Thoughts on The Grand Tour

"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
01/16/2017 at 13:13 • Filed to: the grand tour, top gear, amazon, dissapointment

*Rant Below*

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I just watched the latest episode of The Grand Tour and I am still not please with it. I mean I enjoyed Clarkson’s review of the Alfa, but that was the only automotive bit of the entire episode. The rest was them just fluttering about being stupid. That was neither car related or driving related. Even the one time they did a “grand tour” Hammond was being stupid with the Hellcat, May was being pedantic and annoying with his incessant bitching, and the only one who seemed interesting in just doing a nice drive in a nice car, surprisingly, was Clarkson. I’ll keep watching it, but I would really like some more car content, more long car trips, less stupid bs to fill time, and to drop the celebrity brain crash bit. It just isn’t funny anymore and to be honest the celebrity guest on Top Gear was the most boring segment anyways. I’d love to hear more automotive news in “Conversation Street”. While it is nice that they have an American driver doing the lap times, Mike Skinner isn’t funny. His degrading talk about every vehicle is just tacky and giving laughs to the lowest common denominator. If he isn’t going to be silent like the Stig, then he should give us actual feedback about the vehicle while essentially testing in at the edge. Yes he should be funny and make some jokes, but being opinionated and ignorant isn’t funny at all.

Is it really so much to have just expected good old driving and car news?

DISCUSSION (44)

TheHondaBro > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:15

You have to remember that they’re legally required to make their new show as different from Top Gear as possible while still being a car show.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:18

I am allowing them a “mulligan” series to iron out the legal issues. To my understanding, a lot fo the structure of GT was done to avoid the BBC suing them for being too close to top gear. So a bunch of choices were made to ensure that they skirt around them. I’m wondering if they did things a certain way to both get around those issues but also retain some options for future shows. Like they need a way to have “celebrity appearances” but they can’t have them going around a track right now? Who knows.

It’s gotten a lot better, and the effort and polish is still present. The three roadster road trip was gorgeous.

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 13:22

Yes I understand that, but that doesn’t mean make a shitty show with very little automotive content.

LongbowMkII > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 13:22

Ditch the studio. Drop them in a location with $x and tell them to go to Y.

CaptDale - is secretly British > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
01/16/2017 at 13:22

Yes I liked that trip.

TheHondaBro > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:24

Then you should probably watch Top Gear?

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 13:26

Why? Why can’t we have both be good car shows?

TheHondaBro > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:28

One is always going to be very different from the other. If you want cars, watch Top Gear. If you want to watch three old idiots doing idiotic things with/around cars, watch The Grand Tour.

Honeybunchesofgoats > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:29

I feel kind of the same way. Clarkson is, for all of his very many faults, an amazing car reviewer who is really able to convey brilliantly what makes a car wonderful or awful, and I wish they’d spend less time dicking around and more time explaining what it’s like to drive cars I can’t afford and will probably never drive.

Similarly, I’ve noticed that a lot of GT’s reviews seem to be less about how good the car is to drive and more about how great/awful it is because it does/doesn’t drift on corners.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:35

Mike Skinner isn’t funny

I think you mean that Mike Skinner’s script isn’t funny. And yes, it’s an overdone stereotype that really should have been dropped around episode 2.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:40

All valid points and I agree in part with most of them.

I think the brain crash segment is hilarious precisely because it is now a complete parody and I find it humorous how they ‘kill’ the celebrity each week. Since I do not think they can actually interview a celebrity anymore, I find it funny who agrees to be killed by them.

Skinner can STFU. Who really cares what he has to say, especially since he’s completely wrong about everything.

But as pointed out by others, they have moved to an entertainment show loosely based on cars now. As much as I do miss the TG of around series 7-8, they (well Clarkson) are too old (and fat) to buy cars that can’t complete their challenges so we can be entertained as they film their failures.

I also think the Argentina trip changed how they approach doing those types of segments.

djmt1 > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 13:41

So to make their new show as different as possible they decided to keep a celebrity bit (nothing to do with cars), a stupid Clarkson idea of the week (usually nothing to do with cars) and a car news segment that more often than not doesn’t talk about cars. Yup, real different. Let’s be honest, they’ve run out of ideas and just doing the same thing but with more pyrotechnics.

404 - User No Longer Available > LongbowMkII
01/16/2017 at 13:46

So essentially a repeat of Mobile, Albama?

MonkeePuzzle > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:48

My thoughts on Grand Tour; do you recall the part in Good Will Hunting when he wishes that his friend wasn’t there? Because it meant that his friend had gone on to better things. I wish Grand Tour just didn’t exist. I’ll keep watching it as long as it’s on, and it’s kinda crap. If it weren’t there I wouldn’t watch it.

CaptDale - is secretly British > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
01/16/2017 at 13:48

Fair point

CaptDale - is secretly British > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
01/16/2017 at 13:51

Yeah, the Patagonia special was a fiasco at the end, but I still don’t see why they were so butt hurt. Still one of my favorites of their trips.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Honeybunchesofgoats
01/16/2017 at 13:52

I agree very much. Clarkson is very very good about describing how a certain vehicle drives and we haven’t see that almost at all.

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 13:53

I don’t like this answer.

TheHondaBro > djmt1
01/16/2017 at 13:54

they decided to keep a celebrity bit

You forgot to mention that they “kill” the celebrities. A humorous way of keeping it different from TG.

a stupid Clarkson idea of the week

If you’re talking about the main features, I’ve noticed that they, for the most part, have everything to do with cars.

and a car news segment that more often than not doesn’t talk about cars

The way you wrote it implies that it’s quite different.

TheHondaBro > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 13:54

Make your own car show?

CaptDale - is secretly British > MonkeePuzzle
01/16/2017 at 14:00

Hmmm... Yeah I guess that would be one way

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 14:00

Hmmm.... that’d be fun!

Klaus Schmoll > MonkeePuzzle
01/16/2017 at 14:01

Good analogy!

djmt1 > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 14:04

But they’re only slightly different just like how Chris Evan’s reimagined Top Gear was only slightly different.

Does a car show need celebrity appearances?

I mean did you enjoy Clarkson’s V8 blender or his self driving car?

And what do you mean I imply it is different.?The News and Conversation street are the same thing. They both use the subject of car news to go on rants on whatever they feel like be it lazy Mexicans or gay ice cream.

None of this is needed for a car show. So the argument that they needed to keep it a car show when it clearly isn’t one while keeping it different from Top Gear when it is the pretty much the same thing is complete and utter bollocks.

smobgirl > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 14:14

Do I like it as much as my favorite Top Gear episodes? No. But there are chunks of most of the episodes that I’ve enjoyed (though looking back, they mostly seem to be May’s contribution). I liked the Le Mans segment and I actually really liked the NSX review. I was tired of hearing about that car years before it actually existed but I was really drawn in by the way it was presented here.

AfromanGTO > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
01/16/2017 at 14:15

You mean horizontally challenged!

TheHondaBro > djmt1
01/16/2017 at 14:25

The News was mostly car-related, while Conversation Street isn’t as car-centered.

And yes, I did enjoy his V8 blender and self-driving car. It was funny.

Car show aside, what made those three popular was the banter between them. It was fun watching them fall over and make a mess of things. That’s what made the original show very popular. Now it seems like the BBC is making Top Gear more car-focused, which frees up the three bumbling idiots do do what they do best, which is being three bumbling idiots in cars.

Jonee > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 14:34

Some episodes have been downright boring. I actually liked this past week’s, though. The Alfa bit with Clarkson was great and the reef stuff was funny. But, it all feels even more scripted and orchestrated than Top Gear did. The show’s been a big disappointment over all with some moments of goodness sprinkled in. Hopefully, they’ll build on what worked for the next season.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 14:38

The Argentinians were riled up by a local politician looking to make a name for himself.

Clearly they are still upset about it.

djmt1 > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 14:39

I’d argue the opposite. The trio are just continuing where the left off. Antics and banter. Top Gear on the other hand and can go full on car show because competing in entertainment is a fool’s folly. Roll the Extra Gear bits into the main show. Chuck out the celeb bit. Bish Bash Bosh, Car show!

Unfortunately I don’t see that happened unless the BBC move Top Gear’s slot because in the battle for the main TV, a full on car show is not gonna win against the X Factor.

TheHondaBro > djmt1
01/16/2017 at 14:40

I’d argue the opposite. The trio are just continuing where the left off. Antics and banter.

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

CaptDale - is secretly British > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
01/16/2017 at 14:42

I could see them being upset, but the guys were there to be nice and probably fuck up their “bridge building” but there was nothing malicious.

I really hate the human race sometimes.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Jonee
01/16/2017 at 14:43

Yes, both of his Alfa bits have been beautiful and well done. I think those are the only two pieces of the show I have thoroughly enjoyed.

djmt1 > TheHondaBro
01/16/2017 at 14:46

I guess we are saying the same thing but from different views.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 14:52

Individuals I like. It’s people I can’t stand.

And yes, the TG trio were going to make the same self-effacing and funny failure they would normally do. I believe they had planned a round of car soccer to play with the locals, which I’m sure they would have lost in a humorous and dramatic fashion.

Instead the locals took something a politician lied about, and turned it into an excuse to lash out at the foreigners rather than hold their own officials accountable for their failures that have a much larger and direct impact on the condition of those officials constituents.

Hmmm....that sounds awfully familiar...

Honeybunchesofgoats > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 14:55

I was just watching this clip of Hammond reviewing the NC Miata and the whole time I just wanted to scream “WHY AREN’T THEY DOING MORE REVIEWS LIKE THIS!!!!!”

CaptDale - is secretly British > Honeybunchesofgoats
01/16/2017 at 15:15

Yes, this is a good video

Gripevo1 > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 16:06

I pretty much feel the same as you. It seems like they are trying to do this general comedy shtick about whatever place they are in, even if it sometimes has little to do with cars...while i like their banter, they are better when they are doing a film segment and have specific car’s to talk about. Theres alot of the stuff that bothers me too, but I’ll just say that it seems like the whole show has taken a step back from the TG days. It feels like they are trying to pander to a bigger and less car savvy audience, which isnt their strength.

My GF, who loved TG and would always make me wait to watch new episodes with her, can’t even watch. We are usually a week late watching it, which for a longtime TG fan, should say everything.

CaptDale - is secretly British > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
01/16/2017 at 16:29

No, no, no.... That doesn’t sound familiar at all... *eye roll*

CaptDale - is secretly British > Gripevo1
01/16/2017 at 16:30

Yeah me too. I watched it Saturday cause I was bored and remembered that another Friday had passed.

Nauraushaun > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/16/2017 at 21:31

I feel like what GT is now is what TG has been for the last 5 seasons. It was cringe-worthy at times. People forget this - it’s like they’re using the GT/TG split as a convenient bookmark about where it went bad , ignoring what TG was really like.

I actually feel that GT is mostly better implemented. But I haven’t seen the latest, just got through the Namibia double. Liked it.

Noodles > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/17/2017 at 01:02

I liked the Ford episode, but agree with you.

Zachary Oberle > CaptDale - is secretly British
01/17/2017 at 07:09

Some of the best creativity comes from working around limitations.

What were the best parts of Clarkson’s Top Gear? I would argue it wasn’t the big-budget travel films or hyper-car porn, but the cheap car challenges. The 100 pound car challenge, the Alfa challenge, etc. Those were the best, most memorable segments of the old show and they emerged as a side-effect of a rather limited budget.

Now that Clarkson and crew are with Amazon they’ve been given a blank check. Compared to the old show they have tons of funding. With all that freedom there’s been no hardship from which great moments can emerge.

They blew $3 million on the intro to the first episode. Back in the first 10 seasons of Top Gear, they would have made hours worth of great entertainment for that money. Instead, we now get a very pretty, but completely forgettable, introduction to a mediocre show.

The lack of limitations will kill the Grand Tour. Without constraints Clarkson, Hammond, and May will never be as entertaining as they once were.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Zachary Oberle
01/17/2017 at 10:46

Hmm, I never thought of it that way. You sir have nailed the issue.