Top Gear - New series BBC2

sinbaadi

I used to like Chris Harris but I find his attempts to be Hammond quite annoying.  He's totally out of his depth in the studio and looks so uncomfortable with the fake banter it's painful to watch.  

Some of the features have been okay, but watch it on iplayer in 35 minutes, don't waste an hour of your Sunday on it.

crunchman

I liked Sunday's one.  I thought it was better than most of the the last couple of series with Clarkson.  That had got stale though.

boogieman

Watched the latest one last night. Oh dear god, that was dire. There were so many uncomfortable silences in the interview with Tamsin Greg I was surprised to hear she'd actually worked with Matt LeBlanc, they seemed to have absolutely zero connection. Chris Harris came over as even more of a nob than the last episode. The only bit with any genuine sense of excitement and enjoyment to it was Sabine and Rory at the Nurburgring. 

Headphones

Ditto to boogieman's comments.  Think it's time to give up, they're passed the "give 'em the benefit and they might gorw" stage now.

TheMarlin

I've always loved Top Gear, but this lineup is getting on my nerves.  Zero chemistry, overly acted/scripted, awful cringeworthy Bond segment. 

They need to kill it.  Shelve it for five years, then completely reinvent it with all new format, and quality drivers (Ex F1/Rally etc) who have character, and Pre existing friendships.  

Its nothing but a pastiche of the Clarkson era.  It's failing badly. 

boogieman

TheMarlin said:

I've always loved Top Gear, but this lineup is getting on my nerves.  Zero chemistry, overly acted/scripted, awful cringeworthy Bond segment. 

I agree on this bit, don't think it needs shelving though. What it needs is someone personable and confident with some pizazz about them as the main presenter. Clarkson may be a bit of a twat but at least he did the job well. Joey is terrible as the anchor man and the other two look like schoolkids looking round for reassurance. Rory, Sabine and A N Other would work I reckon. 

holnrew

I like it tbh. Better than the first series with that fat bloke. And it doesn't have The American and that shit little track

Tavernor

Telejester said:

That was a lot of meh in my opinion and i think that chris harris guy is a big mistake

Sorry not a clue how to inbed YT videos.

Tavernor

Well​ look at that, it's done it all by itself.

stimpsonslostson

After 3 episodes my thoughts are-
The gimmicky "top gear" bits are the least successful- the Bond bit made me fast forward. As do the stupid power washer/muck spreading bits. 
The studio guest bit varies from dull- awkward- excruciating (Greig was terrible. Tennant was good though). It needs to go... As do most of the studio bits to be honest- the scripted banter is flat. 
It works best when they're driving & chatting- (the supercar in US bit was good as was the bangers to the rocket launcher) rather than trying to emulate Top Gear, perhaps aim for fifth gear & work from there. 

Does anyone else find the strobing of the headlights during the super slow motion shots vaguely distracting? 

richardhomer

stimpsonslostson said:

After 3 episodes my thoughts are-
The gimmicky "top gear" bits are the least successful- the Bond bit made me fast forward. As do the stupid power washer/muck spreading bits. 
The studio guest bit varies from dull- awkward- excruciating (Greig was terrible. Tennant was good though). It needs to go... As do most of the studio bits to be honest- the scripted banter is flat. 
It works best when they're driving & chatting- (the supercar in US bit was good as was the bangers to the rocket launcher) rather than trying to emulate Top Gear, perhaps aim for fifth gear & work from there. 

Does anyone else find the strobing of the headlights during the super slow motion shots vaguely distracting? 

Sounds a bit like Cybil Fawlty's list of spaces her mother didn't like.

Assume with these bits removed, you'd be left with the opening and closing credits?

stickyfiddle

stimpsonslostson said:

...rather than trying to emulate Top Gear, perhaps aim for fifth gear & work from there. 

But noone wants to watch Fifth Gear - certainly not around the world. What they're trying to make is a blokey lifestyle show that happens to have cars in it, because that's what has historically made so many millions. 

FWIW I think this season is a vast improvement on the last, but they still need to find their groove.  I'm optimistic they'll get there. 

holnrew

I think the last episode was the best yet since the last lot left. They just need to get more comfortable in the studio. The end of the Oman bit showed that there is actually friendship between Matt and Chris, and they were really funny when allowed to be spontaneous.

I think it's going to appeal to youth a lot more than the grand tour too, all three of them are far cooler than Clarkson and co.

Everybody forgets that they had years and years together before it was even at its best, the new guys aren't going to be like that off the bat.

As for the guest bit, it's much better without Chris Evans talking all over the guest 

crunchman

holnrew said:

As for the guest bit, it's much better without Chris Evans talking all over the guest 

Anything is better without Chris Evans talking.  That's quite a low bar.

Having said that, I'm quite enjoying this series so far - much more than the last couple of Clarkson series.  It's not at the level that it was 10 years ago, but neither were the last couple of series with Clarkson.

boogieman

It was ok, still a bit clunky and Joey has a terrible presenting style where it's


obvious

he's reading



off







an autocue. 

And why didn't he just take the jet all the way? 

Budgie

boogieman said:

And why didn't he just take the jet all the way? 

Or just the motorbike? 

Bucket

I watched the most recent episode with the Bugatti - the first I've watched since Clarkson, Hammond and May left. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I imagine the Chris Evans ones were cringeworthy, I have no desire to watch them as I loathe him. These ones were certainly watchable and I like the new team.

Cirrus

Imagine being loathed by people you've never met as you walk around your big house with a huge garage filled with expensive cars and knowing that if you decided not to, you'd never need to work another day in your life.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's a bellend. But still, if the deal was riches and people that don't know you talking about what a twat you were... I think most would take that.

57Deluxe

so, that Honda jet - is faster than the Kawasaki one...?

boogieman

Cirrus said:

Imagine being loathed by people you've never met as you walk around your big house with a huge garage filled with expensive cars and knowing that if you decided not to, you'd never need to work another day in your life.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's a bellend. But still, if the deal was riches and people that don't know you talking about what a twat you were... I think most would take that.

He's so up himself that he probably thinks nobody could hate his cheery impish sense of humour and his loveable upbeat personality.