TiVo Community Forums Archives - New season of Junkyard Wars

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New season of Junkyard Wars - UNTAGGED SPOILERS
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Posted by: nataylor

*sigh* Another disappointing episode. It's really a letdown when one team can't even complete the challenge. I really, really hope the rest of this season's episodes are better, but I'm afraid they won't be.

The highlight of this episode was seeing Cathy in the promo for Full Metal Challenge.

Posted by: ClutchBrake

I didn't think it was as bad as last season's episodes. It seems like they tried to cut down on the "witty" banter between the hosts and I think that helped a lot.
I thought it was very nice of the Detroit Muscle to freely let the Model Ts have what they needed from the K5 Blazer they had already tagged. Sure better than the whole "let's just take it while they aren't looking" crap that went on last year.
All in all, this episode will help keep my SP alive until at least next week. If I had to watch it live though, JW would have been off my radar in the first half of the last season.

Posted by: nataylor

True, the banter was much better. I'm not thrilled by the new host, but I don't hate her, either. She has potential. I just hate seeing an unfinished challenge.

Posted by: mostman

quote:
Originally posted by nataylor
True, the banter was much better. I'm not thrilled by the new host, but I don't hate her, either. She has potential. I just hate seeing an unfinished challenge.

Worse than that is the fact that they gave them AT LEAST 2 extra hours to finish those things. You can tell by the editing that was done that some shots of them building were done WAY after the 'official' finish. Plus - at the official finish the look of fear on all those guys' faces was very clear - they had not finished. Yet on game day - wow look - these things look really good.

Now I know they have always let them 'tinker' a bit. And I know they can't have a show without two machines - but it seems to me that the British version does a much better job getting the contestants to be finished in the allotted time. Maybe they are just picking people who can't really cut it?

Posted by: John Kador

quote:
Originally posted by nataylor
The highlight of this episode was seeing Cathy in the promo for Full Metal Challenge.

And Henry Rollins! I didn't know he was going to be the co-host, that should be interesting.

Posted by: dcheesi

Yeah, assuming the new show's format/content is any good, I'd say old Henry is a great choice. He's the antithesis of that dweeb on the US version of JW. The only thing I couldn't figure out is what the build rules are for the vehicles --they're certainly not junkyard, but they aren't identical either.

BTW, I have to say that all the fanboys were right --Cathy does look better with her hair grown out ;)

ObOnTopic: I really felt sorry for the Muscle for getting the 'expert' they did. Not that their expert sucked, per se, but that the approach he had selected (or been assigned?) just wasn't right for the junkyard. If the experts had been switched, I have no doubt that the Muscle would have won even more convincingly than the T's did.

Posted by: ClutchBrake

quote:
Originally posted by dcheesi
Cathy does look better with her hair grown out ;)

Heck yeah! I remember the first time I ever saw Junkyard Wars (washing machine repair men vs. psychologists) and part of the reason I kept watching it was for the hot British chick. I think she looks horrible with all her hair whacked off.

Posted by: Connie

For me the disappointment was that I came away without a clue as to why the Muscle car failed. Was the front wheel drive on the Model-T's car so much superior?

Posted by: Jonathan_S

I think the front wheel drive was the deciding factor. The Muscle car failed becuase it kept burying its front tires in the bog at the end of the waterway. Its big tractor tires at the rear couldn't push through the muck becuase it was trying to plow into the ground.

The Model-T's car with powered front wheels could claw its way out of that noise down position and keep moving.

Posted by: jradosh

What did y'all think of Tyler's new haircut? It made me feel sorry for the poor schlub (in between bouts of laughter)

http://www.plauder-smilies.de/lach.gif http://a2020.g.akamaitech.net/7/2020/34/d24b234fbff39c/tlc.discovery.com/fansites/junkyard/bio/gallery/jyw8_hosttylerb_100.jpg http://www.plauder-smilies.de/lach.gif

Posted by: Otto

Finally got around to watching the Paddleboats last night. That one was not bad. Quite entertaining.

And I saw the Full Metal Challenge commercial too. Henry Rollins. Rock on. :D

Posted by: jradosh

Sheesh... another crappy episode. Why do I keep this SP??? :mad:

Posted by: nataylor

Good God, that was about the WORST episode ever. What a shame... it was a really good idea for a challenge.

Posted by: Knative

I haven't watched this week's episode and have lately gotten to the point of just FFing to the challenge at the end. I keep holding out hope of it improving, but things don't look good. I figure I'll give it one more episode. Otherwise there's just too much else on with the new season starting to have it taking up space.

Posted by: John Kador

Wow, that really was the worst one ever. All that time spent making the stupid cars fold up and nobody bothered checking to see if they would actually MOVE.

...and I'm sorry, but I'm really not liking that new host. the non-stop alliteration in the writing was sort of quirky with the britts delivering those awful lines, but with an American and Canadian, it just sounds pathetic.

Posted by: kazymyr

Hmm. I saw the recording starting last night, but haven't bothered watching anything. And after reading this, I think the episode will remain unwatched. :( Too bad, JW used to be a good show, but it's gone waaaay downhill. I still have a hope for Full Metal Challenge.

Posted by: zaknafein

I haven't watched a single episode of the new series yet. From this thread, it doesn't sound likely I'll start either.

Posted by: TiVoPony

We watched half of the first episode this season. For some reason we never made it back for more...

Sounds like the end of what once was a great show.

So...turn this thread around. What would you do to change/improve the show?

My list (having not seen most of this season):

Ditch both hosts and get someone in there who's been to a junkyard before. This would help a tremendous amount IMO.

Follow the rules for the matches. Don't bend 'em until it becomes a "who can pitch water the furthest with a pail contest".

Devise some rules for scavenging/trading. No "let's horde everthing" strategies.

If you're going to plant stuff in the yard, admit it. And then tag the stuff, so that doesn't get hoarded ("you can only have two tagged items"...something like that). Put some strategy into the scouring.

Let the whole team go out gathering scrap. Having just two people do it isn't any more interesting than having all four do it. You might get it done faster, leaving more time to build something worthwhile. And it would be much more frantic!

If you're caught cheating, you lose a team member. To the penalty box. Maybe the other team gets to choose who goes.

Let the teams work all night if they want, but the first team to put down their tools gets an advantage in the competition. Maybe the handicap is proportional to how long the other team continues to work into the night. Of course, none of this is practical given the expenses of producing the program...

Just some quick thoughts off the top of my head...

Pony

Posted by: jradosh

Pony,

I liked all your ideas except the last one. The time limit was never a problem with the show when it was good. I think it helps keep the teams focused.

Definitely they need more (better) rules, enforcement and penalties and new hosts!

And maybe they could simply get rid of the so-called experts (or make them available on request in lieu of one teammate). It's been several episodes (lo, even seasons) since I've seen a challenge where the experts contributed anything. The last one was probably when they built gliders for flying.

J

Posted by: johnmcc

The show has become less than enjoyable for me. I used to watch all the episodes as soon as I saw them in now playing. Now if I do watch it's because I have nothing else to watch. I watch the first 10-15 minutes and unless it looks really interesting I jump to the final battle.

Posted by: ClutchBrake

Just deleted my SP. I might consider picking it up in reruns.

Posted by: Connie

Er... I still like it, and liked the teams in this last episode quite a bit. I think both Robert Llewellyn and George Gray were substantially better hosts than the current ones, though.

Posted by: kazymyr

I just got around watching the episode. OH my GAWD was it BAD! WHAT were they THINKING! I mean, FRICTION traction!?! I could have TOLD them it WOULDN'T WORK! And the CHAINSAW engine - didn't they REALIZE it was NOT ENOUGH? Not to mention the fire extinguisher - JET PROPULSION? Pathetic. :down: :down: :down:

Whew! Vented. Sorry for the capitalization, but that's how I felt. :mad:

Posted by: jradosh

Did you know that Discovery Kids (on NBC) is going to do a version of JW for (you guessed it) kids? It's called "Operation Junkyard" and just maybe it'll be better than the current version of our (once) beloved Junkyard Wars. :rolleyes:

link to article...

J :)

Posted by: AndyK

The last episode blew chunks! The team match ups kind of disturb me now too. This last challenge seemed skewed to putting a all womens team in the semi's. If the teams had been capable of building successful machines, the weight difference between the respective teams would have been decisive. Unfortunately for the producers, neither team was remotely capable of successfully completing the task at hand. I'm giving the show a few more episodes to improve, if not, this sp is toast. Sad too, this used to be one of my favorites.

Posted by: Otto

That was truly terrible. Friction drives?!? I knew it was all downhill when I saw that.

They both needed experts at go-cart building. Not a guy who knows how to make stuff fold and a guy who appearantly didn't know anything useful.

Posted by: kazymyr

So, I watched the new episode (racing submarines) on fast forward this morning for lack of time. It did seem somewhat more decent, however the teams were given again a ton of time after the 10 hours to finish their projects. This time it felt like almost the double, I think. At the end of the first day, my impression was neither team had something that could be called "submarine", for god's sake! Well at least one team clearly won, although they got tangled in the line at the end. :)

Also, why did they only have one run - they usually get 3 chances or more. Or was it that the VW Beetle team had technical difficulties and couldn't compete again? Like I said, I watched it in FF and probably lost a few details.

Posted by: djbrown

quote:
Originally posted by kazymyr
Why did they only have one run - they usually get 3 chances or more. Or was it that the VW Beetle team had technical difficulties and couldn't compete again? Like I said, I watched it in FF and probably lost a few details.

There were two runs. It was a best of three. The same team won the first two "heats", so a third run was not needed to determine the winner.

The VW Beetle did precious little in either run. The first run for the other team was actually quite successful (stayed underwater the whole time, etc...)

Posted by: AndyK

I thought it was a better challenge, but I agree, there was a lot more than the usual 2 hour "tinker" time needed for this one. From all indication, the Beetle guys were just starting construction when the 10 hours ran out. Why the "expert judge" was still picking them to win is beyond me.

So, when is Tyler going to stop the comb down and either admit he's going bald or have a transplant/weave? :D

Posted by: jradosh

What I don't get is this... with all the extra "tinker time" they give the teams, why didn't they give them a chance to get their ballast set right for neutral buoyancy?!?! Then it might have been a better race.

At least the teams built their stuff without cheating.

Again, what's the use of the experts if they don't actually do any expert advising?

J :)

Posted by: Worf

You guys know what happens during the actual event right? Like how the 10 hour time limit is not strictly enforced, that there actually *IS* a day missing between build and compete days (so-called 'safety day' where the machines are thoroughly checked out for safety, etc...)

Posted by: kazymyr

Yeah, yeah, but lately they're breaking even the illusion.

Posted by: Worf

The illusion was already broken - it's broadcasting on TLC, not CBS or FOX...