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Clarkson Sacked, Top Gear Dead
| July 11th, 2017 at 4:03:45 PM permalink | |
| Face Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 61 Posts: 3941 |
Huh. Childish superstition for the win! Top Gear has finally made it to me. Chris Evans was a surprise, as while I knew of his love for cars from an earlier TG episode, I know nothing of him or his talk show, and he didn't really seem like "the type". Matt LeBlanc was another huge surprise, but one I actually looked forward to as his previous appearances were all solid. And having Sabine Schmidt round out the cast knocked it out of the park for me. A serious German with a serious accent and a hell of a wheelman. I might have a crush. Top Gear is no longer Top Gear, that much is certain. Evans is just... I dunno, "soft". He's too bright and shiny. He reminds me of Ellen. Charming, funny, a joy to be around, and I can't handle that s#$% for more than 5min at a time. LeBlanc is the real star, an every-man. The sort of man you could imagine wheeling a Ligenfelter Corvette but would also wear tight pants and not give a f#$%. Someone who could laugh at themselves. It is odd having a Yank on TG, but that's about my only complaint about him. Sabine is OK, much better behind the wheel than the camera, but not necessarily a downer. In all, Top Gear is indeed dead. But, this thing they've got in it's stead, it's not bad TV. It has lost, for me, all of what TG did to make me tune in, but it's still humor sprinkled over motorsports, and I watch rototiller drag racing. In other words, I'm not tuning out of it. Now, due to an odd order that lead me into my ex-wife's Amazon account and, with it, access to Prime, I've been binging on The Grand Tour, aka, the REAL Top Gear. And this s#$% has simply never been better. It's very hard to find what has been lost with the transfer. So hard in fact the only thing I can think to mention, and I'm watching it right now, is the loss of the Stig. And though Aye said he might be the only one they COULDN'T lose, they filled him in with a guy referred to as simply "The American" (NASCAR legend Mike Skinner) whose American cliche character is BETTER than the white mime. There are some obvious difference (loss of The News, loss of Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, etc), but all that's replaced it feels neither forced, misplaced, or even odd at all. With the exception of the new leaderboard (I prefer the analog magnetic tape than a digital screen), it as a product is as good or better than it has ever been. I didn't pay one red cent for the pleasure, but I'd do anything short of actually giving money to Amazon to acquire it. I give it the Nurburgring Nordschlieffe out of 10. Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it. |
| July 12th, 2017 at 10:37:51 AM permalink | |
| Ayecarumba Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 89 Posts: 1744 |
Hmmm... I think I have to check this out. I heard somebody literally crashed and burned, and didn't watch... but a Nurburgring Nordschlieffe... that's worth a test drive. |
| July 12th, 2017 at 12:33:18 PM permalink | |
| Face Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 61 Posts: 3941 |
I can't imagine a reason you'd not like it, other than your comment that the only non-replaceable person was the Stig. Skinner is surely no actor, but there is something about a hick calling everything European "communist". 6cyl, turbos, it's all commie garbage. Makes me giggle. I'm unsure of your crash-and-burn comment; I've not followed any news on the production. Though I wonder if, like Dalex, it's just miscommunication. They still "do interviews" with famous people, but it's sort of replaced the Morris Minor gag. Each time a guest is about to appear, they somehow get killed. I like that better as celeb nonsense of most kinds ain't something I dig. You'll like it. While change generally means (to me) that it's ruined, I find no area to complain. Dunno if it's "better", necessarily, but it sure ain't worse. Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it. |
| July 12th, 2017 at 1:09:25 PM permalink | |
| DRich Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 51 Posts: 4966 |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feKFQAuwYNU At my age a Life In Prison sentence is not much of a detrrent. |
| July 12th, 2017 at 1:45:19 PM permalink | |
| Dalex64 Member since: Mar 8, 2014 Threads: 3 Posts: 3687 |
You summoned me? Regarding crash and burn: Richard Hammond had another bad wreck. I watched a few of The Grand Tour and didn't like it as much as Top Gear (with those same hosts). I haven't watched much of the 'new' Top Gear with the new hosts, but what little I have seen I would consider to be generally boring. "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." Daniel Patrick Moynihan |
| July 12th, 2017 at 3:49:00 PM permalink | |
| DRich Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 51 Posts: 4966 | This may get me thrown out of the thread, but I liked the American version better. At my age a Life In Prison sentence is not much of a detrrent. |