Not sure of the purpose or audience
I've been a TG fan since James May was introduced as the new presenter, and have avidly watched all of The Grand Tour. I don't understand the purpose of this series.
Before today, I knew it was going to be presented by May and Hammond, and knew it would be a clip show. But that's literally all it is: A clip show. I was hoping for some commentary and BTS insight on the featured episodes; Something, anything new. But the studio inserts were just rehashes of well-known opinions of the two presenters, and there was barely any of it.
Back in the days of television and before DVRs, clip shows were the only way to re-visit your favorite moments from series that were off the air or between seasons. But all the episodes featured here are available in full on Amazon. If you can watch the clip show right now, you can watch the actual episodes right now. What's the point? It's little more than a 1 hour trailer for the show. And not a very good one, because..
Clip shows can also be a good introduction of a series to new viewers, highlighting the best and most interesting of what the series has to offer. Based on the first episode, if I were to put together a clip show of the most skippable Grand Tour segments, these would have been on the list. The 918 vs. TheFerrari vs. Fax Machine was exciting, though! When it first aired. But that was adjudicated around 8 years ago. I'm not sure how it would entice new viewers, as any car enthusiast would already be aware of the outcome and anyone else wouldn't be invested in the result nowadays.
All this episode made me want to do was watch classic TG or some GT road trips. But only because I'm already a fan and this left me wanting. I loved both shows, but I don't need segments re-presented to me out of context with nothing new added. It's a shame, because the format would've been at least somewhat interesting if done in a "commentary track" format, or at least had more scripted (or unscripted) embellishments in the studio segments.
It's not interesting for long-time viewers, and it's not going to help entice new viewers. So why does this even exist?
Before today, I knew it was going to be presented by May and Hammond, and knew it would be a clip show. But that's literally all it is: A clip show. I was hoping for some commentary and BTS insight on the featured episodes; Something, anything new. But the studio inserts were just rehashes of well-known opinions of the two presenters, and there was barely any of it.
Back in the days of television and before DVRs, clip shows were the only way to re-visit your favorite moments from series that were off the air or between seasons. But all the episodes featured here are available in full on Amazon. If you can watch the clip show right now, you can watch the actual episodes right now. What's the point? It's little more than a 1 hour trailer for the show. And not a very good one, because..
Clip shows can also be a good introduction of a series to new viewers, highlighting the best and most interesting of what the series has to offer. Based on the first episode, if I were to put together a clip show of the most skippable Grand Tour segments, these would have been on the list. The 918 vs. TheFerrari vs. Fax Machine was exciting, though! When it first aired. But that was adjudicated around 8 years ago. I'm not sure how it would entice new viewers, as any car enthusiast would already be aware of the outcome and anyone else wouldn't be invested in the result nowadays.
All this episode made me want to do was watch classic TG or some GT road trips. But only because I'm already a fan and this left me wanting. I loved both shows, but I don't need segments re-presented to me out of context with nothing new added. It's a shame, because the format would've been at least somewhat interesting if done in a "commentary track" format, or at least had more scripted (or unscripted) embellishments in the studio segments.
It's not interesting for long-time viewers, and it's not going to help entice new viewers. So why does this even exist?
- ScottR-89
- 29 abr 2025