3 ms·

They play conkers with caravans, do you think it really needs pointing out that this is an entertainment show?

protomyth 16y ago
and try to make a space shuttle out of a car....
pbhjpbhj 16y ago
>do you think it really needs pointing out that this is an entertainment show? I think the ancestor comment is simply saying that they need to say that they lie about the factual basis of the show. I don't think that playing conkers with caravans or driving cars of ski-jumps or whatever should allow them to make bare-faced lies about basic performance elements of cars that they review.
semanticist 16y ago
No, but it needs to be pointed out that it's fictional entertainment. They have races and competitions between each other which are staged and adapted for dramatic results. The few car reviews they do are similarly dramatised. Does the viewer understand that the car didn't break down, that the person on the motorbike didn't coincidentally reach the same point as the person in the car, or whatever? I suspect that most people don't realise that Top Gear is fictional entertainment instead of factual entertainment, because the extremely long-running brand of the show is rooted in factual entertainment. Suing them over a fictional review is foolish, but if you were expecting an honest review of your product and got back a dramatised narrative you'd probably be pissed off too.
- Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
  > If you were expecting an honest review of your product and got back a dramatised narrative you'd probably be pissed off too. We're talking about a car company here. Are you suggesting that a car company are going to not understand what Top Gear is about? The sort of show it is and the significant chance that the review will be dramatised and tongue in cheek? If Tesla sent them a car believing that then they should fire their marketing people who should have made it absolutely clear and then resign themselves for ignoring what 15 seconds thought would have told them.
- Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
  I kind of agree with you but for different reasons and therefore come to a different conclusion. I think that many viewers don't realise that TG is entertainment rather than factual because sadly most viewers have a pretty uncritical view of anything they see on TV. And for this reason I think it could be branded entertainment, documentary, drama or children's and it wouldn't make any difference as it's all soaked up largely without question. If people aren't taking the hints from the tongue in cheek comments and the OTT stunts then I don't think a message at the front of the show or in the TV listings would make any difference.

and try to make a space shuttle out of a car....

>do you think it really needs pointing out that this is an entertainment show? I think the ancestor comment is simply saying that they need to say that they lie about the factual basis of the show. I don't think that playing conkers with caravans or driving cars of ski-jumps or whatever should allow them to make bare-faced lies about basic performance elements of cars that they review.

semanticist 16y ago

No, but it needs to be pointed out that it's fictional entertainment. They have races and competitions between each other which are staged and adapted for dramatic results. The few car reviews they do are similarly dramatised. Does the viewer understand that the car didn't break down, that the person on the motorbike didn't coincidentally reach the same point as the person in the car, or whatever? I suspect that most people don't realise that Top Gear is fictional entertainment instead of factual entertainment, because the extremely long-running brand of the show is rooted in factual entertainment. Suing them over a fictional review is foolish, but if you were expecting an honest review of your product and got back a dramatised narrative you'd probably be pissed off too.

Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
> If you were expecting an honest review of your product and got back a dramatised narrative you'd probably be pissed off too. We're talking about a car company here. Are you suggesting that a car company are going to not understand what Top Gear is about? The sort of show it is and the significant chance that the review will be dramatised and tongue in cheek? If Tesla sent them a car believing that then they should fire their marketing people who should have made it absolutely clear and then resign themselves for ignoring what 15 seconds thought would have told them.
Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
I kind of agree with you but for different reasons and therefore come to a different conclusion. I think that many viewers don't realise that TG is entertainment rather than factual because sadly most viewers have a pretty uncritical view of anything they see on TV. And for this reason I think it could be branded entertainment, documentary, drama or children's and it wouldn't make any difference as it's all soaked up largely without question. If people aren't taking the hints from the tongue in cheek comments and the OTT stunts then I don't think a message at the front of the show or in the TV listings would make any difference.