Even though we’re back to the American series after 8 glorious Scrapheap Challenge episodes (most amusing is the Estate Agents ‘Hot Property’ almost winning the entire challenge), it seems a bit better than the crappy Crash/Bowser series of last time.
They still do the pick-u-team thing, which is annoying*, and way too many fast-edits/cuts (and, of course, overdependance on the ‘Tool Cam’), but all in all the ideas the team came up for the ‘Sand Speeders’ were rather interesting.
I’m wondering if these episodes were film concurrently (or right after) the Bowser/Crash series, so that they weren’t able to modify it from viewers feedback (of course, perhaps they chose to ignore any feedback, or perhaps the core viewer liked it). Still, it didn’t suck as much as the first Mega-Wars series, and hopefully it will get better.
Also, hopefully Bobby Jo continues to wear mini-skirts, fishnets and boots.
*The team pick, in my opinion, is pre-determined crap. Yes, I’m an idiot for not thinking about this before, but: Hackett and Dicky choose up sides - the person chosen walks toward his new team in white T-shits, and then special effect, bang they arrive at the spot in a blue or red get-up. Obviously these outfits have to be fitted and sewn before hand, and since the teams appear in their uniforms while Hackett or Dicky are still choosing, at that point they had to know beforehand who was chosen for which team, and that stupid little selection process is just a joke…OK, clearly this is NOT really important, but it’s kinda rip when everyone acts surprised when they are picked, when obviously they knew it beforehand
I hate what they’ve done to change the format of the show. The ongoing team tournament structure was perfect, in my opinion, and Cathy Rogers was the best emcee. The screaming x-treme host dude they have now drives me up a wall.
That said, it was nice to see Dick Strawbridge come back, and the machine he tried to build was completely whacked in the best Junkyard tradition. (My all-time favorite: the hydraulic wall muncher. I also have a soft spot for that one boat-on-wheels thing with the giant fan on the back, because it’s so daft.)
I’d hate to stop watching, because it’s been one of my favorite shows for a few years, but it just feels like they’ve gotten into the trap of “chasing the demographic,” instead of sticking with what made the show so good: an engineering game show, not yet another showcase for personality conflicts.
Cathy Rogers is so much better than Bobbie Sue or whatever her name is, so I am just going to pretend that you did not say that. Rossi is just annoying, but not as annoying as George was.
I love Colonel Dick, and Hackett isn’t bad. I want to know what happened to the old “chalkboard” style cartoons.
Hopefully they will think up some nifty new machine ideas, because who needs to see another trebuchet?
Remember, I said “hopefully Bobby Jo continues to wear mini-skirts, fishnets and boots”, I didn’t say she was better than Cathy Rogers (although Rossi and Bobbie Sue seems slightly less annoying - to me - than Karen and Tyler of the previous American few seasons). Besides, Cathy pretty much created the concept (in Scrapheap Challenge) so obviously she was one knowledgable host.
Lisa Rogers and Robert Llewellyn are the recent British series hosts. Its odd that on the TLC Junkyard web-site ‘Hosts’ page, Lisa Rogers is NOT mentioned - I just wanted to find out if she was related to Cathy in anyway (besides the last names, they do look very similar).
if we could only get either Cathy or Lisa Rogers to wear mini-skirts, fishnets and boots…
I hate to say this, but I rather like the new ‘Auto-CAD’ style diagrams - wonder how long it takes to create those animated segments as opposed to the older (and still used on Scrapheap) cartoon style segment.
Alas, they’re still digging up older ideas from Scrapheap - next week seems to be a clone of the “Smooth Riders” of series 9 (carrying a big open vat of liquid over rough ground without spilling any) - the other 2 episodes listed on the TLC site (are they still filming the remainder?) seem unique, although somewhat similiar to previous ideas; drag boats, and then all terrain assualt vehicles.
Obviously this is one of my favourite shows, and certainly my favourite on TLC (easy enough, as every other show on TLC seems to be redecorating the neighbour’s breakfest nook on a $2.15 budget)