In case I haven’t mentioned it before (I’m pretty sure I have), Top Gear is very popular in the TV rotation in my house; it’s a fun and entertaining programme, and the case can be made that it’s educational, at least a little bit. it’s a car show that appeals across the board to more than just car people (although I’m kind of a car guy); everybody in my family loves it, perhaps for different reasons, but there’s something for everyone. If you haven’t seen it, it has a lot in common with shows like Mythbusters; it’s a show about a particular, occasionally esoteric topic, but presented in a way that’s enjoyable and accessible, largely because of the personalities involved. though this one’s a bit more British, in all the right ways.

The new Top Gear hit the airwaves this weekend, after a bunch of controversy after the original* team left after Jeremy Clarkson’s temper issues, and ended up with their own forthcoming car show on Amazon Prime. It’s not to hard to go dig into the history or that kerfuffle if you’re interested.

As for the new Top Gear: it was…okay?

Much was made about this new version of Top Gear, particularly lots of opinions about the bunches of hosts they announced. Most of these hosts, of course, got sidelined to online post-shows (which are arguably very good), or limited appearances.

Staffing the re-dressed airplane hangar studio were BBC radio knob, Ferarri collector,and former Mr. Billie Piper(!) Chris Evans, and Friends‘ former Doctor Drake Ramoray, Matt LeBlanc, who’s had some success on British TV of late, and showed himself to be a real car guy on appearances on the previous version of TG.

The show itself was a little rusty, in a not-unexpected pilot sort of way. Evans, who has been the subject of lots of tabloid drama regarding the production of the show, really felt like he was trying too hard. Almost every review has commented about his shouty-ness, which, as I’m to understand, is basically his schtick as a presenter (along with his ego). I wasn’t a huge fan, though we’ll see how further things work out in future episodes.

LeBlanc, however, was a lot of fun; studio chemistry with Evans was a little shakey, though he brought the game for the filmed segments (though the whole Robin Rialto road-trip film was probably not the best lead-off), especially his solo piece on the Ariel Nomad, which played to his strengths; he’s got a laid-back, easy charm that makes him easy to root for, and you can tell that he really enjoys the cars (I didn’t quite get this from Evans, either here or when he appeared on the old show), and that enthusiasm for the material goes a long way toward making the show work.

I liked the little bit I saw of Sabine Schmitz, one of the other “hosts”, in the “Top Gun” filmed bit – she’s a great driver and a weirdly oddball personality; and her slagging the suspension on the Corvette Z06 as “shit, like a Ferarri”, was just what I’d expect from her – I want more.

Star in a reasonably priced car was interesting; I like the change to a Mini running a rallycross course in theory, though both Evans’ interview piece and the duds of “stars” (this week, Gordon Ramsay and Jesse Eisenberg) were pretty awful. I hope it gets better.

I heard Extra Gear was pretty good, though I haven’t seen it yet. It seems to make the gearheads on Jalopnik happy; I’ll check it out one of these days. It’s supposed to have a little less spectacle and a little more “car show” going for it.

In the end, it was good enough for a pilot, but still needs some work to live up to it’s potential. I tend to go with the majority opinion that the show needs less Evans, and more of the other folks (hopefully the BBC will absorb some lessons from the responses the show’s gotten). I really want to like it (and I think I do, overall), but I want to see a little more personality and information, and a little less spastic.

To give you an idea where I’m coming from (and to finally throw in a more direct comparison to the old show’s personalities) with my personal tastes for this sort of thing, I ended up watching a couple of episodes each of some of the side-projects that the former Top Gear hosts have done over the years this weekend in between backyard bbqs and rain – James May’s cars of the people, and Richard Hammond’s Crash Course.

May’s show was a clever, witty exploration of how cars became such an itegral part of human life. It worked in bits of history, culture, sociology, plenty of behind-the-wheel reactions to various influential vehicles, and it was funny. I adored it. Hammond’s show was about Richard Hammond blowing crap up with heavy equipment, and was shot like an awful american realtity show. I was less enthused. Hammond’s a charismatic little imp, and I generally like him, but the packaging of this show wasn’t great.

For me, if TG is going to improve, give me a little more of the things that made May’s show work, and a little less of the other one.