I admit that I came late to this show, having only discovered it around the 12th season or so. I watched every episode I could voraciously once I did find it, though, going all the way back to the first season. Mike and Edd's no-nonsense way of buying and then fixing up cheap old cars as cheaply as possible was a refreshing change from the flashy American car "restoration" shows I was used to.
If you can watch those earlier episodes, I highly recommend them. It's almost charming how in the early seasons, some cars don't get much more than an oil change and a polish! That's a whole show! But it gives the show an air of something a DIYer can tackle - it's all about showing you what to look for in buying a used car, and how to fix minor problems.
And it was basically like that up until season 12, when the show was moved to California and production changed hands to Velocity. Then it started inching closer to an American-style restoration show, where no expense is spared in taking a neglected but undeniably classic car and making it "better than new", even to the point of adding modern features that would never have been available originally. Still, at first they did still feature oddball cars like the AMC Pacer, in one of the weirdest-ever episodes of trying to transform an ugly duckling into a swan (and failing).
In season 14, Edd left, leaving the mechanic position to Ant Antstead. He is not the problem - I actually like him despite replacing the beloved Edd. He obviously knows what he's talking about and, while I think he sounds a little too happy to be on TV sometimes, he's fun and interesting to watch. He was a good choice as Edd's replacement.
The problem is the show has now gone fully over into just being another cookie-cutter American restoration show. There is very little detail in the workshop bits, which is why Edd says he left. They now gloss over very important parts of the restoration - at the end they'll say "we also replaced the exhaust system, removed all the rust and gave it a full paint job"... wait, what?! Show it! Show it from start to finish! Why do you think we're watching?! It's no longer a DIY help show at all. It's just "look at what we did to this car!"
There are little things too that diminish the character of the show. Mike doesn't hunt for vehicles anymore (in the early seasons, he'd sometimes even have to see two or three before finding one he liked!); he's just already out traveling to pick one up that's obviously already been scouted. Sometimes he even seems surprised at what he finds when he he sees what his producers picked out for him. There's no budget to speak of anymore for either buying cars or fixing them up - they just spend whatever they need to for an impressive restoration/upgrade, though they do give the spend amounts at the end of the episode. And buyers always seem lined up in advance - they don't seem to have any problem selling cars on anymore. It all feels like it's totally for show at this point, not real at all.
It's still watchable because of the personalities of the hosts, but it is not what it was.
If you can watch those earlier episodes, I highly recommend them. It's almost charming how in the early seasons, some cars don't get much more than an oil change and a polish! That's a whole show! But it gives the show an air of something a DIYer can tackle - it's all about showing you what to look for in buying a used car, and how to fix minor problems.
And it was basically like that up until season 12, when the show was moved to California and production changed hands to Velocity. Then it started inching closer to an American-style restoration show, where no expense is spared in taking a neglected but undeniably classic car and making it "better than new", even to the point of adding modern features that would never have been available originally. Still, at first they did still feature oddball cars like the AMC Pacer, in one of the weirdest-ever episodes of trying to transform an ugly duckling into a swan (and failing).
In season 14, Edd left, leaving the mechanic position to Ant Antstead. He is not the problem - I actually like him despite replacing the beloved Edd. He obviously knows what he's talking about and, while I think he sounds a little too happy to be on TV sometimes, he's fun and interesting to watch. He was a good choice as Edd's replacement.
The problem is the show has now gone fully over into just being another cookie-cutter American restoration show. There is very little detail in the workshop bits, which is why Edd says he left. They now gloss over very important parts of the restoration - at the end they'll say "we also replaced the exhaust system, removed all the rust and gave it a full paint job"... wait, what?! Show it! Show it from start to finish! Why do you think we're watching?! It's no longer a DIY help show at all. It's just "look at what we did to this car!"
There are little things too that diminish the character of the show. Mike doesn't hunt for vehicles anymore (in the early seasons, he'd sometimes even have to see two or three before finding one he liked!); he's just already out traveling to pick one up that's obviously already been scouted. Sometimes he even seems surprised at what he finds when he he sees what his producers picked out for him. There's no budget to speak of anymore for either buying cars or fixing them up - they just spend whatever they need to for an impressive restoration/upgrade, though they do give the spend amounts at the end of the episode. And buyers always seem lined up in advance - they don't seem to have any problem selling cars on anymore. It all feels like it's totally for show at this point, not real at all.
It's still watchable because of the personalities of the hosts, but it is not what it was.
