Top Gear S24

I know that we had a thread for Top Gear season 23 and it was pretty much 100% bashing the show, especially the unbeliavably annoying Chris Evans. But after seeing Colin Furze's "world's fastest bumper car" videos I went to see what the new season looks like, and was pleasantly surprised. They stopped trying to replicate the old trio, and without Chris (Evans, not Harris), you can actually watch the show without wanting to rip your ears and eyes out. If any of you haven't watched it, I strongly suggest you do so.

In the topic of comparisons, I'd say the new season is way better than The Grand Tour (please don't grab your pitchforks).



So have you watched any episode yet? What's your opinion on it?

 

I have only watched the first episode so far.

Evans was bad, this trio is better. But IMO they don't have the chemistry a Top Gear needs (not comparing with May, Hammond and Clarkson). I liked LeBlanc in S23, I still think he fits and I'm a Harris fan since a long time, he's amazing at car reviews (well, drifting them while he entertains ), but somehow on a 1h show it doesn't really fit yet. Rory doesn't bring much to the show at all, he lacks some kind of character, a bit too bland.

They could be really good, but from what I saw it's missing a 'buddy-factor'.
Now comparing with M., H. and C.: you could feel those guys wouldn't behave much differently if you gave them 3 cars, tell they should drive halfway through europe and have fun with/against each other. It wouldn't be much different without the cameras.

So far LeBlanc, Reid and Harris felt like 3 blokes put together presenting Top Gear.

And I was rather bored by the first episode.


I can understand though how some could like it over Grand Tour. I really enjoyed GT, but just because they now have more liberties with what is allowed it doesn't mean they should.
Quite a few things on GT were a bit too childish or over the top. It was lacking sense in some parts.

 

I really do like the new shows format. Didnt really like this episode but thats because of the Ford GT le mans thing which has branded them an antagonist and I got a bit lost in the offroad racing thing.

 

Don't get me wrong. I still think the new TG is just a car show, as opposed to the old Car+Humor show, and it can be a bit boring in comparison to the old trio. But if you look at the first few seasons of the old TG they didn't have nearly as much chemistry as they did after 10-or-so seasons, and let's not forget that for the first season, in place of James, they just had a fat guy that told where you could buy cars for a good deal.
As for GT, honestly, I was really disappointed, it's just too forced, too childish, not funny at all. Reminds me of How I Met Your Mother, when Barney tried to "Make every night legendary", they try to make every episode legendary, with expensive cars, doing crazy stunts, presenting it from a new place every time, with explosions and stuff, and it just can't be entertaining forever. Not to mention that the dialogs make them look like robots (I know TG was scripted for a long time, but they could at least try to make it seem natural, couldn't they?).

To sum it up, I think the new TG has evolved a lot, and I believe so can GT. I hope to see two really good car shows in a short while, and see no reason why we won't.

 

Well, then starting of in Ep. 1 with that desert run in Kazakhstan wasn't the best way to show that it's about cars and not humor IMO.

I don't want to say it's bad, but this big challenges didn't start until season 4 or so of TG iirc.

 

It does have humor, but not as much banter as the old trio, probably because they don't know each other for as long.

 

I like it, a lot more than GT tbh.They might not have chemistry, but you don't build chemistry in a year, from what I see on Extra Gear they have lots of behind the scenes laughs, they have to act more natural, Chris Harris in general, it's like they're forcing an attitude on him, but overall I am enjoying Top Gear right now more than I have in the last 5-6 years .
I also think the execution of the filmography is MUCH better than GT.Finally a car show that I can waste a sunday night on.

 

I have to say I'm enjoying the new TG more than I'd expected (just caught up on about 4 episodes at the weekend). I like the format of the presenters (the 3 main guys and Eddie and Sabine every now and then, there's only so much I can take of Eddie...).

The only issue I have is as others have mentioned the lack of chemistry, and by that I mean any sort of 'banter' or funny moments feel very forced. I have no doubt this will come with time, but right now there are plenty of small awkward moments.

Overall its pretty good, and certainly easy to enjoy unlike the previous series. Its a great start to build on.

 

It doesn't have the laugh out loud humour of Clarkson/Hammond/May yet, but it's a big improvement over the previous series.

The Pacman stunt and the Hole in the Wall drifting stunt were particularly good ideas. It's a good show again and will probably get better as the new hosts get used to each other.

 

Matt Le Blanc is definitely the star of the show. Chris Harris is OK as the "straight man" next to him, but I agree that Rory seems to be the odd one out. Maybe he will grow on me as I continue to watch the series.

 

Thank you. I couldn't point the finger to what was bothering me about Chris as I usually like him.
I've put it to 'not seeing him doing his usual stuff'.


And regarding 'building chemistry'. That a relevant point, because of that I watched the first episode of TG with Hammond, Clarkson and the replaced guy.
You could already notice how Hammand and Clarkson had some laughs and fun with each other while they did the news segment.

 

Well, the thing is: the show became a lot better since they stopped trying to replicate the old trio, and I think we can enjoy it a lot more if we stop expecting the old show from them.
What makes me sad is that the old trio seems to have become way too bad now on GT, so I hope they can have after season 1 the same evolution that the new TG had.

 

OK, encouraged by you guys I've now watched Ep. 2 and this one was way better. It's more of a proper car show and seemed more natural.
The Giulia segment was very nice.

 

I'm really enjoying the new Top Gear, a lot more than I thought I would after that dumpster fire last season. Joey is great, Harris is great, and even though I didn't think much or Rory last season he's really grown on me and I enjoy him now. I feel like those three and Sabine are building a great chemistry that's getting better with every show, it feels like they're making their own thing instead of trying to recapture the lightning in the bottle of the last trio. I love the Grand Tour as well, but I could watch those guys attend an antique show and find it enjoyable.

 

I think the new season gets better with each episode. Joey seems much more natural and chatty, Harris doesn't look like a deer caught in the headlights and is much more natural on the big stage now. It's hard to know what to make Of Rory, I think he's pretty good, he's a little bit bland which I think comes from being brought up in that safe BBC presenter role. But as with the other two he get's better and better with each episode. I like the way they're suing Sabine in the new series too.

I think it's all worked out for the best, we have a new modern top gear and a new break away show with the old crew who I still love.

 

Sorry for spaming this, but I find it pretty entertaining.


James May and Richard Hammond Building LEGO Kart

 

One thing I found surprising, as someone who likes Jordan GP's history, is how annoying is Eddie. My lord! The guy behaves like an old spoiled lady.

 

Yep, he's truly obnoxious, glad they sorted the main hosts.I'm not keen on Sabine either, she can drive ofc, but her rough accent and jokes don't fit the overall theme of the show.As I said, they seem to have dumbed down Harris, his YT reviews are so insightful and technically detailed, it's the cream of the crop really, some of it can be seen in the TV reviews as well, but it's not the same.Looking forward to the evolution of this series.It's quite funny how much sh1t they got for the holy trio departure, and now it's quite obviously a much better result than the Grand Tour.(I know it's subjective, but even objectively taking in consideration budgets, production teams and locations...)

 

I think comparing TG and GT doesn't make much sense.

TG is an entertaining car show while FT is an entertaining show with/around cars.

If I had to pick only one to watch then it's GT. But the car reviews are more serious on TG. I really don't like the new track GT is on nor the damn test driver. I really hope that he will be gone for season 2 of GT.

 

Old (new) TG really was greater than the sum of its parts. Neither replacement show has the magic. Maybe one or both will find it eventually.