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Featured Replies

Season 3 premiers today

Edited by elfenix

Watching now. I want that RTR Mustang.

  • 2 weeks later...

2 hour Columbia special this week. 

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Author

the obvious setups like running the tow cable through the shelter and under captain slow's car while not monitoring the towing went like a lead balloon.  the humming birds were hilarious as was the joke about clarkson's face looking like the mummy

What is it about GT that doesn’t capture the magic of TG? I don’t know what it is but it just doesn’t. I used to consume every TG episode I could find, but I’ve only watched a handful of GT. I watched S3E1 last night and it was watchable enough but it just isn’t the same somehow.

 

That Senna is perfection but it looks cartoonish.

 

And wow Clarkson is alarmingly fat. He has the means, he should do something about that.

 



What is it about GT that doesn’t capture the magic of TG? I don’t know what it is but it just doesn’t. I used to consume every TG episode I could find, but I’ve only watched a handful of GT. I watched S3E1 last night and it was watchable enough but it just isn’t the same somehow.
 

BBC owned TG and thus all the little bits and pieces that made it special even though Andy and the Lads invented them. Think Letterman when he left NBC.

Now they have the same talent core but have to start from scratch. I liked the initiative of the first season, but the reality of moving a set globally vs just doing remote shooting quickly sat in. They were quick to recognize Mike Skinner was an unlikeable no talent redneck and canned him for the hot chick, but she's not The Sting. That's OK, Dave got along fine without Larry Bud Melman.

As long as they keep up the roadtrips and thrash high end cars, I'm in.

1 hour ago, Buzzrock said:

What is it about GT that doesn’t capture the magic of TG? I don’t know what it is but it just doesn’t. I used to consume every TG episode I could find, but I’ve only watched a handful of GT. I watched S3E1 last night and it was watchable enough but it just isn’t the same somehow.

It's like new money pastiche vs original art.  Or antique patina vs something "weathered" from the factory.

 

The old show evolved organically to where it was.  The new show has all the funding to do the expensive production parts, but not allowed to replicate the old formula bit for bit

One of the things I like a lot less about GT is the track. And for some reason that makes a big difference to me. The old airfield track on TG was just perfect; the GT track seems too small and cramped, like watching supercars on an autocross track.

Also, I think GT spends too much time on the long-form segments and too little reviewing individual cars. The balance is off for me.

Did anyone notice on the urus when they did a closeup of the brakes, that the tire size is a 325?  With very little sidewall. 

11 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

What is it about GT that doesn’t capture the magic of TG? I don’t know what it is but it just doesn’t. I used to consume every TG episode I could find, but I’ve only watched a handful of GT. I watched S3E1 last night and it was watchable enough but it just isn’t the same somehow.

 

That Senna is perfection but it looks cartoonish.

 

And wow Clarkson is alarmingly fat. He has the means, he should do something about that.

 

there was an edgy magic to TG even though it was way overproduced. i would also argue that the bbc kept some of the gang's wilder ideas in check, and provided a kind of a reasonable backstop. i think they've got more free reign with this show, and i guess i would argue that they are producing a more american show than a british one, if that makes sense on a show with three british hosts.

now, obviously, they are missing the magic of the old track, and the magic of the stig. and i think they have more free reign to do bad ideas, like the first season special guest(s) dying every episode idea.

also, they had one host nearly die in a car wreck, and two (?) other hosts suffer severely from illnesses, so maybe it hasn't fully hit its stride yet. 

they were trying to recreate magic that had been created organically, and that's a hard thing to do. i think they are doing as reasonably well as they can, given their limitations.

Just got around to watching episode 5. Really liked the Jim Clark biography.

Great episode. I learned a couple of things. That EP9 is badass and I need to start selling t-shirts in China.

  • Author

Jim Clark bit was fantastic. Really need to visit my friend in China before he decides to come back to the US

  • 3 weeks later...

Cool episode. Loved May's NASA bit.

May driving Neil Armstrong’s corvette down the space shuttle runway was way more emotional for me than expected.

The NASA segment was excellent. Agree with others that the China episode was solid--seemed more like the old Top Gear.

Hard to pinpoint why GT doesn't stack up with TG. Could be the lack of Jessica. Or the Stig. Could be age. Could be that we've seen it all before--even a perfectly cooked ribeye can become tasteless if you eat one every day.

Still watch, but GT doesn't compel one to watch like TG did.

6 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Hard to pinpoint why GT doesn't stack up with TG. Could be the lack of Jessica. Or the Stig. Could be age. Could be that we've seen it all before--even a perfectly cooked ribeye can become tasteless if you eat one every day.

Amazon has been monitoring what viewers like and don't like and is making some changes. Starting next season the tent and it's segments are gone. They are just going to film roadtrips. 

  • Author

The NASA segment was a bit dusty

The outrageous road test of a common car was getting a bit back to classic TG. Loved those segments back in the day.

Putting plain or old cars through outrageous paces, and ridiculous mods are what made TG great. 

I don’t know if they thought that taking supercars through exotic locations was the ticket, but they did name it the grand tour. 

It needs to be a blend of the quirky bits with the cool stuff. 

3 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I don’t know if they thought that taking supercars through exotic locations was the ticket, but they did name it the grand tour. 

The name was an obvious fu to the BBC along with much of the content of S1. It was a grand and futile endeavor to have the mobile studio. The logistics are mind boggling even for Amazon. But they toned it down and focused on the segments instead of roadshow. Now they are fine tuning and I like the move. They are using Amazon's analytics and doing what the audience likes best. Don't shoot me for this, but it's exactly the same move TG US did. They dumped the studio audience and assorted segments and it made the show better. Well, not good but better.

  • 2 weeks later...

Great episode. Airport bit was classic. Loved the Porsche 917 segment, too. Mongolia special next week.

Mongolia Special. This was one of the best things they've ever done and that's a damned high bar. Freaking beautiful, too.

Didn't they do Mongolia for one of the final seasons of top gear

Mongolia Special. This was one of the best things they've ever done and that's a damned high bar. Freaking beautiful, too.


Concur it was awesome.

Loved every scripted moment of the Mongolia episode. Also Impressed with the kit 4x4. Bet that thing cost a small fortune.

7 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Loved every scripted moment of the Mongolia episode. Also Impressed with the kit 4x4. Bet that thing cost a small fortune.

All this. There was also plenty of unscripted Lads on blast. Whoever designed John deserves some credit. That was an impressive vehicle even if it only went under 1000 miles. It had it's flaws (hopping, no fenders) but was astoundingly resilient under a plethora of conditions. 1 build error, 1 electrical overload, 0 mechanical failures.

Edited by RPM

The was an awesome episode.  They reaction by May when they were told there is no alcohol is priceless.

That was up there with the Vietnam episode (Top Gear days) for me. John was a beast of a UTV.

Funeral for a Ford. The final studio show. Jeremy was visibly shaken. Nice of the BBC to give them clips for the farewell montage. Hammond is lucky to be alive.

Good news is the show will continue, but without the studio and related segments. Now it will focus strictly on adventures. To be honest, that's what we want to see anyway. Let the Lads do their thing without being tied down to tired bits. I, for one, won't miss Conversation Street or the new lame-ass track. They love Amazon and Amazon loves them, so there will be many seasons yet to come.

Edited by RPM

On 4/5/2019 at 1:08 AM, RPM said:

Mongolia Special. This was one of the best things they've ever done and that's a damned high bar. Freaking beautiful, too.

Yeah it was.

The car segments and adventures are great, but it's their interpersonal relationships and personalities really keep the show going.  Someone said on the other site that these three could be selling wedding dresses and they'd still watch it.  Agree 100%

Their reaction to no booze was hilarious and hit close to home.  I turned the show on last night after just having a few pops, and thought to myself "Should I pour myself another?"  And "Maybe not, maybe I'm drinking too much."    Then I saw them looking miserable after a stone sober sleep, got up, and poured another.

Finally watched the last episode. I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up a bit. Glad they're continuing on with the adventures.

  • 7 months later...

Season 4 drops Friday with a Special. The Grand Tour: Seamen

They have to cross the Mekong Delta in boats. So, who drowns first?

 

Edited by RPM
critical speeling error

Season 4 drops Friday with a Special. The Grand Tour: Seaman
They have to cross the Mekong Delta in boats. So, who drowns first?
 


Can’t wait.

Just realized the opening is on Friday the 13th. Perfect.

It’s up. I’m watching it now. 

Jeremy: We're going to need provisions like sleeping pills, something to wash the pills down with like strong beer. Perhaps beer so strong it's called whiskey.

Hammond: Yes, that one.

Great episode. That ending was something else. 

12 minutes ago, RPM said:

Great episode. That ending was something else. 

Absolutely. I’m gonna mss the studio/test portions of the show but their specials are always something I find myself watching multiple times.  

I completely missed that the studio run had ended. There was so much greatness in that final montage.

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