Yes, having seen all the episodes, the first season/series bears almost no resemblance to subsequent series. It was more devoted to consumer advice and did not feature James May. The show didn't seem to find its voice until the fourth series when it began its cheap car challenges, when the producers gave the hosts small amounts of money to buy cars, then ran them through excessive tasks. The next step was the addition of more ambitious races and challenges featuring lengthy road trips. The combined efforts (or lack thereof) of the hosts seemed to complete the show and define it more as a series of road trips/buddy movies than programs about cars. The series is as much about cars as LA Law was about the law -- knowledge of it or even interest in it is not integral to enjoying the series.
Herein, a breakdown of which episodes showcase what the series is... not a "best of" list, but a "familiarize yourself" list... if I wanted to introduce the show to someone and convince them to watch it, these are the episodes I'd begin with: Series 4 Episode 1 - The first race between a train and an Aston Martin Series 4 Episode 3 - The first cheap car challenge Series 6 Episode 6 - The race to Oslo Series 7 Episode 3 - Millau Bridge Series 9 Episode 3 - The first trip to America Series 10 Episode 4 - Car vs. Bike vs. Boat vs. Subway Series 12 Episode 2 - The second trip to America Series 14 Episode 6 - The trip to Bolivia On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 12:30 AM, David Bruggeman <bru...@yahoo.com> wrote: > I've only regularly watched Top Gear on BBCA since sometime in 2008 (I > think). Speaking strictly about BBCA broadcasts of the show in the last > couple of years I've caught episodes from all the series, though just a few > from the first 5 series. That suggests to me that disc availability in the > U.S. is different from broadcast availability. > > In terms of changes in the show, the challenges get more involved in later > series, no doubt because they can afford to do more, go more places (the big > trips are decent travelogues), etc. Also, the presenters are more willing > to go for broke (prime example being the ruckus in the U.S. highlighted in > the recent 60 Minutes piece). Not that they weren't being silly early on, > but I think the show plays more to their personalities than it did in the > beginning. > > When the show does segments on specific cars, it's frequently on a supercar > - Porsche, Ferrari, high-end Mercedes, Lexus, etc. The U.S. show probably > won't be any different on this point (the Viper was featured at the start of > the first episode). There's not a lot of time under the hood, unless > someone breaks down. The show's more for car fans than weekend mechanics. > I enjoy watching them put cars, trucks and other vehicles through their > paces, even though I'm not likely to buy or rent much of what's on the > show. I also like watching celebrities racing around a proper track (not > that go-cart conversion rink in the back of The Jay Leno Show). > > David > > ________________________________ > From: PGage <pga...@gmail.com> > To: tvornottv@googlegroups.com > Sent: Mon, November 22, 2010 1:39:15 AM > Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] Top Gear US > > On Sun, Nov 21, 2010 at 9:09 PM, David Bruggeman <bru...@yahoo.com> wrote: >> >> A solid start to the US edition, IMO. The chemistry between the co-hosts >> is getting there, and they're more entertaining together than by >> themselves. Tanner Foust could loosen up a bit. At least May is in on the >> joke with his pedantism. > > Okay - I made a promise I would jump in with this question the next time I > noticed a Top Gear thread here. > > I have never seen Top Gear. I have a friend who can't shut up about it, and > I usually tune him out, as I have almost all of the traffic about it on this > list. Recently he lazered through my shields and said I should give it a > try. I might. But I notice something a little odd. > > On Netflix they have Top Gear seasons 1 - 8 (I believe) listed as available > for saving, which seems to mean that they will not yet send out the disks, > but they expect to be able to at some time in the future. Then they have Top > Gear 9 - 12 available for instant viewing and disks. 13 is available for > disks only, 14 is only listed as save. > > Why would the first 8 and last 1 not yet be available in any form, 9-12 be > available for instant viewing, and 13 on disk only? (I guess the pattern for > 9-14 makes sense, with more recent seasons either only available on disks, > or not at all). Are Top Gear seasons 9 - 12 inferior in some way (Second > Darren syndrome?). For a skeptical newbie, am I better off waiting until I > can start with the earlier seasons, or should I jump in with season 8 to get > a fair exposure? > > Frankly, I don't even know what the show is about - I take it that it has > something to do with cars, and fixing and indulging one's passion for them. > I am not a car guy in any way (I mean, I did grow up in Los Angeles, and I > do own 3 cars, so I like having a car, but I sublimate my sexual passions in > other ways). But my friend insists that I will still like the show, so I > guess there is something else to it other than geeking out over a hemi > (whatever a hemi is). Or maybe my friend is just trying to make me waste an > hour of my time with a show he knows I will hate (I can not put that past > him). > > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
