The Grand Tour...Is AVAILABLE NOW on Prime

I like Mike Skinner, I don't want Mike Skinner on this show.

Why not bring in a driver who can be interviewed after every car, I would prefer to see a Randy Pobst type that gets can talk his way through the track but also sit down comfortably with the camera.

Maybe do something no one has done yet?

It was pretty good. Some of the humor was forced (mostly the American jokes, including their test driver).

Man that P1 is stunning. The looks, the NOISE!!!

I'll watch it this weekend.

I thought Ben Collins was going to be the driver?

I second Randy Pobst as the "new Stig". Would love to see how his personality blends with the guys.

The prelude 4WS line, lifted MG preview and comment about pleasuring a horse as we're on the Internet all made me laugh.

The celebrity bit was forced, but I expect that it was just created to highlight that they won't be doing interviews anymore unless there's a direct connection to a vehicle being featured in the episode.

The new track is pretty awesome, particularly the bumpy surface almost B road type section near the end after the old woman's house. That section will be an excellent real world type test as opposed to a super smooth nearly polished COTA or Spa type tarmac surface would. It'll really be interesting to see what some of the wet times are, particularly over the final sector in some vehicles.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

Of course if you had Randy, Farrah and Lieberman do a show they could plays the role of a stig/hammond, Clarkson and May quite well without being forced into such personality roles.

I will admit, I don't like the digital leader board. I much prefer the anticipation of the placing of the handwritten magnetic strip for some odd reason. Must be the luddite in me.

I watched it last night.

They kinda dragged the whole "Celebrity" bit out. Also the "Royal Airforce" bit, but I thought it was funny.

Really surprised what Supercar finished 1st..

Loved it. I hope they do some adventures where they try to build stuff (like Geoff) too!

I really liked how the handled Jeremy's departure from the BBC and some other subtle inside jokes. Some parts fell a little flat, but you can see the potential for them to grow. They have a formula that works, but some tweaking is also a good thing. I hated their racing driver, what a dullard. Put someone in the car who can talk through the finer points of the car as they drive it, where's Sabine Schmidt? She'd kill that segment!

Looking forward to watching it this weekend.

I think Sabine is currently contracted to the BBC for UK Top Gear. Granted, while she seems to do off-the-cuff comments well, anything she did that was scripted (which is just about all of Top Gear from day-one) was a painful to watch.

I watched most of it. Fell asleep before the end, just like Top Gear. I suppose that says something.

Esoteric Nixon wrote: I was rather disappointed with the "stig replacement" being a tired old troupe. Give me a non-talking, independent adjudicator, or Tiff Needell.

I have no evidence whatsoever to back this theory up, but I suspect each week we'll have a different "stig" from whatever country the Tour is visiting that week. The whole "fat angry everything is a communist" thing just won't(couldn't) fly with some of the destinations they're doing this season.

In regards to the bet about the super car I think they may have rigged it.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: I watched it last night. They kinda dragged the whole "Celebrity" bit out. Also the "Royal Airforce" bit, but I thought it was funny. Really surprised what Supercar finished 1st..

I was too. Especially considering I think we now know how Chris Harris got all of those three cars together for a Chris Harris on Cars episode. Although, given history I think deep down we know what happened - Formula E driver was told to get a bit drifty in the P1 so that they could set up the joke at the end.

I thought it was very good overall. It was essentially Top Gear, which is what I wanted.

Things I liked:
1. The intro. I'll admit to a few fist pumps as they were driving those Mustangs into that huge crowd of people and cars.
2. The supercar challenge. They finally got to do it, and they did it right, at a proper race track where they could really wring the cars out. Some absolutely stunning shots of stunning cars sliding around.
3. The look of it. I was watching on an older 720p TV, but my understanding is that it's shot in 4K, so if you have a capable TV and box, that's what you'll see. Maybe because I'm comparing it to downloaded TG, which even in HD had some compression, but the level of detail in the shots was very impressive. Also, the photography and production values are at least as good as they were on TG. 4. The travelling format. I like that this will be more of a world show than a British show, though it'll still obviously have a strong British lean to it.

Things I didn't like:
1. A lot of the audience banter felt forced, particularly the RAF bit. The celebrity thing was kind of funny, but I felt like I could see it coming a mile away.
2. Hammond. Dude. Just let it go gray, it's OK.

Things I'm neutral on:
1. I have to admit, Mike Skinner is an odd choice for the new "Stig". A has-been, midpack NASCAR driver? And they are certainly playing up the American stereotypes with him. But, we'll see. I'm sure he can wheel a car around as well as any pro driver, and I'm assuming he got the job because he's good on camera and/or has more personality than we saw in that episode. I'll give him a chance.

captdownshift wrote: In reply to EastCoastMojo: Of course if you had Randy, Farrah and Lieberman do a show they could plays the role of a stig/hammond, Clarkson and May quite well without being forced into such personality roles.

Speaking of Farah, he's on a show on the NBC Sports Network with Chris Harris and a third guy called "/DRIVE" that's very Top Gear-like. The hosts seem to have pretty good chemistry, and their personalities don't seem as forced as the ones on American Top Gear were. I enjoy it.

In reply to szeis4cookie:

A joke that if you check the British new sites today, they followed through with.

Hahaha, really?

Tom_Spangler wrote: Things I liked: 1. The intro. I'll admit to a few fist pumps as they were driving those Mustangs into that huge crowd of people and cars.

See opening with a trio of mustangs heading towards a crowd of people absolutely terrified me.

In reply to szeis4cookie:

And upset neighbors and interrupted a funeral in the process

It was to make room for a new home he's having built, but they blew it up with explosives creating quite the stir.

So from what I've seen only the 1st episode has been released so far, correct?

I'll watch it this evening.

So what are the odds that the Prime membership I'm using from SWMBO as a family add-on will let me watch this weekend?

Jerry wrote: So what are the odds that the Prime membership I'm using from SWMBO as a family add-on will let me watch this weekend?

I think the "add on" Prime accounts give you free shipping only. But why not just use her account?

I thought it was pretty good. The camera work was amazing, especially the 4k. it looked amazing on my several year old 1080p screen, so I bet on a 4k unit it would be mindblowing.

I thought the comment at the end was very interesting, about how the P1 WAS the fastest car when using the tires it was designed to use. I wonder if Ferrari pulled a hissy fit after what happened with Schumacher on the old show, and insisted that they use the Ferrari-specific tire on all 3 cars. That could explain why they dumped all over Ferrari (no street driving, didn't show mechanics, May saying things like "the thing about the Ferrari the Ferrari." and not "La Ferrari" etc.

Jerry wrote: So what are the odds that the Prime membership I'm using from SWMBO as a family add-on will let me watch this weekend?

One way to find out: Sign onto Amazon and see if it says "Amazon Prime" in the upper left hand corner.

Then, click on Departments, click on Video and then click on included with Prime. You should be able to see The Grand Tour among others.

If you're on a Mobile device, download and install the Amazon Video app, then sign in and see if you can watch with your account.

If you have a Roku, Apple Tv, etc. then get the Amazon Video channel and sign in, etc.