The BBC has made three massive errors with the new TG:

1 not remaking the whole thing from the ground up: the whole thing about races and challenges and driving around with guns on your car is pure Clarkson. Would Matt Leblanc fantasise about cars with lasers? No, he’d be chatting up women. And keeping the furniture, the Stig (another Clarkson creation) – just crazy. It would inevitably lead to comparisons with the real TG. I don’t know if it was budget or timidity but that’s a terrible call.

2 Not realising that it was the camaraderie not the cars that was the appeal of TG.

3 Employing Chris Evans.

I thought it was quite good. Star in the car bit was crap, as always. Otherwise it was fine.

I’ve just watched it and I’m trying to figure out what it is they’ve done.

I was full of positive vibes prior to watching that, new presenters and a new format it had the potential to be great. But it wasn’t.

Dire regurgitation of the same old sh*t without any of the interesting stuff it could have had. Relegating Chris Harris to the B show is a travesty.

Very very disappointed.

Oh and Chris Evans, it’s not TFI Top Gear – PLEASE STOP SHOUTING!

Blooming hell there’s a lot of old waffle on here.

You got to see Super Teddy Sheringham clatter Ramsey not once but twice.

What more d’you want?

What more d’you want?

Less football. 😉

Sabina looks aged

You know that she is a 47 year old Woman, and that Nürburgring episode of Top Gear she was in that you keep seeing on Dave is 12 years old, right?

Did’nt hate it as such.

Probably just forget about it from now on.

I watched for 10 min then turned it of, utter rubbish and as for Chris Evans, he reminds me of thrush, a right irritating c**t

Has Chris Evans made any reference to it on Radio 2 this morning ? I know in the last few weeks he did make plenty of it…. Wonder if he was so enthusiastic this morning ?

It was OK. Probably too much change for the Clarkson fanbois and not enough change for those thinking the last few series had got stale so I suppose its was about right. Could’ve been a lot better if they were willing to take some risks, which I though Evans would be willing to do. The last 20 mins was better than the first 20 mins. Star bit was always poor so no change there.

I like watching Clarkson, I have positively avoided Evans since Don’t forget your toothbrush (he has always been shouty, he’s not going to change). A lot of people watched TG for Clarkson/May/ (lesser extent) Hammond. Trying to remake the show with different people is a big mistake, you can see by the sheer number of presenters they are lost. If they made a car programme with Chris Harris, Sabrine, and Eddie Jordan (bit motorsport orinetated) I would be interested but I am not wading through the rest with Evans and LeBlanc. Griff Rees Jones as the “new” May not really a car person ?

TG is a massive commercial success for the BBC, well was really. Its resold and remade under license (eg French have their version with same format) so the BBC had to do something. If I may say so, the bbc should have just sucked it up and paid the producer £2m (?) compensation and/or spun the show out and bought back the right to show it. As it stands the show is going to fail in the UK and the new Clarkson one is going to kill it abroad.

Has Chris Evans made any reference to it on Radio 2 this morning ? I know in the last few weeks he did make plenty of it…. Wonder if he was so enthusiastic this morning ?

He’s been defending it on Twitter quoting FACTS (sic) about viewing figures and % of viewing audience.

I predict these viewing figures will halve next week.

I’m in the it really was awful camp. Just no attempt to move the show forwards, they even used the same car seat seats and engine table.

After all Chris Evan’s bigging the show up I was hoping for something fresh.

The Celeb bit was just awful.

Ramsey to blind to read the autocue and too vain to put his glasses on. Would it have been so hard to learn one fact about the guy you are sitting next to?

JC always made it look easy. It wasn’t a rough ride and that’s why they got such good guests in the Reasonably awful car.

TG was sold abroad as a format to the US and Australia; no doubt others. They were all cancelled due to crapness.

Do it differently, or don’t bother.

Just watched extra gear, that was actually ok

I enjoyed it. Evans was Evans, MLB was quite warm and funny. Not keen on that German bird though.

The Nomad feature was probably one of the best ever on TG.

The Nomad feature was probably one of the best ever on TG[b]OK until they tried to do a badly scripted ‘race’.

TBH my lasting impression was of how much impact the producers obviously had on the old TG. The scripting of the scripted ‘races’ was awful, and it just wasn’t as well shot (and the nomad should have left the dirtbike for dead on the road).

Reliant Robins – broke down on the M40, then a load of padding.

Jeep Vs LR S1 – a load of challenges in which is was obvious the Jeep was the better car. Followed by a strongman who can’t push the jeep (unsurprising) and the Brownlees being rubbish in front of the camera.

Studio bits – mehhhh

Star in a rallycross car – Why? What was wrong with the old format? If you wanted a change just put 2 fairly well matched (it’s usually fairly obvious who’s going to be OK and who’ll struggle with a gearbox) stars in cars and race each other.

Matt could probably be quite funny if he was just left to get on with it (or given a script) without Evans.

Unsurprisingly Sniff Petrol’s piece is quite amusing. Sniff

Thought extra gear was pretty good, way more relaxed and better chemistry among the presenters.

I honestly thought it was rubbish. Evans was a complete tool and as stated endless times, shouted everything out like Mr Cillit Bang!
And please look at the audience as they didn’t look comfortable at all and most looked like they didn’t want to be recognised by the original TopGear fans. I won’t be watching it any more and I do think that it’s a dying duck now.

I’m with Mrs Hayes.

Dad analysing Top Gear as if it were collected works of Shakespeare

oomidamon has it with the sniff petrol link.

Was it as good as the previous top gear at its best: no

Was it as bad as the previous top gear at its worst: not even close.

We’ll see how it works out over the rest of the series and I’m pretty sure they’ll listen (and at the very least shoot the sound man [or stick a pillow over Evan’s gob] for next week).

Parts of the aftershow (Sabine bit) were great and I actually think that given a chance she can can be the presenter TG has needed for years.

P.S. Comment about her looking “aged” while presenting a show that might as well have been fronted by compo, foggy and clegg for the last X years are peak singletrack.

Parts of the aftershow (Sabine bit) were great and I actually think that given a chance she can can be the presenter TG has needed for years.

I think a few of us think this is the future, I’ll watch again when Chris Evans is gone

P.S. Comment about her looking “aged” while presenting a show that might as well have been fronted by compo, foggy and clegg for the last X years are peak singletrack.

Tremendous 🙂

the odd/disappointing thing was after 11 months of being “creative”, it looked for all the world like a panicked mid-series presenter swap.

MLB seemed to be struggling with having to read a scripted autocue in a ‘live’ environment, I got the impression he could improve greatly as he relaxes into the role and turn into an asset.

The first episode was always going to have huge viewing figures with all the interest, it’ll be the mid-series figures that have some relevance.

Just watched the first bit.

Very odd – very little original thought. Evans was even copying Clarkson’s intonation albeit with a more irritating voice. So we watch an excited middle-aged bloke driving a very fast car on an airfield – ok. that’s novel – and then lets intro the Stig in exactly the same way.

And the Top Gun script was positively childish and hackneyed. Gave up pretty quickly.

TG was becoming tired true, but at least they did it better than this new lot.

\if it was just a gentle introduction to a new format with lots of familiarity then it was fair enough. Tone down Evans and it would be significantly less painful but really it was time to ditch the comedy challenges and come up with some new stuff.

After what seems like some great casting it looks like they’ve bottled the new start and just reverted to the worst of type.

Very much this.

crashtestmonkey – Member
the odd/disappointing thing was after 11 months of being “creative”, it looked for all the world like a panicked mid-series presenter swap.

As said, the proof of the pudding will be the figures for NEXT weeks show!

And as also said, ExtraGear felt fresher, and less forced than the main show to me, and i was impressed by Rory Reid, i thought he came across really well 😀

The one presenter I thought would be a nightmare, Matt Leblanc, turned out to be the saving grace of the show. The interviews were crap, the Rally Cross dull, Topgun and Schmitz yawn, the trip up to Blackpool pointless, Blackpool challenges back of my eyelids lack of excitement.

Pukes on cock because of the Ego. Move him out the picture and you have a winner, you heard it here first.

I remind you of this,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12175789/Top-Gear-producer-quit-show-over-Chris-Evans-tyrannical-behaviour-sources-claim.html

He’s worse than Clarkson.

Well, I enjoyed it.

There, I said it.

TBH, they were always “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” If they’d shook up the format massively then we’d all be sat here now whining that it’s totally different and they’ve ruined it.

Evans I’m ambivalent towards. He’s got the enthusiasm for sure, but he seemed to be doing a JC impersonation which was… odd and unnecessary. Bit surprised that the lauded “five presenters” turned out to be two with a guest spot from Sabine (who is truly awesome, BTW). Presumably the others are in this “Extra” thing that I didn’t know existed till I read it here?

I do wonder whether this is the show they had to make. All the presenters are new to the role and it’s always going to take a few episodes, a series even, for those both in front of the camera and behind it to find their feet. I’m reminded vaguely of Doctor Who; the first “new Doctor” series is always a bit shaky as the character is different and the writers are clearly still writing for the previous incumbent. It’s not a great shock that the same happened here.

The Reliant spot was dreadful, though. I can see where they were going with it, but “we drove from London to Blackpool on the back of a flatbed” isn’t particularly compelling viewing.

Hopefully it’ll evolve over time. If this is a starting point, then it was pretty decent; if it’s a showcase for how it’s going to be from now on it was wasn’t all that great.

Extra Gear is really rather good.

I remind you of this,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12175789/Top-Gear-producer-quit-show-over-Chris-Evans-tyrannical-behaviour-sources-claim.html

You didn’t really read the article did you? She’d worked with him since the Big Breakfast and left the show twice with Evans interceding with the BBC the first time to get her back. Seems more like the BBC were the problem than Evans.

The population 58 million people and they choose this bloke … 🙄

I’m not sure that’s how it works.

It was a bit rubbish really and we all know it. Shame. I watched and I’ll not bother next week, pity really as though it was getting a bit predictable (the old series) it was at least amusing at times and was good for winding a certain sangtumouious type of person that that feels the need to newter the thoughts of those they don’t like.

American Top Gearis still going, just catching up on the new series. The presenters on this have gelled over the years and I find it as good as the old UK top gear

Watched it last night and whilst I agree it’s pretty much the old format it’s certainly not as bad as the worst of old top gear. It isn’t up with Top Gear’s best from before either that said. LeBlanc can’t read an autocue and Evans seems to think it’s a car-y version of TGI Friday but I assume they’ll settle into it. A few episodes in I think it’s worth judging them properly.

Oh, and Sabine Schmitz is a mentalist. Not for the driving but that whole “lets build a western saloon” thing.

So he has been on his radio show this morning saying that it is now confirmed that his Top Gear is the most successful EVER !

Felt a bit sorry for him really, obviously he is so used to getting his ego massaged that he is in denial about this 🙄

So, who’s giving it a second chance?

I will as I want to give it a chance

Me, well I think so. Not sure really.

Will see later, all that shouting did my head in last week.