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Top Gear 2016


tonyh29

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Good post Hanoi.  That's basically the whole thing summarised nicely.  You're right that no-one is really arguing they shouldn't have a motoring show on BBC.  And please don't think I don't like it just because it's not the other 3.  I really really don't like Chris Evans.  I never have.  I think he's a completely annoying clearing in the woods.  I also am not a fan of Matt LeBlanc and that's when he's doing something he's allegedly good at.  For want of a better term, I'd say he's there for the female viewership.  Sabine is the attempt to hold on to existing fans and Eddie was found wandering the halls after BBC chopped one of the few proper sports they actually cover live (well, half of it live anyway).  I don't have the foggiest who the other 2 are, so I can only assume they're the ones who actually know their stuff, and Stig sells merchandise.  Yeah, no thanks.

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Yeah, it certainly sounds like they couldn't have picked a line-up more calculated to disengage you! I'm with you on Chris Evans, I've never really 'got it' with him either. I was a bit too young for TFI Friday/Don't Forget Your Toothbrush/Big Breakfast etc and could never really see why he was so beloved. I watched the remake of TFI Friday a few weeks ago and it was so '90's it hurt. 

The chap on the end who looks like Okore is a member of Joe Public - a literal 'competition winner' who produced the best 30-second video, submitted to the show. Here's a video - not the same one - of him rapping a review of a car:

 

 

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30 minutes ago, BOF said:

Sabine is the only positive for me.  It's actually news to me that she's on the cast.  Well, news in the past week anyway.  I must have missed that announcement as I've pretty much resigned this show to being the desperate and ultimately failed attempt from an out of touch broadcaster trying to cling to as many fans as they can.  Which is fair enough I suppose. What else could they do?  They could hardly let a cashcow die.

What I'm getting from the feedback so far is that people who really liked the recent Top Gear i.e. those who didn't watch it each week in order to moan about it, think the new one based on its presenters is shaping up to be shit.  Whereas fairweather fans and people looking in from afar, neither of whom watch the show in great numbers or have a particular interest in cars, seem to like the changes.  But the take-up in viewership of those kinds of people will be much lower.  So you lose a fanbase and get some well-wishers who in all likelyhood won't turn up in their droves to watch you anyway.  I suppose it is a form of damage limitation though as said above.

 

I think there is a third camp too, not sure how big it is but I'm certainly a part of it and that is fans of Top Gear who watched the show in the 80s and 90s before the Clarkson - May - Hammond era.  We are probably the easiest bunch to please because we are going to watch it regardless. We'll probably watch whatever those three come up with on Amazon too, but it's always been about the show rather than the presenters.  

The people who only watched for the three presenters will probably abandon ship. Lots of people will complain because the new format is different (exhibit A: check Facebook every time they redesign the interface, the moaning is stupendous until people get used to the new stuff then everybody kinda likes it) but like I said earlier in the thread I think Top Gear was in need of a refresh anyway, probably not as spectacular as this one but the quality of the show had declined in recent years as it moved towards being a collection of incredibly scripted challenges where they recycled jokes a little too often.

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If you're fans of what Top Gear used to be and you'll watch that show regardless, then you must be regular watchers of Fifth Gear because that's exactly what you're describing.  Even down to its main presenter.  Fifth Gear doesn't have a huge fanbase.  Which goes back to what I was saying.  You may be right.  There probably is a 3rd camp, maybe more than that, but numerically it won't amount to much.  I think momentum and morbid curiosity alone will probably carry the first series no matter how bad it is.

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Eddie Jordan? Dear Lord. Still, away from him having to give cringe-inducing interviews ( I hope! ) I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. No idea who the others are. I suppose having a a larger cast allows for more combinations of presenting styles and a different approach to the show. We shall see. I suppose the goal is to try and make it as reasonably different as possible whilst retaining some core elements to distance negative associations, that just three different blokes would have inevitably fallen into. 

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Just a small example but obviously BBC Top Gear has got the Stig and yet Evans can't introduce him with "Some say"  without risk of being accused of copying Clarkson  .. and whilst they could still present Stig as this silent character , that seemed to be more the work of Clarkson and Co and so to continue with it could also prove difficult for them  .. so what will they do with The Stig ? .... likewise  Amzon Top Gear can't have a Stig , though presumably they could stick some Antlers on his helmett and call him "The Stag" if they so choose 

 

So Both shows could be going out of their way to be nothing like "Old" Top Gear  ... which was precisely what made it Top Gear to start with 

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7 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

or we could all be massively over thinking a programme on the telly about cars

 

that's almost akin to going to the WWF thread and posting Wrestling sucks and is for girls

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Just now, tonyh29 said:

that's almost akin to going to the WWF thread and posting Wrestling sucks and is for girls

I do do that every now and again.

Just smash straight in to the middle of thread, kick sand in their sad bespectacled little spotty virgin faces, fart like an adult male, and leave again.

The difference here being, I used the word 'we'. Whereas in the wrestling thread, they smell of wee.

 

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The bbc have ticked every box here with this line up

something for the blokes - cars

a female presenter to show its not just for blokes and Matt le blanc

a black guy for the "we need a minority" involved

and a clearing in the woods in Eddie Jordan.

anc Chris Evans for the ginger crowd.

 

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2 minutes ago, VillaJ100 said:

The black guy is apparently an 'amateur' who has his own show on YouTube and has presented motoring shows on Sky.

It's a bit of an awkward one, while he's obviously not an amateur, you can't begrudge him the fact he's took this opportunity. If there hadn't have been the public auditions he probably wouldn't of stood a chance of the job. Though I suppose cynically you could say he didn't audition and this is the story they are going with.

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7 hours ago, BOF said:

  I don't have the foggiest who the other 2 are, so I can only assume they're the ones who actually know their stuff, and Stig sells merchandise.  Yeah, no thanks.

Chris Harris is hugely popular with his own YouTube channel. Former editor at Autocar I believe, and has a hell of a personal car collection.

Here's his review of the Ferrari F12.

 

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20 hours ago, BOF said:

 

What I'm getting from the feedback so far is that people who really liked the recent Top Gear i.e. those who didn't watch it each week in order to moan about it, think the new one based on its presenters is shaping up to be shit.  Whereas fairweather fans and people looking in from afar, neither of whom watch the show in great numbers or have a particular interest in cars, seem to like the changes. 

I'm not sure I could disagree with that summary more :D

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