gaasc
Desperately looking for a title
I believe it is just too similar to disconnect. Most of their segments (all?) seem just to be the old CHM segments but cut down juuuust enough to pass legal.
This is a bad way to go about things. As it makes the comparisons inevitable (as you have mentioned) and TGT comes out losing. CHM also sold it as being very different from their TG thanks for the freedom of being able to scrap the old tired format...only to end with a lesser version of that tired old format.
With a name such as "The Grand Tour" you also get some expectations. Personally, I wanted to see something similar to another old Clarkson show, Motorworld. All three of them driving around countries and soaking up their motor industry and car culture. Clarkson could show the superlatives on a roadtest, Hammond could do all the motorsport risky stuff and I can't think of many people better than James May to make boring automotive technology interesting (as evidenced by Cars of the People) The only thing they have done that is remotely similar to that is those fifteen seconds or so in the intro where they drive cars relevant to the country of the week.
No tent, no studio audience, no track, no American (which, like Celebrity Brain Crash, I am sure will not be making a return for next series. The Eboladome is also very likely to be quietly dropped instead of just getting a new driver). It would keep banter on the actual roadtrip bits, car guys would see some nice car porn and they could frame it all on a rough script on where to go and why.
tl;dr: The new show underdelivers to fans when faced against the hype or the possibilities when starting a show from scratch.
This is a bad way to go about things. As it makes the comparisons inevitable (as you have mentioned) and TGT comes out losing. CHM also sold it as being very different from their TG thanks for the freedom of being able to scrap the old tired format...only to end with a lesser version of that tired old format.
With a name such as "The Grand Tour" you also get some expectations. Personally, I wanted to see something similar to another old Clarkson show, Motorworld. All three of them driving around countries and soaking up their motor industry and car culture. Clarkson could show the superlatives on a roadtest, Hammond could do all the motorsport risky stuff and I can't think of many people better than James May to make boring automotive technology interesting (as evidenced by Cars of the People) The only thing they have done that is remotely similar to that is those fifteen seconds or so in the intro where they drive cars relevant to the country of the week.
No tent, no studio audience, no track, no American (which, like Celebrity Brain Crash, I am sure will not be making a return for next series. The Eboladome is also very likely to be quietly dropped instead of just getting a new driver). It would keep banter on the actual roadtrip bits, car guys would see some nice car porn and they could frame it all on a rough script on where to go and why.
tl;dr: The new show underdelivers to fans when faced against the hype or the possibilities when starting a show from scratch.