Clarkson Suspended by BBC - Page 17

**Revolver** · 19-11-2016, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uniacidz

You know the show is available now dont you on the interweb, and no there is no Ben Collins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvt_4Uii5AU

1:30 onwards..... They even say his name....

Richard Hammond posted this. I believe its in a later ep...

SensationFG8 · 19-11-2016, 07:05 PM

Video is from a top gear live or something like that. There is no Ben Collins on tgt

Express · 19-11-2016, 07:23 PM

Double Post

Express · 19-11-2016, 07:26 PM

Some first up reviews

Warning - Spoiler Alert for those who haven't view it

Quote:

‘The Grand Tour’ Review: Jeremy Clarkson Recreates ‘Top Gear’ in America, Because This Is Where Disgraced Reality Stars Thrive

"Top Gear" fans should be pleased with Amazon's faithful (but unofficial) recreation of the BBC series, but there's more to consider than there should be.

IndieWire

TV Critic
Ben Travers
19 November, 2016
@BenTTravers

The Grand Tour Amazon Season 1 Episode 1 Jeremy Clarkson: Amazon Studios

In an age where Donald Trump can become President of the United States, it’s sadly fitting that English reality host Jeremy Clarkson had to flee to America to keep doing whatever the hell he wants. You see, the former “Top Gear” host’s contract wasn’t renewed by the BBC because of not one, but many controversial incidents involving the volatile “car journalist” (self-described), including accusations ranging from jokes about murdering prostitutes and imitating a Nazi salute to tossing around so many ethnic slurs it seems as though he’s offended every race and gender imaginable.

But what put him over the line across the pond was a March 2015 altercation with Oisin Tymon in which he allegedly punched the “Top Gear” producer for serving him soup and a meat platter instead of steak. Despite protests from fans (including a petition garnering over 1 million signatures), the BBC stood by their decision not to re-up Clarkson’s contract — perhaps because this wasn’t the first time he’d been accused of assault (he left Piers Morgan with a scar) — and here we are, watching a new version of “Top Gear” titled “The Grand Tour,” but otherwise identical to Clarkson’s incredibly successful car show.

Opening with the host walking out of his London residence as reports of his dismissal from “Top Gear” play in the background, “The Grand Tour” quickly escorts Clarkson to Los Angeles, hopping off the plane and into a shiny blue muscle car (parked, unprotected, at LAX). He flees the city limits (rather too quickly to be believed given L.A. traffic) to a cover of “I Can See Clearly Now” by “The Hot House Flowers,” who are playing a “Burning Van” festival in the desert where fans and friends — specifically, co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May — are waiting for their unjustly persecuted hero to reclaim his throne.

The Grand Tour Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond James May Season 1 Episode 1

And that’s exactly what he does. “The Grand Tour” barely bothers to hide that it’s recreating “Top Gear” with the same hosts and a great deal more money. Highlights for the season are laid out via montage early on, and the first episode features three million-dollar cars, a crazy amount of travel, and plenty of footage showing your three hosts goofing around without a care in the world.

Speaking to specifics, “The Grand Tour” features a “traveling studio tent” with a giant clear backdrop to showcase the various geographical venues they’ll be visiting over the 12 episodes in Season 1. The set is populated with a studio audience, ready to respond to provocation at the drop of a pin, and looks very much like the old “Top Gear” digs. Beyond the setting, The Stig — “Top Gear’s” always-helmeted driver — has been replaced by “The American,” a red, white, and blue-clad Mike Skinner who spouts typical American phrases and slang while whipping his chosen car around the track. They even bring on not one, but two celebrity guests. I won’t spoil who here, though fans shouldn’t expect them to do much driving.

It’s all captured with an addictive pacing and excitable energy familiar to anyone who’s caught a few “Top Gear” episodes in the past. And that’s the gist, really: Clarkson, Hammond, and May’s chemistry and on-camera talent can’t be denied. They are very good at what they do, and the show itself would be innocent fun for car buffs and reality fans alike.

The Grand Tour Season 1 Episode 1 Amazon

But the question “The Grand Tour” invites in, with its brash mockery of past controversy, is how comfortable you are watching arrogant, wealthy, white men traverse the globe in insanely expensive toys and behaving like 12-year-old boys. You’ll be able to gauge your tolerance quickly, perhaps based solely on the introduction. After arriving at “Burning Van,” the three men revel in their bad boy personas by introducing themselves via “credits” of how many times they’ve been fired before. Hammond and May have a long string of dismissals, but Hammond is “technically the only one never to be fired by anyone.”

And yet here he is, in America, making loads of money not for his expertise in the field — which isn’t in question — but for his personality, which is, at the very least, problematic. It’s not that we feel comfortable condemning a man we’ve never met, but this a reality show meant to be guiltless fun for the whole family and is instead jaded by off-screen situations we wouldn’t want our kids to consider.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos described the budget for “The Grand Tour” as “very, very, very expensive,” adding, “They’re worth a lot, and they know it.” Well, there’s only one way to bring down that value, and that’s not to watch. It’s in your hands, America.

Grade: C

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http://www.indiewire.com/2016/11/the...sy-1201748154/

Quote:

It was worth the wait —

Some say it’s the best car show ever: The Grand Tour hits Amazon Prime

Fantastic production values, stunning cinematography, and genuinely funny.

ars Technica

Jonathan M. Gitlin
11 November, 2016

Warning: This piece contains minor spoilers for early episodes of The Grand Tour.

Ladies and gentlemen, our long wait is over. The first episode of The Grand Tour—the new motoring show from Messrs. Clarkson, Hammond, and May—arrived on Amazon Prime today (November 18). I'm here to tell you the truth: it. is. AMAZING.

As you will no doubt remember, the Top Gear trio left the BBC following Clarkson's late night loss-of-temper with one of the show's producers. The BBC drafted in a new cast for the long-running programme, led by Chris Evans and Matt Le Blanc, but the re-helmed Top Gear went down like a lead balloon with audiences and Chris Evans fell on his sword as a result. Meanwhile, buoyed with a budget that's believed to top $5.5 million an episode, Clarkson et al. went to work on what may be seen as their magnum opus.

Freed from the shackles that are a necessary component of the UK's public service broadcaster, the boys have been left to run wild, and it appears they have delivered. As Clarkson puts it, "It's very unlikely I'm going to be fired now, because we're on the Internet. Which means I could pleasure a horse..."

Spoilers ahead—you have been warned

The first episode begins in a rainy London as Jeremy Clarkson emerges from an office building. With news of his departure from the BBC playing in the background, he heads to Heathrow Airport for pastures new. As one might expect from the show's name, the three year, 36-episode run will tour the world, coming to us each week from a different spot on the globe. First stop: Los Angeles.

Our producer-punching hero straps himself into a Galpin Rocket (based on the Ford Mustang) and heads out into the high desert, joined along the way by James May and Richard Hammond, each driving their own Mustang variant. Soon they are joined on a dry lake bed by an armada of vehicles from 1930s touring cars to Mad Max-style creations, rooster tails of dust filling the sky. The destination is a festival called Burning Van, where they're greeted by the Hothouse Flowers playing live. An introduction follows with plenty of self-referential humor from the trio regarding various outlets they've been fired from in the past.

The format of the show hews closely to that which made Top Gear such a success. There's a studio—this time it's a tent rather than a hanger—and an audience, from where the action cuts away at regular intervals to show us the features.

"Contrary to what people say, this is actually a car show."

Episode 1's title is "The Holy Trinity," something most petrolheads will instantly recognize as a reference to the hybrid hypercars from Ferrari, McLaren, and Porsche. After much trying—and after the production runs of all three were long since sold out—The Grand Tour managed to assemble a Porsche 918 Spyder, McLaren P1, and Ferrari LaFerrari together for a track test. Each of the presenters has their favorite, and there's plenty of teasing each other regarding which will be the eventual victor. The stakes are more than just pride however; Clarkson, championing the P1, bets Hammond and May his will be the fastest. The penalty for losing? They get to demolish his house.

We also meet the show's new test track—the Eboladrome—located outside Swindon in the UK. There's also a new tame racing driver. Unlike the Stig, Mike Skinner (who runs in NASCAR) is allowed to talk, and he's an opinionated American who thinks anything that isn't a V8 is "communism." The Eboladrome is a scary looking thing, nicely described as making "Imola [the Italian race track which claimed the life of Ayrton Senna] look like a duvet."

One segment that didn't translate over from the BBC is the celebrity interview. At first it looks like we'll be subjected to a few minutes of someone promoting their latest film or book, but a series of tragedies results in the deaths of Jeremy Renner, Armie Hammer, and Carol Vorderman.

Now, I'm a bit of a curmudgeon and will be the first to tell you that the last few seasons of pre-Evans Top Gear felt increasingly stale. Yet The Grand Tour melted my cold, black heart. The production values are extraordinary. Director of Photography Ben Joiner has excelled himself, and if you're lucky enough to have a television capable of 4K and HDR you will be in for a treat. While I don't have access to such a device, my colleague Sam Machkovech does. He was so impressed with the experience he e-mailed me late last night—sadly Sam's three-word email is almost unprintable, but the first word was "....holy." I'll let you fill in the blanks.

Unlike Netflix or Hulu, Amazon Prime doesn't want us binge watching, so we have to wait another week for the next installment. It is going to be a long seven days.

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http://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/11/...-amazon-prime/

Quote:

TV Review: Jeremy Clarkson’s ‘The Grand Tour’ on Amazon

Variety

TV Critic
Sonia Saraiya
@soniasaraiya

The Grand Tour
Courtesy of Amazon

18 November, 2016

Former "Top Gear" hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May move to the USA to continue their shenanigans with impunity

If there is one lesson to be learned in 2016, it is that white men in media have a free pass to fail upward with impunity. Corey Lewandowski assaulted a reporter and got a job at CNN; Roger Ailes sexually harassed women at Fox News for decades and got a position as a senior strategist for Donald Trump’s campaign. And our president-elect himself… well. It appears that we have a truly extraordinary capacity for forgiveness.

For Jeremy Clarkson, who physically and verbally assaulted a BBC producer and was subsequently let go from the massively popular show “Top Gear,” forgiveness comes in the form of a lush upgrade: “The Grand Tour,” from Amazon Studios, which preserves nearly everything about the BBC show’s gearhead enthusiasm, international adventuring, and swaggering masculinity.

The first episode places them in America, which gives Clarkson and his perpetual costars Richard Hammond and James May plenty of opportunities to quarrel good-naturedly about the relative merits of the U.K. and the U.S. with their fiercely patriotic audience. (To their credit, the audience has absolutely no patience for Clarkson’s declaration that the Royal Air Force is a finer institution than the U.S. Air Force, leading to a staged but funny bit where the trio has to hide behind their table as the audience chants “U! S! A!”) Their desert studio is extravagant and beautiful, furnished like a conqueror’s bivouac with leather camp chairs, vintage luggage, and Oriental rugs. (The giant traveling tent, as they call it, will be touring the world with the hosts — Johannesburg, Scotland, Dubai.) And the cinematography is remarkable; “The Grand Tour” is filmed in 4K, or Ultra HD, making for wide shots of shiny cars drifting effortlessly over terrain or tarmac that are positively bursting with color and movement.

But at least at first, much of “The Grand Tour” is devoted to reveling in the fruits of bad behavior. Clarkson first appears in the pilot leaving London surrounded by controversy, demonstrated through snippets of news reports and interviews played in the background as he solemnly steps into a black cab. He flies to LAX, where he picks up a blue Mustang Rocket in the airport’s parking lot, and as he starts driving east, he’s joined by Hammond and May, in red and white Rockets of their own.

The music turns from somber to upbeat, a cover of “I Can See Clearly Now,” as the three cars meet up and pass with a whole convoy of bizarre and fascinating vehicles, arrayed in a formation not unlike the war party in “Mad Max: Fury Road.” They come to the stage where the band is playing, labeled with a big “BURNING VAN” banner; a formation of fighter jets sweeps overhead in the endlessly blue sky. If it started as a dark night of the soul, it ends a victory lap. Hammond introduces Clarkson with, “He’s basically a shaved ape in a shirt.” Clarkson picks it up with his first line to the camera in the whole show: “It’s very unlikely I’m going to be fired now, because we’re on the Internet. Which means I could pleasure a horse.”

When it comes to the cars, “The Grand Tour” delivers gearhead porn in spades, fondling steering wheels and gearshifts with expert grace. Clarkson, Hammond, and May’s love for machinery — and what human machinery indicates, which is adventure and expansiveness — is still present, pure, and appealing, even with the shift in networks and formats.

But “The Grand Tour” doesn’t just sell cars, or the love of cars. It is also a celebration of the car — the pinnacle of human ingenuity, as far as this show is concerned — as a tool used to flatten, mold, and indeed, dominate the world. “The Grand Tour,” like the trio’s “Top Gear,” spans the world and crosses all available terrains. In the montage teasing the rest of this season, there are a not-insignificant number of explosions, and at least one instance where machine-gun fire strafes the sides of the drivers’ cars.

“The Grand Tour” is about a certain interpretation of strength — one that interprets logic or sensitivity as just advanced iterations of weakness, subordinate to the power and fire of machines and might. Its ethos is also wrapped up in Clarkson’s glee at having escaped punishment, and in his mockery of the Prius and the bicycle for not being devoted to consuming fossil fuels as quickly and loudly as possible. The show is an embodiment of the self-righteousness of wrongheadedness. One is reminded of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy’s” Ford Prefect, an alien who tried to pass on Earth by taking a name from what he thought was the dominant species.

Literature isn’t far from Clarkson’s mind, either. While complaining about the “boring” feel of a rather nice-looking white Porsche, he says to Hammond: “It was like being stuck in a Victorian women’s novel.”

There is something to marvel at in this sentence. It cannot be questioned without belying that by doing so, you care — about women, about novels, about Victoriana, all of which are just about feelings, while cars are about doings. Though this is beside the point, I doubt that Clarkson has ever read a tempestuous Gothic novel, which of course would imply a female audience anyway; novels began as a female art form. Or is he here to say that a Victorian novel written by a man would be less boring? (Students slogging through “Oliver Twist” might disagree.)

No, the important thing in the sentence is that Clarkson can use it to make someone feel bad — bad, or hurt, or at least provoked. It is just a method of establishing strength. What matters is the engine on the road — speed and strength traversing the world — and awing those who cannot afford it with expensive cars and exotic locales. Never mind that the more “The Grand Tour’s” drivers drive, the less exotic world there is left to drive through; never mind that on the other side of remaking the world is the responsibility of taking stewardship over it.

TV Review: Jeremy Clarkson's 'The Grand Tour' on Amazon

Reality

12 episodes (1 reviewed): Amazon, Fri. Nov. 18, 12:01 a.m. 60 min.

Crew

Executive producers, Andy Wilman

Cast

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May

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http://variety.com/2016/tv/reviews/t...ar-1201922066/

turbo4 · 19-11-2016, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revolver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvt_4Uii5AU

1:30 onwards..... They even say his name....

Richard Hammond posted this. I believe its in a later ep...

that's from a video done for live shows they did after leaving the BBC, i saw it live.
it was posted by a fake account( there is one for each presenter).

arronm · 19-11-2016, 10:28 PM

TRAU BLAU · 24-11-2016, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cs123

He hit the assistant producer. Nothing to do with political correctness.

The ABC keeps saying they are without bias or opinion!What a joke.Left wingers alright.

2011G6E · 24-11-2016, 12:20 PM

Finally got around to watching the first episode of The Grand Tour...

Amazing. Loved the opening sequence...the glum look at leaving, the slight brightening when he saw the rental Mustang, then the outright joy of having his two mates by his side again on the highway. Then the desert shots with an amazing variety of vehicles of all sorts.

I felt a great disturbance in the Force...as if a room full of producers at the BBC realised they had made a terrible mistake and cried out in terror...and were suddenly silenced...

Wretched · 24-11-2016, 12:56 PM

I saw it, mixed feelings. It was entertaining enough but still had the stench of TG.
The tent scenes were a little amateur and i am sure as the season progresses it will improve.
The rest was quite enjoyable, the opening sequence was great, loved the stangs.
I enjoyed the the 3 way comparison of the Hyper cars. For me it was always the Porsche with the McLaren not far behind. The Ferrari, well meh for me. Their cars are nice and i would drive one in a heartbeat but compared to the others, down the list. Doesn't help the company act like a bunch asshats regarding comparisons and all the conditions tied to it.

Bossxr8 · 24-11-2016, 04:01 PM

I'm actually surprised Ferrari let them compare it to the others. They have a long history of banning that type of thing if they aren't guaranteed to come out on top.

ivorya · 24-11-2016, 06:17 PM

Not sure if this has been posted but..... some interesting viewing here..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yLzAU48ruA

One on One with Andy Wilman, the Guru behind Top Gear and now The Grand Tour.

Crazy Dazz · 27-11-2016, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wretched

I saw it, mixed feelings. It was entertaining enough but still had the stench of TG.
The tent scenes were a little amateur and i am sure as the season progresses it will improve.
The rest was quite enjoyable, the opening sequence was great, loved the stangs.
I enjoyed the the 3 way comparison of the Hyper cars. For me it was always the Porsche with the McLaren not far behind. The Ferrari, well meh for me. Their cars are nice and i would drive one in a heartbeat but compared to the others, down the list. Doesn't help the company act like a bunch asshats regarding comparisons and all the conditions tied to it.

I liked the intro, and I like the travelling tent idea, but I'm not sure how well it works. In reality it probably makes little difference production wise, but for me the co-location of the track and the "tent" was one of the endearing features of TG.
What I don't really understand is why you bother taking the tent to LA, but then do nothing featuring America?
Surely that's your opportunity to bring in an American "star," or test an American car, or do something stupid in America?

Whilst I liked the show overall, I was a bit disappointed that the Hyper Cars, and the brief bit with the BMW, were the only car stuff, and/or that there wasn't some funny challenge involving the boys.

ltd · 28-11-2016, 12:46 PM

Just watched Episode 2 yesterday, relax. The boys are back to madness and hilarity. To give you an example, whilst trying to flee a building with terrorists Jeremy gets stuck halfway trying to escape the window of a building, and he quietly says to James and Richard that he can hear the terrorists are in the room. Then he says "ooh, they're doing things to me - this is really unpleasant, please kill me" They both try and Richard eventually gets him with a shovel. Very very funny stuff that they couldn't do on the BBC without getting thousands of letters and calls to sack Clarkson.

Crazy Dazz · 02-12-2016, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltd

Just watched Episode 2 yesterday, relax. The boys are back to madness and hilarity. To give you an example, whilst trying to flee a building with terrorists Jeremy gets stuck halfway trying to escape the window of a building, and he quietly says to James and Richard that he can hear the terrorists are in the room. Then he says "ooh, they're doing things to me - this is really unpleasant, please kill me" They both try and Richard eventually gets him with a shovel. Very very funny stuff that they couldn't do on the BBC without getting thousands of letters and calls to sack Clarkson.

Still feels to me that there's just not enough. Stretching out that segment by endlessly repeating everything just wore thin.

Trump · 02-12-2016, 09:05 PM

Episode 3 is a ripper.

Express · 13-03-2017, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Is this the last throw of the dice for Top Gear?

13 March, 2017
Nick Miller

Philosopher John Locke wore a hole in his sock. He patched that hole, then another, then another, until one day, his entire sock was replaced with patches.

Is this the same sock?

SEE LINK BELOW FOR: Trailer - Top Gear (season 24)
The new season promises to contain "sideways Ferraris, sideways Astons and, um, some naked hikers".

I'm thinking about this, as I go in to interview the charming, intelligent, witty trio of patches, sorry presenters of Top Gear – 2017 edition.

And what if someone had collected the threads that rubbed off Locke's original sock, and wove them into a sock? Is that Locke's sock?

Top Gear's new trio: Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris and Rory Reid. Photo: BBC

Last year Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, travelled the world doing crazy things with cars, grumpily bantering about how political correctness went mad, and called this sock Grand Tour.

When I enter the well-catered basement of a central London hotel there are people everywhere. PR people, more PR people, people who might be producers but never identify themselves. Even the Stig sits wordlessly, ominously in the corner.

Are they terrified the presenters will say something inappropriate? Surely that's why they've got this new lot in, to not do that?

The new lot: Matt LeBlanc, Rory Reid and Chris Harris.

In Britain 1.9 million people tuned into last year's season finale – the franchise is in serious trouble. Photo: Tom Barnes

After a season of experimentation, after the departure of the former presenters for reasons you already know (or I'd encourage you to Google), these three have been chosen as a holy trinity to front what was, once, the most widely watched factual TV program in the world.

In Britain 1.9 million people tuned into last year's season finale: the smallest audience for any Top Gear episode since its 2002 relaunch with Clarkson et al. The franchise is in serious trouble.

These guys are basically nice, and good, and they're replacing a trio of grumpy old conservatives. Photo: BBC

Harris and Reid have watched Grand Tour. "I thought it was massively impressive," says Harris. "Three guys at the top of their game, with a great budget to make car TV and a great team behind them." Reid echoes the sentiments.

LeBlanc, canny TV veteran, knows better.

"I don't know how to watch Amazon Prime," he says, mock-grumpily (he is sniffing a lot, I think he may actually be unwell). "I'm very old."

On paper, Top Gear 2017 is the business. A tuxedoed LeBlanc in an Aston Martin DB11 is cornered by police in Montenegro; Harris drifts the new Ferrari FXX K in Daytona; Reid crashes a taxi in Kazakhstan. Oh, and the laughs when LeBlanc rescues naked ramblers on the Isle of Man.

But Top Gear is a chemistry experiment. Chris Evans, the big-in-British front man for Top Gear 2016, is gone. If you believe the tabloids his co-stars, especially LeBlanc, hated him. If you believe your own eyes, he just wasn't very good at car TV.

LeBlanc blankly refuses to explain his departure. "I wasn't privy to his decision. That was between him and the network. He's made public statements as what his reasons were. I think he was pretty clear it had nothing to do with us."

Reid and Harris both assure me that they "got along fine" with Evans, but didn't really have much to do with him.

"Top Gear is bigger than the individuals," says Harris. "People forget that it's a big old brand."

But the chemistry of the presenters is crucial. And this lot is expected to start from raw ingredients and produce gold. Though he tries not to be, Harris is clearly terrified.

"You know the chemistry that we're compared to took the thick end of a decade to evolve," he says. "We don't have that luxury, that time – but it's evolving very quickly. We get on well, we have a right laugh.

"I mean what a great environment in which to create chemistry. Three people that love cars. On a show that just gives you chances to go and have fun in cars. It's brilliant."

LeBlanc agrees the chemistry between the three of them "is super important".

But he argues the situations the producers put them in "that's just as important in my opinion – and we have a great creative team behind us".

Reid chimes in with an example: a set-up where they recreated Pacman with cars: "This outrageous situation … we're doing such exciting things that you can't help but develop a bond and a funny kind of patter."

LeBlanc talks about how they "key" off each other's reactions to a set-up, which I assume is an acting term from his sitcom days. But he says, though he makes his "inner voice outward, I mean nobody sits in a car and talks to themselves", he has to be himself on screen.

His co-presenters agree. Which is interesting, because these guys are basically nice, and good, and they're replacing a trio of grumpy old conservatives, at least one of whom was a climate change-denying Prius-hater.

Harris tries to bridge the contradiction. "We're not ashamed to enjoy cars," he says. "Not ashamed to burn some fossil juice to go on adventures. We're not going to apologise for being people that love the internal combustion engine."

However, "I can see how it's going to change over time – we can see that potentially it's going to be obsolete at some point".

Reid agrees – "you're missing out on so many things if you take the perspective that burning fossil fuels is the only way I can have a good time in a car … I'm open to embracing alternative fuels and bringing that to the masses".

This might be a Top Gear in name, and in format, but it's not only had a face transplant, but also a heart transplant.

Can it survive?

LeBlanc believes the key is honesty. He chooses that, above all, as the key to what he's found himself doing.

"If you're lying it's going to 'read' in the camera," he says.

It's happened a few times in filming – he's been given a script that he didn't agree with. So he's talked to the team, and they changed it.

"If it's not a representation of how you feel, then it needs to change."

WHAT: Top Gear

WHEN: BBC Knowledge, Monday, 8.30pm

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http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/...08-gut7bn.html

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uniacidz · 13-03-2017, 01:13 PM

Grand Tour is the benchmark now, bigger and better.

Heard the Top gear track being sold to developers so wonder how thats gonna affect things.

**FTE217** · 13-03-2017, 02:07 PM

From since the 3 grumpily pommies have gone - game over couldn't be bothered.
I keep watching TG reruns and enjoy.

SensationFG8 · 14-03-2017, 08:14 PM

Now Evans is gone it's actually watchable again...

Will take more time to nail it but these three aren't bad so far.

b0son · 14-03-2017, 08:32 PM

Way better now that Evans, Sabine and Eddie are gone. I'm still not sold on Le Blanc, I don't think he has a big enough personality to carry the show. Would love to have seen Phillip Glennister in that role...

Trump · 14-03-2017, 09:30 PM

Season 24 of Top Gear is MUCH better than last years "effort"...

(well the first two episodes anyway)

uniacidz · 14-03-2017, 10:30 PM

Had no idea that show cane back on and into a second episode

My car show radar must be injured still from last year's Top Gear fiasco

Sent from ASUS ZE551ML ^_^

uniacidz · 15-03-2017, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uniacidz

Had no idea that show cane back on and into a second episode

My car show radar must be injured still from last year's Top Gear fiasco

Sent from ASUS ZE551ML ^_^

Ok so gonna give my thoughts on new Top Gear.

I like it in fact and up there with The Grand Tour to be honest
7 Episodes though, really should make it like 8-10 i reckon

Toyota 86 for the reasonably fast car
Still the proper Top Gear track now (still heard is up for development)
New set
Guest stays on longer
Funny
How Chris Harris coaches the celebrity guest is funny
Extra Gear still good.
Matt Le Bland is more perkier and seems to be enjoying himself now
Rory and Harris funny

I am really surprised how good it is now, and straight away jumped straight up there competing now with the TGT boys.

If you tuned out because of prior season, try this version.
It really is good.

PS: No more friken slow mini, proper test track, proper Toyota 86

Tokyo Geoff · 15-03-2017, 08:25 PM

I am also surprised at how good it was. I don't think they can recapture the glory of the 3 'grumpy' guys though I think was an unfair sledge by the BBC.

The reasonably fast 86 is a great idea but has the Stig gone? I liked the anonymity of the Stig a lot. I don't really care too much for the star, it's like watching motor racing and they put the camera on the driver's partner...who cares?

Glad they got rid of the track from last year and internally glad they got rid of the twat Evans.

Here's hoping it survives.
Geoff

Bushbasher · 15-03-2017, 09:42 PM

+ 1 for a thumbs up.
I think the mix is just about right and just like with Clarkson and co. in the beginning, they'll get better as they get more familiar and comfortable with each other. Matt LeBlanc still looks a bit out of place and isn't as animated or vociferous as the other two but lets hope he relaxes as he finds his niche in the show and we see some real personality and spontaneity from him going forward.

Rodp · 16-03-2017, 06:37 AM

Might give it another try, then. I dialled out first episode into the last season, was that unwatchable. I was a little disappointed in 'The Grand Tour'. I've only watched half way through and no real rush to watch the other half.

lra · 16-03-2017, 09:09 AM

While I know that 'Top Gear" is still around, I have not seen any of the new stuff, (don't mean the old three amigos) or seen it advertised in local TV programs.
Is it on free-to-air TV or only pay-TV ?

cram_it_frog · 16-03-2017, 01:08 PM

the prang on the first 400 k pluss cars was a nice one

I am still not confident they can make it although it seems better

uniacidz · 16-03-2017, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lra

While I know that 'Top Gear" is still around, I have not seen any of the new stuff, (don't mean the old three amigos) or seen it advertised in local TV programs.
Is it on free-to-air TV or only pay-TV ?

No idea man, downloaded mine

Express · 18-10-2017, 08:21 PM

If you’re like me and only have ‘Free to Air’ television and couldn’t be bothered downloading or whatnot then you probably haven’t seen the first series of The Grand Tour.

I’m probably James Dibble with the late news but just in case you’re not aware it starts tonight on Channel Seven at 7:30pm.

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