Top Gear/Segments: Difference between revisions

Since its revamp in 2002, ''[[Top Gear]]'' hashad developed a number of notable features and regular segments throughout the show's run. The show hashad roughly stuck to its original [[Magazine Show|magazine format]]; it often consistsconsisted of at least two or three "films", one of which willwould usually be a car that is reviewed in a semi-serious fashion and then put around the track by the Stig. Also seen in most regular episodes are a news segment and the Star In A Reasonably-Priced Car interview. The show willwould occasionally break format and feature one long film, always revolving around a big trip overseas.

Below are the bits that arewere the most frequently seen, along with examples of how far the show will go to prove how ambitious (but rubbish) they can be.

=== The following arewere typical segments featured on ''Top Gear'': ===

''Top Gear'' "cheap-car challenges" arewere designed to test the presenters' ability to select a decent car, by requiring each one to purchase a specific type of used car on a tight budget and then complete several tasks assigned by the producers. These generally involveinvolved a timed lap, a brake test, a ride-quality test, a build-quality test, and a maintenance test (by allowing each presenter to use whatever money he has left to fix or improve his car). Occasionally, the tests will overlap with other races, such as the Classic Car Rally from Series 13. Examples include:

Most weeks one of the presenters (usually Clarkson or Hammond) doesdid a more-or-less conventional track test and review of the week's featured car. After that review, he turns the car over to the show's "tame racing driver", The Stig, for a Power Lap. The Stig takestook the car as fast as he cancould around the ''Top Gear'' test track, and at the end of the segment the presenter revealsrevealed The Stig's lap time and posts it on a board.<br /><br />A standard feature of the Power Lap is the introduction of The Stig, which (starting with Series 6) [[Running Gag|follows a specific pattern]]. The presenter startsstarted by saying that it's time to turn the featured car over to the show's tame racing driver, and then adds a humorous description of The Stig (sample; the description changes every week): "Some say that he thought ''[[Star Wars]]'' was a documentary, and that he recently pulled out of ''I'm A Celebrity'' because he is frightened of trees... and Australia... and Koo Stark... and [[Ant and Dec]]. All we know is, he's called the Stig." These arewere frequently [[Ripped from the Headlines]], and the most popular are scathing attacks on minor celebrities of the week ("And, long before anyone else, he realised [[Big Brother|Jade Goody]] was a racist pig-faced waste of blood and organs").<br /><br />In more recentnewer episodes they've played a bit with the formula. Perhaps one of the best was Hammond's flub: "Some say that one of his legs gets longer when he sees a pretty lady, and that I haven't done one of these for some time and I've forgot to make up a second thing."<br /><br />The fastest ever Power Lap was done by a BAE Sea Harrier, in 31.2 seconds. It went a bit wide on some of the corners, but the pilot claimed that he could have kept it in bounds, and still set the lap record. The fastest Power Lap by an ''automobile'' was 58.2 seconds, by the 2004 Renault Formula 1 car. Given that the best of the world's supercars manage in the 1:18 range, that's stinking fast.<br /><br />However, neither of those times was recorded on the official ''Top Gear'' lap board, because to qualify for the board the car must be street legal -- able to go over a speed bump and using road-legal tires during the lap. The 1:10 time set by the Ferrari FXX {{spoiler|driven by Michael Schumacher}} in Season 13 was removed from the board on the next episode because the car was using racing slicks. The current fastest lap is the Ariel Atom 500 V8, with a time of 1:15.1 (which is more than a second and a half faster than second place, the Bugatti Veyron Supersport, at 1:16.8).

Most weeks the show featuresfeatured a (usually British) celebrity guest. Prior to filming the show, the guest receivesreceived some coaching from The Stig, and then takes the reasonably priced car out for a fast lap around the ''Top Gear'' Test Track, which is taped. During the show itself, Jeremy Clarkson interviewsinterviewed the guest, and at the end of the interview the taped lap is shown in the studio (and onscreen for the viewer). At the end of the taped lap, Clarkson announces the star's lap time, and posts it on a leaderboard. For series 1-7, it was a Suzuki Liana before it was replaced in series 8 by a Chevrolet Lacetti, which in turn was succeeded in series 15 by a Kia Cee'd. The current fastest time on the leaderboard (1:42.1) in the Cee'd belongs to {{spoiler|1=''[[Friends]]'' star Matt LeBlanc}}. When it comes to the lap time, two things will invariably happen: the star willwould lean forward (even Tom Cruise), and Clarkson willwould drag announcing the time as long as he can. Any time better than one-fifty is to be proud of, and anything that threatens to break the current record ''will'' elicitelicited gasps from the audience.<br /><br />When the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car iswas a Formula 1 driver, the old Liana is brought out of retirement for the segment. F1 drivers' times arewere listed on a separate leaderboard, because of their exceptional driving skills compared to the garden-variety celebrities who arewere usually featured in this segment. The FI leaderboard is currently headed by Sebastian Vettel at 1:44.0, beating the previous record held by Rubens Barrichello.<br /><br />[[Christopher Eccleston]], [[Billie Piper]], [[David Tennant]], and [[Matt Smith]] have all [[Doctor Who|taken part in this]]. Tennant complained, jokingly, that Piper was spared a time penalty for cutting a corner because she'd [[Fan Service|worn a see-through top]] to the show recording. Clarkson did not dispute this (Piper ''had'' cut a couple of corners, but the time stands because they generally feel it actually worsened her lap time).<br /><br />In five of the six episodes of Series 11 (June/July, 2009) they invited two guests per show, 'to get some rivalry going'. With the sixth episode of Series 11 they went back to one guest (Jay Kay, who successfully toppled Simon "Codpiece" Cowell from the top spot on the SiaRPC Lacetti Leaderboard), and have kept that format ever since, with occasional exceptions when two guests are promoting the same project.

From time to time, Clarkson and Hammond raterated the coolness of various cars by placing photographs of them on a large board labelled (in decreasing degree of coolness) "Sub Zero", "Cool", "Uncool", "Seriously Uncool". The decision had nothing to do with the quality of the car. The first criteria of how cool a car iswas was how much the presenters believed that actress Kristin Scott Thomas would be impressed by that car. Interestingly enough, when Kristin Scott Thomas actually appeared on the show, it turned out that she liked the cars Clarkson and Hammond had called "Uncool", and was less than thrilled with the ones they had decided were "Cool". Since then, Clarkson and Hammond havehad substituted their appraisal of the reaction of BBC news anchor Fiona Bruce for Scott Thomas's as their decision rule.<br /><br />The second steadfast Cool Wall rule is any car that a ''Top Gear'' presenter owns automatically goes in the Seriously Uncool section. The Ford GT jumped up and down the board for a couple of series as Clarkson bought one, sold it, repurchased it, and sold it again. One occasion saw Clarkson put the Fiat Panda (owned by May) off of the Cool Wall onto the back wall of the studio past Seriously Uncool. Another recentnewer one in Series 16 saw the card with the Porsche 911 Carrera given to an audience member to put on his garden gate in ''Ireland'' because Hammond and May both own one.<br /><br />An additional, selectively-applied rule iswas how much of a cock you'll look while driving it. This is occasionally adapted as how many celebrity cocks drive the car. The more, the worse.<br /><br />A final, rarely used section, the DB9 Fridge (complete with dry-ice smoke) was created when the Aston Martin DB9 was deemed too cool for the "Sub Zero" rating. Exactly why a ''fridge'' is considered sub-Sub Zero haswas never been addressed -- at the very least, it should be a DB9 ''Freezer''. Hammond once attempted to put a superbike on the wall in the "Cool" section, prompting Clarkson to remove it and the wall around it with a ''[[Chainsaw Good|chainsaw]]''.<br /><br />Clarkson lovesloveed to tamper with Hammond's Cool Wall decisions. Once Hammond was so adamant on a decision of his that Clarkson had to place it high up where Hammond couldn't reach. When Clarkson slipped two discs in his back, Hammond got revenge by placing his choices very low, where Clarkson couldn't reach. Hammond also used a scissor-lift to place a card a long way out of reach during a dispute. Clarkson responded by hitting the [[Big Red Button|Emergency Stop switch]], preventing him from getting down again. Hammond was stuck up there for the rest of the episode. At one time, while Clarkson was on the waiting list to purchase a Ford GT, he moved all Fords on the Cool Wall to the top of the "super cool" section. Hammond quickly moved them back where they belonged. And then there was Hammond keeping something off the wall by ''eating the photograph''. The segment was discontinued following damage to the wall by a fire.

A combination of Road Trip and Cheap Car Challenge. Traditionally appearing once a year (usually as a [[Christmas Episode|Christmas Special]]), these arewere entire episodes dedicated to the trio making their way across a country in cheap cars they bought there, while performing challenges. They often havehad an ostensible purpose (e.g. the Botswana special was intended to demonstrate that two-wheel-drive cars are good enough for most terrain) but their main charm is the scenery, the humor of the challenges, and the chemistry of 'three mates mooching along.' Unlike the road trips, the presenters usually havehad to rough it, camping out overnight and having limited access to the amenities of civilization. These specials tend to be rich with [[Continuity Nod|Continuity Nods]] and [[Running Gag|Running Gags]], and often includeincluded an encounter with the Stig's local cousin.

* Middle East Special (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel - aired December 2010): The presenters bought two-seater convertibles for less than £3,500 (except James, who bought a slightly more expensive type), and attempted to reproduce the journey of the Three Wise Men, traveling from Arbil, Iraq to Bethlehem. Among many other issues, including the usual vehicle breakdowns (made worse by completely unsuited for the terrain), they had to deal with avoiding the fighting going on in Iraq and Turkey, the politics of border crossings in several countries, and a difficult drive through the empty deserts of Syria to avoid their trip being found out by Israeli officials. The episode was aired just after Ben Collins "came out" as the Stig, and had therefore been sacked from the show, but when the Three Wise Blokes reached Bethlehem and entered the stable with their gifts, they discovered a baby in a racing helmet. (Series 16, Episode 0)