The Great Escapists

This is a fantasy sitcom about two guys who get stranded on an island. One guy desperately wants to get off the island, while the other wants to stay and enjoy it. They build ridiculous contraptions in their efforts to either stay or to enjoy themselves. The two guys happen to be Richard Hammond and Tory Belleci playing themselves. OR This is a parody fantasy version of what would happen if Richard Hammond and Tory Belleci got stranded on an island together.

Once you realize what this show is, you might find it funny and cute. If you sit down thinking that it's a documentary / reality show / builder show, like Top Gear, Grand Tour or Mythbusters, you're going to be disappointed. It's a fantasy TV show. Or it's a parody. Or it's Gilligans Island where Tory and Richard play themselves. After I accepted that, I enjoyed the stupid humor and binge watched the whole season. I hope they make more. I've enjoyed Hammond and Belleci over the last 20 years and thought they were fun together. I hope they make more of these or that they do some kind of other show together.

The negative reviews are really the result of expectations minus reality.

The premise could have worked, Cory and Richard are pretty good, but the format/writing is horrible. What's worse is it's not only incredibly irritating, but because of the shows both presenters are famous for, you know how easily it could have been good.

Top Gear/Grand Tour were very good at the extreme adventures with fake situations made plausible thing and Mythbusters were really good at explaining things in relatable ways, so when you see they're essentially combining the two you can immediately see how that could work together right?

Unfortunately whoever was producing/paying for this decided that the target demographic would most likely be people with severe head injuries.

It's almost a kids TV show, but it fails to properly target that demographic, so it's an infotainment show that treats its audience like morons.

The show could be easily elevated to a 7/10 just by changing the writing to be a lot less patronising, and the format to massively tone down the pantomime of the situation.

Keep the cast and presumably very extensive crew, make some heavy changes to the production team for season 2. Steer into what you're actually making and you could have something fun. As Richard said in the first episode I think 'we've had our fun which is a waste of time and childish and immature, but okay... now let's get on with it.

Oh and completely remove that interview to camera nonsense - this is so incredibly on the nose it doesn't need further explaining.

Warning do not watch this, it's unbelievably shallow, contrived and nonsense lol. Right, now I've got that out of the way, let qualify that statement. It should read, do not watch it with your grown-up brain engaged, people, giving it a right slaying but failing to get that it's definitely aimed at kids. I sat for the first 15 mins with my head in my hands, turned and looked at my 8yo and he loved it. So forget the science, acting, depth, building, survivorship and everything like that kind of Bear Grills type show. It's entertainment for kids and in that context it works better than first thoughts.

In most shows you need at least two story lines so that you can cut to and from each story, but in this case it hampered the show's best entertainment. The biggest problem was the interrogation room plot line. However, the interactions between two mechanically adept builders on a beach were genuinely so fun to watch. Of course its not a realistic shipwreck, but it was a fun setting to watch Hammond and Belleci create. Tory often does overdue the fake excitement a little much because he is a better builder than actor, but without the overly gimmicky side storyline and constantly shifting concept of time/present the show would have worked better. The meta references were one of the only positives from the interrogation room scenes. Even with just a little more realism, the show would have been more entertaining (especially from two actors who are known for their realist television and who actually are skilled). That being said, to make a show of this quality in the current times is quite an impressive feat.

I have never watched Top Gear and I have no idea what Mythbusters is. So these guys are new for me. As I dont have any previous experiences which fills my head and creating bias in my view, I watched this with fresh mind... and liked it!

Yes it's not big deal, yes it's not very much creative but scenery is excellent and it's lighthearted fun for passing time.

Also I couldn't smile at the adorable cuteness of reviewers who complain that "this is scrpited" :D Guys, this is TV! When did you see anything NOT scripted here? Still this show is way more natural than any news broadcast that any mainstream channel shows these days!