Just finished watching it and I really enjoyed it. No shouty egotists and seemed to hark back to the good old days of when personalities weren't too 'amped up. Good luck to 'em
Just finished watching it and I really enjoyed it. No shouty egotists and seemed to hark back to the good old days of when personalities weren't too 'amped up. Good luck to 'em
Last edited by daveyw; 5th March 2017 at 22:20.
I also enjoyed. Not a big fan of Rory though for some reason.
I think he comes across as trying too hard whilst the other two are more confident. Hopefully he'll find his feetOriginally Posted by jaytip
Get rid of Rory, and have someone else to fit in and it might work - or just drop down to 2 and have a guest play the third person each time.
It's just a matter of time...
Yes, a good atmosphere and a very pleasant first episode.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I thought it was good and will get better, I watched a fwmew grand tours and thought it was rubbish
This is the first post Clarkson Top Gear I've watched and I really enjoyed it.
Great to see them having a good time.
Glad they are back on the old track, though the camera angles are not as good at the moment.
Better than before.
A vast improvement on the last series and better than the grand tour for me.
I was pleasantly surprised and I'll be watching the next episode.
The only thing for me is it's still too much of a copy of the old one and as such comes across a bit awkward in places, but I'm hoping they'll all gel a bit better with time.
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Well, it's better than the Chris Evans top gear but it's basically the old top gear but with 3 new blokes. For me, they don't really gel, somehow a bit forced.
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Thought it was a bit boring and the car challenge too drawn out. Much better without Evans though. I'm sure it'll get better.
I really enjoyed it. Good fun without being to serious, plus I actually learnt a few things. The look on their faces when the rocket launched was golden.
Harris was indeed blessed to have been given a chance to rag the Ferrari (especially as he is a Porsche man). I cannot imagine Clarkson being given the same - he would have binned it.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Studio segments felt a bit awkward but the rest of it was superb. Much better than last year.
Chris Harris - brilliant, the FXXK segment was great, a guy who knows what he's at.
Matt - I think he is a great fit with the others, no overriding egos on show.
Rory - trying a little bit too hard, hope he mellows just a tad.
Thoroughly enjoyed it, and it pains me to say preferred it to The Grand Tour episodes i watched last night...................only because Clarkson & May are what you get - does exactly what it says on the tin, Hammond I used to think he was OK now he's just a bit of an overbearing obnoxious twat.
Really quite enjoyable, especially the Ferrari sequence. I've not always been the biggest fan of Harris but he is becoming more natural in presenter mode and his driving pieces are always good. I find MLB funny but I'm still not sure about Rory. A good start though.
I think the fact that the old boys were actually friends really helped. The new guys seem to have this fake 'banter' as if it's scripted - not a fan really.
Just about sums it up for me ^^
And for me, therein lies the rub.....
It's hard enough to replace any key individual from a team of three but it is doable given time and a decent replacement.
To replace all three at once and retain virtually the same format is nigh on impossible.
I get that the BBC needs to have a go at it but for me, Top Gear is and always will be, Clarkson, May and Hammond.
I thought it was ok to be honest. A massive improvement on last season.
Whats also handy is when one show finishes, the other starts, so we benefit from much more viewing.
Shocked that some people dont like the challenges, for me they are always the best parts.
The Clarkson, Hammond and May Top Gear had the chance to grow organically over many years, which is why it became so good, and also why it became tired. Top Gear never set out to be the world's most-watched factual tv programme, but that's what it became. In fact, the first series, with Clarkson, Hammond and Jason Dawe wasn't actually very good.
Any show with Chris Evans in it would always be "all about Chris Evans" and naturally failed with the incredibly loyal and critical Top Gear audience, so he had to go.
What we have inherited is a car programme with high production values, presented by three blokes who haven't worked together for very long, so there hasn't been time for any "chemistry" to develop, and the spontaneous banter has to be scripted.
The first episode of post-Evans Top Gear showed promise, though. There are times when it seems that the BBC are trying to mould them into Clarkson, Hammond and May, rather than let the presenters be themselves - although I have it on good authority from somebody who once worked with Chris Harris that he's a miserable sod in real life. Perhaps he just needs a bit more work. As does Rory Reid, who seems to be trying too hard.
The BBC has too much invested in Top Gear. It's too big to fail, so it has to succeed. The pressure is on to produce a programme which can be marketed world wide, so they have to get it right. Viewers in their millions would watch BBC2 at 8pm on a Sunday evening to watch three middle-aged blokes messing about and sometimes talking about cars. Now the original three middle-aged blokes have gone, Top Gear will be different.
Like it or not (and many people will watch Top Gear and The Grand Tour so that they can tell the internet how much they hate watching them) what we've ended up with is two expensively produced programmes which are largely about cars. What would you rather watch? Yet another "talent" show? More cookery, sewing or midwifery?
Be careful what you wish for.
Thought it was a bit meh. Think Matt is ok but the other two were naff. That Chris is annoying and the arguments like previously said were cringe. The other bloke just boring.
But they aren't really, are they? They are about lads' humour, with a few cars as backdrop.
I'm just watching Jay Lenos' Garage on Dave. Now that's a show about cars.
I'm surprised there are any car programmes, with the current environment of trying to make driving feel like an antisocial planet destroying children's asthma causing activity. Even my local town, which at rush hour has a queue of about 7 cars at the lights has a clean air group trying to make it a 20mph zone and ban diesels.Communists!
This was my impression too.
ktmog6uk
marchingontogether!
Been reading and watching Harris for years in auto car etc. Glad he's doing well as he's a top bloke and great driver.
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Seemed a bit stilted, but worth a watch, which I wouldn't have with Evans.
M
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Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
A copy of the old TG but without the properly smart quips. They're not as articulate. Harris wasn't too bad.
Little point to the Ferrari - pretty but nobody will ever see one in real life.
The rocket at the end was the best bit.
They have brought it to goodwood and run it up the hill the last couple of years.
Not a big hit with me I'm afraid.
I enjoyed Chris Harris going wild in the Ferrari but hated that stupid Russian road trip thing - it was a tired and boring item on the original TG but this one was particularly predictable and somehow lacked the wit of the originals. And it went on..............and on.................and on...................and on.......
Matt LeBlanc is still a misfit in this programme, but I thoroughly applaud the lack of Chris Evans and that irritating German woman. Rory was ok but didn't really seem to be committed.
Did anyone else notice that bad language and innuendo has crept in to match Grand Tour? Not sure that pre-9pm BBC should be making comments about "balls" and having so many obvious bleeps where you could read their lips anyway. Laddish as we possibly expected, but unnecessary and not very professional.
And if anyone was tempted to go online to see the follow-up bit on BBC III ................ don't bother, it was a dire replay of what some director thought was a good bit, plus Chris Harris being lairy with a new Volvo estate. Not worth the increase in the licence money.
I think TG and GT could easily be consigned to the bin and I wouldn't miss either of them.
Agreed - I liked Chris Harris and I think over time the studio sections will get a bit slicker. I did think the james mcavoy section was a bit cringy and too drawn out though???
I really liked it. The relationship between the 3 presenters feels a bit forced at the moment as they're obviously being fed stuff by script writers, but they all seem to be trying to be themselves nonetheless. Chris Harris has the technical knowledge of James May, but without the slowness. Matt Le Blanc is obviously enjoying himself without taking himself too seriously. I like Rory - he's landed a plum job and still can't quite believe it.
For me it was serviceable but lacked a bit of sparkle. Good on the cars, and the rocket launch was a beautifully shot and suitably awe inspiring finale. The choice of the GT86 for the stars is a good one, given its tendency to drift at any speed. But so far only Clarkson, Hammond and May know how to make the endless banger races entertaining by bringing some humour to them, though they've had years to develop their on screen personas obviously. LeBlanc is the funny one in theory but he has no Chandler to play off here. Towards the end I was watching the clock. Though to be fair, Old Top Gear had its fair share of boring items, and as a first episode it's a decent start. I can't see them ever having huge charisma and chemistry as a team, though they are all appealing enough individually. If it keeps improving it will be ok - but more as an actual car show than global family entertainment I suspect. In spite of the high budget filming it feels smaller and lower key than the monster it had become.
Thinking about it, the key to Clarkson, May and Hammond was / is that they feel like they share a passion but might genuinely disagree about cars (and life in general), and therefore can have a discussion, which is useful for a car show. Obviously they played it up but it was there. I can't see these three actually having genuine differences of opinion unless they're scripted, which also makes it less interesting when they agree.
For me it's hard to believe that a corporation that schedules awesome TV like Taboo, Last Kingdom, Peaky Blinders et al can't realise that it is time to stop flogging the putrefying corpse that is the Top Gear dead horse.
I tried watching it but it is awful these presenters are just too stilted and unnatural I turned it off as it's just not for me at all very poor indeed!
For me it's better than both CE Top Gear and TGT.
In Chris Harris they actually have someone who can both really drive and communicate what the car is doing / feels like.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
It was a much gentler pace of programme. The thing with C/M/H is that you know they are all capable of doing something really, really stupid and so there is a sense of anticipation waiting for that to happen while you're watching them. Most of the time you weren't disappointed.
CE tried too hard to be Clarkson. Fail.
It was a competent car show, and better as a television programme than the last few C/M/H efforts but not earth-shattering entertainment yet.
I agree with this completely. I think CH is just great. I love how his passion always comes across.
I've just watched Extra Gear. What a load of rubbish. Last series EG was better than TG. I didn't think much of the new presenter. He looked scared.
But flogging Top Gear pays for those other shows so let's hope it continues to improve and we'll all be happy
I found myself cringing at some of the slightly strained banter in the studio sections but on the whole I enjoyed it.
I genuinely really like MLB and his sarcastic humour and it contrasts well with Harris enthusiasm. MLB seems a little quicker than the others on the quips at the moment but I think once Harris will pick it up in the same way he used to take the Mick out his faceless cameraman Neal.
Rory Reid is a bit of a misfit for me at the moment. He isn't natural and seems too rehearsed, even on the road trip. I stumbled across some of his old YouTube reviews and he was much more relaxed in those so he just needs to find his stride.
I think it's a much better start than the last series. I recently watched an early episode of old top gear and surprisingly it was equally as awkward in parts. The gt86 is a great choice for the reasonably priced car and I liked the format of having the star there almost as an extra host. There was no lingering on a stupidly long promotion or basking in glory over their latest Ferrari like that bloody awful episode with Gordon Ramsay and Evans. That must have been the lowest point ever in TG history.
I enjoyed it. Not perfect yet, but certainly shows promise.
I think it's something to do with the fact that Top Gear pays for stuff like you list...
M
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Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
And that you are the one TV viewer who denies that of hundreds of millions worldwide actually still watch it...Well, that was the old one. I can't find up to date figures.
Sabine was great as a guest on the old TG, as a presenter not so good
+1,........they either come up with a totally different formula or bin it. I'd prefer a more 'magazine' format that's interesting and informative; lose the stupid road trips and laboured attempts at comedy. More road tests, less stupidity. The star in the car thing is worth keeping, but otherwise I'd prefer to see something a bit more informative.
Can't help thinking the BBC are hellbent on flogging the dead horse to prove a point.
Paul
Thing is, the format of Top Gear was built up over years specifically to suit Clarkson and Co's style. They should probably build it around the presenters they have - but it might end up a lot more like Fifth Gear. They're not really the 'setting caravans on fire' type - but are fine for something like the FXXK.
This is why it's not straightforward. The road trips are, to me, the only bits worth watching and the star-in-a-car the most horrendously painful and uncomfortable bits of the whole piece. You and I are two equally valid viewers with *completely* opposed views :)
I think you might have nailed it. They didn't like the fact of the 3 'boys' having so much popularity and influence. Then the big idiot JC played into their hands with the hotel incident (conspiracy theorists fodder maybe?) giving the BBC monster an excuse to prove that nobody is bigger than 'The Corporation'
You can bet Clarkson & Co would have got at least one decent laugh out of a car called the Ferrari F**K that you're barely allowed to purchase or drive. They had a little go, but it was televisual treading water. And if Hammond or May had the bonnet repeatedly springing open in a race their reaction would have made it entertaining.
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