I finally got to see more than just short clips.
I think Matt LeBlanc works well. He’s amusing and personable and does well in the cars.
Chris Evans is obnoxious and annoying but not in an amusing way. He makes the show unwatchable.
The changes for the sake of change don’t work well. Making the stars go off road on their lap didn’t add or subtract. Having a couch full of people talking didn’t make much sense.
Not only that, once they flew him over to test a car.
He is a serious car nut and a good driver. Ameican or British I think he fits. On the American version they chose Adam Ferara who knows nothing about cars and can barely drive.
How do you have a hot hatchback comparo without the VW Golf R??
Getting past that, the show is getting somewhat better but the production value and discontinuity from segment to segment is still jarring. It takes me out of the show every time.
Sabine and Chris lying head to head on a bench prior to her driving is contrived and I could sense how uncomfortable she was with the shot.
Chris continues to bring nothing to the show.
Matt is much more personable but still a bit too mellow.
That loudmouthed ADD wanker driving the old and new Ferrari TDF is simply annoying.
And I still don’t get the point of the Extra Gear segment.
Can some Brit explain Chris Evans for me? He’s loud and obnoxious. Has not visible talent. Is incredibly annoying. He has no charm or charisma. Adds nothing to the show. Why is he famous? What is he supposed to be good at?
Evans was surpassingly good as a radio presenter and got very rich as a result.
He does also have TV presenting experience with the shows The Big Breakfast, TFI Friday (no prizes for guessing when those shows were aired) and the game show Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush. All of which were initially successful but petered out (see also marriage to Billie Piper).
Personal opinion, but all of the aforementioned shows I imagine had broadly the same audience demographic as Top Gear.
Hmm… I’m not sure you’re right. There may be some cross-over but I think the Top Gear audience skews slightly older and, more importantly, has a much greater range with higher upper end.
Possibly, but I was thinking more along the lines of the TFI / Big Breakfast audience being one who grew up with Evans, and are now more affluent and older.
Chris Evans is very good live. TFI Friday, the Big Breakfast and his radio work is all broadcast live, and he copes with that seat-of-the-pants stuff superbly. He’s a good improviser; not in the standup sense, but I terms of dealing with chaos in the studio.
I think Top Gear is the first time he’s worked with a script for pre-recorded TV. That may well be quite limiting for him.
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I see, yes. I was never a fan of his - his style really grated - but it seems to me that his style has stayed the same (because it still grates), whereas those that grew up with him may have matured out of him.
They don’t look exactly alike, but this Chris Evans guy resembles someone else.
And LeBlanc is just plain irritating to me. I can’t stand the guy for 10 seconds.
Watched the new format for the first time. Chris Evans needs to stop SHOUTING, he comes across as Clarkson-lite without the curmudgeonly charm, but trying to make up by VOLUME and ENTHUSIASM {and apart from anything else Clarkson is an excellent interviewer; Evans handling of the stars in rally cars segment killed the show stone dead for about 20 minutes}. LeBlanc is better than I expected, but seemed stoned; and the drift sequences around London landmarks managed to be simultaneously hyperactive and boring, like watching somebody else’s 14 year old play a video game.
High points? I thought Chris Harris and Rory Reid showed lots of potential: engaging, knowledgeable and fun. Ditch the other two clowns, build the show around those two and Sabine, and you might have something. Kevin Hart was the funniest part of the show, and I barely know who he is: his cry of THAT’S RACIST! cry was the closest the show came to an actual Top Gear joke.
I have a hard time understanding why Eddie Jordan is on the show. In the latest episode, like in the last one he had a part in, he just seemed to play the role of the befuddled old man. Why does he allow himself to be portrayed this way? I’m thinking he’s worse than Evans. Atleast Chris is trying.
The interview/racing is still so terrible. It was easily the worst segment of the old show as well, but now it’s just unbearable. I’m going to skip it from now on.
I thought the race/challenges/what can I buy for a few quid segment was a bit of a mess as well. Precisely because they decided to take three things that work well on their own, and then tried to combine them into one. More is less.
You still see that these people don’t really know each other and any jokes are so obviously scripted. I thought the bit on the Tesla X was by far the best part of the show… maybe they should just let the presenters do their own segments for a while and leave the group efforts for when some chemistry develops.
There was a moment in the interview segment last week that I thought was significant. It was when Chris Evans was asking Kevin Hart about the vehicles he currently owned, and just for a moment Evans seemed interested in what they were talking about. I’m reminded of the idea that a great salesman can sell anything, and that the actual product he’s pitching doesn’t matter. There seems to be the same approach to hosting a TV show, that a good presenter has to have the right voice and enthusiasm and all that, and that it doesn’t matter if the show is about cars, or a flower show, or how to play the flute. From what I’ve read, Evans has some pretty decent car cred. Just for that moment he stopped being Presenter Man and actually cared about the content of the show. Sadly, it didn’t last.
The odd thing is the old show was presented by three guys who obviously cared about cars and was still enjoyed by people who didn’t. Now it seems to be presented by people who don’t care, and is therefore not enjoyed by anyone.
But they do care about the cars at least if nothing else. All of them are enthusiasts. Sabine, IMHO, seemed to enjoy driving her Audi and was invested in winning. The rest kinda appeared to just be going through the motions. The camaraderie doesn’t appear to be there yet.
In the old Top gear you were invested in seeing Richard and May beat the self-important Clarkson. The old show also didn’t start the racing and competition segments until the relationships between the presenters were established. The new cast hasn’t got the luxury of time. They needed to hit the ground running to keep the old audience. I think there’s potential in the cast, even Evans. They need time. I hope they get it.
See, Sabine Schmitt vs. Driver Assist was a excellent idea; it was interesting, revealing and funny, and seeing Sabine grinning like a maniac while she floored it into the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca was terrific. Then it was pretty much ruined by Chris Evans being literally a passenger on his own show, braying COME ON SABINE! Shut up and let the woman drive, arsehole.
They probably do care about the cars. LeBlanc set an excellent time in the Reasonably Priced Car, so he has some driving chops, at least. And Evans sounds like a car guy from what I’ve heard; a ton of money, but with good taste on what he spends it on.
It just seems like when the cameras start rolling they turn off their interest and become Host Man, welcoming but bland, and sworn not to intimidate casual viewers with scary things like knowledge and opinions.
It was an interesting idea, although I questioned whether Sabine was really giving her best effort with the driver aids turned on. And Evans isn’t enough of an asshole for us to enjoy watching him get sick. If it had been Clarkson recycling his breakfast, hooray.
Chris Evans is just shrill; he’s like an over friendly lab in need of ritalin.
Matt Leblanc is personable but looks like he’s about to nod off.
Chris Harris is a really annoying a soccer lout with a driver’s license and a Youtube channel.
Sabine Schmitt has street cred but virtually no personality, and there’s a language barrier there.
Eddie Jordan comes across as a doddering old fool.
Rory Reid is a good guy just trying to fit in.
I think they should just sell the set and send everybody home. It was a good try. Everybody did their best, I’m sure. It just doesn’t work. Not the cast, not the editing, not the script. Not anything. It’s just sad to watch now.
