Surprised there’s not a thread about the latest reboot of TG (Series 27) as it’s a subject that has allowed people to share differing opinion over the years on here (“it’s been rubbish since William Woollard stopped doing it…”).
Finally having given up any pretence of being anything other than an entertainment programme last nights initial episode with Harris, Flintoff and McGuinness had some genuine laugh out loud moments akin to some of the earlier May, Hammond and Clarkson episodes.
I think it shows more promise from initial start than the last couple of presenting line up attempts.
After giving up on the last few series, I thought that last night’s programme was quite a lot better.
It was good too to see the blue 4 door Mk2 Escort - my Dad had one of those in the late 1970s, in a similar colour (although with much more rust!), so a few memories for me there.
I wanted to hate it, and the first few minutes I did. But I warmed to the new team a bit as it went on, given it was their first show the chemistry was OK, and I think they may settle down a bit. I’ve not seen the other two do anything before, so wasn’t sure what to expect.
I hated the road trip though, very much same old, same old, yet again and identical to others done by the C H and M in their heyday, which i also found a bit tedious on occasions. Its all the peril for perils sake, what really was the point of the journey, and all the talk of it in reverential terms, it achieved nothing other than by the look of it having a serious impact on Harris’s health. If he really was feeling that bad they should have showed him getting some medical attention, I found that way over the top to be honest,
I missed the sit down on the sofa chat bit which usually went with Star in a wotsit car, and yeah, the serious car bit didn’t show the Stig driving, very odd.
Bit it did make me laugh a few times, so will tune in again next week.
But who is going to watch a Renault Kadjar battle it out with a Nissan Juke? Dear old William Woollard did that and it was a cure for insomnia - 'hmm, the boot space is more than adequate and , for a 5 door with an 1100cc pushrod engine , it is really quite sprightly and (cheery laugh ) - MUCH cheaper at the pumps than the silly Ferrari Dino you say you don’t want to watch ’
I’m not saying they should fill the show with every day cars, but consider that Super Cars and driving across an African continent for the hell of it, is out of reach of most every day working folks.
It would be nice to see reviews on affordable cars.
Would anybody in their right mind try to remake Fawlty Towers with a stand in John Cleese? or Only Fools and Horses with a replacement Del Boy?, of course not. So why do the BBC persist with yet another lame attempt to replicate Clarkson, Hammond and May? Like all TV, it reaches a point where its past its best, and the original trio where getting close to that point. It should have been killed off when Clarkson left.
Technically, when Grandad in Only Fools and Horses kicked it, they rebooted it with Uncle Albert. Minder did ok when Terry hopped it to become a pop star, introducing Arthurs new sidekick, his nephew. Grange Hill kept going with new kids every year. The Muppets still exist decades after the death of Henson. For News Documentaries, there are several shows that regularly have changes in presenters, such as BBC Watchdog
Clarkson is not a fictional character, and he himself was seen, by some, as a lame replacement for William Woollard or Angela Ripon. Old Top Gear used to review Metro 1300s, and Escort Pops. Some think it went downhill with Clarkson, and they stopped covering the RAC Rally.
TV evolves. Top Gear evolves. At each stage, some fans are lost, new ones recruited. In today’s world, patterns of car ownership are changing, and people’s relationships to their cars are changing. With new cars, no one really cares about them. I really have no interest in Mclarens, Ferraris etc. Small boys no longer have posters of Lambos and Jaguars on their walls, instead, its Roblox. Clarkson never evolved his format, and probably contributed to the issues today. He was a presenter of limited vision, evidenced by his Amazon gig, which is churning out the same rubbish to an increasingly aged audience.
Fawlty Towers wasn’t much of a money earner at the time it was made, hence few episodes. TG is a big money earner.
I always did like Clarkson, Hammond and May and still do on The Grand Tour.
In my opinion Top Gear since they left has varied between terrible (Chris Evans leading) and average (Matt LeBlanc leading).
I had been disappointed to hear they had dropped Rory Reid because I found him entertaining and likeable most of the time.
I’ve always found Paddy McGuinness who is usually described as a ‘comedian’ to not be funny and pretty annoying.
Freddie Flintoff I was aware was an ex-cricketer but as I don’t follow sport knew little about him.
Consequently I expected last night’s show to be approaching the diabolical level but decided to give it a go.
I couldn’t have been more surprised. We got a couple of supercars as expected, we also got some old cars for nostalgia. I’ve had Minis and Escorts and even a Porsche although a 944 not a Boxster. Something there that most of us can relate to.
The Stig will be appearing later in the series, he was there in the ‘what’s in store’ section. They also mentioned next week’s guest so the well known format will probably be resumed next week. Looks to me as if they wanted to use the first program to establish the characters before putting all the other ingredients in.
What really surprised me was that all the awkward forced joking of the last few years was absent. There seemed to be real chemistry between the trio.
To those that say it will never be the same as when the original trio were in charge I would say this. Remember that it took a few years for them to reach the top of their game and work so well together. This current team have set a very high benchmark right from day one.
It’s a Sunday evening entertainment show that although aimed at petrol heads is entertaining for others too. My wife who started the program reading a magazine ended watching TV and laughing out loud. She turned to me and said ‘That was really quite good’. An bit of light Sunday evening entertainment for us to watch together. I think that’s a result.
But the problem, to me, is that it hasn’t! It is back to the same as it used to be with a different set of three presenters. I would describe it as derivative - but not sure a show can be described as derivative of itself.
I’m not saying they should fill the show with every day cars, but consider that Super Cars and driving across an African continent for the hell of it, is out of reach of most every day working folks.
It would be nice to see reviews on affordable cars.
We talking about the BBC here. They stopped viewing the world from the ordinary man’s perspective thirty years ago.
TG from the CH and M days has always has reminded me of “Last of the Summer Wine” for a number reasons, not least the 3 old geezers pratting about. But primarily of which is that I watched in in the early days, and it was genuinely funny, but it limped on and on for decades it seemed, and for me should have been killed off to leave the memory of the early shows intact. But no ,the BBC flogged that dead horse way beyond best before date.
They are past masters of the rubbish reboot as well of course: recent victims in my opinion Open All Hours and Doctor Who! There are plenty more.
You have got to take it for what it is i.e. Lad-ish humour to cheer us up on a Sunday night, centred around cars. Even my wife laughed out loud at some of the antics, which she rarely did with Clarkson and co. . I can’t wait to see the episode featuring the Triumph Spitfire being driven very sideways. I didn’t think that you could do that without going off the road backwards.
Yes agree the BBC throw it seems any amount of money at this TG (yes I know they make money by reselling it) but it smacks at double standards when they produce all manner game shows, food shows and in particular a couple of shows we watched recently telling you to be more savvy about what you throw away food wise, plastics etc and encourage you to grow your own, then they axe a gardening show shown on BBC Scotland and repeated on BBC2 for the rest of us. They at first say it needs to move aside for sport coverage, then they change tack and say it’s cutting the budget but you can now look it up online. I looked at the slot it used to occupy and it was filled with repeats of shows, not sport.
Sorry if you hate gardening, I actually find time for that and MX-5’s too.