If you watched new Top Gear was it any good, yes or no?

[greenarrow]

I missed the first 15 mins of last night, but its getting better isn't it? I think people need to move on and put away those rose tinted spectacles when it comes to Top Gear. Sure, we all loved Jezza, Hammond and May when they presented Top Gear, but weren't there also plenty of moans on the various forums about how stale it had become in recent years, a programme with 3 middle aged guys larking about and not much in the way of cars.

I really would like them to ditch SIARC and a few of the other things they have copied, but generally there is more about the cars, just like there used to be...

[Usget]

R8 film was annoying, why can't they let Sabine present without Evans as a "minder"? And he's still fking shouting.
Chris Harris was excellent, top bloke.
Fast forwarded through Star section.
Rory Reid was alright but I'm annoyed he dismissed the Civic so easily - I guess that's personal preference though.
Ken Block bit was a bit of fun although even he seemed a bit bored by the end!

Overall - best of the series so far, mostly for the TdF film and significantly less Evans once you fast-forward the SIARCC bit.

[coppice]

Thoroughly enjoyable; the chemistry between the old three was something you cannot script but sadly it had long since descended into a personality w***kfest with precious little else.

Chris Harris was spot on- the informed enthusiast instead of the rather hyper and nerdy persona he'd shown before on film. MLB a natural - I can't help but like him .CE - he's a TV natural for some shows which sadly don't include this one. Sabine? She can drive but I find her 'Zo now we are ze big fun having , ja ? ' style cringeworthy .

But it's about the cars - obviously the Tdf Ferrari was beyond sublime and its modern homage certainly impressive , if a bit shouty. The Block thing? I may be sixty something going on twelve but I loved it .

And all stunningly shot , as ever.

Viewing figures down- what I would expect. Fewer people watch shows about cars than comedy shows...

Edited by coppice on Tuesday 14th June 08:44

[bad company]

I watched it last night. Yes a BIG improvement, let's hope they can keep it up.

[joema]

Much better. Probably because it had less Evans in it. One can hope they continue with less of him

[cologne2792]

Well the ratings are still falling but it does seem that the less we have of Chris Evans the fewer complaints there are. Enjoyed the Chris Harris review immensely - he's calm and mellow and this contrasts brilliantly with the annoying manicness of Evans. Ken Block and Matt LeBlanc were quietly entertaining as well.

Stop trying to carry on the old format, get rid of Chris Evans, drastically reduce or scrap the guest star interviews, see more Chris Harris and it might be in with a chance of survival.

[LDM]

Clearly in a minority but hope Chris Evans remains but in a more equal role. Have always enjoyed Chris Harris pieces but know he can seem a bit boring at times, equally MLB has been much better than I feared but wonder if his reviews would have been so favourable if it wasn't for the "anti CE campaign"?

I still maintain that EP1 was pretty much what I expected (although probably wished for better) but since then each episode has been a big step forward and episode 3 (only the 3rd!) was really rather good.

[schmunk]

LDM said:

Clearly in a minority but hope Chris Evans remains but in a more equal role. Have always enjoyed Chris Harris pieces but know he can seem a bit boring at times, equally MLB has been much better than I feared but wonder if his reviews would have been so favourable if it wasn't for the "anti CE campaign"?

I have similar thoughts - Chris Evans is somewhat annoying, but he brings an energy to the show that the other presenters currently do not have. How long would the show keep wavering viewers amused if all of the studio talk was delivered in MLB's deadpan?

For me the variety seems necessary - it doesn't need to be CE himself, but a CE (or JC) type character pulls the show together.

[JoeMarano]

I thought the third episode was brilliant and probably better than what old top gear would be like now.

[Ste1987]

cologne2792 said:

Well the ratings are still falling but it does seem that the less we have of Chris Evans the fewer complaints there are. Enjoyed the Chris Harris review immensely - he's calm and mellow and this contrasts brilliantly with the annoying manicness of Evans. Ken Block and Matt LeBlanc were quietly entertaining as well.

Stop trying to carry on the old format, get rid of Chris Evans, drastically reduce or scrap the guest star interviews, see more Chris Harris and it might be in with a chance of survival.

I see a lot of comments about "overhauling" the concept, but how can that be achieved?

[ZesPak]

Ste1987 said:

cologne2792 said:

Well the ratings are still falling but it does seem that the less we have of Chris Evans the fewer complaints there are. Enjoyed the Chris Harris review immensely - he's calm and mellow and this contrasts brilliantly with the annoying manicness of Evans. Ken Block and Matt LeBlanc were quietly entertaining as well.

Stop trying to carry on the old format, get rid of Chris Evans, drastically reduce or scrap the guest star interviews, see more Chris Harris and it might be in with a chance of survival.

I see a lot of comments about "overhauling" the concept, but how can that be achieved?

Maybe if they stop trying to carry on the old format, get rid of Chris Evans, drastically reduce or scrap the guest star interviews, see more Chris Harris?

[Europa1]

The one bit of the format they have overhauled, the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, they have made worse in my opinion - it's getting for a quarter of the show.

[Digga]

JoeMarano said:

I thought the third episode was brilliant and probably better than what old top gear would be like now.

Could very well be. I thought ep. 3 was pretty good and Evans was generally a lot better and certainly did a decent job of talking and driving in the R8.

[Ste1987]

ZesPak said:

Ste1987 said:

cologne2792 said:

Well the ratings are still falling but it does seem that the less we have of Chris Evans the fewer complaints there are. Enjoyed the Chris Harris review immensely - he's calm and mellow and this contrasts brilliantly with the annoying manicness of Evans. Ken Block and Matt LeBlanc were quietly entertaining as well.

Stop trying to carry on the old format, get rid of Chris Evans, drastically reduce or scrap the guest star interviews, see more Chris Harris and it might be in with a chance of survival.

I see a lot of comments about "overhauling" the concept, but how can that be achieved?

Maybe if they stop trying to carry on the old format, get rid of Chris Evans, drastically reduce or scrap the guest star interviews, see more Chris Harris?

This is what I'm getting at. How can they stop trying to carry on the old format? What can they make different other than getting rid of the guest driving?

[bad company]

joema said:

Much better. Probably because it had less Evans in it. One can hope they continue with less of him

Agree with that. Why not get rid of Chris Evans completely and replace him with say Jeremy Clarkson?

[schmunk]

bad company said:

Agree with that. Why not get rid of Chris Evans completely and replace him with say Jeremy Clarkson?

Yes, why don't they do that...?

[ZesPak]

Ste1987 said:

This is what I'm getting at. How can they stop trying to carry on the old format? What can they make different other than getting rid of the guest driving?

Remove some of the useless ridiculousness and obviously set up scenarios like the Reliant part would be a start.

[Disastrous]

bad company said:

joema said:

Much better. Probably because it had less Evans in it. One can hope they continue with less of him

Agree with that. Why not get rid of Chris Evans completely and replace him with say Jeremy Clarkson?

Because he was tired, boring and rubbish?

[bexVN]

Enjoyed episode 3 (just watched it)

I apologise for my ignorance but who were the 'guest presenters'? They were both very good, knowledgeable and decent presenting skills. What are their 'day' jobs?!

[JoeMarano]

Are you talking about Rory and Chris? If so those guys have been on youtube for years.