Top Gear?

[MJI]

Can anyone remember the first series of TG with the 3 amigos - was it actually any good ?

 

It was once they got James May in, the previous one they were told to have did not gel with the other 2.

 

They wanted James May for that series but were overruled.

[MJI]

I don’t think it is so much Top Gear bashing as Chris Evans bashing. And it did all look like a copy of stuff we’ve already seen, only done less well. However, fear not, I will not be bashing or picking over episode 2.

 

I do not know why they chose him, so many people find him irritating that he will turn viewers off.

 

Depends on the overlap between car fans and CE fans.

 

I am of similar age to JC and CE but find them as follows.

 

JC, knowleagable and quite enthusiastic without going OTT (watch his WW2 docs and Brunel), TG is an act for him, not the real Clarkson. He can be annoying but I do not need to mute him.

 

CE, loud, very loud, I find his presentation style annoying to the extreme, I have seen his other work and I avoid if at all possible as he is just annoying. The annoyingness overloads his passion.

 

There are many many TV presenters I will watch, a lot I like.

 

There are a few I find annoying, luckily most are on games shows or talk shows.

 

There is a cure

 

1) Ban his Haribo

2) Tranquilisers, enough to calm him to normal human ranges

3) Somethig to drop his high pitched voice to normal human hearing levels

 

Then he will be fine

[peanuts]

finnaly watched the first one yesterday on catchup  got to say it did what it meant to do informed and entertained yes was a bit strained and theres no chemistry yet but given time i think it will get there liked the increase in audience participation instead of it being a crowd of as many pretty girls around the presenters ( now where have we seen that before ? ) liked the rally cross car in a star dont think it will stay as this format forever knowing chris evans 

[raymw]

better than top gear, at a fraction of the cost . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpvGrkPKrnc

[2ManySpams]

Just watched episode 2. Evans watered down with a lot more other folk presenting. It all seemed a lot more polished than last week.

 

Having been to S Africa I did enjoy the SUV segment.

['CHARD]

Watched about half of tonight's show.  

 

Banal variety entertainment is how I'd describe it.

[Butler Henderson]

Have not seen todays yet but I did read that it had been made before last weeks was shown so any "watering down" was not as a result of the comments the first one got. Next weeks, recorded this week, apparently is.

[Adrian]

 

Banal variety entertainment is how I'd describe it.

 

 

So no different to the previous version then!

[peter220950]

Execrable lame attempt by idiot Chris Evans and charmless Matt leBlanc to basically take over where Mr Punchy and Co. left off.

 

It's your TV tax that's being squirted around to fund this lacklustre crap.  It's like watching a car crash in slo-mo.

 

The studio audience have all the enthusiasm of hostages.

 

anyone with taste and discernment will be able to avoid this tepid dog foulage.

 

 

Watched about half of tonight's show.  

 

  Hmm no taste or discernment then

 

Peter

[andyram]

I watched the show and enjoyed it more than last week's episode. I believe some of the studio sections were shot in the past week and that could be clearly seen with the introduction. Matt Le Blanc had also been given a more lead role and the show was better for it. I enjoyed the SUV film much more than the Reliant Robin challenge. The added use of guests worked well with Eddie Jordan proving to be the weak link.

I am still not sure about the interview section surrounding the star in the car, but I do like the rally cross variation on the theme.

 

In my opinion an improvement on last week.

[Adrian]

The added use of guests worked well with Eddie Jordan proving to be the weak link.

 

 

 

Agreed - why does he always preface any question he asks with the comment that "The question that everyone wants to ask is ..."? He does it on F1 as well and I keep thinking it's not the question I would have asked!

[MJI]

Managed to avoid it, just like I managed to avoid big breakfast and TFI Friday

 

Will be subscribing to Amazon Prime for their motoring show.

 

BBC have screwed this up

[PaulRhB]

BBC have screwed this up

Nope Clarkson did

I still find Chris Evans hard to watch but Matt I quite liked, his humour is much more subtle and I could see him doing a good job with a good foil.

The McLaren feature much improved once Jenson took over the wheel as he was just having fun and saying why it was good.

The African adventure was ok and at least all three guests got into it.

It'll never be the Oaf, Hamster and Slow but we don't want two of those shows so if they can add a bit more wit it might do ok.

Some of us liked TG for its silliness to get away from all the depressing news and murder programmes on tv

[MJI]

Nope Clarkson did

I still find Chris Evans hard to watch but Matt I quite liked, his humour is much more subtle and I could see him doing a good job with a good foil.

The McLaren feature much improved once Jenson took over the wheel as he was just having fun and saying why it was good.

The African adventure was ok and at least all three guests got into it.

It'll never be the Oaf, Hamster and Slow but we don't want two of those shows so if they can add a bit more wit it might do ok.

Some of us liked TG for its silliness to get away from all the depressing news and murder programmes on tv

 

No BBC could have chosen someone likeable, not the most marmite of presenters there is.

[Mike G]

Better than last week, surely will go from strength to strength...ok I may be exaggerating.

 

Mike

[298]

I quite liked it, once I'd accepted it was basically a tribute show to the old programme with new presenters. And I found Eddie Jordan to be not that annoying either.

 

I had been drinking tho....

[peanuts]

watched it this morning on catch up yet again entertained and informed mclaren awsome roadtrip judged just right guests spot on leBlanc slowly growing on me think hes an asset for his laidback presenting style and humor  evens a bit calmer so worked better tbh had stopped watching the old show as it had become less about the cars and more about stupid stunts many of which you could see coming . gonna give this a fair try .

[JohnR]

No BBC could have chosen someone likeable, not the most marmite of presenters there is.

 

I would argue that Clarkson is just as much a Marmite person as Evans. Perhaps even more so - at least Chris Evans doesnt go out of his way to be gratuitously offensive.

[Calnefoxile]

 

I actually enjoyed this weeks offering more than last weeks. I do think Chris Evans has calmed himself down a bit over last week.

 

I quite like the 'Star in a Rallycross Car' section, but the 'competition' about their cars is a bit, well, boring and ridiculous. Why not just interview them as Clarkson used to do?? There's no need to change everything!!

 

I actually think Matt LeBlanc is really good as a presenter, Eddie Jordan!! Well the juries out in my house. It looks like he's going to be playing the 'stupid' one role, did he really forget to put that Merc in Off-Road mode???

 

Anyway, just my 2 penneth worth.

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

[eastwestdivide]

I would argue that Clarkson is just as much a Marmite person as Evans. Perhaps even more so - at least Chris Evans doesnt go out of his way to be gratuitously offensive.

 

Marmite - meh, I can take it or leave it.

[MJI]

I would argue that Clarkson is just as much a Marmite person as Evans. Perhaps even more so - at least Chris Evans doesnt go out of his way to be gratuitously offensive.

 

CE goes out of his way to be gratuously annoying!

[mike morley]

I had been drinking tho....

 

Goes without saying.

No one would ever watch the Shrieking Ego while sober, would they?

[rockershovel]

People who can't understand why Top Gear was so popular world wide, obviously aren't familiar with the dross that floods the airwaves in many overseas countries. Same goes for David Attenborough's output, when you see the alternatives you realise how good it actually was and still is.

 

Will Evans be a success on the overseas market? I don't think it will matter, there is such a back catalogue of C,M and H out there that most viewers will probably never even see it; if the sales don't hold up Auntie will pay him even more to indulge his ego somewhere else and try another presenter.

[bertiedog]

Better, but could go downhill, as they lost a third of the audience in episode two, the show was about par for the course as TG goes, but it is a tired format and still needs a shake up.

 

Evans is still the problem, not the solution. Matt Leblanc is settling in better, and a better driver than expected. If he catches on with the viewers he may find that he is in charge if Evans does his usual trick of becoming a little bored with shows and leaving.

 

There is still a lot of dead wood to trim away, wasted interviews, drawn out "stunt challenges", and where are the car reviews, even Clarkson and crew covered more modest cars as and when they felt like it, even if only for comedy.......

 

It just feels like they are treading water at the moment, no targets, few new thoughts. The new "presenters" have nothing to do most of the time, and are more like guests on the show.

 

Stephen.

[Brinkly]

I watched the first one and didn't really laugh, bar Evans calling himself a di*k, which was funny - laugh at him, but hey.

 

Matt Leblanc I think would make a much better host, he seems more easy and relaxed in the role, nothing to prove and a bit Sergent Wilson ish, you can almost hear him saying to Evans "Do you think that's wise sir?!"

 

However, I won't watch it again, I turned off half way through Sunday's show, the first time ever since the relaunch in 2001. Evans annoys me too much. I work with silly seven year old boys, I don't want to see one on TV!

 

Kind regards,

 

Nick.