Top Gear - Not ambitious but a disappointing Start

30 May 2016

OK so after waiting weeks upon weeks to see the evolution of one my all time favourite shows, today I finally got to see what the new new blood brought to what I always thought to be the best way to unwind on a Sunday night before the horrors of the next day. Just imagine enjoying the spoils (Top Gear) after a hard fought battle for the TV remote (Anyone with siblings will know this and I’m not one for watching Simon the Codpiece destroying dreams with a scowl).

Brawl for the remote

Top Gear - Not ambitious but a disappointing Start

When it was announced that Chris Evans was to take the helm of the S.S. Top Gear along with a new crew I’ll admit I was a bit sceptical………oh who am I kidding I was down right against it. As much as I wanted to remain open minded and impartial to the show I couldn’t let go of the past. The trio of presenters before them (Slow, Hamster, Jezza) took a motoring show and turned it into an adventure exploring the world, driving cars of all shapes and sizes (often sideways with a case of POWAH!) and a showcase of what a friendship is supposed to be like despite all the up and downs (at least it was for me anyway). However I changed my mind after watching the new show’s trailers on YouTube and CarThrottle featuring beautiful footage shot in exotic locations around the world (at least that didn’t change. I hope), noises from cars on my to drive list if I won the lottery and best of all it showed a crew of presenters that I mostly approved of doing the job that any car guy/girl dreamed of having at some point in their life. As anyone can attest the old show was a hard act to follow but it looked promising so far despite the numerous articles predicting doom and gloom (that was to be expected so I ignored them).
Cue the infamous intro Jessica playing, broadband connection is live and fast, BBC iPlayer is streaming smoothly, speakers plugged in and turnt all the way to the max. The face I was making was probably this.

New Top Gear Face

After all that time spent searching the internet for more details on the show, Re-watching Old Top Gear, watching Keyboard warriors clash over the fate of New Top Gear and waiting patiently for 8.00PM on the 29th of May, I was in for a surprise. A new studio which for some odd reason looks like it was dressed with the sort of livery found on a crash test dummy from EuroNCAP, a studio audience that resembles the reshuffled deck of cards of a magician with plastic smiles attached to their faces and a noticeable absence of the other presenters. From there the show goes downhill and quite fast as well. Cue the bad impersonation of Jeremy Clarkson doing voice overs, gimmicks from the old show re-imagined into versions which were worse, a show format for the life of me can’t understand why it was changed in the first place and an audience with the power of a judge and jury among other things. Here is are a few questions among the many i have for this show, why does Chris Evans speak like he has a megaphone stuck in his throat? why does it feel like the other presenters are being held back anytime Evans is nearby and this is especially true for Sabine? why not introduce all the presenters of the show within the first episode??????, Why does it seem like the board for the lap times has shrunk slightly?and while I’m all for the new mini but doesn’t it defeat the point of the reasonably priced car ?
There were at least some good moments to make it watch-able……(barely). Matt in the Ariel Nomad was a good feature film and while he may not be as polished as his predecessors I think he can improve. He sounds like he came from the early days when the show was recently revamped. Sabine in the Z06 could have been great if only she was given the same chance as Evans to talk more about the car and what she thinks of it. Extra Gear is also great from what I’ve seen and I can already imagine the majority of CTzens are asking why they aren’t the ones hosting the main show because clearly they are better at it.

Make it Stop!

MY VERDICT
The ingredients for the success of the new show are there but they have to be used in the right way if it is to be taken seriously. First of all I would be interested in Matt’s take of the UK so why not let him loose alone for while so he can explore all that is great about the country. Second, the presenters should have a looser reign on the scripts they use for the show so they can show themselves as people who have enthusiasm for what they do. It should feel like the words coming out of their mouths are actually theirs. Third, The Chris Evans I actually want to see is the one from the reasonably priced car when he talked about the white Ferraris and the Morris Minor he owned as he is a more likeable person than what I just saw. Fourth the show should bring new ideas to the table but at least keep some of the old ideas that made the old show great and not tamper with them. Lastly stop pandering to the squawking of people who don’t care about the show as they ruin it for everyone else.

BTW. First time I’m writing a #blogpost and hopefully it’s not terrible. Let me know what you think.

Comments

I completely agree. Let Matt be the main guy and have Rory Reid, Harris and Sabine be on the main show. Chris Evans is just trying too hard, and it gets so cheesy. The star part was terrible too, it felt so awkward but at least the new track layout was nice.

I’m a bit iffy on the track if I’m honest. On one hand Rallycross is something new that is more challenging for celebrities which is a good thing but on the other hand the track looks like its not meant for rallycross.

It doesn’t flow aswell with the banter if you get what I mean. like when they have abit of banter its VERY clearly scripted, but with May, Hammond and Clarkson it felt like real mates talking., there all too upper class looking, you look at them and think of Their vast Collection of Hyper cars and bank Vault full of Cash. Whereas with The Others You Feel you can Relate to I mean Jeremy Owns a Volvo XC90! When the Viewer Can relate to the presenter they like them.

BTW I know they dont have “A Vault Full of Cash” just the first thing i thought of when i watched The New Top Gear was that.

That’s what I liked about the old show. It looked like normal people just talking about cars and the things they face on the road.

To be fair, sharing some lighthearted banter with people you’ve only known for a short time is hard. It took Clarkson, May, and Hammond a couple years to really find their groove.

Completely agree with what you said

Where can i watch it streaming ?

If you are in the UK you can stream it via The BBC iPlayer. I’m not too sure about outside the country though.

If they loose Evans they might have something there. He tries way too much to be the new Clarkson and that’s something he’ll never be. I just can handle the fact that with Chris Harris as presenter they made us watch to Evans the entire time. In my opinion he should be running the show since he is one of the best car reviewer around, Matt is more than capable of running the entertainment part of the show on his own.

What annoyed me the most was the clarkson voice overs. I was thinking we know you like cars and all so why are you trying to be someone else? To think this the owner numerous Ferraris that cost millions of pounds.

You are 100% right I agree with everything you say. It was like you had typed my opinion. Please do more #blogposts

I will try to do more posts when I can.

The Extra Gear show …not that impressed …..talked up by some bloke Roy as in-depth behind scenes look at TG..nope it wasn’t…Harris doing his usual stuff of trying to make everything go sideways……..yes he is a good wheel man ….but does make him look a little like a one trick pony !

I watched only ExtraGear, because Rory and Harris are only two of the crew I’m actually interested in…good bye Top Gear

I’m only 24 minutes into the show and I absolutely hate Chris Evans’s voice and feels awkward having to replace it in my head with Clrakson’s. I could watch it on mute and have a better experience. It gets even worse when you realize Matt LeBlanc is a natural and already growing on you. Can you at least replace Evans with Leno? For flower’s ;) sake man, keep your hands off that ACR 10. It’s going to be even more awkward having a show besides Top Gear that actually feels more like Top Gear. Bunch of gear knobs to replace “the gear knobs”. Not liking it one bit, just bury the show and release The Stig and let it find it’s place…

Thank God that Jezza, Hamster and Slow are doing their amazon show. I was actually a bit depressed when i watched new Top Gear. It had none of the natural brilliance of the old show. Evans catering joke was just distasteful as well.