though Season 14 started off really well (episode one was epic) and has been pretty good up until this episode, which yeah was both predictable and pretty boring.

I mean I always enjoy watching them goof off but the art gallery sequence was too long and too predictable.

I'm disappointed though that there hasn't been a cheap car challenge this season, nor has there been an epic race in a while. I also wish they'd do some more stuff Stateside. Season 12, episode 2 was probably my favorite episode of the show, both in terms of production quality, genuineness, and that it featured a Challenger, a CTS-V, and a ZR-1.

Speaking of, I was disappointed the ZR1 didn't get a longer review. I mean I'd been waiting since Season 13's season preview for it, and it was a letdown. too short.

I also wish they'd give the CTS-V a proper review, and revisit the Viper. I mean they haven't tested one since it was redesigned. Since they its gained 100 hp or so, and the ACR version.

Overall though I'd just like the show to be more honest. I love it when they "cock about" I just don't want it to feel forced like it did in the last episode.

I'm new, forgive my rambling! :D
 
I dunno, I though Season 14 started off really well (episode one was epic) and has been pretty good up until this episode, which yeah was both predictable and pretty boring.

"Predictable" is the important word here. I remember 2-3 years back, Top Gear was all about surprise. I remember saying to myself: "no way, they won't do that!" and then they did. That's the difference. Today, we somehow predict, what will happen, but that's maybe because we've grown used to the show and know what to expect. I think that the newcomers to the show enjoy every single episode of the new series. But yeah, they could pay more attention to regular viewers.

For me, the worst segment of Season 14 was the "sensible road test" of the Twingo in Belfast. They really couldn't think of anything better than wrecking the car? If they at least gave us a reason why, but Jeremy didn't. Jeremy usualy destroys bad cars (and I agree with that). Maybe I'm missing something, but I though he liked the car or at least didn't hate it... It's as if they removed all the talking (arguing, criticising etc.) and only showed us the result...
 
Jeremy usually destroys bad cars...

There was some classic brand name car Jeremy used to destroy.
The kind that has an owners club, with all those people that live in the past.
And they would get really pissed if one of their "dream cars" got hit by a piano.

:lol:
 
TG has morphed into paint-balls-in-the-balls, penis jokes, cardboard toilets and setting clothes on fire to appeal to "the masses" and let's face it begging the humble footie fan to visit the art museum just pokes at getting chaves on TV.

The push for ratings, audience numbers, a world tour, fame, money and all the trappings have not only led the show astray but the "stars" as well. Get May in his own shows, for example, and a completely different character emerges, and a good one too.

I'm not sure that they do these things to "appeal to the masses" as you put it, I'm a little more worried that they're just running out of ideas and that by doing all the other stuff; the tour et all, they are stretching themselves too thinly.

There have been some good moments this series, I loved the Lancia film for example and think that stands up amongst any of the 'classic' TG films, but there's just a rushed feeling about this series that I'm hoping has to do with the filming schedule. Let's face it, they cocked it up, they didn't have time and they rushed it.

Also I don't necessarily 'get' what masses are being appealed to because the kind of people that watch X-Factor and Big Brother are not the people who are going to watch a motoring show because Jeremy crushes a cardboard toilet completely predictably for cheap laughs. I know there's a tendency to think of new viewers as idiots and shallow and fickle and all that other stuff but to a certain extent I sense that maybe the hardcore car fans are just not wanting anyone who isn't one of them to enjoy it, or understand it. I'm an old school fan who has watched Top Gear for as long as I can remember and I'm also a woman. I think that Top Gear can appeal to a whole variety of people without resorting to some of the things that it has done recently. I'm hoping that they'll work out a better balance between entertainment and motoring/engineering because Top Gear is still some of the best television around.

Let's all be kind to each other and stroke fluffy kittens and watch rainbows... I've gone too far now, haven't I :D
 

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Let's get back to reality. We want to know about the cars we all drive or may hope to drive in the real world. Not this delinquent world of speeding and contempt for the environment.?

Who let the Prius owner in?

Anyway, I watched the episode last night, I didn't think the art gallery segment was quite the cataclysm everybody said it was. Was it their finest hour? Certainly not. Was it slow, predictable, even tedious? Yes. But I didn't think it's the tragedy people are making it out to be.

I'll be happy if they learn from it and never, ever do it again -- in the world. Ever.
 
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I think we're all scratching our heads way too much on how to explain TG's gradual demise. It's been 7 years and 14 seasons, could it just be boredome?
Or could it be that we witnessed 3 rather unknown regular blokes (Clarkson was on tv but not that big from mainstream audience) becoming celebrities too big for their boots, tweed and leather jackets?
Was thinking the other day:
- May has differents shows (Meccano, with OZ), he is sometimes guest on a show (as an intervenant or to plug something), he has his column in a paper.

- Hammond: I will pass the serialization of his book on The Mirror, he has a few books to his name, he presents or has presented shows (should I worry about, brainiac, total wipeout, blast lab, engineering connections) on 3 different channels (sky, nat geo, bbc2), he stars in the annoyingly naff ads from Morrison, he has appeared as a guest on shows (again, as a panelist or a plugger), also has his own column in The Mirror.

- and Clarkson, where to start? has columns on two sister papers (Times, Sun), has been invited by his mate Jon Ross a few times, has been a guest of Parkinson, has been on question time, has presented HIGNFY, has appeared in Grumpy old men, has had a few show ( Motorworld, documentary on Brubnel, Car Years and Jeremy Clarkson Meets the Neighbours), has been a contestant on QI, been a guest on The One Show and 8/10 cats, has numerous books to his name...

And so on. And that is without mentionning TG.

My point is this, consciously or subconsciously you and I have had to endure the 3 amigos becomin big, and I mean big in the UK. Then 1/ it plays on your nerves, nobody likes to be force-fed by medias, we love variety. I for one cannot stand the sight of Hammond anymore, 3 years ago we could have been easily mate but now I feel I'd slap him after 5 minutes. And 2/ It plays on their minds, they become too big for their boots, they spend loads of time working on their individual projects and somehow TG's quality is suffering. And I've said it before, but in the space of 7 years they also have become multimillionaires and it seems to me that they now only appreciate fast and expensive cars, listen to Clarkson becoming blase by Ferraris and Porsches. it's ok to share their passion for 50 grand + cars, we're all big boys wishing we had one, and as it has been mentioned before we do need a bit of escapism from our normal lives, but in every show a supercar? No thanks I've had it.

Money and fame have gone to their heads, I know my comments will not go down well for some, but I am adamant it is the case.

I am developing one, two or three reasons on why we fans from the first hour have become disillusioned, but obviously I don't pretend to be right and there's got to be many other factors.
 
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Money and fame have gone to their heads

Possibly in 2 out of 3 cases. I'm not convinced that someone whose daily driver is a Fiat Panda could be accused of having money and fame going to their head. :p

Every other point you made is valid. The thing is that many of these individual projects seem to stand well on their own two feet - James' solo projects deserve a special mention. Were it not for TG, would James been given the opportunity to work with Oz Clarke or make James May's Toy Stories? Maybe, maybe not.

Loss of innocence and perhaps a little of what Australians refer to as 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' is starting to creep in. Well, maybe not as badly as it would if they were Australian: we'd all be ripping the TG 3 to shreds by now if they were Aussies. Anyway ...

When these 3 guys were jamming in a garage to a small audience of hardcore fans, we knew they'd make it big one day. Then, when they hit the big time and became a full blown stadium rock act, much of the appeal they had when they were just 3 guys jamming in that garage has been trampled on by Johnny-Come-Lately fans that just want to hear their last two biggest Number 1 hits played 17 times in a row and don't give a stuff about their early work. It's like someone going to a Kings of Leon concert and leaving once they have played 'Sex On Fire', despite the fact that their one hit is really piss poor compared to their earlier work.

I think that right now, TG is out of gas and needs to refuel. This will take a while. Big comebacks are often impressive when those doing the comeback are fully refreshed, newly inspired and totally focused.
 
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Possibly in 2 out of 3 cases. I'm not convinced that someone whose daily driver is a Fiat Panda could be accused of having money and fame going to their head. :p

Well..... I have the impression that is also a con, part of James May's character that he plays, "Captain Slow" that good old funny sort of eccentric englishman, never one to conform. He could tell us he travels by scooter for all we know, and if as the legend goes he actually drives a panda* on a regular basis, let's not forget he apparently also owns a few others cars that are not exactly cheap to buy and to run, from the old one(s?) (a Rolls he once introduced on TG) to a Porsche Boxter he wrote about when going on holidays in France last summer.
But the thing that's sure is that he like the other two is overexposed these days.

(*He could effectively drive from home to the BBC studios in character after all, just for the show off. Remember David Cameron cycling to Westminster to show his green credentials in front of the cameras................ and followed off cam by his chauffeur in a gaz guzzling Lexus to carry his files? ;) )

I did like your metaphor of a band making it big I must say. :) Where I disagree (with a lot of people here) is the fact that that even with a long break I don't think it'll ever be as good, the show is on its last leg and has been one of the best of the noughties but it has run its course. Never ever would they be able to recapture that innocence that you mention, the show has grown old and they have grown old. Think Friends and on a different theme Top of the Pops in their last year(s), galaxies away from where it started. Not everyone's The Simpsons! :p
 
Well..... I have the impression that is also a con, part of James May's character that he plays, "Captain Slow" that good old funny sort of eccentric englishman, never one to conform. He could tell us he travels by scooter for all we know, and if as the legend goes he actually drives a panda* on a regular basis, let's not forget he apparently also owns a few others cars that are not exactly cheap to buy and to run, from the old one(s?) (a Rolls he once introduced on TG) to a Porsche Boxter he wrote about when going on holidays in France last summer.
But the thing that's sure is that he like the other two is overexposed these days.

(*He could effectively drive from home to the BBC studios in character after all, just for the show off. Remember David Cameron cycling to Westminster to show his green credentials in front of the cameras................ and followed off cam by his chauffeur in a gaz guzzling Lexus to carry his files? ;) )

I can vouch for the fact he uses the Panda as his everyday car, because the whole time we were building the Lego house, he came to and from Denbies (winery) in it. Much to our (ok my) disgust, the Airfix kids got the 911! He needed the Panda to transport a camera crew to various sites as well, no chauffer for James!
Yes he has a Porsche Boxster (now 5 years old), an old 911, and an old Corniche (it was a Bentley he had on his 1st TG appearance). He's also got a couple of motorbikes, and a Brompton folding bicycle. Which he uses.
This is also the man who is currently agonising over whether buying a Ferrari will make him a total twat, and should he get a colour other than red to be less of a berk.
With James I get the feeling he doesn't find it easy to say no to people, hence lots of appearances. Plus, he's smart enough to know you have to be seen to sell, and it's not just his time and money invested in these projects.
Yes I am a James fangirl (duh!) but one of the common complaints for the last couple of TG eps has been "not enough James". And it's not just been the not-a-dudes :p
So, up himself and overexposed? I don't think so.
 
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Yes I am a James fangirl (duh!) but one of the common complaints for the last couple of TG eps has been "not enough James". And it's not just been the not-a-dudes :p
So, up himself and overexposed? I don't think so.

Just for the record buying a Ferrari will make you a twat James, especially if you get a yellow one... ;)

I get the distinct impression that it's Richard that's in danger of becoming up himself. I don't have any hard evidence to back up my assertions or anything but that's my feeling. I think Jeremy would be happy to write and film TG and do nothing else. He does a run of publicity for his Christmas DVD and book once a year and then buggers off again and James just does pretty much everything he's asked because he enjoys it and he's smart enough to know it might not last forever.

My two pence worth!
 
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