RiceRocket Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 this should be one hilarious episode. What an amazing place. Knocks Malaysia and Thailand into a cocked hat. The end section with the aquatic mopeds had amazing scenery. Stunning place!!! and funny episode... Finished watching it and still hated it, CARS DAM IT CARS! Didn't really think much of that as a TG episode, but the tourism promotion for Vietnam did the trick! For comedic value not a patch on the USA and Botswana eps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmark Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 I really enjoyed it tonight although you could tell it was scripted, usually it is not so evident on the road trips/challenges. As mentioned still not a patch on the USA one howver how nice was Vietnam!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missile Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 On again tomorrow - BBC2 @ 7:45pm. Fantastic. I should be able to record it. Getting sky dish installed this afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratty Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Althought it wasn't really an episode of Top Gear, it was very funny to watch. I was in fits of laughter most of the time. Maybe, the guys should also do a travel program, they were much better than Judith Charmers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesmark Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 Maybe, the guys should also do a travel program, they were much better than Judith Charmers... I can see where you are coming from with that idea, would work for me as I can't stand travel shows, Sarah watches them all the time and they are so boring. However something like lastnight, a travel programme with a twist. As Michael has said before it is being more of a light entertainment programme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I enjoyed it. Watched Clarkson's Thriller DVD just before it too for bonus petrolheadedness! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I can see where you are coming from with that idea, would work for me as I can't stand travel shows, Sarah watches them all the time and they are so boring. However something like lastnight, a travel programme with a twist. As Michael has said before it is being more of a light entertainment programme. Travels around the world with the Top Gear team, and their daft challenges would certainly be a breath of fresh air for travel programmes IMO. That episode was very funny, I thought. Maybe they're being told to calm down the exposure of super-expensive, super-cars for more affordable transport in these troubled times, or they were just having a laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benkei Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Brilliant episode!! No cars, but still, was great entertainment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I enjoyed it. Watched Clarkson's Thriller DVD just before it too for bonus petrolheadedness!I had that too. Haven't gotten round to watching it yet though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erol_h Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 great show enjoyed it but was waitng for some track action whish was a downer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I enjoyed it, no cars but very funny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I dont suppose anyone could tell me the name of the track at the end of the episode? Im racking my brians. Its the guitar piece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 never mind. track from Deer Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I dont suppose anyone could tell me the name of the track at the end of the episode? Im racking my brians. Its the guitar piece never mind. track from Deer Hunter Just for you. 3UB3js8v6R0 Cavatina by John Williams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewen Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I can play Cavatina on the Kazoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsween Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 legend, thanks. I was racking my brain for ages then asked on the forum. Not 2 mins later i remebered! John Williams is an utter legend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I just finished watching that and loved it. I see the Mirror have "caught Clarkson out in a lie" when he said he couldn't ride a bike because he was photographed on a Vespa the month before filming in Vietnam. And here was me thinking that TG wasn't scripted weeks in advance and the guys really couldn't find cars. D'Oh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 And here was me thinking that TG wasn't scripted weeks in advance and the guys really couldn't find cars. D'Oh! That's one of the reasons I can't watch an episode all the way through. Every time some supposedly spontaneous incident happens, for me, the idea that it is scripted beforehand takes all the humour out of it. "OK, James...now you've just discovered the prank they've played on your car...look outraged...now look resigned....great...cut!" The over-scripting of the characters and the escapades has turned it into a situation comedy, in my opinion. I caught the start of some crappy 'reality' programme about Paris Hilton and at least they had a disclaimer to the effect that 'some scenes have been scripted for entertaiment purposes". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I was just looking for the article about Clarkson on the Vespa, when I found somethingabout the Tesla. Now, I certainly got the impression that the Tesla ran out of charge on the track and that they had to push it back into the hangar. Except the Tesla didn't run out of charge. According to Tesla, it didn't go below 20%. No one knows where Clarkson got the '53 mile range' with heavy usage from. Clarkson's claims that they 'never once said that it had run out of charge' is pure dissembling, because the impression that it had gone flat was exactly what the piece deliberately implied. It's one thing to give a strong opinion on a car, but quite another to deliberately mislead viewers about it. NY Times report Telegraph article During a comparison drive, he storms past the Elise in a straight, amid tire squeals and music, and says in a voice-over: “This car really was then shaping up to be something wonderful, but then…” His voice trails off. We see a shot of Mr. Clarkson, appearing confused, looking down to the gas pedal. The tire squeals and music dissipate as the car slows to a stop on the test track. Tara Davies, a spokeswoman for the BBC, said: “We never claim that the car ran out of charge. The voice-over says, ‘If it does run out it’s not a quick job to charge it up again.” But the sequence of images leading up to the car being pushed into the warehouse is powerful. And the segment ends with Mr. Clarkson walking alone down an empty track under a dark sky with no car in sight: “So with the light fading, we had no cars at all,” he says. He concludes: “What we have here then is an astonishing technical achievement: the first electric car that you might actually want to buy. It’s just a shame that in the real world, it doesn’t seem to work.” Fade to black. Ms. Davies, the BBC spokeswoman, said several times in an interview that “Top Gear” was “an entertainment program.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I was just looking for the article about Clarkson on the Vespa, ...http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2008/12/30/jeremy-clarkson-fibs-over-top-gear-bike-stunt-115875-21004413/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Except the Tesla didn't run out of charge. According to Tesla, it didn't go below 20%. No one knows where Clarkson got the '53 mile range' with heavy usage from. Well yes Top Gear is scripted, but I highly doubt the Tesla would still have a 200+ mile range being ragged around a race track all day. 53 miles sounds quite reasonable to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Well yes Top Gear is scripted, but I highly doubt the Tesla would still have a 200+ mile range being ragged around a race track all day. 53 miles sounds quite reasonable to me. In the articles, Tesla's representative are quite up front about the range of the car decreasing with heavy use. The problem is that Clarkson came up with this figure based on...no one seems to know. 53 miles sounds reasonable - but so might 70 miles, or 42 miles. When queried about it, Clarkson said that it was a fact and can't be disputed. However, if the figure doesn't come from Tesla, and Top Gear never ran the car below 20% charge (as the computer logs show), again, where does that come from - a back of the envelope extrapolation? To me, it's a big deal if a programme with a huge following presents unverifed information about a product as a fact. And it's a bigger deal if they deliberately create the impression that a car ran out of charge and died on the track, when in fact nothing of the sort happened. Tesla must be fuming, especially as TG have refused to correct the deception for the American broadcast. To me, that's incredible arrogance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benkei Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 In the articles, Tesla's representative are quite up front about the range of the car decreasing with heavy use. The problem is that Clarkson came up with this figure based on...no one seems to know. 53 miles sounds reasonable - but so might 70 miles, or 42 miles. When queried about it, Clarkson said that it was a fact and can't be disputed. However, if the figure doesn't come from Tesla, and Top Gear never ran the car below 20% charge (as the computer logs show), again, where does that come from - a back of the envelope extrapolation? To me, it's a big deal if a programme with a huge following presents unverifed information about a product as a fact. And it's a bigger deal if they deliberately create the impression that a car ran out of charge and died on the track, when in fact nothing of the sort happened. Tesla must be fuming, especially as TG have refused to correct the deception for the American broadcast. To me, that's incredible arrogance. I completely agree with you here. It IS misleading to viewers, and the way the scene is constructed leads us to belive the car died. Much like in a movie if someone turns a gun on themselves, it fades to black and we hear a gunshot, we are lead to belive the person shot themself. They could have drove the car until it DID die, or say that it was almost out of juice, and then give some other reason why the car wouldn't work in our world and move on, but 'lying' about it is just pointless. I see Top Gear falling away from what it should be. Yeh it's entertaining, but what's the point if they mislead their audience and script everything? What's wrong with 3 blokes having a laugh and talking about cars, telling us the facts and figures with a little humour and personal opinions thrown in? Why push it so that it's almost not even factual anymore?? And now they've had their budget slashed it seems... Top Gear, I predict, will soon be dead! Also, it's made out that Clarkson came up with these figures... But I'm sure he was just saying what he'd been told to say. After all, he's just the presenter, not the script writter or researcher, or even the director! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lbm Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Also, it's made out that Clarkson came up with these figures... But I'm sure he was just saying what he'd been told to say. After all, he's just the presenter, not the script writter or researcher, or even the director! I suspect he does have something to do with the writing side of things. All 3 of them are journalists after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratty Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Does all this really matter??? You either like watching it or you dont. I certainly wouldnt buy a car going by their reviews and see it just as fun. A little too much is being read into all this me thinks. I think having their budget slashed could be a good thing as it might bring back more reviews of cars instead of the challanges. Just my opinion of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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