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James May's Man Lab

Captain Shaw

Captain Shaw

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Premium Member
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vs617
Starts on October 31st 9pm.
The first of a new series that sees James May on a mission to save modern man - from themselves. From his Man Lab HQ, James and his team set out on a series of action-packed challenges that will help modern man relearn some of the vital skills, once cherished by his forefathers, that are now in danger of being lost forever.
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Trailer here.... http://www.hattrick.co.uk/hattrick-international/int_shows/show-detail/?show_id=69
His book how to land a how to Land an A330 Airbus: And Other Vital Skills for the Modern Man made me smile so I think I will give this a go.
 
Well, anything remotely Top Gear-ish on a Sunday evening gets my vote, especially if it has one or more of the blokes from Top Gear in it.

Plus, James May is living out my inevitable middle aged dreams, so why not.
 
I liked 20th Century, I liked Big Ideas, I liked Toy Stories and I liked at the edge of space.

This, however was unbelievably dull. I don't know what it was exactly but yeah, it really was. I think maybe if it was edited differently, like not cutting each segment in half and spreading them across the entire show would have helped.
 
I think they have tried to put to much into one episode and all the bits do not seem to flow very well.
 
I was only half watching it, but it strikes me it might have been a lot better/punchier if it'd been half an hour instead of 60 minutes.
 
It was OK but a bit lacking in focus- I agree with the idea that it would have been better as a half hour show.

I did laugh a lot though.
 
Seems a interesting idea but they lost the plot somewhere, especially building the train set round the room to save them walking what must have been 20 feet, the bomb defuse was good though.
 
I thought this episode was a little better, but they are still not giving enough detail on how to do things like DIY.
I will watch the last episode next week has I'm interested in seeing how his orchestra gets on. But I can't see him getting a second series.
 
I just caught the last ten minutes, having totally forgotten about it and been watching the Robin Hood special on History Channel...
 
Dac said:
Serial thread killer said:
In this interview he admits the show is not quite right.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00vrbc6/Richard_Bacon_James_May_joins_Richard
Jump to 1.05
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Its good to see he knows something's off, but his suggestion of "slowing it down" puts me off.

If anything it needs speeding up or cutting in half. Its just so dull as it is at the moment, which is a shame because this could be a good show.
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I disagree,I think the biggest problem is that he's going from topic A to topic B too fast without really going into any detail.
 
Serial thread killer said:
Dac said:
Serial thread killer said:
In this interview he admits the show is not quite right.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00vrbc6/Richard_Bacon_James_May_joins_Richard
Jump to 1.05
Click to expand...


Its good to see he knows something's off, but his suggestion of "slowing it down" puts me off.

If anything it needs speeding up or cutting in half. Its just so dull as it is at the moment, which is a shame because this could be a good show.
Click to expand...
I disagree,I think the biggest problem is that he's going from topic A to topic B too fast without really going into any detail.
Click to expand...


Sorry, I don't think I was very clear on what I meant.

The pacing of the show needs speeding up, which I would say could be done by not cutting segments in half and cutting the running time in two.

If *I* were editing this show, i'd have it be half hour long, two segments per show but have 6 shows instead of 3.

I'd also like to chuck some of the stuff like "serenading an ice maiden" away completely or finish it in one sitting, rather than stretch it out across multiple episodes.

I'm still listening to the interview, and he has gone into more detail about fixing it, namely "doing it properly" by actually going into the nitty gritty detail, which I do agree with. It wouldnt make the show go any faster time wise, but spending some time on one thing and completing it before moving onto the next would make an easier narrative and a more complete package, and with a clear straight line going from one thing to the next it should make the whole thing seem speedier.
 
Get you now.
I also would get rid of things like serenading a women, and let them show you how to wire a plug instead of them just telling you how to do it.
 
My favorite part of episode one was in the hardware store, where, after hearing his order, the woman actually asked "Is this for defusing a bomb?", as if she'd filled the same order repeatedly in the past.
 
I like this show. James May's okay in my book. I think the show would have beneffited from some more blokey interaction, though.
 
Well, I just watched the last episode and I must say it was a marked improvement over the first two. It helped that he actually admitted the "how to woo a woman" segment was utter bollocks, and some stuff blew up.

I actually hope they get a chance to do it properly with a second series now.
 
Last night's was better, though I'd have won the saber duel in about half a second! The spoof 70s porno flick was hilarious as well.
 
Lonemagpie said:
Last night's was better, though I'd have won the saber duel in about half a second! The spoof 70s porno flick was hilarious as well.
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The spoof porn flick reminded me of a comment Jeremy made about if James made a porn film, the boiler man would end up fixing the boiler.:lol:
 
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