TG in Radio Times

the way to see it (and i'm looking forward to seeing the next series just as much) is that if Top Gear goes on a extended break, you'd KNOW it would be coming back and when it comes back you know the wait is going to be worth it. If they keep doing a new series you'll be constantly thinking "wonder what they can possibly come up with this series."
besides even if Top Gear goes off the air for a bit, another way to see it is that it won't be like Doctor Who which is off the air for a extended amount of time, since Top Gear isn't a drama series and you can be guaranteed that at some point one of the presenters will be doing some show.

^ that's why the break doesn't have to be such a painful thing.
 
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the way to see it (and i'm looking forward to seeing the next series just as much) is that if Top Gear goes on a extended break, you'd KNOW it would be coming back and when it comes back you know the wait is going to be worth it. If they keep doing a new series you'll be constantly thinking "wonder what they can possibly come up with this series."
besides even if Top Gear goes off the air for a bit, another way to see it is that it won't be like Doctor Who which is off the air for a extended amount of time, since Top Gear isn't a drama series and you can be guaranteed that at some point one of the presenters will be doing some show.

*sigh* You're right. And I guess I'd have Dave and my DVDs to keep me happy. I guess, with an extended break, I'd always have that fear that the presenters would get so preoccupied with their other stuff, the break could be longer than originally intended!
 
actually i think MWF hit the nail right on the head there. While i'm of the opinion that Top Gear doesn't need fixing, just a bit of fine tuning. I would say that a years break would do the show a world of good. Doctor Who is a good example and i'd also say Star Trek is as well, both shows that were getting stale and repetitive and in Star Trek's case, when it came back it was back at its glory highs again.
Way i see it they should give Top Gear a years break, let James go off and do another wine adventure or (fingers crossed) a follow up to his moon documentary, let Hamster carry on with his blast lab antics and wipeout adventures and finally let Jezza produce some great documentaries on the same scale as his 'greatest raid' doc. That way when they return to work at the hallowed ground of Dunsfold, they'll be able to resume the magic we all revere.
The ones who don't want Top Gear to go off the air or on a extended break (such as in MWF's neg rep shows) then they need to realise the show might carry on, but it would eventually reach a serious case of burn out and it'd only be a matter of time until Top Gear would be ended, permanently.

Well said.
I was just saying the other day it might be good idea for TG to have a rest with maybe just a Christmas special for a while.
 
I can finally admit I don't really understand the system either. I thought I did (just click +/- box) but it's the rest I don't understand.

At the moment I've got:

31 reps on the UCP page
938 points
a rep power of 17
5 dark green boxes and 3 light green ones - what does all this mean?

I also don't understand why people say they can't give points or ask to "spread the love" etc. I've searched on the forum for the info and can't find it anywhere.

Please someone help. I feel such a fool, especially as I'm posting quite regularly at the moment (amazing what a few week's holidays can do).
 
I can finally admit I don't really understand the system either. I thought I did (just click +/- box) but it's the rest I don't understand.

At the moment I've got:

31 reps on the UCP page
938 points
a rep power of 17
5 dark green boxes and 3 light green ones - what does all this mean?

I also don't understand why people say they can't give points or ask to "spread the love" etc. I've searched on the forum for the info and can't find it anywhere.

Please someone help. I feel such a fool, especially as I'm posting quite regularly at the moment (amazing what a few week's holidays can do).


It's nice to know I'm not the only one! Maybe we should start a "Who Understands the Rep Thing" support group...

:mrgreen:


BTW, love your avatar - are they yours?
 
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You can only give rep once to a person if you want to rep them again the board will only let you do it after you have rep so many other people.
I know what green box and red box is but what does a gray box mean?
 
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you can only give rep once to a person if you want o rep them again the board will only let you do it after you have rep so many other people.

That makes sense - otherwise you could just keep +repping the same people over and over again.

It's quite complicated, isn't it?

And now, I'm afraid I've really taken this thread off topic! Sorry all.
 
SadOldBint, they're not mine, got the pic from icanhascheezburger.com.
 
SadOldBint, they're not mine, got the pic from icanhascheezburger.com.

Don't worry, most of us on finalgear only get our pussy on the interwebz..... ;)
 
You can only give rep once to a person if you want to rep them again the board will only let you do it after you have rep so many other people.
I know what green box and red box is but what does a gray box mean?

I think that the gray one means that someone without rep power gave you rep
 
I think there were a few episodes this past series where they were genuinely interested in the machines, including the train episode, and that made them good. The cocking about is becoming too forced and feels more scripted than it used to (though it probably was all along), I'll agree with that. These are things that will no doubt be ironed out as things progress. Something I've noticed, is that the reviews of the cars seem to have less still shots than they have in the past (that might just be me though). I have to add, emulating something like jackass, or things like occurred in the cars for 17 year olds episode, is a recipe for failure. Deliberately crashing into something is not funny. Accidentally doing it can be, if it's made to look like an accident and nobody gets hurt (and you're not smashing something priceless and irreplaceable). Breaking stuff has to be done with care when done in comedy, otherwise, you're going to come off like America's funniest home videos. Though it is true that people like and watch that show, there is no denying that it is simply awful television. The movie Caddyshack was excellent in making breaking stuff funny, as were a number of other movies, none of which I can think of at the moment.

Edit: thinking on that one, the movie The Jerk has some relevant stuff there. Thought that was worth mentioning.

If you need filler, do this. It would be an excellent way to get the viewing audience more involved with the show, allowing them to have a hand in the outcome. It would also be a way to get some interesting cars on the show, and an excuse for playing clips of songs that relate to cars in some way.
 
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Didn't TG go on extended hiatus following Hammond's incident, and then come back with one of the best seasons yet? (I vaguely recall such, but it's a bit fuzzy)

Pretty much, yes.

In between S9 and 10 they did Top Gear of the Pops and the Polar Special. (Plus the fellas did some other stuff.)

Way i see it they should give Top Gear a years break, let James go off and do another wine adventure or (fingers crossed) a follow up to his moon documentary, let Hamster carry on with his blast lab antics and wipeout adventures and finally let Jezza produce some great documentaries on the same scale as his 'greatest raid' doc. That way when they return to work at the hallowed ground of Dunsfold, they'll be able to resume the magic we all revere.

Like you, Nate, I don't think the show needs fixing, just maybe a few tweaks. At the same time, I wouldn't object to the TG3 taking a breather for a bit to do some other stuff and recharge their batteries, as it were.

I know what green box and red box is but what does a gray box mean?

I think that the gray one means that someone without rep power gave you rep

That could be. I've been wondering about that myself.
 
I think that the gray one means that someone without rep power gave you rep

You are right. Grey box means that one's rep power is 0. It means that that person can give neutral reputation and it doesn't have influence on sb's reputation.
Rep power shows you how many points you can add when you approve one's post or take away when you don't approve one's post.
 
Sorry to remain off-topic - with help, I now understand a bit more about use of rep points now, but the system in general still remains a mystery to me! I've now gone up to 35 reputation messages, 1217 points and 20 rep points. My green boxes have now gone up to 5 dark green and 4 light green.

WTF is that all about??? How is all this being calculated? Is it as much of a mystery to others, or is it just me?
 
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Sorry to remain off-topic - with help, I now understand a bit more about use of rep points now, but the system in general still remains a mystery to me! I've now gone up to 35 reputation messages, 1217 points and 20 rep points. My green boxes have now gone up to 5 dark green and 4 light green.

WTF is that all about??? How is all this being calculated? Is it as much of a mystery to others, or is it just me?

I think there is a bit of mystery built into the system. While it IS a program and therefor relies exclusively on equations, I'm under the impression this is hidden from the user. Another example is exactly how many other people do you have to rep before you can come back and rep someone else. I have no clue. perhaps if I took detailed notes I could figure it out, but I'm not inclined to do so. The green boxes are somehow both a function of how may rep points you have, how many posts you've made, and how long you've been a member.
 
You need to rep like 15 people before giving rep to the same person
But I still don?t understand the greenboxes


And BTW, we?re a bit...

http://img16.imageshack.**/img16/3738/motivatore8d30a88158b3b.jpg
 
To end the off-topic-ness, i did some figuring out on that rep system (as i had to finished my Master's thesis by may, there was quite a need for procrastination in march and april...)
Grey blob: You're a total newbie, you can +/- rep all you want, won't change a damn thing.
Light green blob: stands for 1-100 positive rep points
Dark green blob: stands for 1-100 positive rep points, if you're over 500 total rep points.
Red blob: you have a negative reputation. With the exception of one user, who is hardcoded to infinite negative rep, it seems like the feature of red blobs accumulation has been turned off a few months ago without notificaton to the general public.
At 1500 the number of blobs stops growing and only the mouseover text changes.

The number of rep points you have is the sum of all the rep you received, eg. the "rep power" or everyone that repped you (at the time of repping) added up. Only the last 50 reps received show up on the User CP, by the way.
The rep power is calculated by some formula i was too lazy to figure out that involves four factors:
-the number of your posts
-the number of threads you created (that plays a rather large role)
-how long you've been a member of this forum
-how much +rep you have

Anyone who knows php better than i do and has to turn in some important paper might be happy to look into the vbulletin source code instead of studying and dig out the exact formula.

ANYWAYS...


As much as i hate the idea of a Top Gear-less year, re-watching old episodes to convert the unconverted last weekend just showed me how weak the last two series were (i would not believe beforehand). A hiatus might actually be a good thing. nate and mwf, you -again- hit the nail on the head.
On top of that, i'd love to see Clarkson do whole series on WW II, which he could only do with enough Top Gear-free time on his hands.
Oz and James, meanwhile, will find places to get drunk for at least one, maybe even two series. Heck, considering how important alcohol is in every society except the middle east, they could do "drinking holiday" programmes every summer until their livers explode. And i would gladly watch them!
 
Thanks you Dr_Grip - I will stop rabbiting on about it now!

By the way, what I reckon they should do is one series a year, but longer, say 13+ episodes. That would still allow them plenty of time individually to pursue their own interests.

(places thread firmly back on topic, wonders if superglue is necessary, decides not, walks away)
 
Thanks you Dr_Grip - I will stop rabbiting on about it now!

By the way, what I reckon they should do is one series a year, but longer, say 13+ episodes. That would still allow them plenty of time individually to pursue their own interests.

(places thread firmly back on topic, wonders if superglue is necessary, decides not, walks away)

Actually they do 14 episodes a year (6 in series 11 and 8 in series 12 that were broadcast in 2008 along with 7 in this series and a probably 7 in the next series). If anything i'd say at extreme BEST, it should only be 4 specials. One for each 3 month quarter. I don't think there is usually much of a break inbetween series at the moment since after series 13 finished you can bet that they're already working on series 14. They should do like the Doctor and just air a special at easter, summer, autumn and then christmas special.
 
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