Yes I did! I really enjoyed it back in December. I got curious about why they haven’t released a second special yet.
Apparently the second special happened in Madagascar, and their producer Andy not only produces the show, but also is the main editor who puts it together, and he got Coronavirus and got really, really sick. But good news is that he is now recovering, so once he puts together the final edit, Amazon can then put it up whenever the best time is to put it up.
Their next special was supposed to be in Russia. But coronavirus happened, so that’s probably not going to happen.
Grand Tour has submitted the Madagascar episode to Amazon, everyone was hoping to see it announced for October, but it didn’t come. And now Amazon announced November’s releases, and Grand Tour in Madagascar is not on there either.
Maybe December? I was hoping to see Season 2 of the Boys and Grand Tour in the same month, so I’ll hold off on getting Prime Video a little longer I guess.
I don’t think this episode was as interesting or funny as the last one. Felt pretty repetitive to me.
And both the episodes in this season pales in comparison to e.g. the Mongolia episode from last season. Meh…
Yeah, it was nice to see a part of the world we’ve never seen before, but overall a poor episode for various reasons. I wish they didn’t try to push so much at night on their journeys. It makes for less interesting viewing, and it never ends well for them either.
I think they’re trying too hard to create tension and danger because it’s a one off instead of a feature supported by a broader show. They’ve always shined when they are being themselves extemporaneously and have always struggled during scripted bits. James is the only one who can come off genuine despite being directed, I suspect because his personality isn’t as manufactured.
Btw, my 3 year old really appreciated every single time James May got covered in poop water. Every time. And I laughed along with him. God, what a horrible choice for a car that was. He must have been so miserable.
Incidentally, I started a show on Amazon Prime called “James May: Our Man in Japan”, and I really enjoyed the first episode. He’s like a slightly less charming Michael Palin.
Is it really? I stayed away from it because his show on Prime about making stuff/doing things was really boring. At least the first episode was, where he was disarming a bomb or something. At least Our Man in Japan is a travel show, so I decided to try it.
But I guess I’ll give the cooking show a try too once I’m done watching him in Japan.
To give an idea of the tone, he has a professional chef sitting in his pantry that he calls out to when he needs help. The rest of the time she’s just sitting in what is essentially a closet. You do have to find him charming to enjoy it.
I really liked our man in Japan, so I might be a little biased to his shows. However, I couldn’t get through an episode of the one where he is making things.
Our Man in Japan’s 3rd episode is cracking me up so much. It’s the one where he goes to a penis festival, and hangs out with train geeks. It’s interesting that he ties Tokyo’s culture of working hard as a mindless cog in the day time and partying hard in karaoke bars at night to being responsible for Japan being one of the few industrialized nations that have been able to keep a healthy manufacturing sector. I’d never made that connection before, and I’ll have to think about that. I don’t think America lost most of its manufacturing because of a lack of workers willing to do the job, for instance. Though that’s not to say that without this type of work/party culture Japan would have been able to keep its manufacturing edge.
I guess with Grand Tour on haitus, Amazon is really making use of these three by giving them each their own shows. I see youtube trying to push to me some trailer for a Jeremy Clarkson show on a farm.
I’m about halfway through the new Lochdown special and I absolutely love it. Seems to combine everything I love about old Top Gear together. It’s like an entirely original Best Of episode.
I’ll second that! Clarkson’s Farm was absolutely delightful. Jeremy Clarkson is still, well, Jeremy Clarkson, but it really comes through that he genuinely cares about the farm and all of the people involved and wants to do a good job.
