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The Grand Tour: Season 2
- Thread starter Deleted member 1726
- Start date
I think I prefer the old track to this dirt-segment gimmick that Top Gear tried as well.
Didn't see what was wrong with the eboladrome, besides the tongue-in-cheek name.
I don't care about the new track since it seems to only be used for the celeb races. I didn't like the eboladrome primarily because everything about it was tryhard: the name, the american, the corner names. The configuration of it felt awkward as well, and honestly all of the shots made it look like it was literally a service road behind a bunch of abandoned warehouses. It gave it this really cheap. knock-off feel compared to the TGTT.
Getting as close to classic TG as possible is just how I want this show. I haven't seen any Top Gear eps since I think the Vietnam special and some other eps here and there to be honest though, but I know that whatever made TG special between these three are all here. The manly man schtick is gonna bite them in the ass in the long run though I fear. Personally I can't give two fucks if people criticise it as I can get why they act like that, but then again you can't please everyone.
Sames. Have they ditched the tent? Tell me they've ditched the tent.
Wait I thought it was a tent like studio with CG Windows, its actually a portable studio? Holy Fuck.
Watched it just now, I thought it was closer to the Top Gear model they used to do, I would have liked to have seen more 'driving' though they seemed to spend a fair few minutes of screen-time driving back to the same town in a montage and also in the museums, that could have been better spent with more 'action' content, when you think how much they crammed into the 'big trips' they used to do in a shorter time (60mins), maybe they did have other things planed but were unable to do so because of the crash though.
Same. I quite enjoyed it the first time around. I love a good hill climb event.
Edit: Did the Italian announcer call James May a "huge criminal masturbator"?
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The good things:
Let's hope next weeks episode doesn't sink to the level of that terrible second episode in the first series, where they attempt to become special force soldiers.
- 'Eboladrome' and its contrived naming schemes are gone, as is The American.
- Celebrity Brain Crash is not only gone, but they openly admitted that it was rubbish.
- The scenery, especially in HDR, is genuinely breathtaking. It is one of the very best demonstrations of both 4K and HDR.
- More time spent driving their cars along with the grumpy old men banter; this feels closer to how the trio were during their time on Top Gear, and long may it continue.
- Just a decent all-round episode with very little filler or fluff in-between. A perfect way to open the second series.
- Whilst the Celebrity Brain Crash is thankfully gone, the Celebrity Face Off lingers on for a few minutes too long. Here's hoping the next set of celebrities are comparable to those who appear on Top Gear several years ago.
- Clarkson has always been sexist, but he mentions 'lady shaver' about half a dozen times too many. I'm sure he was very pleased with his 'joke' though. And let's not forget his hilarious comment about women eating salad leaves (!)
- This is my biggest bugbear; Hammond nearly died in that car crash, and yet it was presented as a bit of a joke when they revealed their times during the hill climb race. Maybe it's just me being Mr. Sensitive, but I certainly did not expect that blank reaction...
Let's hope next weeks episode doesn't sink to the level of that terrible second episode in the first series, where they attempt to become special force soldiers.
I thought it a bit odd at first as well, but thinking more about, it's also kind of exactly how they'd play something like that.
If he hadn't nearly died, they'd have rubbed it in and drawn out the joke MUCH longer, I think.
So I didn't have a problem at the end of the day.
Thought it was a pretty great start to the season overall.
This is why i stopped watching Top Gear season 16 onwards
It became a staged entertainment show, the jokes and everything seemed so forced and really turned me off it
I watched one episode of The Grand Tour last year and it was just the same, too much scripted set up's
First episode was great. Idk why I couldn't get my ps4 to display it in 4k though even though my video settings have that as the default. (or does the ps4 Amazon app not support 4k?)
I loved it - really great to have it back.
I don't mind the 'scripted' stuff because their chemistry has always made it seem believable.
Good to just have a solid hour (plus) of silly TV back.
I don't mind the 'scripted' stuff because their chemistry has always made it seem believable.
Good to just have a solid hour (plus) of silly TV back.
Yup. It's why I stopped watching top gear too. I love them when they don't do that - but the minute the scripted shit starts I turn off
Hmm... Feels like I've seen this episode before.
May and Clarkson look so old. lol
I guess that was what the episode was trying to highlight, but.... yikes
May and Clarkson look so old. lol
I guess that was what the episode was trying to highlight, but.... yikes
I thought it was a poor episode. Spent more time doing their fake scripted shit (Hammond looking for charge point, lambo not fitting through old streets,...) than with the cars. I can forgive this if it was a result of the crash, but they didn't show fuck all really about the cars. By the end of it I had absolutely no sense of what the new NSX was like. Pretty disappointed
Did you ever watch the trio on Top Gear??? It's never been about the cars. Sure, they may quickly go through some of the cars selling points but people don't watch them for stats or features, they watch them for their banter and beautifully shot stories.
That's why they've been so successful, the ability to attract non car loving viewers.
Yes, for years. You're wrong here. They used to at least go over the good and bad point of the cars to some degree. Nobody would watch this show just to see old farts complain
Maybe if it was a review of one car (which May did on the NSX last year mind you) but rarely go through cars in detail when in a 3 way trip.
Sure they did. Even in the last top gear season on their Australia trip they each talked a lot about their cars
That's why most people watch this show, though. The trio's antics, silly challenges, road trips. There's only a very small percentage of people that can afford the cars they usually drive anyway. The people didn't start defending Clarkson after punching a guy just to get more supercar reviews. Regardless, there's always been episodes where the cars barely got any mention. I'm sure there's going to be plenty of road tests in this series too, like the previous one.
The thing is that the trio aren't even themselves anymore, just versions of themselves that are written by other writers. May is the nerd, Hammond is the obnoxious loud one, and Clarkson is the bloviating guy who doesn't believe in climate change. Also one of their cars gets stuck/breaks down/is sabotaged and the other two drive off without them.
None of it feels authentic anymore, and I kind of wish that they'd just let them drive their cars and explore some location without all the writing getting in the way. (God, I still remember how tedious that commando training episode from last year was)
None of it feels authentic anymore, and I kind of wish that they'd just let them drive their cars and explore some location without all the writing getting in the way. (God, I still remember how tedious that commando training episode from last year was)
Surprised by how great that was! Felt like an old Top Gear episode. After the first season I was prepared to not be super into it but this was good all round. Even enjoyed the celebrity segment -- the new track is great. I hope they bring former race drivers in at some point because there's a ton of potential time out there; would love to see some real speed as opposed to... buses being parked (in Hasselhoff's case) (to be fair I assume it's because there was little-to-no coaching)
Last year definitely felt like 'Amazon gave us a lot of money and oh god we have to spend it some how'
Last year definitely felt like 'Amazon gave us a lot of money and oh god we have to spend it some how'
Wait, what? You can download Amazon Prime videos on an Apple TV?
What's more, if I go to download options in the amazon prime app on my iPhone, it mentions that the best quality takes 0,9 GB /h, while under streaming the best quality takes 5,8GB /h. So, apparently downloading movies probably isn't anywhere near 4K quality.
Thought after giving up part way through series one because it was so bad this first episode was a big improvement. Still a little bit over scripted in the health farm sections but felt a lot more natural than the awful first series, some actual moments of just funny banter between the team and they've thankfully got rid of a lot of the awful stuff like the celebrity deaths. I think the new celebrity versus section will actually work okay most weeks, it just stalled a bit because the hoff looked a mix of confused and not really wanting to be there whenever they were trying to talk to him. They tried to go too fancy and go away from the original format in the first series (whever that was to seem like a new show or appeal to the american audience I don't know) but going back to basics and old top gear format should work okay if they stick to it.
Watched it with hubby. I like the scenery and the stupid stunts but they're just arseholes. They seemed less obnoxious when they were on the Beeb but maybe it was just because they were mostly kept in check by their handlers or had better script writers. Now they're decrepit, bloated, pub bores spewing out the sort of tired sexist crap last heard when wife beating was popular.
I agree.
I almost feel like I watched a different episode from others in here. Each year seems more scripted than the last. Hell, in this episode you can literally see May mouthing out Hammond's line as he speaks.
This was not a good episode at all for me. The celebrity part was awful too, and The Hoff didn't even look like he wanted to be there.
I liked the first episode overall, but I agree that it was a bit boring at times.
The celebrity thing is way better than the "killing celebrities" joke from last season, but ran too long. The core idea of having two people race each other is pretty good though.
The supercar segment had good bits, but spent too much time making fun of electric cars and vegetables. As they always do.
Most of the edited intro clips are just meh, but I do like the Conversation Street silhouette jokes.
I don't think it's funny to treat Hammond's crash as an afterthought. Maybe they wanted to deviate from being nice to him about his rocket car crash, but the whole thing just fell flat to me.
The celebrity thing is way better than the "killing celebrities" joke from last season, but ran too long. The core idea of having two people race each other is pretty good though.
The supercar segment had good bits, but spent too much time making fun of electric cars and vegetables. As they always do.
Most of the edited intro clips are just meh, but I do like the Conversation Street silhouette jokes.
I don't think it's funny to treat Hammond's crash as an afterthought. Maybe they wanted to deviate from being nice to him about his rocket car crash, but the whole thing just fell flat to me.
Watched episode 1 last night.
It was just dull. The same tired shit that I've seen them do a hundred times now, with the same tired 'old man out of touch' humour that just isn't really funny anymore. I mean honestly, a joke about how "only women eat salad".
...
Haha?
I thoroughly enjoyed the Top Gear specials back in the day, but the shchtick is just boring at this point. I think maybe I'm done.
It was just dull. The same tired shit that I've seen them do a hundred times now, with the same tired 'old man out of touch' humour that just isn't really funny anymore. I mean honestly, a joke about how "only women eat salad".
...
Haha?
I thoroughly enjoyed the Top Gear specials back in the day, but the shchtick is just boring at this point. I think maybe I'm done.
The more I think about how both May and Clarkson were acting aloof and being completely dismissive of Hammond's crash, the more I grow to dislike the whole scenario.
If you look at the audience after they came back to the tent upon showing the crash, only half were able to muster themselves up to chuckle or clap to the results of the hill climb race.
I mean, would you like it if your friends and/or family did the same if they knew that you were mere seconds away from dying in a car crash?
Eh, that was one of my favourite parts of the episode. The look on Hammond's face was brilliant. If they treated every crash Richard got in to that seriously then every other episode would be depressing. My brother walked away from a very similar incident a few years ago and it's always been the source of a lot of jokes in my family. In those kind of situations you really need to focus on the lighter side of things and not get caught up on what could have been.
In 2006, when Richard almost died the first time, he was left with severe depression and paranoia among other mental problems, according to him. He also asked the other presenters to never mention the accident again, and just pretend that nothing happened, after the episode that showed the crash.
It's entirely possible that Richard specifically didn't want to make a big deal out of the crash. Also, it's obivous that behind the scenes they care for eachother, so it's not like Clarkson just stormed into his hospital room and called him a blithering idiot. I was glad to see them have the ability to laugh it off and carry on.
It's entirely possible that Richard specifically didn't want to make a big deal out of the crash. Also, it's obivous that behind the scenes they care for eachother, so it's not like Clarkson just stormed into his hospital room and called him a blithering idiot. I was glad to see them have the ability to laugh it off and carry on.