Particularly during the comparo, it felt like the show was missing The Stig. But episode one was limited to a short segment with the The montage in the opening scene promises some amazing adventures.
The actual content, meanwhile, is precisely what we expect from Clarkson, Hammond, and May. Top Gear a few episodes to struggle with its pacing before really beginning to criticize – it's only reasonable to do the same with TGT.
Top Gear had established segments at its disposal and it still struggled to come up with a unique take after Clarkson, Hammond, and May departed. Part of this uneven pacing is simply because this is the first episode – TGT needs to establish its new features and their unique identities, and that takes time. At least in episode one, Celebrity Braincrash felt like it was only there to eat up part of the 71-minute run time before airing the second half of the
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We still have no idea what's supposed to be happening here – apparently there's some kind of test – but if letting movie stars get attacked by "rattlesnakes" is the point, we suspect this segment is kind of a one-trick pony. Three stars – actors Jeremy Renner and Armie Hammer, and British gameshow host Carol Vordeman – "died" in episode one's Celebrity Braincrash segment. While TGT can't legally run a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment, it's still going to have celebrities on the show. Called The American by the hosts, Skinner's favorite things are going fast and calling anything not American, rear-drive, and powered by a V8 "communist." Watching him in this first episode, it's clear TGT is trying to suggest that Skinner and The Stig are cut from the same cloth, even though the latter talks and has a face.
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Next up, we visited the show's test track, semi-jokingly called the Ebola-Drome by Clarkson, due to its shape, and met test driver Mike Skinner. This week, Clarkson and Hammond focused on making fun of May. Now called Conversation Street, it's pretty clear the show is trying to avoid the BBC's legal eagles without compromising a segment that has a big impact on pacing. McLaren P1 comparison – followed by TGT's version of The News. There's an opening, a short review – in this case, the first half of the The opening is lovely and doesn't shy away from the controversy that helped birth Amazon's newest property, but we'll admit it's hard seeing where Amazon spent its $3.2 million – it's a neat scene, and includes a giant scorpion statue with a flame-throwing tail, but TGT could have nixed the entire Burning Van rock concert aesthetic and achieved the same thing in the big tent.įrom there, the show follows roughly the same formula as Top Gear, the Orangutan, the Hamster, and Captain Slow are at their best in the field.īut while the chemistry is still as natural as ever, the pacing in TGT's first episode is less so. There's a natural flow to the on-screen interactions between these three, and while it's clear they're reciting lines, particularly during the studio segments, the reality is that these interactions are so relaxed the viewer can ignore the occasionally stilted in-studio dialogue.
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For one, the chemistry between Clarkson, Hammond, and May hasn't dampened after being off TV screens for over 18 months. There are a lot of things in the latter category. Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond's first outing was an occasionally shaky but very promising.
But despite the crushing pressure of a major organization and millions of car enthusiasts,
The Grand Tour has arrived after an extremely long wait and under immense expectations. Well, Amazon, that's what $250 million gets you.