The Grand Tour : From interesting to boring very fast

Hey,

Let's admit it, the show was (and still is?) hyped and it fails to deliver.
Not sure what this show is but we barely see anything interesting. It's just 10% cars 90% boring comedy.

I want to disagree, but so far GT's been all the worst parts of JRJ's tenure on Top Gear with a much bigger budget.

Personally I was hoping for a real Grand Tour, a lot of cars, travel and fun. For now we've had two interesting episodes (the first and the third), one that is completely off-topic (the second), and one that is boring to death (the fourth).

Most of the show, they try hard to be funny, repeat the same scripted jokes and we get very little relevant content. And it's like they're quickly showing their limits by doing two episodes in a row in the same location. They also couldn't find a better character than the dull "American"

At least that's how I feel. I'm open to reading what people who love it for now think.

Your mind would change on Mike Skinner if they would just let him be himself and not force this idiotic persona on him. Let him do brief honest counter-reviews from an American perspective during the power laps to either support or refute what JRJ had to say about whatever car they were doing. Would you not prefer that? If they're going to have their racing driver talk he might as well contribute to the discussion.

You found ep4 boring? I absolutely adored it! It was the kind of episode I watched Top Gear for: The crazy challenges, and the specials.

Maybe we watch the show for different reasons :) I don't care about cars really, I like watching the 3 of them go on adventures.

I thought ep 4 was worse than any episode of Top Gear ever produced. None of it worked for me. A new low for the Big Trio in my book. The bit with Hammond beneath the boot was especially groan inducing.

"I said no camels, that's five camels, can't you count?"

I am liking it. Although I enjoyed Top Gear. This is more of the same. Not different. Perfectly entertaining and fun to watch on a Saturday morning.

I have to agree. (Old) Top Gear was my absolute favourite for its comedic values. E.g. their takes on the modern peugeot driver and Jeremy driving a robin reliant were some of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV.

I've only seen two episodes of The Grand Tour so far, so I hope it gets better. The scripting is just not funny.

Am I correct in assuming The Grand Tour script is written mainly by the hosts and that (old) Top Gear wasn't? The show, or at least certain elements of it, feels more like JRJ are doing whatever they want to with their enormous budget, like e.g. the hostage rescue in episode two; I have no doubt they had fun doing it, but I get the impression they don't care if it results in good TV or not.

Well, top gear got worse in the end.

At the beginning the show didn't seem scripted, it most definitely was, but you didn't notice it that easy.

In the end, almost all of the "challenges" seemed 100% scripted like in a bad reality soap.

I hoped with TGT they make a new start and go back to their roots, instead they are going the same direction, more explosion, bigger budget, more scripted talks and dialogues. It's kind of boring.

Almost nothing seems natural anymore, i might go and watch a Michael Bay movie, maybe that's better

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At the beginning the show didn't seem scripted, it most definitely was, but you didn't notice it that easy.

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Yes, I agree. I think most ppl know most of their reactions are "fake", but it works very well still if the acting and dialogue doesn't make it bluntly obvious.

I do think episode three and four were a little better than the first two. Especially the part with the enviro-mental cars. They could work on being more natural rather than making their enthusiasm result in over acting, but there were definitely some funny bits there.

-What's this made out of?
-Have a guess.
-Is it mud?
-It's mud. It's a mud car.
-You've got flat tyres.
-No they're not flat. They're pumped up as high as they would go without exploding.
-How much does it weigh?
-Quite a lot.
-How much?
-Yeah, loads.
-How much does it weigh, James?
-What units would you like?
-Tonnes.
-Five.

It used to be about the cars with them just adding personal flavor now its all about them being "funny" It's almost like the shows too afraid to treat its audience like adults, The first episode was good all the rest pfft.. I thought with a title like The Grand Tour they would actually Tour in the cars like when they did their specials

"comedy"

The show is still watchable but I will concede that the most recent two episodes have been lackluster affairs to say the least. Apart from being under edited the first episode was great (they could easily have cut the last dead body and a couple of jokes from it and it would have been a better show for it). It does seem to be diminishing returns though especially now that they have fully embraced the world of Wrestling as it's guide to faked events that are never admitted to as being faked.

The show is beautifully crafted but is leaving less and less room for genuine spontaneity between the presenters and even with a show that is mostly a bit of knock about fun it would not kill them to do the odd genuine car review.

I agree. I just finished watching the Namibia special and it's just, I guess you could say on a completely different level than Top Gear's. The script and delivery were much better under BBC and I think a huge budget guided everything in a wrong direction. I remember the Top Gear season when in the last episode they claimed they had used up all the money, so it had to be an episode without. I liked that attitude much better.

I remember Jeremy's "world cheapest car review" of a Ford Fiesta.
"Is it green?"
"Yes. Very."

It was so simple. I still claim the Vietnam Special to be best they've made with redneck america and Bolivia close behind. I'll rather watch them over again, than GT :/

To me it seems like Grand Tour "plays it safe". And it worked, with 9+ on IMDB. Either that, or they are targeting a bigger but different audience.

Yeah i agree with the general vibe here that this show is just

Underwelming.

We can blame the BBC lawyers or whoever we want its just not that good



ayy

I'd agree in that after the first episode I was finding them very 50/50 good and bad and even I was starting to wonder if it was worth continuing watching the show.

..that was until episode 7, I thought the Beach Boys Namibia special was superb, THIS is what they're best at, and this 2 part special was easily as good as the Top Gear specials.

I'd be quite happy if The Grand Tour was just that, special tours around the world.

I also felt that the Buggy episode was the most interesting and most representative of what the show is supposed to be. Most of the locations are boring and classical.

And I can't believe they went on with the "celebrity brain" thing for the whole season. It is just so lame.

Episode 4 and 9 were the best so far. They felt like classic Top Gear.