Opinions on first show?

Well now we know what car crash TV looks like!

It was desperate altogether. Managed to watch the first half hour before I had to turn it off.

You can't beat the three amigos.

They'll need to get a few shows behind them before it starts to fit together. When Clarkson and co first started together they weren't exactly brilliant.

It was o.k. Felt very wooden, the laser tracking bit was a bit silly. I'm sure they're aware they've massive shoes to fill and will relax a bit as they settle in. I don't know, we'll see how it goes but I'm not convinced Chris Evans was a good choice as presenter.

I really wanted to enjoy this, but frankly I wouldn't have watched it if I hadn't forced myself - it looked like just yet another car show on Dave or Discovery or something, with a bunch of people driving and shouting things. Which is great if driving and shouting things in loud cars is your sort of thing.

LeBlanc was an awful lot better and more likeable than I thought he'd be.
Evans was very scripted and came across very square. "That's not in the rules".

I suppose it does take time to build chemistry, but I can't see them being given this time - there were very low expectations for the old Top Gear which gave it breathing space to grow, this one will just get panned continuously by high profile reviewers.

What I find most odd is that they simply copied the old format (with very minor changes, perhaps not for the better). If you have exactly the same show and only change the presenters, you'll only be judged on the presenters.

Same set, same format, with even more annoying presenters. Evans rushing a round like maniac high fiving LeBlanc. Cringeworthy. And he couldn't even pronounce Sabine properly.

lertsnim wrote: »

Exactly. People have forgotten how awkward it was then Clarkson and co started off the current style of Top Gear

Also how cheesy and scripted it got since 2006/2007 roughly. The specials kept it afloat for me at times. The same cries were heard when Tiff Needell and Quentin Wilson left, "it's not as good/ never be as good as the previous / New presenters are up to it"

I'll reserve judgement yet. Le Blanc was the better of the two presenters, it was all very staged but there were times in the Nomad where he seemed more natural. Evans is annoying, he's just jumping around like a spare tit looking for attention. Very little of the interesting people, Harris has been relegated to some web show that can't be watched outside the UK.

The problem for the BBC is, everyone said they hated Clarkson too, but in reality they loved to hate him and tuned in to get upset by him. So BBC will wonder if they've got the same thing in Evans.

I don't think it's the same thing. Clarkson is who he is. He's outdated, upperclass, cock sure, typical upper class Brit really, that's a familiar character that you can't really copy, your either a snob, or you're not a snob. That's why people watch him, he's like your grumpy uncle, or prince Charles, interesting because of he's a genuine oddity.

Evans just isn't that. He may grow into the show, I don't think it's fair to judge someone on one performance, he could very well be the kind of person that gets hyper when they're anxious.

sunny2004 wrote: »

With the line-up the picked, it went exactly as you would have expected and feared

I was expecting something much better when they had Sabine and Harris on the payroll. We only get to see Sabine for a few minutes and Harris gets relegated to some side show. Both have actual car show experience, both come with their own legion of fans, their both experts at everything to do with cars. It's such a waste hiding them in the background.

The old show was scripted but Evans & Le Blanc hammered it home that it was scripted. The other 3 had their moments of quality, I dont think these 2 will get that far if Evans is that fixated by the number crunching.