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Post by manatee on Dec 28, 2016 22:19:47 GMT
I watch it, and knock it too. I know there will be something to catch my eye, I like to see cars I haven't seen before, and the Le Mans piece for example was interesting - although it's a shame it was so short when the episode was filled up with so much rubbish.
The funny bits with rare exceptions aren't funny. Badly acted, scripted jocularity. Hammond's functions are giggling on cue at Clarkson and pretending to sneer at May pretending to be serious; when he tries to join in the (hopefully unscripted) banter it is too try-hard or off-key, such as saying that he doesn't eat ice cream because he isn't homosexual. Actually that was unacceptable, or should have been. Is there a punch line coming for the dead celebrity business? Feeble. The three performers are just that - acting out roles - but what is Wilman doing? He must know it's rubbish.
Maybe he is just thinking of H.L. Mencken's “No one ... has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”
Ultimately the answer to such criticism is the viewing figures, or the Amazon Prime sign-ups; but it must be hard to get a proper gauge on how well it has really worked when it has so much promotion behind it. Time will tell, and my opinion is irrelevant.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Dec 29, 2016 13:09:41 GMT
I suspect the dumbing-even-further-down is precisely to do with the global audience it's after. Remember that Benny Hill and Mr Bean are far more popular in other countries - many of them not mother-tongue-English countries - than they are in the UK. The scripted knockabout and pratfalls in GT have some way to go to achieve that level of sophistication but you can see the thinking.
The good bits - where they make or tell a story - are just about good enough to make the bottywater worth tolerating, but it makes me wish my PS3 remote had a one-minute instant skip function for those moments when I can see what's coming and can do without another insult to the intelligence. Press and repeat as necessary.
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Post by Hofmeister on Dec 30, 2016 22:15:06 GMT
I watch it, and knock it too. I know there will be something to catch my eye, I like to see cars I haven't seen before, and the Le Mans piece for example was interesting - although it's a shame it was so short when the episode was filled up with so much rubbish. Indeed, Episode 6 was 46 minutes of pure rubbish, some of it really really bad and 14 minutes was very good.
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Post by iancapetown on Dec 31, 2016 7:26:20 GMT
Episode # 7. Namibia road trip part 1 mmmm, quite amusing in parts, but predictable throughout. Worst of the lot so far, I'm afraid.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2016 16:25:08 GMT
Just watched 7. Enjoyed it. Not their best, but still worth the effort.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Dec 31, 2016 17:55:22 GMT
I've got pt1 and pt2 of this to watch. I'll comment on it when I've seen it.
The series has been disappointing but some okay bits. I'm sure Amazon are happy enough.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Dec 31, 2016 17:57:39 GMT
Part 1 was OK. A bit contrived, but complaining about contrivance with this lot it like, well, complaining about snow being cold.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2016 19:13:25 GMT
Just watched 8. Enjoyed it, it was ok.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jan 1, 2017 0:37:39 GMT
Well it's all contrived. They arrived at a beach in vehicles from a road.... so they had a fair idea where it was to begin with.
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Post by Hofmeister on Jan 1, 2017 17:00:22 GMT
Just watched E07 & E08 back to back. Frankly it was quite hard work, Id rate it as poor, probably poorer, as anything they had produced while at the BBC.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jan 1, 2017 18:36:03 GMT
I'd agree it was rather poor - maybe an episode in it at most. Nice scenery though.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 10:17:21 GMT
I got bored but kept on with it, hoping it might get more interesting. There was a much better programme in there which I think most of us could have made, with grater use of maps, satellite imagery and less obvious use of a lead car creating the tyre tracks of a nice big 4x4.
I think part of the problem is watching it on the small tablet rather than the TV. The scenery loses its impact.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 14:59:09 GMT
>> and less obvious use of a lead car creating the tyre tracks of a nice big 4x4.
~At one point it drove through the shot.
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Post by manatee on Jan 3, 2017 15:55:29 GMT
I watched the lot in one go - I wanted to see what happened, but if anything did I can't remember!
It did cross my mind that a documentary about the making of the programme would have been more interesting. There must have been a fair sized wagon train in support, not to mention a truck load of petrol.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jan 6, 2017 2:40:08 GMT
Tonights was back to the normal format. Some better bits IMHO for sure.
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