at you for saying that AND
at me for knowing what you're talking about.

Seriously, this doesn't have to go any further......

I am a self-confessed train addict. I even own Microsoft Train Simulator and the new "RailWorks" simulator.

We shall speak of this no more.

I liked the old TG. It had serious reviews about cars, lots of info and was enjoyable. Even the 90s stuff was far better than that drivel that channel 5 show,

I do love the new TG. What I hate about it TBH is its mass appeal - when even your mum likes to watch it, you know it isn't very cool.

I really think gearing it more towards motoring with perhaps one 'zany' thing per show, limited to no more than 20 mins would be enough, allowing for 40 mins of 'proper' TG.

I think those scripted discussions about the latest news are too plodding nowadays, they don't appear to be having fun they just appear to be stumbling through a script. James May was bored last night, rather than dry.

I agree with both of you. Just watched it and was a little disappointed tbh. The race thing is a little old, but it really depends on the locations for me. The UK has limited appeal when compared with Europe and the US for previous features. The "star" bit varies enormously depending on whether the person in question feels like opening up to Clarkson and both Hammond and May seem to do better on their own shows.

I still watch it though

I'm sorry, but they're way too modern for me. I lose interest about 1961.

My "problem" with the show is that I am uninterested in most of the content, and dispirited by the hackneyed way the rare interesting bits are presented. You will deduce from this that I rarely watch it, and you'd be right! I watched the recent edition because it purportedly contained some content about the Lotus Evora.

The programme has two main axes: Clarkson's "personality" and his "relationship" with the dull duo.
The "content" appears to be:

* some celebrity chatting,
* motoring news, which is a superset of:
* Clarkson reprising his Sun saloon bar bore act slagging "beardies" etc. which segues into
* Clarkson being politically incorrect and using the epiphet "gay" a few times for effect (but see male bonding below...)
* a piece where one or the other of the presenters burns rubber on the aerodrome in a Supercar
* a contrived challenge, involving lots of male bonding between the 3 presenters.

None of this is intrinsically bad, and the resources of the BBC ensure that the production values are high and the various filmed components are very professionally done. The bits involving Clarkson holding-forth and\or interacting with the dumb duo are vastly more contrived than they used to be. Hammond tries midgetfully (see anyone can do it!) to be perky as the butt of Clarkson's barbs, and the other one (what is his name?) attempts a bemused hauteur.
Whatever supposed magic and freshness this format might have had 10 years ago when TG2 was launched has long-since evaporated. The sight of paunchy middle-aged men living-out their mid-life crises on TV might make a mildly diverting half-hour on Channel 4, or ITV2, but it grates as a regular on BBC2.
Someone has noted that a programme which you Mum watches can hardly be "cool".
I used to think that Clarkson was Frankie Howerd reborn (without the talent & wit, obviously) but actually he's turning into Benny Hill, and TG the Benny Hill Show.

I still enjoy the modern format of Top Gear.
It's just fun. I quite enjoy seeing some ludicrous car that I'm never likely to be able to afford having the tyres driven off it in a attempt to see which is quicker round some bit of tarmac.
If the formula wasn't working, why then do Fifth Gear seek to imitate it so often?

I'd far rather sit through an hour of Top Gear than have the old one back, and listen to Quentin Wilson oiling his way about the features of a new Ford Fiesta and discussing the numbers of cup holders.

Yes, of course, just like Old Top Gear with that wacky teenager William Woollard. TG has always had middle aged men talking about cars. It's because the public consider middle aged men more authoritative whereas they'd look at a younger bloke and think 'what the hell does he know anyway'? . The fact that New Top gear is much less po-faced about the whole business than it's predecessor is just a sign of the times.


'Cool' is not something that can be defined by a strict set of rules. It's a fairly arbitrary concept.


Frankly I find both those comparisons to be bordering on the surreal.

Jon

It is pretty much a televised lad's mag, but the formula works, and I still enjoy it.

Your comments are fair enough, it obviously isn't your cup of tea. I can't help but ask, why are you watching it, if you don't like it? I detest soap operas and contrived reality TV shows, so I find something else to do whilst the missus is watching them.

This isn't a poke at your right gripe about something, but I'd just dismiss the show as crap and watch something else; which is what I do with soaps and BB.

I love Top Gear in its current format. I dont care how much MPG the new Renault Scenic does tbh but I absolutely do want to see three supercars doing naughty things in Italy, an RS4 racing a mountain climber and Hammond killing another caravan. If you take it for what it is (entertainment and not a serious motoring program) then its brilliant Sunday night pre-going back to work TV. For all the serious bits I buy Topgear magazine. Its like having a sensible wife (mag) and a naughty bit on the side (tv).

I enjoy TG for what it is - light entertainment with a motoring theme. I admit JC is an aquired taste, but if you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to watch.

Prefer 5th gear I have to say.

Just why??????

Oh and I'm still s big fan of "new" Top Gear.

This generation of Top Gear, whilst still slightly amusing and informative, is in reality well past its peak. The Veyron vs. Airplane was the last great challenge and accompanied the last great series. Now they have nowhere left to go (both geographically and in terms of the show's format). Now the show is increasingly contrived, scripted and family-friendly wacky. Now I am no die-hard moaning about the lack of genuine car stuff etc etc etc (although I do wish there was more), but now I turn on and they all just look stinking rich, fat and tired. All of them are now multi, multi millionaires and the drive (pardon the pun) seems to have gone out in their eyes, especially Hammond and May. The dynamism seems to have ebbed away as they increasingly rely on the show's flogging-a-dead-horse format to prop up the hour.

A couple of points regardless of the aforementioned:

The early challenges were just awesome. Clarkson hunting down May and Hammond in the 612 Scaglietti, the V-12 howling up the mountain in the dark was just brilliant and beautiful.

There has been nothing sweeter than when JK (huge fan) knocked Simon Cowell off the top of the leader board.