What segments do you miss from the earlier seasons?

I'm going to echo some of what Shelly said:
Cheap Car challenges - Don't really care all that much about the scoring as long as its taken semi-seriously and not used as an excuse for an almighty piss take and there has to be point to doing said challenge
Any car related challenge like the 24 hour race or Jeremy's trip to Scotland on a single tank of gas - I miss some of these challenges where the presenters take are car to see how well it performs under specific circumstances. Again there needs to be some point to the challenge.
Star in a Reasonably Priced Car - I don't mind seeing big names on the show, but I would prefer that they were actually interested in cars and not there simply to promote something
The Cool Wall - Bring this back please! I liked the intelligent arguments regarding how cool or uncool a car is and why...

Above all else, cut the overly scripted nonsense and fooling around. I don't mind the funny stuff, but I don't want to see it coming and it needs to be natural. The presenters have become caricatures of themselves, which is rather irritating to watch. I don't like watching them being stupid for the sake of laughs. Just because it has become mainstream doesn't mean it has to cater to idiots who wear their y-fronts backwards.

I never saw what they did or said in the Cool Wall as remotely serious, to me it was just Jeremy being Jeremy and Richard and the audience having fun while trying to have their input.

I too miss some challenges such as the economy race to Blackpool and the 800 mile trip in one tank, they had a point to them indeed.

As for the clowning in the news I like it as it has been in recent years, if it still makes me laugh, which it does, then that's fine by me. Again, if I want seriousness there are tons of articles and videos on the net available for anyone to grab. To me, wanting TG to be serious or do stuff with a real point to them now is like wanting modern cell phones to go back to physical keyboards as they were
years ago and for them not to have youtube or apps or something.
TG has evolved just as has modern technology, it's not necessarily worse, it's just different.
 
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I think it's coming up to a time now where they could legitimately re-visit some of the challenges of Series' past to see what "ten years difference: What does a budget supercar do now?" - The old one had a point (a huge warning against cheap supercars from ages past) and the new one could share the same point... or perhaps a different point now? What kind of supercars could they get now for the same money?

I liked the challenges with a point; I also like one or two "goof off" episodes in a series. It's when it goes too far towards the goof-off spectrum that I get a little disappointed. For example, "Geoff / eagle ithrust" was too much goof off... but the snowplow farm equipment was just kind of fun. Jeremy's head plant being a highlight for sure. That sort of thing.

As for what I miss, I liked the Senna / Rally guys as stated above, but I also like/liked the legitimate "Lets bring three cars that people *might* be able to buy and see which one we like best". One ounce of reality followed by ten tons of Ferrari and Lamborghini is fine with me. As long as that ounce is there, it really helps 'get into' the show.
 
I don't believe that the Cool Wall was ever meant to be serious either, I enjoyed watching Jeremy and Richard arguing over where a car should be placed and why. There was some logic to it which made it funny to me.

The clowning around doesn't really bother me, that was one of things about TG that attracted me in the first place. Its when the guys act stupid for the sake of being stupid that bothers me. I don't find that sort of humor funny, to me its sad and shows a lack of thought.

TG doesn't have to be serious, I never said that, I just feel that there should be a point to what they are doing. Homegrown fuel, the eco race from Basil to Blackpool, buying cars for 100 pounds, home made police cars... There was an effort to make the these challenges work. Geoff the homemade electric car, the snowbine, the art exhibition... little thought was put into these. They don't need to play or become their caricatures. The guys can do better than that.
 
Revisit some of the old cheap car challenges would be pretty interesting, like cheap supercars, amphibious cars (yes I know they have done it twice, but wouldn't mind seeing a third try at all), best car for a 17 year old, ?100 car challenge etc.
Maybe change some of the old challenges like make a police car but this time make an ambulance for way less money or similar.
 
Revisit some of the old cheap car challenges would be pretty interesting, like cheap supercars, amphibious cars (yes I know they have done it twice, but wouldn't mind seeing a third try at all), best car for a 17 year old, ?100 car challenge etc.
Maybe change some of the old challenges like make a police car but this time make an ambulance for way less money or similar.

lol, it makes me laugh already the mere idea of the guys making a cheap ambulance. It reminds me of the way they "removed" the injured and dead from an accident scene with those police cars making funny noises at the spot, haha.
 
I'm also with the majority on this one: Cool Wall, cheap car challenges, car reviews filmed away from Dunsfold on public roads and/or in foreign countries. What we're all essentially saying is that we miss Top Gear Series' 2-7 (its peak).

The whole SIARPC segment has run its course for me and has become the most sold out aspect of the show. Clarkson's interviews, especially with deer in the headlights Americans are always cringeworthy (wil.i.am comes to mind).

I find it strange that the cast and crew didn't care for the Cool Wall. It always provided some of the show's funniest moments - remember Fiats are "French" guy?
 
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Wouldnt mind seeing more segments like the Britcar 24hr race. Never cared for the Cool Wall, as the rules were based on basically one person's opinion, and kept changing over the seasons. The Challenges were always a blast...ie: race across London in a boat, bike, car, and subway.
 
I liked the old races and challenges as well but I think they've been sort of replaced by a nicer cinematography, better music, etc. Which is a lot more expensive and surely costs more than the studio stuff.
 
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The clowning around doesn't really bother me, that was one of things about TG that attracted me in the first place. Its when the guys act stupid for the sake of being stupid that bothers me. I don't find that sort of humor funny, to me its sad and shows a lack of thought.

:nod:
 
Y'know, I don't know if the over the top stupid stuff bothers because I don't find it as funny...or because it makes me feel like they think the viewer is stupid.

For example, the Mini winching the Rolls in the India Special - the placement of the winch would have been funnier had we not seen it used properly in the Bolivia special. Did they think we'd all have forgotten that?

I do wish they'd do more stuff with the three of them - cheap car challenges, economy runs, that sort of stuff. Seems like the last few seasons have had one or two segments with all of them (not counting the news), then everything else is either all solo stuff, or two doing something and one solo thing.

The interactions of the three of them is what I've always enjoyed and they don't seem to do that as much anymore.
 
Y'know, I don't know if the over the top stupid stuff bothers because I don't find it as funny...or because it makes me feel like they think the viewer is stupid.

Both, perhaps? The over-the-top stuff isn't funny, and it's condescending, because they think many of us can't tell it's artificial?

I do wish they'd do more stuff with the three of them - cheap car challenges, economy runs, that sort of stuff. Seems like the last few seasons have had one or two segments with all of them (not counting the news), then everything else is either all solo stuff, or two doing something and one solo thing.

Maybe it's me, but it seems like the majority of the films these days DO consist of all three of them together, with a handful being paired-off films and the odd solo review.

So let's have a count, from Series 16 to 20, not counting specials (as they always feature all three of them)...

All Three ~ 16x02, 16x03, 16x04, 16x05, 17x02, 17x04, 17x05, 18x01, 18x04, 18x06, 18x07, 19x02, 19x03, 20x03, 20x04, 20x06 (16)

James/Jeremy ~ 17x06, 18x02, 18x05, 19x04, 20x01, 20x05 (6)

Jeremy/Richard ~ 17x03, 18x03, 19x05 (3)

James/Richard ~ none

James solo ~ 16x01, 16x06, 17x01, 17x02, 17x03, 18x03, 18x04, 18x07, 19x01, 19x05, 20x02, 20x05, 20x06 (13)

Jeremy solo ~ all series 16 (six episodes), 17x01 (x2), 17x03, 17x04, 17x05 (x2), 18x02, 18x04, 18x05, 18x06, 19x01, 19x03, 19x04 (x2), 20x02 (x2), 20x04, 20x06 (24)

Richard solo ~ 16x01, 16x06, 17x01, 17x06 (x2), 18x02, 18x05*, 18x07, 19x01, 19x04, 20x01, 20x02, 20x05, 20x06 (14)

* Originally featured in Top Gear at the Movies

Okay, so there are more solo films than there are ones featuring all three together. I think why I thought what I did has to do with the fact that the majority of the films featuring all three of them take up full episodes, not just one or two segments.
 
Hmmm I wonder which cars they would buy if they revisit the ?100 car challenge... :think:
 
I miss a feature that was only done for a few shows back when Top Gear had come back to TV. It was the telemetry and data shown on the car when they were doing a lap time with the STIG. I liked seeing that data to know how fast the car was going, how hard the STIG was on the throttle, what RPM the engine was turning, etc. I like seeing that sort of stuff in F1, NASCAR, etc.
 
For both The Cool Wall and old dungers, they could squeeze them in once a series, surely.
 
I miss those old cheap car challenges, like ?1500 sports cars in France and stuff like that.

I really hope those makes a comeback.

Those are my favorite followed by the shows like the Bolivia episode. They could do more old british cars. Have the mr. Bean challenge. Get Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) to set a time in the old mini and have the cast have a go and some true mr.Bean fans. To try and beat him. Could actually do mr. Bean type stunts and goofy things.
 
I'm going to echo some of what Shelly said:
Star in a Reasonably Priced Car - I don't mind seeing big names on the show, but I would prefer that they were actually interested in cars and not there simply to promote something

Especially given the fact Jeremy said in the very first intro that "no one will be plugging anything". Mind you I find SIARP terrible anyway, there's enough celebrity crud on telly as is.
 
Cheap car challenges. They are my most re-watched parts of old episodes.
 
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