I grandi sognatori

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.

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.

OK, definitely no Swiss Family Robinson. And zero authenticity, which is disappointing. But It's filmed in a nice location and you could imagine this fitting into a monkey island computer game in a way. Shame that Hammond has to rely on using the Clarkson name for entertainment rather than relying on his own reputation. Definitely the least meritorious of the Three G. T. presenters spinoff shows bug entertaining all the same.

This show had so much potential to build on previous formats like Scrapheap Challenge, Mythbusters, Bear Grylls, Top Gear, The Grand Tour etc. Hammond and Tory are both fantastic presenters and the location is beautiful but the content is edited so poorly that it feels like a trainee swept up all the clippings off the floor and spliced them together in the dark.

The sequencing makes zero sense, there are scenes which clearly refer to earlier ones which have not yet been shown and what the hell is the part about recounting the story to interrogators? Were they 20% short on material and got as drunk as possible to come up with this idea for a filler?

All in all, I am very dissapointed but believe this series could be saved. Pull the show now, edit it properly and include more of the actual making process and you'll have at least a half decent show. As it is, it is simply not worth wasting your time. 1 out of 10 - must try harder!

My son and I were both really excited about this because we love to watch all of Hammonds car shows and Mythbusters reruns. It wasn't as, let's say... realistic as we expected. After our initial disappointment and our expectations adjusted we just enjoyed two really fun guys goof around in a Gilligan's Island meets Swiss Family Robinson wish fulfillment sort of way. We had a lot of laughs from both scripted and genuine moments and he picked up some more science fundamentals along the way. I think they should change the concept and try again. Maybe like Monster Garage or something closer to their wheelhouse and straight forward.