FD Chicago - FD TV

[Slapshotnerd]

First, some good things:

- Love the opening sequence! they got some footage of rhy's spoiler on my buddy
- Alex as a side commentator = frikkin AWESOME!! There should always be one of the knocked out drivers in the press box to do commentary (only 16 people qualify, you have 20 pre-qualified plus several top drivers who are fully qualified to do commentary, PLEASE keep this around!
- The segment on all of the body parts / tires they gave away was cool
- The explination of why JR could use Big Smoke's car was good.

Neutral
- would like to have heard the judge's opinion on ken vs rhys (i agree with with the decision, but woulda liked to have heard an opinion on the contact)
- john yim vs Tyler - so many opportunities for both of them to just take the win away! both made small mistakes, both had huge opportunities but couldn't capitalize..... sucks....
- steph vs gush - woulda liked to have seen 1 more time... it was exciting to watch! (again, agree with the decision). I thought that Steph had a good advantage on the first run (he started the drift WAY earlier in a MUCH lower HP car! even though he had a small adjustment...).
- sam vs kenji - another that would have been a good 1 more time
- The points leader list is AWESOME, but an extended list would be nice (after all, there were 7 drivers going into Irwindale that had a shot at the championship.) Show the top 5 with the pictures of the drivers, but show the top 20 (since that DOES matter, and a change in the top 20 is very big as far as the seeded drivers are concerned) after each episode.

Not so good things:
- big C - i'm not a fan. I know he's under contract for G4, and thankfully, he's toned down the language and antics for his FD guest appearance, but try not to use him too much...
- camera angle - a slightly wider camera angle from the camera on top of the judges stand to keep both cars in frame through the first corner would be nice.
- Also could use a wider camera angle on the side opposite the judges (the camera seems to go from down by the start line, up atop the judge's stand, then either on the rig camera or over to the 2nd corner *this is the camera i'm talking about*, then back towards the start line).
- what happened to the pit camera? there's a camera at the start line that they flashed a quick clip from during tyler vs gush, i woulda loved to have seen more footage from there.
- more from the lipstick cameras on the doors / roof / hood / etc that show both cars. I like the cabin view as well, but i like the outter lipstick cameras more. Maybe do some PIP stuff (the main camera angle big, and smaller inset video from either the lipstick camera or the cabin camera or BOTH!)
- Chris vs Steph - i agree with the outcome, but shoulda gone 1 more time in my opinion (i was the only one that yelled this at chicago, and everyone kinda laughed at me)
- Dai vs Sam - dai had the advantage, even if dai spun, shouldn't it have gone 1 more time? how did advantage dai go to sam winning? 1 more time?
- I thought both the 3rd place and final round deserved a 1 more time.

The overall editing of the programs has gotten a LOT better. Rossi comes across as much more down to earth, and Mayleen is doing much better with her interviews!

I got a little inside scoop on next year, and it's going to be VERY exciting!! Can't wait until the general public finds out (ps - ORDER G4 NOW!!!!). There's some stuff in this thread that is under G4's control, and some that isn't. Live and learn.

[Mike Peters]

i saw the episode. no offense to jrod or rossi or the FD judges, but alex made the show 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x better. my mom was able to watch the show and understand him 100%, and everythign he said. i was able to understand and relate to everything he said 100%. i reaaaaaaaly liked having him up there, and while i know alex was only up there because his car wrecked it was reeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaally nice having one the drivers up there who has a ton of 1st hand experience helping with the announcing and stuff, and it really brought a lot to the show as far as watching it and the commentary. i really like the idea of getting some the guys who crashed/didnt make top 16 (that arent biased at all, alex is one of those unbiased tell it like it is guys and thats part of what made it so great) to go up there and help bring the show to the home so that people that are total newbies to drifting ( i love my mom, but she is a n00b still ) can understand exactly what the guy is talking about, while on the other side of the room mikespeed who was driving at the event can also understand every word said by alex really makes that show awesome for anyone/everyone to watch. even my dog was glued to the tv. but alex really did bring a lot to the tv show, as he always does to whatever he is doing drift related.

i do wish the cameras were more on both cars at all times though. i know at irwindale/atlanta/sonoma this was hard sometimes but at chicago there were a couple times where the cars were within a carlength of each other and the camera was mainly focused on one car. and as we all learned at irwindale, lipstick cameras catch all mid drift action, as well as the mid drift communication between drivers :P

[Slapshotnerd]

Some other feedback from other segments:

- KEEP UP THE DRIVERS PROFILES!! I've seen Hubert, Alex, Casper, Andy, Conrad, Sam, Tanner, KIT car, a few others... they ALL rock!
- The AE86 and 240 cult classic segments were also GREAT!!
- The project car stuff could use a little work... a little more "how to" and a little less "this is us hanging out". I would like to see them get a little more specific on what's happening, not "we swapped out the computer and we were good to go"
- Chris's japan segment with day was also very well done

can't wait till next season

[kidynomite]

Stop switching cameras mid transition... Its cool for editing purposes but not for a highlight show. There were a few times where you would have to pay rediculous amount of attention to tell someone overcorrected, or straightened out because you switched cameras mid transition.

I agree about Alex being there, no offense to Rossi but he doesnt know what he is talking about and luckily he didnt try to pretend like he did (except once).

I think drivers make the best commentators IMO, when Enjuku came for Drift Day Competition 4 everyone said Rob Fleming was the best announcer they have ever heard. I sadly couldnt hear much because I was driving, but Rob, and then Alex P was doing some commentating too, both did the commentating during the competition.

Drivers know whats good, and I know occasionally Alex throws his input to the judges, sometimes they listen sometimes they don't, but it would be a decent idea to ask if one of the drivers that doesnt qualify to jump up there and either help J-Rod commentate, or help the Rossi for G4.

Another thing you guys I wish you guys didnt have to do, would be explaining tandem, but I guess I understand why you have to do it every time.

I am also glad you let Ryan get some airtime, and I hope you always do that if a privateer qualifies in the top 32. You should interview more random and local privateers IMO.

[Hollywood]

I would have liked to seen is the judges actual scoring, especialy in qualifying.

[aaronlosey]

thank goodness i recorded the show on my dvr, so i could fast forward through half of it. i listen to hip hop along with alot of other kinds of music, but when you introduce hip hop into drifting, uggghhhhh. big c is a *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* *Censored*, and has no idea what he is talking about. about 50% of the show feels like this. the hosts ignorance about whats going on gets annoying. having alex explain everything was a breath of fresh air, very nice.

i do however like how much attention the top 16 gets, without us really missing any of the runs, and getting the drivers opinions of what was really happening. that is nice.

driver interviews on the shows without an event is really cool. it would be nice to interview the driver, then look more at his car, and get a very complete rundown of it.

camera work has a long way to go, along with the editing, hosting, ect.

being on g4 tv is starting to make drifting look like a joke, even though i understand the importance of getting drifting on the cable box so early in its life cycle. but with g4 supporting shows like street fury, and then merging street fury with formula d..... i can barely stand to watch the shows, and i've been at most of the fd events this year!!

i second seeing the judges scoring as well!

[Formula D]

Guys, this is all great feedback and comments. All your voices are being heard and planning for '06 is happening now so keep the positive criticism coming.

FD

[FireEmblem62]

I say get Kevin Perrara(sp) to host the show, that guys funnay! Also, yeah, i loved how Alex came up to help explain more!

[GoukiS14]

man.... now I gotta reconnect my cable...

[Slapshotnerd]

possible story idea:
profile the cars. Talk ESPECIALLY about all of the fabrication work that was done to them. I know Casper owns a fabrication shop, designcraft in lake forrest does a lot of work on a lot of the cars, ryan hampton's camaro has a lot of work done to it, etc.

Talk about things like the steering rack, the suspension geometry, etc. Help people understand that these cars aren't stock production cars, and needed a lot of work to get them to where they're at. Help people understand what type of work they might need to do.

I was talking with someone this weekend, and i mentioned that the best TV show i've ever seen about drifitng was the "rides" episode that they did with Rhys and Toshi. They let the people do the narrating, but they also talked about alot of specifics about what problems they ran into, how they overcame them, etc....

[HoosierDrifter]

all im gonna say is


please keep hip hop OUT of drifting PLEASE...

[Mike Peters]

Talk about things like the steering rack, the suspension geometry, etc. Help people understand that these cars aren't stock production cars, and needed a lot of work to get them to where they're at. Help people understand what type of work they might need to do.

i dont know about that idea, you dont need to get crazy, our car is pretty stockish, everythign except the ls1 and our shortened knuckles for steering was bolt in/on. i do think its a cool idea to show some the extensive fabrication that has gone into the cars but i wouldnt try to word it as a needed thing to be competitive in drifting. it helps a bunch you dont wanna scare off the new people.

[Slapshotnerd]

i dont know about that idea, you dont need to get crazy, our car is pretty stockish, everythign except the ls1 and our shortened knuckles for steering was bolt in/on. i do think its a cool idea to show some the extensive fabrication that has gone into the cars but i wouldnt try to word it as a needed thing to be competitive in drifting. it helps a bunch you dont wanna scare off the new people.

see, i am more talking about the people who are into drifting, and know what it takes to get INTO it, but want to be more competitive. I watch every episode i can (i think i've missed one or maybe two). I'm building a car to play in. But i want to know about how to get more steering angle, what it will take to be competitive, etc.

I know Alex's car has a swapped steering rack. Rhy's car has something like 70 degrees of angle. Even YOU just said that you modified the steering knuckles. That's the kind of stuff I want to hear about. On that Rides episode, they talked about the suspension and steering and chassiswork a whole lot more, and it kept my attention a lot more. I fast forward through the project car stuff on FD, because it's too basic. I have done bodywork, i've swapped front ends, i've helped on engine swaps and forced induction work (haven't done my own YET). But i want to know what it takes BEYOND the average bolt ons to make certain cars competitive.

[Mike Peters]

i know exactly what you mean, but for the g4 guys reading this i just wanted to say the emphasis needs to stay on getting to events and getting seat time.

you can do all the crazy mods to your car you want, but if you dont know what your doing the car isnt gonna drift no matter how much money you throw at it. but once you know what your doing all the crazy mods on a car come in handy big time when you know how to use all the extra steering angle and stuff. but seat time still > mods. thats all i meant.

[HoosierDrifter]

well when im more competitive.... i dont know if i would want to give out secrets and other mods i have done to my car and how to do it.... why should the pros?...