Any Fans Here of Top Gear?

[Supra]

I searched, and haven't found a thread, so I thought I'd start one.

Anyone here a fan of the original Top Gear from U.K.? Not the US one, that one bores me.

 

[Donald Trump]

Not really.
I find Clarkson's faux-conservatism and liberal baiting a bit tiresome.
I also find the scripted 'banter' a bit boring too.
I do quite like the episodes when they only do one thing eg they all have a race or they drive to the North Pole. There's something quite nice about some friends having adventures with each other, it's a kind of platonic homoeroticism. That being said there are some pretty shit bits in those ones, normally the ones where they go overseas and they have some kind of 'moment' in which they appreciate the country they are in or reflect upon how good they have it in Engerland and the universal nature of the human condition. Then they go back to driving cars.

 

[Squalllionheart]

Yeah I love it, Clarkson, Hammond and May are quality together and I always find myself laughing by the end of it, plus I love how controversial Clarkson can be sometimes, and the challenges are always fun and their interactions with each other. Plus I love cars, but don't know too much about them. I love the specials they do, like the India one they did a little while ago, it was hilarious.

 

[Linnaete]

I only watch it for the challenges, and even then, some are just painfully bad (the recent India one), and most antics are clearly pre-planned. I honestly don't believe for instance that the banners on the train tearing and leaving behind unfortunate messages were anything other than crudely sketched up beforehand for the purposes of viewer entertainment. I don't even believe that James May can possibly get so lost so often, without being told to deliberately do so.

Still, most of the challenges are moderately enjoyable when they're actually doing something semi-perilous, particularly as watching Clarkson be removed from his comfort zone and forced to suffer is quite enjoyable. Despite the predictability of the lads' antics towards each other, at least their banter ranks higher up there than what Top Gear USA would have to offer.

If it's just a normal episode where they show off the latest Lamborghini, bring in some celebrity guest who I don't give a damn about, and force Hammond to drive a boring car around Norwich or something, then I tune out. At the end of the day, I'm not really into cars that much, and certainly not how fast the newest and most expensive supercar from the factory is.

 

[Richard B Riddick]

Managed to get a hold of top gear uk season 18 episode 1. I'll watch it later.

It seems like the quality of top gear uk declined once top gear usa began filming.

Sometimes, I wonder if the United States doesn't put pressure on asian automakers to make crappier cars and foreign film makers to make crappier movies and tv shows as a form of protectionism towards american markets.

Back on topic - I really like the older top gear episodes where they crash and break stuff repeatedly. According to scientific research scenes of devastation and destruction have a 'relaxing' therapeutic effect upon viewers. That coupled with clarkson, james may and richard hammonds different personalities and offbeat sense of humor makes for decent entertainment.