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For those of us who WERE avid fans of BBC's Top Gear, how many of you guys are going to go watch Grand Tour which comes out in a week? How many of you are still going to watch BBC's Top Gear?

I liked Top Gear. A large portion of that was due to the chemistry between the 3 guys. I’d not be interested in a generic car show otherwise. So I’ll pass on Top Gear without them.

I watched it on Netflix. I would not pay for another stream to watch it though. If it is free to watch on Amazon, I might work out how to get it on my TV/computer. If it requires a fee, or excessive hoop-jumping, I’ll pass.

Always been a huge Top Gear fan since I was a kid, but I still have to be sceptical about the Grand Tour. I'm hoping it will be good, but the new format may end up limiting Clarkson, Hammond and May negatively. All remains to be seen.

Still, won't take much to beat the current Top Gear

)

I thought the re-jig on the BBC was pretty poor as it was just top gear with new presenters, and it was Clarkson May and Hammonds chemistry that made it work, the BBC should have gone in a new direction

so i'll watch Grand Tour if I can watch for free (and legally), but it won't sell me Amazon Prime

Looking forward to TGT as for me Top Gear was entertaining because of the presenters and their chemistry. It's why the country specific licensed spinoffs have not be near as successful.

I already have Amazon, so not a problem for me.

Thing is, clarkson, hammond and may spent a few seasons as 'a pokey little motoring show' and we as an audience have been through a lot with them - jeremy slipped a disk, james has been hospitalised twice while filming a special and hammond as we all know nearly died and forgot who he was for a while.

During that time they built up the show from fact-based and ingloriuos to entertainment-based and star-studded, but the only reason that it works is the personal chemistry between the three; the only reason it became star studded was a progressive build up over multiple years - even clarkson admits that top gear only got really big after season 9 when hammond had his dragster crash.
What the BBC did was take the star-studded component and branding and thought that applying a new team would then equal emulation of success.

Any top gear team which tries a re-start will need to 'earn' their audience, Chris evans, matt leblanc et al didn't do that, they just went straight to "yeah, you love us!".
Someone else put it nicely; "it's like your dad has left and you now have a step-dad who wants to do all the same things your old dad did and insists on you calling him 'dad'..."

I could re-start it effectively, i just don't know the right people!

Didn't watch it too often, but watched it for what the original 3 usually got up to. Have no interest at all in a generic car show.

I am eagerly awaiting TGT.... and I haven't watched Top Gear since the real crew got canned.

I've seen clips since they left, and It most definitely isn't the same. It's not the show that I loved.

I'll watch it, but not on amazon (because we don't have it here).

Usually prefer Hammond's or May's solo work, though. Toy stories was epic.

I'm sure to watch it, as the three gents have an excellent chemistry together, which they in an interview admit, is partially because they play caricatures of their selves, with certain aspects grossly blown out of proportion.

Plus most of their travel specials make for excellent viewing, so I'm looking forward to them going to a different location for every episode.

Personally, I think Jeremy Clarkson is a disgusting excuse for a human being, and his popularity makes me feel sad for the world.

I realise that some people consider him "funny" and "edgy", but he really isn't... Unless we're talking about the trailing edge, back towards the golden era of casual racism and other bigotry. He's like a messiah for spoiled obsolete baby boomers, eager to take one last arrogant gak on the world they're leaving behind.

So... all things considered, I'll probably vote with my wallet, and give it a miss.

 Smacks wrote:
Personally, I think Jeremy Clarkson is a disgusting excuse for a human being, and his popularity makes me feel sad for the world.

I realise that some people consider him "funny" and "edgy", but he really isn't... Unless we're talking about the trailing edge, back towards the golden era of casual racism and other bigotry. He's like a messiah for spoiled obsolete baby boomers, eager to take one last arrogant gak on the world they're leaving behind.

So... all things considered, I'll probably vote with my wallet, and give it a miss.

I have always loved this opinion from people. Usually its something a lot more straight forward such as "He is a racist misogynist and he is stupid!"

I then point out the casual way our POP culture uses racism and sexism and everyone seems to think its perfectly fine for those shows to get away with it.

Best example ever was a girl who hated Clarkson and used the aforementioned comment to belittle him and his fans, I then asked her favorite show and she said the Kardashian show......SO, I pointed out the fact that nobody gave a damn about them before the "Accidental" release of the Kardashian sex movie.

Either way thanks for the input even if I disagree. have a good one.

 Smacks wrote:

So... all things considered, I'll probably vote with my wallet, and give it a miss.

You'll be missing out on all that sweet, sweet free shipping mate!! Seriously, free two-day shipping on millions of items is amazing, especially with as much as I order through Amazon.

SemperMortis wrote:
I then asked her favorite show and she said the Kardashian show......SO, I pointed out the fact that nobody gave a damn about them before the "Accidental" release of the Kardashian sex movie.

Yeah, I continue to not give a damn about them.

Who's watched it yet?

Have to say it was pretty good - a few laugh out loud moments coupled with some very nice footage of the various cars they were 'reviewing'. Worth a watch.

Sadly can't see it just yet, need to wait until next month.

I watched it, was very entertaining. You can obviously see where the increased Amazon budget has gone but they have used it well, IMO. The cinematography in particular was a highlight. They are back on form - the chemistry between the 3 presenters is something that can't be faked and one of the stark comparisons with the Chris Evans' Top Gear.

I saw it yesterday and I couldn't find fault. Amazing to look at and pretty funny too. Loved it.

I just finished watching it this morning on my day off.

I can safely say, it's good to have Top Gear back again

G.A

Top Gear? Isn't that the pokey motoring show on BBC 2 hosted by Joey from friends and that annoying git with the glasses? The one that hardly anybody watches?

I kid of course, but yeah, they're back and they're as good as ever. Maybe even better!

Well I probably should have said old Top Gear, but since I don't really class TG 2016 as Top Gear...

It was very impressive overall; I'm glad I overcame the fear of me being disappointed and watched it.

That being said, they still have a ways to go - I'm interested to see how the studio will change as they travel, as well as what challenges and showdowns they get into. I'm personally hoping for a cheap car challenge since they were always my favourite

The celeb bit was a bit off, but they were making a point about dropping that segment.
The chat was a bit jarring too, but just showed their age showing through.
As for the films... they've got a bigger budget now, and it shows.

Oh gak, they're recording in Rotterdam tomorrow!

Lucky.

I hope they come to Belfast one day. Clarkson was here before in a red Renault Twingo and he seemed to like the place. He did a barrel roll in a tunnel, drove on an ice rink, parked the car on either Samson or Goliath (I can never tell them apart) before driving it into the sea trying to catch the ferry back to England.

Having watched it a couple times now, there weren't many things that bugged me, but one of them was most definitely "The American"....

Now, IMO, they took the "Anything that isn't a RWD car with a V-8 is communist" bit a bit too far (really, they just kept going beyond the point of funny).... then they showed the guy in the car, and he just kinda ruined it....bitching about how terrible the car was, and how he didn't know what it was, but it wasn't a car.

I get that we can't have The Stig on TGT, but holy crap, do something else with the tamed racing driver

The Stig was a tough act to replace for sure.

 Future War Cultist wrote:
The Stig was a tough act to replace for sure.

I agree with that, but how hard is it to have a racing driver wearing say, a gorilla mask (with appropriate goggle measures taken) so that it completely covers the face, and have a mute "tamed racing driver, who is NOT the stig"??

I just personally think they went too far the opposite direction by having some out of work NASCAR driver doing the driving bit... especially when his lines weren't particularly all that clean.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
I agree with that, but how hard is it to have a racing driver wearing say, a gorilla mask (with appropriate goggle measures taken) so that it completely covers the face, and have a mute "tamed racing driver, who is NOT the stig"??

I just personally think they went too far the opposite direction by having some out of work NASCAR driver doing the driving bit... especially when his lines weren't particularly all that clean.

I bet that they couldn't even do that for legal reasons. Too close.

I'd be happy to pay the licence fee if the BBC would just do the right thing and give them back the Stig.

Amazon stated that Grand Tour has broken their record for streaming - whatever that means. We have to put it in context as Amazon haven't released any figures but it sounds promising. They also say that Prime membership is the highest it has been yet - I know personally, I got Prime membership to show my support for Grand Tour - and as it turns out, there is some good stuff on it as well, the wife and I have much enjoyed Black Sails.