Interesting. I read the book but never saw the series. Based on the book, I thought they both sounded like rich, spoiled, crybabies who also happened to be remarkably bad writers. I've been cutting them some slack because people keep telling me that watching the series is better than reading the book.

I find the phenomenon fascinating--the way so many of us get so wound up about these two. No more fascinating, of course, than the way people get equally wound up about their favorite movie stars, athletes, politicians or other celebrities. It sure seems like the same forces are at work here, whether turned towards the positive (adulation and wannabe-ism) or negative (deeply personal insult taken at their very existence).

Personally, I'd find the whole elaborate deal more interesting if they'd just made an effort to keep it honest and humble....but I gather that doesn't play very well, nor pay the bills.

Mark

Possibly

Does anyone else see the change that took place in mass media is the late 80's and 90's? It could be rose tinted 20/20 hind sight, but my dad used to watch Top Gear when he was actually looking for a new car and William Woolard and a bloke called Geoff something or other would actually drive normal cars on the road and tell you the bits they didn't like. I picked the first bike I had a choice about (First one was almost given to me) based on a Ride article where they actually took a 300cc MZ on a short tour of France.

The telly now is just Clarkson and others playing the fool. I was bought a magazine subscription for Christmas and according to the guys who eat the buffet at the launch all bikes are equally fantastic the day they come out. The latest one comparing the W800 to the Bonneville rightly said it was an improvement over a ten year old design (No **** Sherlock) but skimmed over the looks-over-function drum brake and how Kawasaki's Sportsbike oriented dealer network will support them.

I'm afraid when I want information it's Google (and HUBB) where real people put their info. When I want entertainment I'll find a film or drama. I simply don't like the entertainment dressed up as information stuff. I think the only media I'll except from this is Radio where the better stations do seem to have maintained the mix, but even there it is obvious that when one side of the news it's the pop quiz and the other they are interviewing the Chancellor they've switched. LWR etc, seem dishonest which I think produces the split we see.

Andy

The Americans invented the word 'Infotainment'. I say blame 'them' for the hype and lack of journalistic content flooding us everyday everywhere we look.

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I have to agree with threewheelbonnie here .
Top Gear is a farce ,just 3 prats performing in front of a bunch of giggling sycophants . If one of them was my son ,I'd be ashamed - if it was an animal I'd euthanise it .

Charley and Ewan ; well that's entertainment too .But much better quality and partly educational for someone who knows nothing about bikes or travel .
If they can make money out of their hobby - good for them .
Who cares if they aren't hardcore ? Not me .
What is hardcore anyway ? And who is fit to judge ?
If I saw Charley or Ewan on the road ,I'd buy 'em a pint and I expect they would buy me one in return .

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I actually liked the shows too (but I still think that video is hilarious). Mostly because they helped solidify my notion of doing a long trip on a motorcycle. I thought, hell if these guys can do it, I surely can! I spent 5 years as a wandering surfer on buses, trains, and beater cars purchased here and there and never once remember meeting someone on a long distance motorcycle tour. So I am among those that the exposure of the whole idea affected.

Charlie and Ewan's job was to entertain us, right? The fact is that if they did a show that was low production quality and they were both tough as nails, but not particularly entertaining, no one would watch it.

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Oh dear!..........
My son (30-ish) is besotted by it, watches repeats end-to-end. Advice please?? Is there a cure? I hope so!

(But I do like James May's occasional programmes on how you should really play with train sets).


BugsOnMyBoard:
"Charlie and Ewan's job was to entertain us, right? The fact is that if they did a show that was low production quality and they were both tough as nails, but not particularly entertaining, no one would watch it."
Can't say I'm a fan of their's, but this is one of the best summings-up here.

I saw Ewan at Ted Simon's Ace Cafe book signing. He seemed a friendly enough sort of fellow, despite having some family with him and a leg in plaster.
(He does, or did really ride a motorbike in London - had a fall and broke it.
Riding a motorbike in London - that would rightly qualify for Adventure Motorcycling for many people).

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Jeez. Some of those comments are pretty severe. Which category are we putting Austin Vince than? He's the reason I started travelling all together. And Chris Scott. He makes good books, but can't say I enjoyed his DVD's.

Personally I love topgear. Haven't got much of an interest in cars. Feel free to watch Fifth gear if you want to see a road test of a Nissan Micra. I'll pass. After a day of trying to be serious I enjoy watching a few fools trash a few cars.

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Looks like I'm a sycophant then. Glad I'm not your son .

I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the UK (except maybe the Mexican ambassador in London) who thinks that Clarkson/Hammond/May are doing anything other than deliberately taking the p!ss out of each other and the whole world. They aren't taking themselves seriously in any way. I definitely don't watch it to help me decide whether to buy a car that's made in Mexico or not.

The actor and ex carpet fitter are entertaining in other ways. When they were in Mongolia it reminded me of what it was like to have to ride a big fat bike with much too much sh!t strapped to it:


C

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Chris, I think you are the only person to have ever carried more crap and broken shocks and subframes faster that E and C. There should be some sort of award for this

Mark, another Top Gear fan.

. In another thread some comedian was reconing I was trying to be like Dan Walsh. Now you're comparing me to E&C. I might start to develop some sort of identity crisis.... However I like the FASTER comment. Finally have a strapline for my website logo:

"FASTER THAN EWEN AND THINGY".

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodger three prats performing in front of a bunch of giggling sycophants

They're not that good. Don't big them up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodger If I saw Charley or Ewan on the road, I'd buy 'em a pint and they'd expect the brewery to buy me one in return.

Fixed.

Regards, Mick

Thanks for your thoughts (rant?) regarding this entertainment program that has been out for, what, five years now? Why on earth did you think it would be a resource?



Please keep us posted if you have similarly strong feelings about the Spice
Girls, the threat posed by SARS, or for that matter, the original Star Wars movie.

people on this forum know about the real deal, but its a tiny tiny slice of the audience.

i know that star wars is fake too. but it's still fun to look at. and I'm not particularly impressed by someone who can point out the fake bits about it. except for jar-jar. really hate jar-jar. he's so fake.

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two wheeled wave hunting dispatches

Without LWR being produced, there'd be far less Adventure Riders. As much as everyone takes the piss out of EM and CB, you have to credit them for promoting the previous small sect of Overlanders.

Riders like Sam Manicom, the Mondo Enduro crew and Lois Pryce etc, would still be doing their day jobs full time if it wasn't for LWR. Instead they are now seen at every Adventuring Biking event milking their wares, years after it all happened. Austin Vince, as much as he slates the corporations off etc, would dream of doing a LWR for telly, self promotion is something that he is very good at, due to his great charisma.

The Adventure Film Festival i attended in Bideford was a pure cash cow. A nice weekend, but you had to pay for everything including some hour workshops at £20 each!

My two penneth worth!

Hmm. You want to go for a really long ride but your much loved other half isn't so sure. Sit 'em down and watch E&C do their stuff, might just persuade them to green light the whole thing.

Or if you're really lucky you get to go for a really long ride (and you really do the riding) but with backup, fixers and all that stuff so you just have to do the fun bit and then get the worlds best home movie of your travels which you can also sell to a slavering public and make millions of quids.

Sounds alright to me. Why get upset about something that makes any sort of biking look fun (and engages non bikers)?

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