American Top Gear on History Channel

[ktm]

I caught the end of the show and the 10 minutes I saw were 10 minutes too long. Terrible chemistry and it sounded scripted.

 

My absolute favorite TG UK edition was the bike trip through Vietnam at the end of Season 14. Utterly amazing.

[psdenno]

Keep in mind too that the US Top gear is a for profit show. They sell advertising so they have to keep their advertisers happy.

 

And I agree. Where the US version comes up short is in comparison to the BBC version. Maybe they can develop their own personality in the 10 shows that have been purchased.

 

Actually, the BBC Top Gear is a "for profit" show, too, outside of GB. Or else I've been wasting my time watching the commercials on the BBC America version we get in the States.

 

As for the three hosts developing personalities in the next 10 episodes......I suppose it could happen. It just seems unlikely. They must have done a pilot as well as several dry run episodes prior to recording what we saw in the first televised episode. I think to succeed, there should have been a lot more time spent in casting the hosts. They are neither quirky, funny, likable, nor credible car loving fanatics. Car Zombies......yes.

Dennis

[aarang]

Adam Corolla was supposed to do the show. At least he is somewhat funny and a Nissan/Datsun guy to boot. I'll try to watch again to give it the benefit of the doubt.

[Michael]

Not having TV at home, but watching British Top Gear from DVDs, I wasn’t even aware when the American version was coming out, or on which channel. But by happenstance I was in a hotel room attending a conference, lackadaisically flipped through the TV channels, and unknowingly came across what must have been American Top Gear. The segment featured a red viper convertible and a Cobra helicopter. It was vaguely amusing for a few minutes, but I kept flipping channels.

 

There is something about British humor that Hollywood just can’t duplicate. It’s not subtlety per se, though certainly there is something about many of the jokes requiring more erudition to appreciate. Maybe it’s breezy liberty of their mainstream broadcast television allowing candor that’s not possible on American commercial TV (echoing Johnc’s comment). Maybe it’s an irreverence that mainstream American culture is still too uptight to tolerate. Whatever.

 

But a few comments, in fairness:

 

- Top Gear Series 1, before James May, had a rather insipid co-host reviewing used cars. This was before the stunts and the fantasy challenges. So even the original Top Gear took some time to evolve. Let’s not be too harsh on the American debut.

- A friend of mine attended a live-audience recording. He can’t reveal the contents, but reports that he was pleasantly surprised.

- British TV also has “Fifth Gearâ€, which is far less entertaining than Top Gear and is really more of a straight informational car show, like Motorweek on PBS in the 1980s, produced by Maryland Public Televison. So, again, we shouldn’t be too harsh.

- The show was good enough to distract me from channel-flipping for at least 5 minutes – and that is no small achievement.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Michael

[S30TRBO]

John who is the Stig? Looks like a girl could it be Danica?

[strotter]

What really struck me about the American show as compared to the English was the quality of the cinematography. The English show is filmed just beautifully, as much art as depiction. I was watching a segment recently about a Ferrari - the camera just caressed the curves of the car. In the rain. It was like that scene in Cool Hand Luke, the one with the blond washing her car. Beautiful.

[datsun723]

I was actually in the audience for the filming of the first episode so I got to see the guys off camera and they definitely have personality OFF camera but the show is going to need time to set its roots and find an identity.

 

Like cygnus said, there really isn't much else on tv and while I will always love the UK version more this is just something else to watch when I'm bored.

 

Another thought, anyone remember just how terrible the first two seasons of the UK show were? Wayyyy worse than this premiere. The cinematography was horrendous

[Nelsonian]

Like most have already pointed out, the chemistry amongst the three is somewhat lacking. I am hoping for a natural progression as I really want to see this succeed, instead of filling the time slot with yet another nascar related show, yawn. I am usually happy to see anything else, when nascar season ends. Not related, but as far as good editing, and camera quality, check out Victory by Design series. Very well done.

[Leon]

Not related, but as far as good editing, and camera quality, check out Victory by Design series. Very well done.

 

I'll definitely second that. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching that series, it's very well done.

[Gollum]

Fuuny so many have mentioned the UK show disliking american stuff. I find it kind of the opposite. If you read between the lines, they find it very easy to make fun of us, so they do, but the really do like a lot of our cars. Sure they have their gripes, but they do about every vehicle on the show. I bet the Italians think that top gear hates their cars too!

[randy 77zt]

i need to get 1 of those license plate frames that says i am the stig.maybe the american version will get it together but i doubt it.i will watch both but prefer bbc version

[michaelp]

lol, Z31 300ZX - Moonshine running champion.

[fastzcars]

I caught it, but was thinking Tim Allen would be a better host for the show? Jay Leno was an obvious choice, but I think they couldn't possibly pay him enough to do it!

[burninator]

I may be in the minority, but I've been enjoying the show. Not as good as the original, but it's not bad. My wife will even watch it with me and she's not into cars. The hosts need a bit of time to develop chemistry, it's not something that happens over night, but I find their interactions to be genuine for the most part, and none of the hosts are particularly bad in my opinion.

[JMortensen]

Agreed. I liked the moonshine episode. I am not real fond of Ferrara and his lame attempt at a burnout just about cemented my opinion, but he definitely clawed back some points by catching so much air in that Caddy. That was pretty impressive.

[wigenOut-S30]

Agreed. I liked the moonshine episode. I am not real fond of Ferrara and his lame attempt at a burnout just about cemented my opinion, but he definitely clawed back some points by catching so much air in that Caddy. That was pretty impressive.

yeah the moon shine episode was the best so far. I actually laughed a few times.. They seem to be interacting more natural and it seemed more comfortable for them. NISSAN FTW lol.... even with 275,000 miles on it...

[cygnusx1]

Definitely see improvements in the show.  My wife actually likes it but not as much as the Brit version of course.

[Gollum]

I was proof watching it last night before subjecting the wife to it (who loves the brit version). I'm gonna make her watch some this weekend, we'll see how it goes...

[datsun723]

Like anything else, the show needs time to grow

 

It's just another thing to watch in my mind.

[Montezuma]

An interesting item from another board: "Good for you Adam.. a Datsun fan and multiple BRE Roadster owner

 

Report: Adam Carolla, Dan Neil to host Speed Channel pilot

 

 

Adam CarollaTop Gear USA just not doing it for you? Well, here's some potentially good news: Speed Channel has reportedly inked a deal with Mandt Bros. Productions to pilot a new automotive television series (currently untitled) hosted by Adam Carolla, Pulitzer-winning journalist Dan Neil, former NBA 'baller John Salley and Matt Farah from The Smoking Tire.

 

Consider our interest piqued by the cast alone. We've seen Carolla do his thing – including witnessing the taping of the un-aired pilot for the defunct NBC Top Gear project, which has nothing to do with the current iteration on History – and he definitely knows and loves cars.

 

Moving past the headline-generating Adam Carolla, we've long been fans of Dan Neil, and John Salley was rather good on The Best Damn Sports Show Period. Finally, Farah has carved out a nice niche and has garnered a fan base of his own on The Smoking Tire.

 

As far as the show's format goes, it sounds similar to the Top Gear model with "news and conversation centered around cars, as well as pre-recorded features shot on the road." It could be interesting, but we'll take our usual wait-and-see approach..."

 

Adam is a great Datsun man and I look forward to this show.