James May: Our Man in Japan (Season 1)
Just Add Magic: Mystery City
The Forgotten Army (Season 1)
Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse (Season 1)
Ted Bundy: Falling For A Killer (Season 1)
All Or Nothing: Brazil National Team (Season 1)
All Or Nothing: Philadelphia Eagles (Season 5)
Hunters (Season 1)
ZeroZeroZero (Season 1)
The Test: A New Era For Australia's Team (Series 1)
Bibi & Tina (Season 1)
Tales from the Loop (Season 1)
Four More Shots Please! (Season 2)
Bosch (Season 6)
Making the Cut (Season 1)
Upload (Season 1)
Paatal Lok (Season 1)
Homecoming (Season 2)
Last One Laughing: Australia (Season 1)
El Presidente (Season 1)
Cómo sobrevivir soltero (Season 1)
Breathe: Into the Shadows
Hanna (Season 2)
Absentia (Season 3)
El Candidato (Season 1)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 3)
The Last Narc (Season 1)
Bandish Bandits (Season 1)
Pan y Circo (Season 1)
The World's Toughest Race: Eco Challenge Fiji
Comicstaan Semma Comedy Pa (Season 1)
Peep Time (Season 1)
Utopia (Season 1)
The Boys (Season 1)
The Boys (Season 2)
So what's with the long list there? That's all the live action "tv" series which Amazon Studios has somehow miraculously managed to release in the time since The Grand Tour's single-episode "season" 4 premiered. Despite the pandemic & all those other things that have made it impossible to give us at the very least the second episode, which has been cut, edited, and in Amazon's possession for months as of this writing. A long, long list indeed, and one which doesn't count stand-up comedy specials, or animated programs, or children's shows featuring mainly puppets--just tv shows that involve actors appearing on screen together. That also doesn't include the 5 other series set to premiere within the next 6 weeks. Yet still not even an apology, let alone any sort of reasoning, from Amazon over the intolerable delays on this, arguably their most popular series.
So...yes. The 1 star rating is very firmly given to Amazon Studios--not for the delay itself, which would be somewhat understandable given the state of the globe these days, but for the wanton disregard shown toward Grand Tour fans (who also happen to be paying customers). For a level of customer service only mildly better than that of the Spanish Inquisition. How bloody difficult is it to put out a freaking press release saying, "Hey, we understand you're tired of waiting, but we can't release this until X because of Y and Z."? If the Madagascar episode can't be streamed yet because rabid yaks are using the editing suite for a game of badminton, how difficult is it to just, you know....say so? Instead of pissing off the exact same audience which *still* refuses to watch the BBC program that got rid of these guys years ago?
As far as "The Grand Tour: Seamen" itself...it's solid. Comfortably a 4 star episode, not nearly on the same level as the trio's heyday on that other show, but very entertaining and holds up well over multiple viewings (which is more than can be said for a fair number of the season 1 episodes). And while yes, some people were apparently up in arms because they dared to use boats instead of cars and because of Jeremy Clarkson's choice of a t-shirt (not like Clarkson has ever offended anybody in the past. I mean, ever), it's still the lads capering about and doing the kinds of things we mere mortals can only dream of doing. Not to mention getting *paid* to do those things. The Grand Tour, much like its predecessor on BBC, is far less a show about cars (or boats, or t-shirts) than it is an escape from adulthood, back into the heady years of adolescent dreaming...and "Seamen" certainly captures those same emotions, albeit with a few less laugh out loud moments than in their prime.
Now if only Amazon can manage to upload another episode before COVID-43 arrives....
EDIT: The trailer for "A Massive Hunt" (the Madagascar episode) dropped today (11/18) on The Grand Tour's YouTube channel. They say it will finally be released on December 18th. Not that you'd know that from looking at this Amazon Video tab, but hey...