UK: Top Gear, for the fans.. (1 Viewer)

[Chris]

Ok, for the fans of UK TV, Top Gear is now at season 13, and we're a few seasons behind on BBC America, but this is the kind of witty, fun TV "News" show I wish we had.. you would think, with the popularity or seeming tons of productions of "Dateline" someone could bring this kind of romp to the US.

 

[Doug_H]

I love this show but I can only believe we Americans would bugger it all up

 

[Chris]

Some of the moments I love:

Top Gear: goes to America; and, instead of renting a car, each member is given $1,000 US to buy a car in Miami, drive it to New Orleans and sell it to see if you'd be better off buying a junker in the land of plenty.. and how well the junkers perform:

YouTube - Top Gear: The American Trip part 6/6

Top Gear takes the Atom out for a spin:

YouTube - Top Gear: Atom

The Bugatti:

YouTube - Top Gear - Bugatti Veryron 253 mph

 

[Brent M]

I absolutely LOVE Top Gear. Discovered it a few months ago and the first episode I saw was when they go to Miami. Obviously I've been hooked ever since.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Quote:
I love this show but I can only believe we Americans would bugger it all up

[url=http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/features/article3638037.ece]I hope we don’t ruin Top Gear - Times Online

For fans of Top Gear and 5th Gear try this site FinalGear.com :: There's Fifth Gear, There's Top Gear, And Then There Is Final Gear

 

[KurtEP]

Leno mentions his website:

Jay Leno's Garage

which I've dug through a few times in the past. He has a lot of great feature shows on his various collector cars and related topics. Well worth checking out if you're a gearhead.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

I'd love to spend a week in that garage

 

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

I absolutely love this show. I've been watching it solid for about almost 2 years now. I really, really, really wish they'd release it on DVD.

I noticed in NBC's 2008 fall line up I didn't see a "Top Gear" anywhere. And I'm quite grateful for that. There is no way they will be able to capture the wittiness and camaraderie of Clarkson, May and Hammond. And one strong word against one of the vehicles will cause the suits to have heart attacks and pull advertising. As most have said, it will most likely be a one hour commercial.

But I hope I'm wrong and maybe we'll have another great show to watch.


On a side note, check out youtube.com for their "Top Gear - Polar special" if you haven't seen it already. Superb. I sure wish we could get the Toyota Hilux over here.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

The Hilux is vitually the same as our Tacoma (Link with differences) The polar special was amazing and was my first intro to the show...needless to say I'm now hooked.

From what the NBC exec told Jay Leno I expect the US copy will focus more on the challenges and less on the reviews...at least if they do do reviews it'll be of exotics that everyone will love...ie no bad reviews. If they do that IMO it'll just be a cross of Monster Garage and your typical car show.

 

[Brent M]

I applaud Leno for being smart enough to know that we can't re-create the greatness of the UK show over here and therefore turning down the offer to host. Clarkson, Hammond and May ARE Top Gear and anything we put on the air is just going to be an awful imitation. I like Adam Carolla, but I like him on The Man Show with Jimmy Kimmel, not doing a U.S. version of Top Gear. Maybe I'll be wrong and this will be like The Office(a great UK show that translated well to the U.S.), but I'm certainly not expecting that to be the case.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

The only chance it has is to avoid the car reviews and focus on stunts and playing with 'fun' cars...it'll pale in comparison to the UK version but it would be better to create its own identity then to imitate another.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I was thinking this show would have worked on a non-commercial network (PBS, HBO, Showtime) with the sometimes scathing car reviews intact, then caught an episode of Motorweek on PBS--they never met a car they didn't like, unfortunately.

As it is this will probably devolve into another mindless reality show, sort of an auto-oriented Fear Factor.

Leno's passing on the project is an indication of his integrity when it comes to things automotive.

 

[Brent M]

If Top Gear is a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, Motorweek is a PT Cruiser. So boring it's not even worth watching.

 

[Chris]

Let's face it, there is nothing better then watching Clarkson rip apart a vehicle "absolute rubbish" along with his signature "it's OK, but compared to this car.." whole different brand and model.

That's what makes Top Gear. Serious reviews that compare actual product without a damn bit of bias in favor of any manufacturer. I always love the "we want to root for this, because it's the right idea, but damn, it's so miserable".

The challenges are fun. They keep the show entertaining. The moments with celebrities in a budget car are fun. But you have to have the whole package. Hell, just the conversations between Hammond, May, and Clarkson discussing whether or not they can find "a decent car made in all of Korea" was the kind of stuff you have to laugh yourself silly at.

And, just so it can be noted, the challenge themselves can be harsh reviews - I'm thinking about the journey across Africa, with the ever-so-reliable but dreaded VW Beatle trailed them the whole journey while they pissed and moaned. (though, if it hadn't been for that stupid effort of fording a river by Hammond, he would have wiped the two out, IMHO)

The show is classic material, and it's sad that no US network has the balls to put something really like it on.

 

[Brent M]

Just glad to see I'm not the only one on this forum who loves TG. It's become my favorite show and I can't wait for season 11. I heard it was initially supposed to premiere this month, but has been pushed back to July. Does anyone know if that's indeed the case?

 

[Jeff_Standley]

I can't believe there is no ongoing Top Gear thread.
I just recently started to really catch up on this show and it is fantastic. I had seen scattered episode here and there and liked it, but in the last couple weeks I have caught up on almost every episode I had missed in between those, and it's easily one of my favorite shows ever now.

The current season is very good the the last two weeks episodes with the Nissan GTR were very cool, that's one hell of a car. And the Mercedes SLK Black, sick!!

After watching all these episodes, and knowing who they have planned for the US version, I am not convinced that Adam Corrola is the right guy for the job. I love Adam Corrola for what he does, but on this show in the shadow of Top Gear UK I just don't see it working the same way.

The current presenters of Top Gear all have a deep appreciation and genuine love and respect for the cars that their driving, and it shows in every review good or bad. I just hope the studios do that here in the US rather than just make it funny for the audience. I just hate to think what the studios think the American audience wants from this show to make it sell.
One more thing that scares me is that this new show could really spark new interest in a sagging car market and I'm hoping that car manufacturers here don't see that and try too capitalize of off that. I would hate to see "Top Gear: Ford hour" or "Top Gear brought to you by Chevy and nothing but Chevy reviews for the night".

I also don't want a crude show much like anything else on TV right now. The UK version is very witty and genuine, and I would hate to see it reduced to a MTV/Jerry Springer/lowest common denominator suck fest. And having Adam Corrola as a host it could easily be thrown that way. I hear he is a car fan, so let's hope that shows through here.

 

[Brent M]

I've gone back and caught up on all the previous seasons now(1-10) and Top Gear is easily one of the most entertaining shows I've ever watched. Of course you really need to be a "gearhead" to appreciate it, but even if you're not into cars the show is still funny as hell. I haven't started watching the current season yet, but I can't wait to start checking out the new episodes.

By the way, I'll call it now: the U.S. version will be a complete disaster and will be bumped for a mid-season replacement show when it fails. I loved Carolla on The Man Show, but I just don't see him and these two other guys making an entertaining car show like Clarkson and Co. have done with the UK version. Time will tell.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

I've been watching the current season as they become available and have enjoyed them as well. I have mixed feelings about the US version as I fear that the networks will get in the way with regard to letting the presenters actually speak their mind. I was also not sure about Carolla but I listened to an interview he did about the show and I must admit he impressed me so we'll see what happens. My best hope is that they do not try and copy the UK version but come up with their own slant on it and do that well. Stars in cars could easily be done, the reviews will be tough but the challenges should be do able so long as it doesn't get out of hand.

 

[Jeff_Standley]

I think the reviews would definitely be the hardest part of their show, especially since it will be car manufacturers sponsoring for the show.
If they take it seriously and not make it a giant joke like every other reality show on TV right now then it may do alright. Plus the look of the show is brilliant. The cinematography is absolutely fantastic, they better spend the money to do this right as well.
I just want this show to work out so bad here, I really hope they take their time with it.

This last weeks episode was great too. The challenges with the Germans were hilarious.

 

[Devin U]

Over at final gear (A TG fan site), many of the regulars over there went to the taping of the first US show last weekend, and their reviews have been supprisingly positive about the show they saw. The only thing I worry about is how do you do a negative review and still appease advertisers. Id hate to see each episode turn into a 1 hr infomercial because they dont want to piss off advertisers.