Top Gear

The show can feel disorienting--a mix of reality competition and infomercial targeted at millionaires--but hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond have an infectious geek-patrician enthusiasm.

Staffers, instead of a studio audience, provided the cheers, aided by punters applauding from their apartments. Also off the menu were celebrity guests and the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car time challenge. And yet, notwithstanding the lack of optional extras, this new Top Gear had an agreeably nonchalant quality. It was pipe-and-slippers entertainment that never got out of first gear and was all the richer for it.

There’s not much wrong with Top Gear, and still a lot that’s right – such as the sharp editing and routinely gorgeous cinematography – but it could do with a service and perhaps a model refresh.

Yes, much of it is clearly scripted, but Flintoff, Harris and McGuinness seem genuinely to get on and find each other funny. When they repeatedly slapped each other's faces in a childish game of snap it felt spontaneous, a tiny bit fetishistic, and I did actually laugh.

Although these three have a gentle chemistry (much improved when McGuinness isn’t shouting), the mediocre banter does occasionally feel like they are trying too hard. ... In between races, the baggier bits of the episode dragged. But overall, this was an encouraging direction for Top Gear to take.

The programme’s structural issues remain, namely that the format feels exhausted. It cannot decide whether it wants to be about the cars, about the lads on tour or about grand cinematic stunts. ... Putting these three pegs into those holes is awkward, although they are undoubtedly a better fit than their predecessors.

There’s little sense that [Freddie (né Andrew) Flintoff's] heart is in cars. At the other end of the track is Chris Harris who can achieve high speeds but is no performer. Completing the current trinity is Paddy McGuinness, essentially a foghorn with a driving licence. ... It’s as if Top Gear can’t help meta-critiquing itself. It’s genuinely awful, isn’t it? Alas there’s no way of enhancing what used to be a magazine show about cars.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Il y a eu ou plutôt il y avait du très bon dans Top Gear : de magnifiques essais de voitures de rêve poussées dans leurs derniers retranchements, une réalisation de haute volée (pour un simple divertissemet télévisé !) et la gouaille de ses trois présentateurs-essayeurs : leur mauvaise foi (légendaire) et leur humour spécial bien sûr… De l’humour anglais certes mais aussi la bouffonnerie la plus échevelée et du plus mauvais goût (parfois, ici et là selon les ‘épisodes’ de ce qui constitue une série à nulle autre pareille en fait, on en conviendra). Au fil des années, l’émission gentiment -et plus ou moins mal décalée- est devenue néanmoins un grand réservoir à n’importe quoi et ce fut la fuite en avant à chaque nouvelle saison. Cela dit, il reste encore dans tout ce fatras moult reportages intéressants et à cet effet, l’avance rapide est votre meilleure amie pour les dénicher. Il faut noter que les trois comparses ont finalement lâché la BBC pour Amazon afin d’y commettre encore plus de délires que d’habitude dans ‘The Grand Tour’ !

Жаль , но некогда великая передача , которую я смотрел с диким восторгом и на одном дыхании , скатилась вот в это... Ставлю 6 только за былое прошлое.

New Topgear 5/10. Old top gear 9/10. Sorry. The series should have ended when the 'big 3' left. The BBC should have scrapped top gear and made another show about cars, where they had an original idea then maybe they could make something fresh. Sadly, the new show just doesn’t stand up to it's predecessor.

New Top Gear 3/10. Old Top Gear 9/10. So glad the slow dead is over now. Sorry ^^