Top Gear - Not ambitious but a disappointing Start

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

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.