Chris Harris to get his own TV show

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

NBCSN will replay it. Although, you certainly didn't miss anything

I watched it and wasn't impressed at all. It's like they took Drive and completely neutered it.

It was clearly dumbed down to appeal to a wider audience. It was like, "This is a car, it has 4 wheels, 4 tires, and a steering wheel."

Painful. Matt Farah made his standard self-deprecating fat joke, Chris Harris cackled, and that other guy was there just to have a third manufacturer represented.

Well, that makes me feel better about missing it. Seems like it was a waste of time.

[TexasSpartan]

DVR'd it. Haven't watched it yet.

[TSM330i]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

NBCSN will replay it. Although, you certainly didn't miss anything

I watched it and wasn't impressed at all. It's like they took Drive and completely neutered it.

It was clearly dumbed down to appeal to a wider audience. It was like, "This is a car, it has 4 wheels, 4 tires, and a steering wheel."

Painful. Matt Farah made his standard self-deprecating fat joke, Chris Harris cackled, and that other guy was there just to have a third manufacturer represented.

Yup, pretty much summed it up.
Wow! Matt Farah looks like a huge slob next to the other two guys! I knew he was big, but I didn't know he was THAT big LOL!

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by TSM330i

Yup, pretty much summed it up.
Wow! Matt Farah looks like a huge slob next to the other two guys! I knew he was big, but I didn't know he was THAT big LOL!

Glad I'm not the only one who thought it was a waste of time and a disservice to the Drive channel.

[Never Convicted]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Glad I'm not the only one who thought it was a waste of time and a disservice to the Drive channel.

True. Nowhere near as good as Top Gear USA. But then, what is?

And the correlation here is that this show is to the Drive Channel as a sex tape is to the Kardashian family. Raises visibility, more people look at Drive, advertiser rates go up, and they build the company.

[Gizm0]

I remember thinking a while ago while watching Drive you Youtube that this show should never air on TV otherwise it would lose its character and would feel too "scripted"... Sounds like it did

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Never Convicted

True. Nowhere near as good as Top Gear USA. But then, what is?

And the correlation here is that this show is to the Drive Channel as a sex tape is to the Kardashian family. Raises visibility, more people look at Drive, advertiser rates go up, and they build the company.

Haha I like that. And I agree.

[bmwMcrzy]

If anyone has a link for a torrent please PM me it.
Thanks

[auggiem3]

It's Chris Harris in an f12 cruising to monaco with some American journalists in the mclaren and sls - not that great

[coloradoe92m3]

I thought it was very boring

[dreamspeed]

The drive episodes on YouTube have been pretty hit and miss for me... Interested in seeing what kind of format they use on television

[coloradoe92m3]

They take two dumb american driver host reviewers who are so dense with nothing interesting or knowledgeable to say and you basically get boring useless info without much action

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by coloradoe92m3

They take two dumb american driver host reviewers who are so dense with nothing interesting or knowledgeable to say and you basically get boring useless info without much action

Pretty much. I think it's fine on youtube, but the show was pretty cringe-worthy on TV. The two Americans also seemed extremely nervous which I never sensed on their youtube show.

[Year's_End]

Way too many Chris Harris nut huggers here. Sure, he's great - possibly the best when it comes to being an auto journalist in front of a camera. It's a shame that people don't give Matt or Mike the time of day. Matt's overall perspective and opinions are right there with Chris's, he just might not be as articulate when it comes to expressing them. Mike is great when it comes to written work and pre-recorded material. He's just nervous on camera.

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by Year's_End

Way too many Chris Harris nut huggers here. Sure, he's great - possibly the best when it comes to being an auto journalist in front of a camera. It's a shame that people don't give Matt or Mike the time of day. Matt's overall perspective and opinions are right there with Chris's, he just might not be as articulate when it comes to expressing them. Mike is great when it comes to written work and pre-recorded material. He's just nervous on camera.

Matt just seems like your average car guy who decided to follow his dream to be an automotive "journalist". He lacks experience, driving talent, etc. Maybe in 10-15 years he will become what Chris Harris is today, but the differences between someone like Chris Harris and Matt Farah are really night and day. I like watching Matt on youtube, but standards and expectations are much lower there.

[ybbiz34]

This is already being discussed elsewhere.

Threads have now been merged.

[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

Matt just seems like your average car guy who decided to follow his dream to be an automotive "journalist". He lacks experience, driving talent, etc. Maybe in 10-15 years he will become what Chris Harris is today, but the differences between someone like Chris Harris and Matt Farah are really night and day. I like watching Matt on youtube, but standards and expectations are much lower there.

What you're saying is fair, but I disagree with a few of your points. First of all, he shouldn't - and probably never will - become another Chris Harris. Sure, he won't expound upon a car's performance characteristics or detail its cornering behavior to the same vivid degree as Chris, but what he does provide is realistic and relevant insight about the cars he reviews. He has an excellent grasp of car culture, the automotive industry, how a car fits in a market, and how ridiculous armchair racecar drivers/forum benchmark dwellers can be.

I like to think that I'm relatively critical when I read or watch anything auto-related, and I think what's rare these days are journalists that evaluate a car at face value. Repeat offenders include American publications like C&D and R&T (literally nothing but stat regurgitation imo). Chris does his thing, which is to detail a car's hooning personality to the Nth degree, and he does it to a T. I trust his views and have access to very similar styles of reviewing from journalists like the ones over at EVO. However, I like variety even more, so I can watch and enjoy Matt, listen and get angry at guys like Jonny Lieberman (he's enjoyable, but man... he really isn't the best driver out there, and that's putting it lightly), etc.

Matt will continue to do what he does best. He actively participates on sites like Jalopnik and reddit.com/r/cars, and he clearly stands his ground when commenters bring up similar viewpoints. I respect him for that.

[FogCityM3]

Matt gets a little too giddy in the face of greatness. The Steve Dinan podcast is a perfect example of that, where he had some good questions, but instead of letting Dinan talk, he kept interrupting and trying to interject humor at the wrong times and also he was focused too much on himself. He should focus on asking the right questions, especially in interview situations.

I really like Chris Harris, one of the best out there, but sometimes he interjects his reviews with agonizing detail, self-debate and maybe some excessive use of adjectives and superlatives. You gotta hand it to him though, he is very good at that and if you had to pick an auto reviewer closest to a creative writing teacher, he's the guy. Tough job, hard to satisfy everyone.