I confess I've been utterly underwhelmed by Grand Tour so far. They've got a lot more money, but I'm not sure they're spending it wisely.
This week they're in South Africa for, well, basically no reason at all. One short feature in which James May doesn't do donuts. The car features are basically the same. They've got a new UK track, a new Stig, and the only thing they don't seem to have is the star interview. Instead they have a joke sequence that's going to get very boring very quickly. Last week we had a completely unfunny section comparing the RAF with the USAF. This week we had an overlong and one gag sequence in Jordan, that while clearly massively expensive to set up, was just dull and definitely not funny. I'm really disappointed that they've not tried to do a few more different things. If you're going to dart around the world, do it for a reason. Do some new features that make use of your locales. Yes, we want their chemistry, but what we've got is a version Top Gear that's as close as possible to the original without infringing the BBC's IP, but with much more money thrown at it. And not for the better. I'll be honest and say that I never watched Top Gear for reviews of supercars. I wanted silly challenges, races, and journeys. They weren't that funny, but I kind of thought they knew that. Yet we seem to be getting more of their 'comic' turns. It feels as though they've been given a massive amount of cash and allowed to do what they like with no Amazon interference. Indeed I suspect that's *exactly* what *has* happened. Sometimes a network keeping you on track is actually useful. I don't think they've stretched themselves creatively, and indeed they're just coasting. Given the freedom and budget they have, I expected better. Adam On 26 Nov 2016 9:52 p.m., "Kevin M." <[email protected]> wrote: > Episode two is being criticized as not focusing on cars. I found it very > funny and enjoyable to watch. > > On Sat, Nov 26, 2016 at 1:49 PM Bob Jersey <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> $250mil, Ted Sarandos told the UK's *Telegraph* paper. Horse hockey, >> Clarkson told CNN. >> >> Variety >> <http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/jeremy-clarkson-amazon-grand-tour-netflix-spending-1201926683/> >> (link) >> >> And yet, this piece on Bill Simmons' The Ringer >> <https://theringer.com/the-grand-tour-premiere-review-ab5d7972f15e#.9s4gb0ioo> >> (link) pegs the opening season's budget at $199mil, and Clarkson as (still) >> Britain's highest-paid host. >> >> B >> >> -- >> -- >> TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "TV or Not TV" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
