I've been trying to avoid doing this one, but I can't help it. Partly because I can't find time to watch anything new still and partly because I love this show more than anything that has ever come from England aside from the Aston Martin DBS. Top Gear is a talk show. Top Gear is car show. But more importantly, Top Gear is a show that anyone can sit down and enjoy. You don't have to like talk shows or cars to really find it interesting or funny, and you will sit down and watch every episode just to see what trouble the three host can get themselves into.
Speaking of which, let's talk about the hosts. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May (as of season 2) along with their faceless tamed racing driver the Stig make up the cast of Top Gear. Clarkson (aka Jezza) is loud, annoying, rude, and a writing genius. Hammond (aka Hamster) is sort of the runt of the group, but he has a lot of heart, and finally James May (aka Captain Slow) really pulls the group together with is sense of right and wrong, and is quite anal attention to detail. The Stig is a man who never speaks, never acts, but is there for one reason, and one reason only, to drive cars around their test track.
The show generally follows a solid format (aside from some specials) where they do a few car reviews, speak to a guest of the week, and they usually do some sort of special tribute or challenge. Challenges are the best part of the show usually. They do things like "Who can by the best super car for under £10,000" or "Who would win between a Bugatti Veyron and a Plane in a race across Europe". The stunts they pull, and the things they are allowed to get away with is astounding. They do not use stunt men in these either, it's all the hosts. All the driving, the insane races, the challenges, all complete by the hosts. A great example is in the preview I plan on posting, so I won't go into too much detail, but I think you will be impressed at their stupidity.
You might wonder where the talk show part really comes in. Every week there is a guest as I've said. This guest comes and promotes movies, albums, plays and what not, and Jeremy talks to them and they joke and it's usually pretty entertaining. Then, every star goes through a segment called "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car". During this segment, the star runs the Top Gear reasonably priced car around their test track as fast as they can. At the end, their fastest time goes up on a board with all the other guests who have been on the show. The show features a wide range of guests, from comedian Jimmy Carr to singer Tom Jones, to Actors Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz (same episode). In the earlier seasons, some of the people are a bit less recognizable if you don't see a lot of British TV, but bigger and bigger stars end up on the show.
So, I've been ranting and ranting and so on about the show. The fact is, is that it's a show you should not miss. It's not just one of the best shows in England, it's one of the best shows in the world. It is not rated on Netflix, but I would say it's between PG and PG-13. You may not want some of your younger children to hear the bit of foul language and some of the references, but honestly, kids will love the fast cars, and enough of the jokes to be entertained. The best thing is, you don't have to be a fan of cars to like it. It's filmed, written and presented is such a manner that you won't even know you're learning about cars. It's may as well be a show about three middle aged men bickering back and fourth with one another. Unfortunately, Netflix only offers series 2-15 on instant queue, and series 16 is on DVD. Series 17 is currently being aired in England, so if you like it, you can download it if you're good with the internet. Otherwise it will probably be available by Christmas. Sit back and enjoy Top Gear.
I leave you with Jeremy Clarkson doing a tribute to the Reliant Robin.
No comments:
Post a Comment