The show feels very scripted. Top Gear had the same problem towards the later seasons in that you can tell that they are not being particularly improvisational for a lot of the show. These three guys are most funny when they are unscripted and just interacting with one another. Their chemistry as a group is so good, that you only really need to plan out the challenges and activities themselves and just let the trio be themselves. As the season has progressed, this has gotten better, but I do hope to see more unscripted bits show up on the show.
The other big problem lies with James May’s character on the show. James has always been the more reserved third member of the group, but this show in particular feels a lot like James is more of a side-character. He rarely speaks in the studio and his presence in the challenges have been much less involved than Jeremy and Richard.
My least favorite moment with May came in the fourth episode. During the green car challenge, James’ approach was not very representative of how James would actually do that challenge. On the old show, James would always bring the smart choice to their car challenges, and having May look like a fool with his mud, then brick, then hay/manure car was fake. I feel James knows better than to make a truck out of bricks, and having him act as the ‘idiot’ presenter seems completely counterintuitive, as he probably has the best technical knowledge of the three.
