Just noticed this is on BBC2. Hated the old TG as you know and never watched it but I've been watching this for 10 minutes to see what it's like. Still the same old rubbish . Road trip to Blackpool in a Reliant Robin and messing about in a Doge Viper trying to "lock a missile" on another car.

I don't think the show suits him somehow. It seems like he's really trying to be enthusiastic and it shows.

 

Same old same old.

 

Guys you should be out having a bbq and a beer in this blazing sun today its bank holiday Monday tomorrow enjoy yourselves fooook top gear

 

Bank Holiday? What's that?

Matt LeBlanc is doing a great job IMO. The role suits him and he has a good style to his presenting.

 

As girlfriend said, at least he's not turned into boater druggie like Perry

 

I've long turned over to the Antiques Roadshow

Why does the ginger **** have to shout all the time and try in impersonate Clarkson. He should stick to his breakfast show.

Clarkson, Hammond and May must be pissing themselves watching the new/old Top Gear

 

Bugger i missed it i was cutting my toe nails.

 

I think you would of found your toe nails more entertaining lol

 

Damn, missed it Was watching something much more interesting..........about what happened to stars of the past. Bay City Rollers were a blast LOL

Shaun

 

Dear god, I honestly found that difficult to watch at times. Firstly, I'm no Clarkson / Hammond / may fanboy, I wasn't overly keen on top gear in its last couple of years. Chris Evans needs to stop shouting for no reason, very annoying! Chris and Matt are like chalk and cheese, and not in a good 'opposites attract' way. Matts 'jokes' were terrible (although I'm sure any yanks watching it were in stitches) and I actually found myself watching it, but not taking any notice of it in the last 20 mins. I won't be watching next week. Cringeworthy at times and totally un-interesting.

 

Extra Gear on BBC III online, now.

 

This

 

I liked it

 

I fast forwarded a lot of it as it was just too cringeworthy

 

At least Clarkson wasn't on it going on about gentlemans sausage.

 

Me too. Perfectly acceptable. It was always going to be fashionable to hate the new presenters.

 

It's the repeat storylines though.

 

Wow , been out all day , just caught last 20 mins / I really like Evans on the radio in morn but this was so gash I cringed ... Shocking performance & as said ( some how in all that performance was a clarkson trying to get out / big thumbs down for me /

 

Couldn't force myself to watch the show after having previously seen one of the trailers on youtube. When Chris Evans said "feel the heat baby" I was almost sick.

That'll likely be their best material on that episode as well, as they know that the audience will be high for the first episode with people being curious to see what it's like.

 

Guy martin is the man.

 

Exactly, it was entertaining, it's an entertainment show. Topgear is a BBC franchise that has hundreds of millions of viewers around the world, so yes, it is in the same format, what did people expect!! The very same people are just as likely to whine had that format changed.

 

Ironically, they've dropped the 'best' bit - i.e. 'The News'.

But then, there aren't three 'banterers'.

 

Let's be clear on this, it HAD hundreds of millions of viewers around the world - but they were watching the entertainment which was a result of the banter and charisma of the presenters. Something tells me 'new' top gear won't have anywhere near the same appeal. The Grand Tour on the other hand will probably develop the same cult following old top gear had.

 

The Ariel Nomad feature was like watching a re run of Hammond in the Bowler wildcat. The viper/corvette feature like the Aston/merc/viper in America episode.

As someone else mentioned, I can listen to Evans on the radio no problem, but on this I found him rather annoying. I like LeBlanc, but he came across heavily scripted and wooden in the studio segments.

And they better clean the bloody track up after the star in a rallycross (standard mini!) car segment, I need to book my day driving a Lambo and Fezza around Dunsfold track soon!

 

Childish ,more so than before. And disappointing,more so than before.

Oh well

 

And let's be clear that Clarkson, May and Hammond aren't the only presenters of the Topgear. Topgear America, Australia, France, Russia, China, etc are hugely popular in their respective countries and draw in hundreds of millions of viewers without the three you're familiar with. It's a very successful BBC franchise and a format where its success does not rely on previous UK trio.

 

You miss the point though, these presenters ARE Top Gear. Without them it would've been just another car show, and would probably have been caned long ago. The UK version of the show is by far the most successful, and greatest revenue generator for the BBC. The spin-offs in various other countries are basically just Fifth Gear-esq car shows.

Why do you think Amazon paid so much to secure Clarkson, Hammond & May?! Because they are the reason for the success.

 

This. The UK version of topgear was more successful in the countries that it was broadcast than their own versions.
I can only imagine Amazon execs have a huge smile on their faces right now. Having had a look at social media, tonight's episode has received a good kicking.

Evans trying to be Clarkson, but with one massive exception. Where Clarkson has some idea what he talks about with regard to cars, he would dumb it down in a way that would make him look the idiot. With Evans, at least in the opening feature with the Viper, I got the feeling that he was trying to explain things as if it was the viewer that was the idiot.

 

Sure Clarkson, Hammond and May are a great combo, but you can't say the same back when they started out on the very first episode, the chemistry they now have between them took years to develop. It was inevitable comparisons would be drawn between the trio and the new presenters, but it's ridiculous to expect the same chemistry between the new presenters like the previous trio. What I find even more ridiculous are the usual haters of the previous Topgear now defending them.

 

Not for me, I'm more into technical or laborious stuff, Shmee telling me what every single button in the car does.