Clarkson Island

[DJSapp]

Bit disappointing overall.

Disappointing compared to what? Chris Evans and Joey?

[BmillsSkier]

Bit disappointing overall.

I always can count on the British to see the bright side of things.

[iceman]

That was good, slow McLaren's and BMW's notwithstanding. Enjoyed it. The mojo is there.

Not seeing the "bit disappointing" myself, they had a lot of set-up work to do, which took time.

Onward.

[stfu&gbtw]

Great start. Genuinely funny at moments... Certainly appeared a little rusty at times as well. Obviously trying to settle in to a new format and crew. Jeremy probably hasn't punched anyone yet... Give him a little time...

Didn't mind seeing them try some new things, even though most didn't work. No way the nascar dork makes the team. But overall so much less worse than the BBC's attempt at replacing the show. And they couldn't have picked a better first mission. I thought they did a good job setting up the Ferrari intro. After the comments about Ferrari being hard to work with, I figured they were going ahead without them.... Maybe to have a Bugatti or Koenigsegg come in and wreck them both in a drag race or something... Production team really got it done, finally getting that segment together. Great result too! Love the 918.

If this is the nadir of the new show, they've got a winner on their hands. As long as Bezos is throwing money at it, they should hire Lewis Hamilton to be the new driver. Who wouldn't watch that dude shred the tires off a different car each week?

[iceman]

the nascar dork

Seriously, wtf on that? Lame.

Lewis Hamilton to be the new driver.

Yes. Or just back to mysterious/anonymous. We don't need to meet every redneck who can drive a car.

[4matic]

Plenty of Euronecks.' Skinner just has a different accent.

[BmillsSkier]

Just don't make it one of the now unemployed TG USA guys. I don't care How great Tanner Faust can drive, the lot of em were painful to listen to.

That's why I liked the Stig. Dance, bear.

[liv2ski]

As long as Bezos is throwing money at it, they should hire Lewis Hamilton to be the new driver. Who wouldn't watch that dude shred the tires off a different car each week?

Yup, a NASCAR driver, for reelz Glad they are back.

[iceman]

Pretty sure that dude can drive a car.

[BmillsSkier]

Pretty sure that dude can drive a car.

Found it, my memory of my redneck fraternity brother was correct. This guy's car caught on fire more than once



Looks like he never got a win at the NASCAR level but apparently he runs cars still and even at the Goodwood Festival of Speed which might explain why he's hooked up with the former BBC boys.

[Svengali]

Great to have the Orangutan, Capt. Slow, and the Hampster back, but that Yankee race driver is a bit of a cockend!

[::: :::]

found ep 1 on youtube today
it was a fun watch, not amazing
"the american" could probably be replaced
i will watch it again

[DJSapp]

Plenty of Euronecks.' Skinner just has a different accent.

You know, they could just do the Belgian driver in subtitles by Clarkson.

[billyk]

Watched GT today just based on this thread. Fun show, with a great kick-off episode. I never watched many of these kind of car shows, but have to admit this one was entertaining. My wife even enjoyed the part she watched, although at first she wanted me to change the channel.

I think it will be hard to keep it up at that level, but we'll see. I'll watch again, for sure, if only to see how the housing situation plays out.

[Cruiser]

My while crew watched it Friday night in our home theater. The older kids were riveted. Couldn't take their eyes of the screen. The younger ones even watched some of it. Mrs Cruiser polished off her Moscow mule and then promptly fell asleep. So yeah, on the Cruiser clan scale I'd give the first episode a 4 out of 6. Hoping for good things from the rest of the series and really looking forward to seeing them blow up Jezza's country estate.

[stfu&gbtw]

Watched GT today just based on this thread. Fun show, with a great kick-off episode. I never watched many of these kind of car shows, but have to admit this one was entertaining. My wife even enjoyed the part she watched, although at first she wanted me to change the channel.

I think it will be hard to keep it up at that level, but we'll see. I'll watch again, for sure, if only to see how the housing situation plays out.

Re: keeping it up, if you go back and watch the Top Gear episodes they did together for over a decade, you'll see that it's the threesome that drive the show. Once they get the format squared away, this could go on for a long, long time. It was the most popular, most profitable show in the BBC's history, broadcast weekly in something like 85 countries.

[iceman]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...or-new-cotswo/

What's an orangery?

edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangery Like a greenhouse, basically.

[MakersTeleMark]

I enjoyed it, especially the prelude comment. "Noooooo!"

[billyk]

Re: keeping it up, if you go back and watch the Top Gear episodes they did together for over a decade, you'll see that it's the threesome that drive the show. Once they get the format squared away, this could go on for a long, long time. It was the most popular, most profitable show in the BBC's history, broadcast weekly in something like 85 countries.

Yeah, I did go back and watch a few episodes of TG on Netflix. Quite entertaining. I've got another show to binge watch now.

[adrenalated]

It wasn't a home run but I enjoyed it. Will watch again.

The redneck has got to go. Another vote for them just making up subtitles for various non-English speaking drivers.

[BmillsSkier]

Here's the thing. While I personally thought it was a great success in that it picked up essentially where their version of TG left off, I have to admit that I'm not looking for much more than that.

When TG USA came out I watched exactly 2 episodes before completely and utterly forgetting about it. Pretty much the same after 4 episodes of the Evans version of TG. (I will probably watch more of the Joey/Rory/Harris re-re-boot because those guys are actually not horrible) But the point is, what else will a car dork watch? GT gives me all I'm looking for with the 3 hosts and excellent cinematography. I'm sure they'll improve it and tweak it as they move on and the reviews come in. It can only get better.

[Skistack]

Maybe keep Skinner, but add subtitles to his hillbilly gibberish.

Skinner sez "This thing couldn't pull a greasy string out of a dog's ass."

Subtitled "The torque output from BMW's newest M car offering is noticeably underwhelming."

[The Tortoise]

I just hope the keep doing full length challenges like Vietnam, Africa, Bolivia, etc. Those are hands down my favourite eps.

[BmillsSkier]

I think they will. In a recent interview with Clarkson and May (Hammond was hung over) they said that The Grand Tour fits in well with the old Christmas Specials mold in that it allows them to fulfill ideas for crazy destinations and challenges.

[DJSapp]

Maybe keep Skinner, but add subtitles to his hillbilly gibberish.

Skinner sez "This thing couldn't pull a greasy string out of a dog's ass."

Subtitled "The torque output from BMW's newest M car offering is noticeably underwhelming."

Nah, unless he turned into a driver that spoke in completely non-intelligible creole. Better out for the American is to say he was appointed to Trump's cabinet and was no longer available.