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Topgear!!
Anarchy Rules!
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I really, really love this programme and was interested in other people's views on it.
For those unenlightened people, whom I imagine are mostly foreigners, here is the website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/index.shtml
The basic premise is that the three presenters; Clarkson, Hammond and May take part in a challenge involving cars, today, turning cars into limos. The episode fillers are coverage of a new car, the news, and a star in a reasonable priced car.
I have to say my view of America is severly dimished after the episode with the road trip across the south.
For those unenlightened people, whom I imagine are mostly foreigners, here is the website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/index.shtml
The basic premise is that the three presenters; Clarkson, Hammond and May take part in a challenge involving cars, today, turning cars into limos. The episode fillers are coverage of a new car, the news, and a star in a reasonable priced car.
I have to say my view of America is severly dimished after the episode with the road trip across the south.
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America's south?
how can your view of the American south be diminished? Did you think people were kidding?
No... it is not Scotland(or wales, whichever). It actually is horrible, and they really do fuck animals.
You wouldn't happen to know what episode that was or about when it aired?
I did think it was an exagerration, just like when I was younger I didn't think people could be so fundamentalist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iTsfZ9TnNE
The whole segment in all it's glory..
and they kinda pussed out, which was pathetic.
but there is kinda a bit of truth to the idea that if you go looking to start a fight and piss people off in america, you can normally manage it.
Few yanks could do the exact same thing driving though London. Just change the text a bit, and you could get the same results.
And I more or less agree with redx.
No doubt, but who goes to the South on their vacation? The only reason people go there is if they have family there.
ohhh... god.
That's some scary shit. Wandering around Miami asking random folks on the street, "hey do you know where I can get a car for $1,000"
Pheeeww.... they talk about Alabama like it is dangerous.
Holy fuck... the one guy was driving 55mph on I-95? OMG!! they are fucking suicidal.
The bit in New Orleans was pretty moving. I had no idea that things were still so bad over there, what's taking you guys so long to clean it all up?
That takes a little bit.
edit:Yeah, just got to that bit. How they are like, we just drove 15 miles and all the home are still shitty. Like, those homes aren't getting fixed up, they are going to get torn down and rebuilt. The folks that lived there can't afford to do it, so they probably sold to developers and moved. Course, there is a housing glut right now, so the market is stagnant and it is probably therefore hard to convince investors that sub-sea level housing developments are a worthwhile place to put their money.
I'm suprised this didn't get more coverage, but:
one of the big networks did a "walking interview" with Ray Nagin as they walked around destroyed neighborhoods.
The problem is legal tape. He would like to just bulldoze/clean up all the properties, however, they can't even set foot on a property (with the intent to clean up) until they get the landowner's permission. And to do this they must track down the owners that have scattered to the seven winds, a lot of them without a trace.
And they can't just declare half the city "derelict" without raising a fuss and feeding the conspiracy theorists. "OMG u r just trying to get rid of the black people lawl"
And yeah, I'm sure you could find SOMEONE in the south that would beat you up over just being gay or black, but for the most part they are people.
It was a great sequence, although nowhere near as good as the next weeks when they turned a morris minor into a space shuttle, or the week afters when they all bought tractors and grew biofuels
I got that impression too.
I'm sure these have been posted somewhere around these labyrinthine forums, but here is the the two-part "shuttle" segment from a couple of weeks back:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AwVnfo_3Sk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOc1mjH9bKQ
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make television.
--
Re alabama:
Being pissed off for an obnoxious stunt is to lack a sense of humor, but calling "the boys" is just plain pandering to stereotypes.
Not one of TG's best clips though.
IT would ahve been so much more effective with a simple "Tecumseh Sherman is my Hero."
Oh yeah, the near-fatal accident was the bulk of this season's first episode. I'd imagine it's on youtube.
The america episode was both hilarious and terrifying. Clarkson installing a shower above the drivers seat of his car was far more amusing than it really ought to have been.
Edit: The reveal of the last slogan is simply glorious. "I have felt less conspicuous" Also, the explanations of why the slogans are so offensive.
That would've been Laguna Seca as compared with Gran Turismo.
The most recent series has been awesome. Although testing cars seems to come second place to daft stunts these days it is a brilliantly entertaining show. Its a shame the series was so short. Its only been, what, 10 episodes? Mind you, I'm leaving the country for three months in a week's time and I wouldn't want to miss the show.
As for the American episode, well the only part of the US I have visited was Alabama and I have to say, most of the people there didn't come across as well-travelled intellectuals.
It's Episode 3 of Series 9 for those interested in looking it up elsewhere. It's a FANTASTIC introduction to the series.
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I've actually got back into it recently. Oddly, it's because I was sitting playing on my computer on a sunday evening and kept hearing my wife screaming with laughter so I ended up migrating back through to the living room to see what all the fuss was about. She loves Top Gear, couldn't give a toss about cars but finds the presenters hilarious. So at least I haven't 'married my mother', because she thinks Jeremy Clarkson is an obnoxious git.
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As glorious as the episode where he was in a Lotus Exige (I think) being chased by an Apache helicopter?
Or the one where he was in something else (A porsche maybe) being shot at by the army on a firing range (with those light sensor guns naturally, not live rounds)?
Was it me or was this the shortest season yet? Five episodes or so? Guess Hammond's accident screwed up the scheduling but it seems the runs get shorter every time.
Oh well, roll on Summer.
My other sig sucks as well...
SoogaGames Blog
The Toyota Hilux... The worlds hardiest car. Best Top Gear section ever
Not to mention
-Putting the truck on top of a 20 story building before it's demolished
Personally, I thought the best episode was the race from Italy to England with Clarkson in a Bugatti Veryron vs Hampster and May in a Cessna and then a Eurostar.
One thing that really attracts me to Top Gear isn't just the presenters, but the cinematography. Every review is filmed like a car commercial, which emphasizes the sexiness and appeal of the vehicle's design, rather than just focusing on pure specifications. Just watching a BMW M5 take the curves along the shores of the Isle of Man gives me a sense of how awesome automotive design is when placed in a environment that suits it.
The shuttle segment is my fave.
And, just remembering when they had to grow their own petrol, Clarkson got bored of ploughing with a tractor, so used explosives instead.
I wonder how big their budget is
It seems in recent years that the focus has shifted from reviewing supercars to coming up with stunts. The show can be funny, but seeing the same dry British delivery over and over again wears on me a bit. The "if it's American, it's crap." attitude also becomes a little annoying - which, to be fair, they've started to shy away from in recent years.
The cinematography is outstanding though. I guess I just percieve an "upturned nose" which wears on me quite a bit.
Well, when you can afford to send up a ROCKET, you have what I would class as a BIG budget...
;-)
I think the Hammond Crash ep got higher ratings than the big brother eviction during the whole "racist" debacle. If you're in the UK, you know how big a deal that is. I dont think that budget is an issue for them these days.
The boat one was my fav too... Oh, except when they parked that boeing on a runway, gunned the engine, then drove a Citroen 2CV into the Jets wash... That thing 'sploded! Glorious.