The Grand Tour

[BillyC]

The two part sand buggy special was fun to watch. I liked Richards take on it much more than the other two.

I didn't care as much for the episode with the "excellent", but the NSX bit was pretty awesome. It's a shame they hamstrung it racing in the rain around the track...was that intentional I wonder?

[Jeff V.]

I didn't care as much for the episode with the "excellent", but the NSX bit was pretty awesome. It's a shame they hamstrung it racing in the rain around the track...was that intentional I wonder?

I'm going to respectfully disagree with you. I thought the whole thing was pretty good. Even 'The Excellent', though I could have done without the bit with the footballers.

With that said, I've been watching some old Top Gear clips. Just random stuff. They peaked quite a few years ago, even before the punch heard round the world. I don't know if it'll ever be quite the same as it was.

[alienviking]

Hey somebody agrees with me that Top Gear was in a downward spiral before they got shut down!

I watched the first episode of TGT finally. Not too horrible but I'll reserve my judgement until a couple more episodes.

[Duck Vader]

Overall, I think they are getting better. A few of the episodes were really bad. This last one was pretty good. Felt more like old top gear than anything else. Excited for next week's episode though. Looks like a cheap car challenge.

[Jeff V.]

How many episodes are they doing per season? I thought it was only 10?

[Duck Vader]

12

[Duck Vader]

Watched episode 11 last night. There are a couple things that are getting old to me. I am used to the American and the stupid celebrity thing, but there are some other things I am annoyed by. Probably just not my type of humor. Overall it was enjoyable though.

[BillyC]

Episode 10 was good. I rather liked the looks of the Alfa though.

Why did they run the last two cars in the rain, not a very good test of what the cars can do and how well they match up.

I am tired of the 'dumb american' bit and wished he'd give a real review of the cars he's driving.

"Now it's time for CELEBRITY BRAINCRASH"...need I say more.

[Jeff V.]

We just watched 10 last night too. It was good. I had no idea the Alfa was that powerful. I figured it was more of an Audi S4 type of car. 360ish hp.

[Monochrome]

[quote=""Duck Vader""]Watched episode 11 last night. There are a couple things that are getting old to me. I am used to the American and the stupid celebrity thing, but there are some other things I am annoyed by. Probably just not my type of humor. Overall it was enjoyable though.[/quote]

Does that mean they're not coming on then?

[BillyC]

episode 11 was just OK. Not a big fan of old maserati's from the 80's although the bi-turbo with its monochromatic paint did look the best of the 3. I'm surprised/disappointed Jeremy didn't show up with some kind of hot-rodded-engine-swapped car.

[alienviking]

Just watched episode 2 last night. The American is already annoying me, and wasn't a fan of the whole road trip they did and Richard being so over the top in it.

[BillyC]

it never gets any better frode in regards to "the American."

[Duck Vader]

[quote=""BillyC""]it never gets any better frode in regards to "the American."[/quote]

It never gets better, and neither does the "celebrity" thing, but at least to me, the more I watch it the less it bothers me. You know it is going to happen, and you know it is going to be annoying.

Overall I do not like this as much as old Top Gear. They are a bit too over the top in many of their things. Top Gear limited them, which I think made them better. HOWEVER, I will say this, as time has gone on I feel they are getting better on average with each episode. They are a bit more childish now which annoys me and they are playing that angry Hammond, the loud Clarkson, and the pedantic May a bit too much. But like I said, it is still enjoyable enough to keep watching, at least for now.

[alienviking]

Well sounds like they are playing the same roles that started really annoying me with old Top Gear. I suspect I will grow tired of that here as well.

[Jeff V.]

I'm actually interested in seeing how Top Gear does now that they've ditched Chris Evans, promoted Reid and Harris, and they've got a season of The Grand Tour to measure themselves by. Not so much that they'd copy from GT, but hopefully they'll take to heart some of the criticisms and not repeat GTs mistakes.

I really like Reid and Harris, and I've got high hopes for them. It'll be interesting to see how they interact with LeBlanc, or if they try to find another person to add to the cast. As much as I like Sabine, I think she's best used for special one-off segments rather than the weekly routine.

[aaronatstate]

I don't like the American as the driver either. Too over the top with his "hate" of things that aren't American. Why not just have him drive and not say anything?

[Jeff V.]

Part of me wishes they'd just break down and hire Ben Collins (ex-Stig) and just let him be natural. He's not quite good enough on camera to be a regular presenter, but he'd be fine for power laps.

[aaronatstate]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Part of me wishes they'd just break down and hire Ben Collins (ex-Stig) and just let him be natural. He's not quite good enough on camera to be a regular presenter, but he'd be fine for power laps.[/quote]

Agreed. He was perfectly fine on the couple of Top Gear episodes he was on after his stint as the Stig.

[alienviking]

Agree with Jeff on the Top Gear comments. It will be interesting to see how that shakes out. Also agree on the Ben Collins comment. The American fits in perfectly with the part of the show that I hate.