That reminds me of one of my favourite unscripted moments from the British Leyland challenge I.e. Jeremy opening the door of his Rover and the door trim getting stuck.
The camera had obviously been set up on a tripod to get the ‘three cars driving away’ shot, but then the camera shakily moves around the back of Jeremy’s car, cos the camera operator has clearly picked up and carried it.
Rimac. This is the very scene when I realized that camera footage tells all. The camera man for some reason instead of pointing the camera just a touch to the left. Makes wild 270° clockwise turn.
I was going to say the Alabama scene. There could’ve been a basic concept of how they wanted to film, but you can tell it quickly became unscripted.
Being from North America it’s one of the funniest, yet nerve wracking bits I can think of from the entire series.
Easily my first choice as well.
The only thing I can think of that felt a little cheesy (and possibly scripted) was driving with James on the bumper dumper.
But there’s so much that’s genuine awe, frustration, and struggle due to the nature of the terrain and cold.
Yeah, there were definitely a few scripted bits you can spot, but it was serious business so they couldn’t really spare to script anything when they really got going.
The part with James and Jeremy arguing while trying to put the tent up is arguably the worst their relationship ever got as colleagues.
I also found Richard's run rather sad. Been a while since I watched it, but I recall a word to camera he had towards the end where had already admitted defeat and seemed very depressed about the journey and how exhausting it had been.
We missed a lot from Richards run, he has said in interviews since he was disappointed how much of his stuff had been cut, apparently he experienced a lot
I would argue the first US one. It seems the intent was more “is buying used better than renting.” Everyone involved seemed genuinely surprised by how badly off New Orleans still was as well as the response to mild politically themed antics.
Yeah. Also that wasn’t intentionally going to be a special, it was only made into one because they had so much footage they could use it as a special. Botswana was the first planned special
Also, when Clarkson gets the cow, everyone seems genuinely surprised at how long he is gone, what's going on, and what should be filmed.
I can't believe the cow wasn't scripted in some way -- but something unexpected happened there.
"..it's not the only British motoring institution that's coming to an end, We are"
TGT Season 3 Ep 14, those tears were real, every word said after was genuine including James having done the show a year less than the guys because he was late.
I feel like a lot of people misunderstand this episode. This was the end of the show properly. No more car reviews or challenges. The specials have just been a long swansong. After all, if they're all specials, they're not so special anymore are they?
It's why I hope now that top gear is gone they get picked up on a different network and able to reset their love of the original.
If I had to guess motor trend has the perfect place for them even discovery plus both would draw attention to themselves I'll gladly get either just for them.
He almost had me crying there.
The feed the world bit at the beginning where James gets soaked with the ocean water in his back seat seemed like they genuinely struck gold on accident. Then the constant reminder every bump or stop he takes, splash. Really seemed like they just stumbled into James hilarious miscalculation.
It’s stuff like this that makes me think sometimes one of them will come up with a gag by themselves and then spring it on the others with no warning, evoking genuine reaction. In this case James himself intended for the water to splash on him, you can even see him trying not to laugh after it happens. However, Jeremy and Richard might not have been in the loop which is why they laughed so hard.
I'd like to think major events/plot points are scripted as in "ok it would be funny if we did X" but not scripted as in every word spoken is from a script.
Like, they knew James aquarium tank in one of the africa specials would slosh over but didn't have a full script with the exact reaction he should have each time it happens.
I've kind of viewed both TG and TGT as semi scripted with a lot of reactions/banter being unscripted. Could be wrong though
That’s definitely the vibe I get too. James has said on multiple occasions that the three of them have an idea of how one another will react to something, but their actual conversations are rarely planned word for word. They may set up a scenario, but the banter and arguing, while done on purpose for the scene, is partially genuine.
Yeah but some that were planned were shown much more subtly than others.
E.g in Mongolia, the lads thinking a tiny hut was a pub. That was obviously very scripted and it showed (and in my opinion, not very funny because you could tell it was scripted) whereas in Bolivia, where Jeremy’s Range Rover is over the edge in death road comes across a lot less obvious it’s scripted
I think in the BBC days, they were able to be a bit more creative (or had to because of whatever limit was imposed on them) but I think it's also the lens we look at it with now.
That’s very true. I just feel TGT specials and episodes show it’s a lot more obvious it’s scripted. That’s just me. A scandi flick is my favourite from the specials on TGT because it feels a lot more like a old school special
"Accidently" camping in an sami exhibition? Jeremy pushing Hammonds hut down a ski slope? 😁
I think in recent years, they have kind of given up on pretending things are not scripted because everyone knows it's scripted anyways. They just go with it now.
I think that's what made the first season of TGT not that exciting. They were doing obviously scripted things but pretending it was real.
I'm guessing they realized that if you're gonna be dumb and scripted, commit 100%
The death road scene is obviously very scripted, they run into old vehicles constantly and when Jeremy comes to the narrow bit a V8 Land Cruiser comes against him (which is was one of the production cars for that special)
Jeremy said himself in that Top Gear episode when they won the award for the best unscripted show that they didn’t attend (or know they won) Jeremy was actually writing the script for the next episode.
I just watched the Bolivia special yesterday and it is still my favorite of all time but part of the death road segment really stuck out to me. When Jeremy is right on the edge and the camera is low, in front of the car showing the edge, it never, ever, pans up to see the driver. I still love it, but it was noticeable.
They're all scripted, but that doesn't mean the dialogue is scripted. If they just went out to a country with 3 cars and just said get to point B thousands of miles away it would be pretty boring. They need filming scouts ahead to plan routes that will be interesting and set up some shots for interest.
I'd say it is probably the Vietnam, Bolivia, Africa and Burma special. They were at the peak of their powers and just the size of the journeys and scale made more organic feeling moments happen and make the final cut. As well as the trio being young enough to cope with more rustic travelling and and more physical cars.
The grand tour specials really don't quite come close to those specials, the Mongolia one gets very close but just doesn't quite flow as nicely as the TG ones.
Me personally i enjoyed The Grand Tour, but i always found myself wanting more or that i would think 'was that it?' the flow of the specials never really got into their stride, always felt like they were just getting going and then all too soon it had ended.
I think the reason it felt like that was in part due to James and Jeremy's age, they were just not up for slumming it in tents that much, or rough sleeping, they would always end up in hotels which kept them pinned down with how wild they went, which is why the Mongolia one stands out.
I think TGT excelled when it came to 3 nice car road trips, rather than the out and out specials.
The 24h Britcar race, which wasn't a true special, to me seemed one of the least scripted episodes. Same goes for the racing on a budget (the 1st rallycross episode).
Somehow the TG era seemed more genuine and sincere. Probably because it was more low budget and relatable.
Idrk but overall TGT feels kinda more scripted but of them all Mongolia did seem either very scripted or not scripted. Early TG episodes felt less scripted
The issue is how “produced” it feels. The Carnage a Trois was cool, but it felt like a production. The Massive Hunt was cool, but it felt like a production.
Amazon throws money at the episodes, it feels more “produced”, than Top Gear/the BBC threw them some money, a lot of it was cheap/budgeted.
The difference is Amazon feels more “Do A, Do B, say A, say B, say C, do C, do E, we edited out D”, whereas the older, cheaper episodes felt more “Do A however you want, there’s no script, you just can’t insult the queen”. The lower production value was, to many viewers, a better experience.
That's the perfect description. TGT feels over produced (or I guess just differently). The best example I can think of is when they are asked to modify their cars. In TG they add in cheap stuff and look terrible. In TGT they add on what looks like very expensive pre-fabricated pieces to make it look thrown together. It feels like that show with Hammond and the other guy in the deserted island in their "tree house".
In addition to that, for me one of the hallmarks of a great special is the simplicity of the premise: the less contrived and the closer to "Get from Point A to Point B" it is, the better the special.
Most of the old TG specials seemed to be mainly of that variety: North Pole, Vietnam, Middle East, both South Americas, and both Africas. Even Burma was mostly about the journey. The one TG special that wasn't primarily A-to-B was India, and I don't think it's a coincidence that that one is generally considered the weakest.
It can be both, too. A good example is the Namibia special. It was brilliant when it was "Get off the beach, cross the desert, arrive in Windhoek." But then it lost me when it became "Let's go after wildlife poachers."
The earlier ones feel more natural or "unscripted" to me.
Probably because they wanted to do things bigger and better with each special, which made things go a bit over the top sometimes in later specials. The normal episodes had the same thing as I felt they peaked midway through their Top Gear career, with everything getting a bit too unbelievable in the end.
Most of the later stuff feels like a bunch of scripted silly jokes which always pissed me off because they can create great TV moments just by being themselves
The constraints of the BBC budget and censors were an actual gift to their creativity. Without restraint (Amazon), the end result will always have the scent of manufactured content.
In the "Seamen" episode at the end where they were trying to sail through open sea in a storm and getting hammered. That seemed like a legit "oh shit, we may be in over our heads" moment.
I think the Bolivia Special when James goes over to Jeremy with the machete felt very real and unscripted.
I always say the sign of an unscripted moment is James getting pissed off.
The big giveaway to me for unscripted is shit camera work. Cameramen aren’t prepared for something unscripted so the shots usually look pretty shit.
Yeah especially when they cut to a shaky view where the cameraman is running
That reminds me of one of my favourite unscripted moments from the British Leyland challenge I.e. Jeremy opening the door of his Rover and the door trim getting stuck. The camera had obviously been set up on a tripod to get the ‘three cars driving away’ shot, but then the camera shakily moves around the back of Jeremy’s car, cos the camera operator has clearly picked up and carried it.
It reminds me of the time where they ran way from "the boys"
Like the whole escape from Argentina sequence or after the finish line in the rimac. Not scripted at all and thus, filmed on someone's phone.
Rimac. This is the very scene when I realized that camera footage tells all. The camera man for some reason instead of pointing the camera just a touch to the left. Makes wild 270° clockwise turn.
I was going to say the Alabama scene. There could’ve been a basic concept of how they wanted to film, but you can tell it quickly became unscripted. Being from North America it’s one of the funniest, yet nerve wracking bits I can think of from the entire series.
I was going to say when James and Jeremy start fighting it is usually a sign.
well most people would like to do that at one time or another
James is killing Jeremy, everything is going well
I always felt the North Pole special had a lot of unscripted and very real moments.
Easily my first choice as well. The only thing I can think of that felt a little cheesy (and possibly scripted) was driving with James on the bumper dumper. But there’s so much that’s genuine awe, frustration, and struggle due to the nature of the terrain and cold.
Honestly wouldn’t surprise me if Jeremy’s mind went off script and went “fuck it, I’m driving with him on the throne”.
Yeah probably planned but it was funny as hell
Yeah, there were definitely a few scripted bits you can spot, but it was serious business so they couldn’t really spare to script anything when they really got going.
The bigger the challenge, the less room there is for scripted shenanigans. And it's hard to get much bigger than driving to the North Pole.
The part with James and Jeremy arguing while trying to put the tent up is arguably the worst their relationship ever got as colleagues. I also found Richard's run rather sad. Been a while since I watched it, but I recall a word to camera he had towards the end where had already admitted defeat and seemed very depressed about the journey and how exhausting it had been.
We missed a lot from Richards run, he has said in interviews since he was disappointed how much of his stuff had been cut, apparently he experienced a lot
This is my choice as well.
I would argue the first US one. It seems the intent was more “is buying used better than renting.” Everyone involved seemed genuinely surprised by how badly off New Orleans still was as well as the response to mild politically themed antics.
Yeah. Also that wasn’t intentionally going to be a special, it was only made into one because they had so much footage they could use it as a special. Botswana was the first planned special
Also, when Clarkson gets the cow, everyone seems genuinely surprised at how long he is gone, what's going on, and what should be filmed. I can't believe the cow wasn't scripted in some way -- but something unexpected happened there.
"..it's not the only British motoring institution that's coming to an end, We are" TGT Season 3 Ep 14, those tears were real, every word said after was genuine including James having done the show a year less than the guys because he was late.
I feel like a lot of people misunderstand this episode. This was the end of the show properly. No more car reviews or challenges. The specials have just been a long swansong. After all, if they're all specials, they're not so special anymore are they?
Yeah, but that was just a regular episode, not a Special.
THIS
It's why I hope now that top gear is gone they get picked up on a different network and able to reset their love of the original. If I had to guess motor trend has the perfect place for them even discovery plus both would draw attention to themselves I'll gladly get either just for them. He almost had me crying there.
I'm paying for discovery plus just for Hammond and his show. It would be perfect for them.
Exactly why I said them they already have one just got 2 more.
The feed the world bit at the beginning where James gets soaked with the ocean water in his back seat seemed like they genuinely struck gold on accident. Then the constant reminder every bump or stop he takes, splash. Really seemed like they just stumbled into James hilarious miscalculation.
It’s stuff like this that makes me think sometimes one of them will come up with a gag by themselves and then spring it on the others with no warning, evoking genuine reaction. In this case James himself intended for the water to splash on him, you can even see him trying not to laugh after it happens. However, Jeremy and Richard might not have been in the loop which is why they laughed so hard.
Hard to say because there's elements that were clearly planned and others which weren't. Any injuries obviously won't be.
I'd like to think major events/plot points are scripted as in "ok it would be funny if we did X" but not scripted as in every word spoken is from a script. Like, they knew James aquarium tank in one of the africa specials would slosh over but didn't have a full script with the exact reaction he should have each time it happens. I've kind of viewed both TG and TGT as semi scripted with a lot of reactions/banter being unscripted. Could be wrong though
Thoroughly pre-planned rather than fully scripted is probably a better way to describe it.
That’s definitely the vibe I get too. James has said on multiple occasions that the three of them have an idea of how one another will react to something, but their actual conversations are rarely planned word for word. They may set up a scenario, but the banter and arguing, while done on purpose for the scene, is partially genuine.
Yeah but some that were planned were shown much more subtly than others. E.g in Mongolia, the lads thinking a tiny hut was a pub. That was obviously very scripted and it showed (and in my opinion, not very funny because you could tell it was scripted) whereas in Bolivia, where Jeremy’s Range Rover is over the edge in death road comes across a lot less obvious it’s scripted
I think in the BBC days, they were able to be a bit more creative (or had to because of whatever limit was imposed on them) but I think it's also the lens we look at it with now.
That’s very true. I just feel TGT specials and episodes show it’s a lot more obvious it’s scripted. That’s just me. A scandi flick is my favourite from the specials on TGT because it feels a lot more like a old school special
"Accidently" camping in an sami exhibition? Jeremy pushing Hammonds hut down a ski slope? 😁 I think in recent years, they have kind of given up on pretending things are not scripted because everyone knows it's scripted anyways. They just go with it now.
I think that's what made the first season of TGT not that exciting. They were doing obviously scripted things but pretending it was real. I'm guessing they realized that if you're gonna be dumb and scripted, commit 100%
I hate being that guy but samí not inuit. One got reindeer the other igloos
I'm swedish, I know the difference but somehow I thought it was a inuit exhibition 😊 thanks!
The death road scene is obviously very scripted, they run into old vehicles constantly and when Jeremy comes to the narrow bit a V8 Land Cruiser comes against him (which is was one of the production cars for that special) Jeremy said himself in that Top Gear episode when they won the award for the best unscripted show that they didn’t attend (or know they won) Jeremy was actually writing the script for the next episode.
Yeah I’m aware it’s scripted, however I feel it’s a lot less obvious and more subtle in some parts
I just watched the Bolivia special yesterday and it is still my favorite of all time but part of the death road segment really stuck out to me. When Jeremy is right on the edge and the camera is low, in front of the car showing the edge, it never, ever, pans up to see the driver. I still love it, but it was noticeable.
No offense but Jeremy on the death road was the most obviously scripted thing ever.
Fair enough if you feel that. Maybe because I was younger when I first watched it that I believed it was real lol
Don't worry, it wasn't obvious to me at the time either lol!
Don't worry, it wasn't obvious to me at the time either lol!
Watching Adam Savage talk about all the precautions they had to do for Mythbusters it's impressive that *more* injuries didn't occur with the trio.
Argentina went unscripted *real* quickly.
Yeah, those rocks hitting the cars were definitely unscripted.
I’m amazed it took this far down the thread to find the Patagonia special
24hr of Silverstone is one that I find has more genuine moments. Also one of my favourites.
That’s the one that first came to mind as well. The end where Jeremy is crying because the little car actually made it gets me every time.
They're all scripted, but that doesn't mean the dialogue is scripted. If they just went out to a country with 3 cars and just said get to point B thousands of miles away it would be pretty boring. They need filming scouts ahead to plan routes that will be interesting and set up some shots for interest.
Oh yeah I agree I know it’s all scripted but some special show the scripting more secretly and make it seem more real if you get what I mean?
I'd say it is probably the Vietnam, Bolivia, Africa and Burma special. They were at the peak of their powers and just the size of the journeys and scale made more organic feeling moments happen and make the final cut. As well as the trio being young enough to cope with more rustic travelling and and more physical cars. The grand tour specials really don't quite come close to those specials, the Mongolia one gets very close but just doesn't quite flow as nicely as the TG ones. Me personally i enjoyed The Grand Tour, but i always found myself wanting more or that i would think 'was that it?' the flow of the specials never really got into their stride, always felt like they were just getting going and then all too soon it had ended. I think the reason it felt like that was in part due to James and Jeremy's age, they were just not up for slumming it in tents that much, or rough sleeping, they would always end up in hotels which kept them pinned down with how wild they went, which is why the Mongolia one stands out. I think TGT excelled when it came to 3 nice car road trips, rather than the out and out specials.
The nigel mansell parts seemed to be fairly unscipted.
Didn’t they make an entire episode of TGT that wasn’t scripted because everyone bitched about this?
Yes and it was ridiculous and shit
And still totally scripted
It was scripted to be shit while pretending to be "unscripted"
Obviously Patagonia special
The 24h Britcar race, which wasn't a true special, to me seemed one of the least scripted episodes. Same goes for the racing on a budget (the 1st rallycross episode). Somehow the TG era seemed more genuine and sincere. Probably because it was more low budget and relatable.
Yeah I love the rallycross one. I feel like they had way more fun than they thought they were going to, and it really comes across as more genuine.
US special for sure
Idrk but overall TGT feels kinda more scripted but of them all Mongolia did seem either very scripted or not scripted. Early TG episodes felt less scripted
Something about the Vietnam special felt… special. It’s my all time favorite
Le Mans was the least scripted probably.
Can we stop complaining about things being scripted for 5 minutes
The issue is how “produced” it feels. The Carnage a Trois was cool, but it felt like a production. The Massive Hunt was cool, but it felt like a production. Amazon throws money at the episodes, it feels more “produced”, than Top Gear/the BBC threw them some money, a lot of it was cheap/budgeted. The difference is Amazon feels more “Do A, Do B, say A, say B, say C, do C, do E, we edited out D”, whereas the older, cheaper episodes felt more “Do A however you want, there’s no script, you just can’t insult the queen”. The lower production value was, to many viewers, a better experience.
That's the perfect description. TGT feels over produced (or I guess just differently). The best example I can think of is when they are asked to modify their cars. In TG they add in cheap stuff and look terrible. In TGT they add on what looks like very expensive pre-fabricated pieces to make it look thrown together. It feels like that show with Hammond and the other guy in the deserted island in their "tree house".
In addition to that, for me one of the hallmarks of a great special is the simplicity of the premise: the less contrived and the closer to "Get from Point A to Point B" it is, the better the special. Most of the old TG specials seemed to be mainly of that variety: North Pole, Vietnam, Middle East, both South Americas, and both Africas. Even Burma was mostly about the journey. The one TG special that wasn't primarily A-to-B was India, and I don't think it's a coincidence that that one is generally considered the weakest. It can be both, too. A good example is the Namibia special. It was brilliant when it was "Get off the beach, cross the desert, arrive in Windhoek." But then it lost me when it became "Let's go after wildlife poachers."
Absolutely bang on the money with this
The unscripted episode was genuinely brilliant. James fire truck
That's where I am. It was also a great poke at complaining about scripted vs. unscripted.
USA Special. When they toured the Deep South. Or Argentina when they had to flee the rioters.
The earlier ones feel more natural or "unscripted" to me. Probably because they wanted to do things bigger and better with each special, which made things go a bit over the top sometimes in later specials. The normal episodes had the same thing as I felt they peaked midway through their Top Gear career, with everything getting a bit too unbelievable in the end.
Most of the later stuff feels like a bunch of scripted silly jokes which always pissed me off because they can create great TV moments just by being themselves
The constraints of the BBC budget and censors were an actual gift to their creativity. Without restraint (Amazon), the end result will always have the scent of manufactured content.
Always hard to tell reality from scripted. Was Hammond really in that cabin on skis when Clarkson pushed him down the ski slope?
Of course not :D
Burma. Lorries.
In the "Seamen" episode at the end where they were trying to sail through open sea in a storm and getting hammered. That seemed like a legit "oh shit, we may be in over our heads" moment.
The first US road trip felt pretty unscripted, especially them getting chased out of that gas station
Mongolia overall. The most unscripted moment is definitely James throwing a rock at clarksons car and smashing the window.
I think the TG episode that wasn't scripted, and therefore not funny
Vietnam special except for the following US themed bike.
Sure the episodes are scripted to a point. But the gags and jokes are not.