The Boys Are Back (In Cars)
Oh, but I missed my scruffy, caustic middle-aged British men. It’s been some time since Clarkson’s nail in the coffin stunt that got him fired from BBC’s Top Gear (cough, the real one) and it’s easy to forget why Clarkson, Hammond and May are the best in the business. But they are the best, and it seems that nothing – not even literally being fired from their own television program – can change that.
The Grand Tour, affectionately referred to in my house as Top Gear, no not that Top Gear, not the one with Chris Evans, the British Chris Evans, well I get that he isn’t on it anymore… isn’t the motoring show hero we deserve, but it is the one we need we right now. After leaving Top Gear, Hammond and May in an act of solidarity once Clarkson was removed, the three hosts were picked up by Amazon for The Grand Tour. Amidst a wash of build shows, competition shows and inexplicable racing shows, The Grand Tour rises above them all – providing wit, madness, motoring (oh yeah…) and a touch of the absurd.
Well. More than a touch, actually. I found myself impressed over and over again with the production quality, the cinematography and the no-prisoners attitude of this new version of an old favorite. It had the classics, references to the classics, and the new and it certainly delivered on the quintessential Clarkson, Hammond and May joie de vivre that has become so renowned they literally brought the audience with them to a different television show.
In fact, it’s the symbiotic humor of the three hosts that is the most important part – it almost makes the rest a little more forgivable.
It’s not a critique, not really. I’ve been watching the boys since Clarkson’s hair was still black…and there. I’m a shameless fanatic and have no problem admitting it. That’s why I feel comfortable saying that there were a few things about the show that I hope they’ll do better next time.
For one thing, the show felt like Top Gear without actually being Top Gear, and I find myself wondering if I’m the only one missing the joke that this really is Top Gear in another dress. It has differences, of course, but few and far between and done at the edges of copyright infringement laws. I’m still excited to see the boys on a worldwide tour, and I happily anticipate them fixing the kinks as the show develops.
As I mentioned before, the production quality is truly remarkable. Amazon made a very clear statement by premiering the program with enough gold in super car weight to fund a small country. They wanted their audience to know that they were doing Top Gear – The Grand Tour – properly. And they did. For the most part.
My biggest gripe is that the show just felt a little more scripted and a little more gimmicky. The humor between the hosts was on point, the track looks cooler – and more dangerous – than anything aired on BBC, and they truly did put the Porsche, McLaren and Ferrari through their paces. But every once in awhile, I got the impression that they just didn’t have enough content to fill up an hour. There were a handful of jokes that went on too long, a few scenes that obviously fell short of the intended mark. While Top Gear wasn’t entirely ad libbed, it never that way.
As my colleague wrote about in his review, the celebrity death scenes were funny – to a point. The antagonizing the American audience bit I could have done without completely. There were a few too many buzzes, bangs, and cartoon intros for my taste. It had a little too much of an air of the writer’s room about it.
But so what? Top Gear in its first iteration was truly one of the weirdest shows on television. It reveled in the explosive, abused it hosts and tested the limits just past the edge, time and again. The Grand Tour is new, and it’s not worse for it. I think it’s only a matter of time before the boys get their footing again, work through the awkward breakup stage, and figure out what kind of show this is going to be. Because it’s good, really good. And I’m not just saying that because I’m happy to have my caustic, scruffy middle-aged British men back. 
Image selected from The Grand Tour.