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Well rumours are that either Matt or Chris, or both will go as they cannot get along.

I don't think that would hurt the show all that much to be honest. In Chris Harris and Rory Reid they have two very talented presenters who could lead the show. The fact they are relatively unknown may actually help the show appeal to the viewers that see Evans as the anti-Christ. Or rather anti-Clarkson.

The more the show goes on, the more Chris Evans is the weakest link. No matter how much of a petrol head he is, he just can't seem to get away from his natural way of presenting (don't forget your toothbrush/TFI Friday style) which doesn't really work here.

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There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals that Chuck Norris allows to live.

They have way too many presenters, I can´t even remember the names of them all. I´d keep Matt, Sabine and Eddie and drop the rest.

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition 2016: CHAMPION (2 wins, 8 podiums)

Eddie was the poorest choice IMO. Sabine is good, and I do like Matt.

Choosing 3 I'd go Matt, Chris Harris and Rory.

Yup saw that, I didn't mind him but after Eddie he was my next choice to go so I'm not too fussed.

Move Chris and Rory up to main presenter positions and the show should be fine.


On a side note I thought last nights episode was a bit meh, I also didn't realise it was only a 6 episode series! I thought the first and final episodes were ok but nothing special, the 4 in between were great.

Yay Chris Evans is gone! After the first two episodes I hadn't bothered to watch each episode for up to 2 weeks at a time. Simply couldn't stand Evans and he drove me away. Haven't watched this week's yet, but I'm on nights so I probably will tomorrow.

More optimistic about next season now

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition
Podiums: 1st Spa '16, 1st Bahrain '15, 1st China '14, 1st Malaysia '14
Championship position 2014: 13th | | 2015: 10th (heading the right way)
PF1 Autosport GP Predictor 2014: Second 2015: Second

Ok so I haven't gotten to see the final episode yet, foxtel hasn't put it up on anytime. They have run a few replays though but who still watched live broadcasts of pre-recorded shows? Ain't nobody got time for that.

I can only assume the ratings were that low that they consider it a waste on their server to have it on anytime

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition
Podiums: 1st Spa '16, 1st Bahrain '15, 1st China '14, 1st Malaysia '14
Championship position 2014: 13th | | 2015: 10th (heading the right way)
PF1 Autosport GP Predictor 2014: Second 2015: Second

I never did get around to watching new Top Gear (other than the first 5 minutes of the first one), but the Grand Tour starts tomorrow (in the UK) and I must say I'm really looking forward to it.

Want to watch this, it should be great. But I'm not going to support Amazon prime on principle alone. I'm sick of every channel and production company thinking that they can create their own streaming services and lock all of their content behind varied and disparate pay walls. That's not how this is meant to work. Two or three services focussing on different media is fine, this game they're currently playing isn't .

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition
Podiums: 1st Spa '16, 1st Bahrain '15, 1st China '14, 1st Malaysia '14
Championship position 2014: 13th | | 2015: 10th (heading the right way)
PF1 Autosport GP Predictor 2014: Second 2015: Second

Just watched it and overall it was pretty good, the opening montage was just fantastic, couple of LOL moments, some stupid and some slightly boring bits during the show. Testing the McLaren P1 against the Porsche 918 and the Ferrari La Ferrari in the first show was pretty cool if not very scientifically done.

If you liked Top Gear then you’ll like this.

I enjoyed it and like biffa said, the opening montage was great, cheesey, but great.

I don't know why they bothered calling it The Grand Tour though, for the presenting style, studio style, show style, editing style, script style etc etc (you get the idea) they may as well have called it Toppester Gear. They've ripped their Top Gear format so much that if they got around copyright and trademark violations with all that, they probably could've taken liberties with the name too

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There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals that Chuck Norris allows to live.

I liked it. A lot reminded me of the Top Gear, but it was actually far from it. To me it felt a bit of an introduction rather than an episode, letting us know what the new track is, etc.

I found myself waiting for the Stig though... Ok, they had the American and also Jerome D'A. But they will not be the regular drivers I take it.

Sorry to say I’ve pulled back a bit, I watched it again and also the second one and (other than the opening montage) found it kind of boring.

When they were on Top Gear they were obviously restricted and controlled by the rules of the very PC BBC, and so their non-PC and more crazy bits felt edgy and naughty, like they were sticking two fingers up to the establishment, which is what made it so good and endeared them to many people IMO.
However, now that they can do anything they want it no longer feels edgy or naughty. And so far the set pieces seem self-indulgent and actually not very interesting, exciting or even good IMO.

If the rest of the season is in the same vein then I think interest might drop off.

I’m a big fan but I’m thinking maybe they should have piloted a couple of episodes to get viewer feedback before rolling out a season.

Certainly it’s not bad, there were a few laughs, but other than the opening montage, if those exact episodes were from Top Gear a few seasons ago, I’d say they were not the better ones.

Just watching last weeks Grand Tour, and even before the vt has actually started, I think I just wet my pants looking at the Aston Vulcan!!!!! What a beautiful looking car.

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There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals that Chuck Norris allows to live.

I've just seen first episode and it wasn't very good. Opening sequence was good, studio/tent segments were good, but everything else felt boring. Test track seems terrible and it doesn't help that there are way too many cuts during hot laps.

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Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain

I'm hesitant to judge either of these shows. I mean, if you go back and watch Old Top Gear, with Tiff Needell, It was a bit spartan and dull unless you're very in to cars to the point you care about suspension stiffness. If I had seen just two episodes of that, or even the first series, I'd think it was extremely boring and probably go and watch Top of the Pops instead. And when they bought it back with the three presenter format, it took them a few series to get the ball rolling as well. There was a bit more humour in there but it still wasn't the greatest. Once they all gelled and developed their chemistry as presenters, it worked.

So I'm willing to give Top Gear another go. Chris Evans was by far the weak link, so having him gone means Rory, Chris and Matt can (hopefully) work well together and make an entertaining show. the "Extra" programme on the iPlayer with Chris and Rory as the main hosts was actually far better than the main show because of the lack of Evans, so I have hope. Star in a Rallycross car needs to go though. I swear for one episode it went on for about 20m, it's just too long for a bit that most people don't give a damn about.

I feel I should be more judgemental of the Grand Tour though. the presenters should know what they're doing, and so should the producer, but It doesn't work for me yet. To be fair, for a few years I thought Top Gear was past it's best and could do with a refresh or just stopping all together. I must say the last series or two was an improvement though. The first episode held my interest, mostly because of the Hybrid supercar segment, because I take quite an interest in those three cars and how they will change high performance vehicles in the future. But the tent segments seem even more scripted than before, and I can't help but think the old spark has gone. James doesn't seem to care any more, and Jeremy without the BBC holding him back is getting a little more unbearable each time I see him. Richard is trying, but trying too hard. The News was my favourite bit of Top Gear, as it let the three of them just be themselves and be naturally funny, but they just aren't any more.

But the piece last week in Jordan was astronomically bad. I mean saying it was jumping the shark would be an insult to Happy Days, it was just so forced and faked and had absolutely nothing to do with cars or transport. and to think it would have been ludicrously expensive, too. Very glad they aren't on Taxpayer's money any more. Hopefully this is just them finding their feet, and I will most probably watch the rest of the series, but I can't help thinking the idea of new Top Gear (now without Evans) will be more refreshing and more pleasurable to watch.

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IV

I'm not sure about that Grand Tour. Yesterday I saw some 20 minutes of latest episode then I was interrupted and then whole day I wasn't bothered to watch the rest of the show. In Top Gear the audience was just background, here in Grand Tour they spend too much time pleasing them. It simply isn't good. The studio segments are simply bad talk show to please few people came there. The test track is bad with just weeds, ruins around it and it's very narrow. In Top Gear they have huge space around track and show cars from various angles and distances. I don't care if they have 5x cameras than TG around the track, when all I see are just some close ups. I just don't see the budget. They also have huge straight in TG, here they just drive in circles, hardly testing. The American is dull, everything else is too obviously scripted, what isn't necessary bad thing, but the script isn't funny at all. I haven't seen that TG with Chris Evans, but I might give the next season a chance, though I guess I will just move on and skip both shows.


edit: I had bad mood in the morning, but I still find some Top Gear episodes with trio much much better than Grand Tour. It's ok show, but I don't think I would watch it without knowing Top Gear.

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Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain

Just got around to watching the 2nd series of new new Top Gear and was surprised to find I really like it. I switched off after 10 minutes of watching Chris Evans last year, not because I don’t like him or anything but because it was all trying too hard, far too loud and in your face, plus the emulating Clarkson thing was just annoying.

I always thought Le Blanc was a good choice, and now things have settled down I think he’s doing a great job, maybe not totally comfortable in the studio but otherwise very good, easy to listen to and he doesn’t seem to have any affectations or annoying traits.

I watched all of The Grand Tour and was left disappointed so it’s good to see that TG has turned into a pretty decent car show.

I really like new top gear. New hosts seem to be more enthusiastic about cars than old trio and whole show seems to be less scripted than the grand tour. TGT had some good episodes, but many were just bad. New TG seems better show now.

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Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain