Will US version of Top Gear work?

Top Gear America is weak compared to Top Gear UK.

Its "Top Gear meets the Dukes of Hazard"

Overall, not outstanding but I find it worth watching in DVR mode so I can jump through the dumber parts and commercials. Takes me about 15-20 minutes to watch a 1 hour TG America.

Tanner can drive but has a wooden personality, he is improving and does show enthusiasm for cars.

The other two clowns need to be replaced.

 

Not that I'm a fan, but somehow a pompous nice person is more entertaining when they have a British accent. I don't see the US version doing well, in comparison.

 

no


it's the same as the brits version

why do we need two?

 

Yes, quite well. Most of them are reruns, but British comedies are some of the best on TV. Mr Bean is hilarious, and Red Dwarf is one of my favourites. My wife's seen the whole Darling Buds of May series several times. Oh, that Mariette! :wub:

 

I don't even know what Top Gear is. Are they bringing back the Members Only jacket?

 

TGA - doesnt have the chemistry - the camerawork on the other hand is actually pretty good (not the same level as TGUK) but I was pleasantly surprised .. didnt expect it to be good at all ... the soundtrack can be improved a lot ... they try to bash imports but cant get the same vicious bite as TGUK ... i dont think it will work - its just hard to duplicate british humor esp. of those 3 ... to be fair it will be very hard to continue / duplicate TGUK if any of the current members leave ...

 

i watched "are you being served" years ago

and always waited for the "pussy" comment.


here in the US, back then, the word was a no-no

 

The UK Top Gear show is one of the best on TV. The US version is about the worst. I watch two of them and I'm done with it.

Pinto Girl - If you have Netflix you can find some of the UK shows on there, I would highly recommend that you watch a couple.

TED

 

I do, and I will. Thank you.

 

i loved benny hill in his day. fawlty towers was excellent. there is a show not a comedy) where one guy buys used cars that need work and the other guy repairs them. then, the first guy sells for a profit. watching the rebuilding is very interesting.

 

I think that the US version will stick around. They are on cable (the History Channel) and only have to pull in moderate viewership to do well. NBC had originally looked at doing it and I believe they went so far as shooting a pilot - they realized that it would not work on network tv, but cable needs far fewer viewers to work.

I have seen the first 3 episodes and the chemistry has really improved - it started bad and now is adequate. The show is nowhere as good as the original, and I doubt that it ever will be, but it is entertaining. I think the US show will always suffer in comparison to the original since it is just so darned good.

 

You know, I did see an excerpt of a Brit reviewing a Japanese car on YouTube. It was a scathing review, and frankly I thought it smacked of xenophobic jibberish. I hope that's not Top Gear UK.

 

Clarkson reviewed the Tesla Roadster. He had his people push it into the shop and claimed it had run out of juice when in fact it had not. The show will be a big success in the U.S. where lies are preferred over the truth.

 

We also have a local version of Top Gear - Top Gear Australia. The first two seasons were produced for our mulitnational network who was the network that was also showing the UK Top Gear. The first series was pretty hopeless, although, in some ways, similar to the early days of UK Top Gear, and the second was a little better.

Then the whole exercise was taken over by one of the major commercial networks who now have re-runs of UK Top Gear several times a week, plus the thrid series of Top Gear Australia. Only saw two episodes of this series - it was even worse than the first series.

I think that the problem is that everyone tries to outdo Clarkson and co without the raport that exists between Clarkson, Hammond and May, and without the budget. The net result is not entertaining.

 

Huge fan of original Top Gear here... I grab them off bt as soon as new ones come out. I still can't believe the intellectual James didn't have the common sense to not stand near a tow strap.

The first couple US episodes were lame. The last two have gotten better...maybe because they were US remakes of original UK shows....Did British Leyland ever make a good car became Did GM Ever Make a Good Car. Car vs. boat vs. plane.

The US show is definitely more tame, although there are an increasing number of funny, edgy, smart-alek comments...still no comments like how a German satnav only goes to Poland though.

Maybe they don't have enough budget to go around buying Challengers when they cheese-off Chrysler, so they're taking it slow.

Entertainment and personalities aside, my biggest worry is that they won't have the editorial freedom to be honest about bad cars...or make fun of the Germans.

 

Tesla is a bit of a media darling that you're not allowed to criticize.

They ran the Tesla down to 20% battery (not fully flat but close enough) in about 53 miles. Then Clarkson said it ran out after 55 miles (which it probably would have).

The Tesla range display drops to 0 (actually --) at 20% remaining battery, and the icon changes to red with a warning to charge the battery to avoid permanent damage...so to say 20% SOC is end of useful range is correct, even if it'll go a bit more.

Their point was that it's a sports car, and if you drive it like a sports car, the fun is short-lived...and then it takes several hours to recharge. I respect them for making that point. Did they take editorial license and add entertainment value to make the point...yes absolutely. Had they run ten more laps and done the same thing for real, would it have made any difference in the conclusion? No. Would I want to drive an electric car at high speed on a track down to the last coulomb and find out how gracefully it dies? No.

So on one side you have Top Gear faking the run-out at 53 miles not 55 (compared to 240 quoted). And, on the other hand you have Tesla saying they cheated since the car would have gone 2 (or whatever) more miles. Both are correct, but IMHO, Tesla's argument is the more silly.

Car and Driver made a similar complaint about the Tesla's range (240 miles being so idealized and un-conservative as to be meaningless) and Tesla threw the same hissy-fit...something about being in the wrong mode.

Tesla C&D Article

 

Top Gear UK is a top show, very happy that they just started a new series and thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas and Boxing Day specials.

Haven't tried the US version yet - may give it a try when the current UK series/season is over.