On The Latest Grand Tour Episode...

"Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment" (evanmcm)
11/26/2016 at 23:26 • Filed to: None

...what the hell are they talking about with that worthless waste of words on the FP? I mistakenly read that piece before watching it myself, and was expecting an utter disaster of an episode.

Imagine my surprise when it was quite literally the opposite of what was described. Especially the bit about the jokes in the beginning of the episode. They were funny, and received rather well I thought.

I guess I just don’t get the hate for this show. There seems to be this race to immediately decry anything they do that isn’t perfect, especially if it involves racially or culturally based jokes. Any time any of that makes an appearance, seems the entire writing staff rushes to make sure we all know they didn’t find it very funny, and that as far as they’re concerned, there’s no way anyone else did either.

When the hell did everyone grow such a thin layer of skin? Getting rather tired of it.

The show isn’t perfect, but it’s enjoyable, and I enjoy watching it quite a bit. What the hell else could you ask for out of it?

DISCUSSION (15)

f86sabre > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/26/2016 at 23:31

The boys and Andy Wilman have made some amazing good stuff over the years. The bit at the Special Forces training center wasn’t it. It would have been much more entertaining if they showed them getting some kind of training.

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/26/2016 at 23:33

I didn’t read the FP article yet, but I think this last one is worthy of some hate. The SF thing, although entertaining, had way to much screen time for how little car content it had.

And I think at this point the celebrities getting killed joke needs to die (pun intended and PROUD OF IT!!!!!)

Tristan > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/26/2016 at 23:35

The special forces bit was meh, but overall I’m quite enjoying TGT. Also very annoyed by the thin-skinned direction humanity seems to be heading in. Since when did all jokes have to be Laffy Taffy-clean and safe?

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/26/2016 at 23:42

I watched it with my mother and girlfriend who have both traditionally liked Top Gear. The jokes at the very beginning seemed like a shitty comedy talk show more than anything else, and the military thing was just... why? The first bunch was funny watching pudgy Brits do silly comedic military stuff (watching Clarkson run with the pistol wildly waving around over his head was amusing) but it never got more than a light chuckle out of me for the amount of the episode it took up, and the end part with Clarkson repeatedly getting shot/blown up/etc. was painfully try-hard and I could visibly see my mom wondering wtf she was watching. Girlfriend had given up and was on her phone. I liked how it was blatant scripted fiction. Real life Call of Duty with British stodgy bastards. Cool. I’m totally on board with that. But if something like that is gonna be scripted for fuck’s sake make it a good script.

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > f86sabre
11/26/2016 at 23:47

The SF thing was a huge miss. 5th gear did a similar segment that was actually vehicle focused. It would’ve been excellent if TGT did it more like that.

PanchoVilleneuve ST > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/26/2016 at 23:48

People somehow think it’s a car show, even though Top Gear stopped being a car show by season 5 or so.

Birddog > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/27/2016 at 00:01

I haven’t watched it yet, saving that for Sunday night. I already hate the criticism of it though. #1 was a hit in my eyes. They’re feeling their ground and have some boundaries to push. The FP can stuff it. This is what “we’ve” been begging for for a long time.

Now that “we” have it? Well.. For crap sake, you can’t win. You can’t ever win.

John Norris (AngryDrifter) > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/27/2016 at 00:06

I just watched it with my son. We watched TG religiously. I have no complaints. We enjoyed most of the TG episodes, but certainly some were good and some were less good.

I liked the first episode of The Grand Tour better than this one, but I enjoyed this one and I’ll certainly keep watching. I liked the geographical change and I liked the humor written for the local crowd.

Chasaboo > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/27/2016 at 00:30

I thought it was fab, and I laughed through the whole thing. Americans just don’t have sense of humor. Clearly this show is a litmus test for funny.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/27/2016 at 01:51

It’s the motto of media: hype something up, tear it down. See also autobloggers hyping the new Fusion as an S4 fighter — based on their own speculation — and then shitting all over it for not living up to the hype — again, hype created by themselves.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/27/2016 at 02:07

My wife and I are already tired of that stupid celebrity brain crash thing

IanZ - limited-slip indifferential > Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment
11/27/2016 at 18:27

I can’t say it was what I wanted, but it was still a lot of fun. The episodes to come look like more traditional Top Gear stuff and that’s got me pumped.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > f86sabre
12/02/2016 at 22:22

I would agree that it’s not amazing so far, but I’m still waiting for Jalopnik to do anything on film that isn’t a complete tragedy.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
12/02/2016 at 22:23

The military bit was over-done but I was at least a bit entertained by it. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt since they’re sort of restarting the whole process now. Now, if by the end of the season it’s still not up to par, then I think we can start to criticize a bit more.

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
12/02/2016 at 22:23

That part is dumb but I think they’re sort of having a laugh with it. I’m sure it will go away soon.