I’ve watched the first two episodes.
Meh. It looks lovely but that is about it.
The winning formula of the previous incarnation was the chemistry between the presenters. There doesn’t appear to be much of that. I suspect they would have been better advised to make the program something very different. The similarity to the old version just serves to highlight what you are missing.
The second episode was an improvement over the first. But the cast lacks chemistry. It may take a while for them to find it, if it happens at all.
However, the “Star in our reasonably priced car” bit is still really stupid in its current format.
What was all that crying about in the MacLaren F1? It’s not like he’d just finished the 24 hour LeMans in a diesel BMW.
Yeah, I’m hopeful it could still happen. It wasn’t just the chemistry of the hosts that made it work before, though; it had something I describe as brilliant stupidity. I remember the episode where they all tried to build motorhomes and Clarkson’s was a high-rise on the back of a Renault (or whatever that was). And this wasn’t just something they talked about, they actually built the damn thing. I want to see if the new hosts can build something equally ridiculous, or re-trace Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow with only £100 to spend on petrol and food. Just get weird, guys.
Did Eddie Jordan seem a bit out of it? There are a lot of words that can describe Formula One team owners, but “befuddled” wouldn’t be at the top of the list.
And a question from a Yank, what’s Chris Evans’s backstory? I remember his Ferrari collection being shown before, and now he plunks down a deposit on the super-exclusive new McLaren.[sup]*[/sup] Dude must have some serious bank, but from where? He couldn’t have saved that much on his wardrobe.
Highly successful radio DJ*/TV host over many channels and many years, but he made most of his money from selling his production company - which had originated some programme formats later licensed all over the world - for a couple of hundred million pounds.
And speaking of bombshells; Lt. Brody is English! Had no idea.
I dunno…I think the peak of that sort of thing was the convertible people-carrier.
Great fun, and still just about believable that the guys did it themselves.
Stuff like the motor home, it’s too obvious that a whole team not only made it, but likely designed it too – you could sometimes see Clarkson’s annoyance at how uncomfortable or preposterous “the Clarkson one” was.
Of course Clarkson didn’t build it himself. There were no hammer marks.
I do wonder how much input the presenters had in the designs of their various vehicles. Clarkson is the guy who’d build the high-rise motorhome, and the super-long-limousine, and the Porsche ambulance. As long as they were willing to go out and drive their vehicles, and defend their merits, it worked.
If the new cast want to build for some similar challenges, I’d be curious to see what they’d come up with. Or if they want to design their own competitions, that could work too. Just don’t be afraid to get weird and silly.
I kind of like my idea of a trip with a limited budget for food and fuel; drive a luxury car and starve, or drive an econobox and pig out.
Richard Hammond setting up his huge kitset motor home was hilarious, though.
Yes, and in fairness I just remembered the episode where Clarkson set up a recreation of his living room in the back of a car or van.
Pretty obvious he couldn’t have done it himself, but very funny episode anyway, especially when getting input from the interior designer.
I think I’d just draw the line at where it appears he had minimal input. Where, like I say, Clarkson himself can’t hide his contempt of “What the hell have they put me in this time?”
Soooo…that’s my advice for the new show.
They need a regular third cast member. Someone who will be charismatic and interesting. I wonder if that is the real objective of the first season.
I quite liked the first two episodes with the new presenters (Season 23 Episodes 1 and 2).
I found Chris Evans to be a bit shouty, but aside from that I enjoyed them more than the previous presenters, for unlike their immediate predecessors, they were not juvenile.
The format was similar, but tweaked to make it more interesting, including multiple guests.
All in all, Top Gear is back.
I haven’t decided whether I like the new hosts or not. I like Matt LeBlanc well enough but Chris Evans comes across as a kid trying way too hard to get attention. (Take this with a grain of salt, I like the American Top Gear too…) I’ll probably give it a few more episodes.
Yeh, Evans is trying so much that at times he is very trying.
I wonder if LeBlanc could be given a greater role?
I actually think today’s episode was pretty good. Chris Evans was a lot more tolerable. Dialed back on the fake enthusiasm and his ego. His bit with Sabine was good. Finally her skills were put to proper use. Chris Harris’ and Rory’s debut on the show proper was excellent. I guess they’re going to be the expert car reviewers to the more silly antics of the others. Matt’s sightseeing trip through London with Ken Block was fun and beautifully filmed. The guest segment is still terrible.
All in all, a very good episode.
I found that he took the center role in the third ep, while Evans was still around, it seemed like Matt had taken the captains chair.
Declan
At last we got a car comparison of almost realisticly possible vehicles - ok, so who is really going to spend around 30k on a hatchback? but at least we can relate to it since many of us have them - just slower ones.
The guest banter was ok, but the driving side of it was still rubbish - I changed channels when it was on.
I watched it on iPlayer and found it much improved. The interview / SIARC section was dreadful and I skipped to the end of that. Really all they need to do is get rid of Evans as a presenter and Clarkson & co will have serious competition.
Scientific Wild-Ass Guess: BBC brass has realized that a lot of Americans watch Top Gear, Matt LeBlanc is instantly recognizable to both Americans and Brits, and he has a history on the show (didn’t he have the best SIARC time at one point?).
I very much doubt Rich Hall is as well-known in the US as he is in Britain, and certainly not as well as Joey Tribbiani from Friends. Anecdote =/= data, but when I first came across Rich Hall - watching British panel shows on YouTube - I assumed he was Canadian. After, of course, wondering for a moment if he was the 70’s impressionist and talk show staple Rich Little.
Drifting. Oh, goody.
I’d like to see a Jeep/Danza – Land Rover/Queen challenge.