General Top gear (TV show)

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kvr28

kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
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Alright, explain to me like a moran (I am for the record). Never seen an episode but see people talking about it, what exactly is the show about, just guys driving different cars and talking about them?
 
W

Wiggy

We. Live. In. A. Fucking. Meme.
Oct 23, 2015
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kvr28 said:
Alright, explain to me like a moran (I am for the record). Never seen an episode but see people talking about it, what exactly is the show about, just guys driving different cars and talking about them?
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It was a lot and it changed quite a bit over the years

In early years of Top Gear (this iteration of it, anyway - there was a version before this that was pretty much just a standard car review show), it was like, as James May actually said in the podcast I posted a few posts up, a car magazine on tv.

So they'd do car reviews, tests, etc. But it was always fun or interesting cars. They'd talk about news in the industry, and always had a segment where they'd bring on a celebrity, interview them, and have them race a lap in an ordinary car around their test track.

As seasons went on, they started introducing challenges, trips, "specials", and more. Like "each of you get 1500 GBP - go buy the best used Porsche you can find, then come back & we'll put the cars through challenges". Or maybe "each of you pick a *insert type of car here*, and modify it to *do this wild thing*". Or "all 3 of you are gonna start at Point A and have to travel 1000 miles away to Point B, 2 of you will fly, the other will drive - see who gets there first". Or "each of you get a car that's wildly unsuited for a particular place, now drive it there" (like getting a super high-end sports car and driving it through the wilderness of the Australian outback).

That sort of thing.

While the trips, place they go, cars they drive, etc were all obviously super cool, what made it was the chemistry between these three. They're all super sarcastic, talk shit all the time, but you can tell have a genuine affection for each other. Their knowledge is great, but their interaction & dynamic is what makes the show.

I mean, I forget if it was Clarkson, Hammond, or May that said it, but one of them was once asked to describe the show, & I'm paraphrasing, but the gist of what he said was that it's "generally just three blokes cocking about". lol

I couldn't tell you how much Top Gear & Grand Tour have had me absolutely laughing my ass off over the years.

It's a car show, but for a *lot* of it, you don't at all have to be a car guy to enjoy it.
 
Toonces

Toonces

Member
Aug 13, 2024
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17
SongExotic2 said:
Freddie got 9 million in compensation for his crash. James went to hospital for a couple of hours. It was a bad crash that effectively killed the show. A stunt he raised concerns about too that were brushed off. Hence the payout
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It was a legit seriously bad incident in a vehicle that had considerably less protection vs the car May crashed or the non jet car Hammond crashed. His face is permanently disfigured, isn't it?
 
SongExotic2

SongExotic2

ATM 3 CHAMPION OF THE WORLD. #ASSBLOODS
First 100
Jan 16, 2015
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Toonces said:
It was a legit seriously bad incident in a vehicle that had considerably less protection vs the car May crashed or the non jet car Hammond crashed. His face is permanently disfigured, isn't it?
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He scarred up. I think it fucked with him psychologically. Freddy was fearless, it broke him.
 
W

Wiggy

We. Live. In. A. Fucking. Meme.
Oct 23, 2015
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470
Chris Harris is on today's episode of Rogan's podcast - it's been a great listen so far.

He opens up some about Freddie's crash, as well as Paddy's...how the show was unceremoniously cancelled...and how he *warned* the BBC Health & Safety that shit was gonna go wrong if they kept doing things the way they were doing THREE MONTHS before Freddie's crash...and nobody listened to him.

100% worth a watch & listen.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kx0S2Y6hJI
 
T

thadius

Active Member
Feb 16, 2022
133
162
Wiggy said:
lmao seriously?

Meanwhile, Hamster wrecked a jet dragster...then went on to crash a Rimac down the side of a mountain...and everyone still makes fun of him for it.

Hell, maybe Freddie should look at Capt. Slow's crash in the cavern in the latest Grand Tour special. That shit was gnarly.

Old Top Gear is my all-time favorite show, and I've watched them all a million times. They never get old. Later seasons with Jezza, Hamster & Slow did drop off a little.

After the fiasco, the season with 5 hosts was horrid. They were (IMO) starting to do well with Chris Harris, LeBlanc, and Rory Reid. That was a good lineup, but LeBlanc (understandably) didn't like having to travel so much. The current lineup (minus Harris) sucks ass and has never been good.

Now the show hasn't been technically been "cancelled" yet per se, but it's apparently been put on indefinite suspension or some shit.

Grand Tour was Ok, but never as good as old Top Gear, either. I've seen a couple clips with Jezza saying they legally weren't allowed to do a lot of the stuff they did on Top Gear, which is why a lot of it felt like a cheap imitation.

I liked Top Gear America with Tanner Foust, Rutledge Wood, & Adam Ferrara. They started trying to basically copy original TG, but it just didn't work. When they finally found their own way of each episode just being a special, it started to go really well and their chemistry got very good. (They're still great friends and when I see them together on a podcast, I always laugh.)

I thought it was ironic people roasted that version, yet their format (a special each episode) is what Grand Tour ended up doing.

They did a couple other Top Gear US versions on MotorTrend that went nowhere. I like Wiliam Fichtner, so it was cool to see him in a season, but the rest of it was ass. Dax Shepard was a great call for the revived version, and I ended up liking Jethro, but the comedian guy they had was a goof and not at all suited to the show, IMO.
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car trek with tavarish, bolean and hoovie has classic top gear vibes.

imo prime top gear is some of the most entertaining content ever produced. you didn't need to be a car person to be entertained by those three, the chemistry was just so good.
 
redneck

redneck

First 100
First 100
Jan 18, 2015
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BBC launching Top Gear Classic reminds me of when Coca-Cola replaced Coke with New Coke, and lost consumer support. So they launched Coke Classic.
 
Dead Bluff

Dead Bluff

Well-Known Member
Feb 25, 2023
334
391
USA Top Gear should have been Mikey Waltrip, Gordo and LeBlanc with Block RIP as their Stig.
 
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