Top Gear (1 Viewer)

[Battles]

The American version got canceled? Did it ever even hit the air?

glad i googled it!

history channel\discovery is good news. maybe it will be less of a mockery and have a chance at not sucking.

Hate to see Adam Carolla not on the new cast. Tanner Foust pawns himself to every car show on speed and adds nothing but drifting talk. Should bomb. Why does the BBC one need to be replicated? Can't be matched imo.

well, the only reason i would like to see an american version is to see them test cars that i can get in america.

even though i could never afford them.

and damn your eyes and your lack of confidence in Top Gear America! be supportive, ya non-supportive person!

Sorry. I think they cover/dog the American junk enough on the BBC version. The episode when they bought the junkers in FL and drove them to New Orleans was a classic. Pretty much every car, American and foreign, worth watching a show about is covered on there. The cheaper car reviews are mostly done just for comedy and don't give much buying data. For example, how fast can you get a large dog in a compact and do a lap.

To match the BBC lineup you'd need Leno in Clarkson's spot.

I also agree on the advertising problem.

 

[badmojo1006]

New Top Gear tonight on BBCA

 

[Eephus]

New Top Gear tonight on BBCA

Blacked out on Univision and Telemundo

 

[Chadstroma]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

 

[Donsmith753]

This show has totally jumped the shark, recent episodes are embarassingly bad.

 

[squidrope]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

The American version is horrible.

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

No chemistry whatsoever. I never expected these guys to be as funny/interesting as the BBC guys their first go 'round, but this isn't even close.I'd be curious what people who've never seen the BBC version think.

 

[Eephus]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

No chemistry whatsoever. I never expected these guys to be as funny/interesting as the BBC guys their first go 'round, but this isn't even close.I'd be curious what people who've never seen the BBC version think.

Chemistry sometimes takes time to develop but I agree, it wasn't a promising beginning. The BBC version also has much better production values. American commercialism and political correctness are going to be issues for the History Channel version. If the US version made the same anti-Mexican comments that Hammond and Clarkson said, it either would have been edited out or the US hosts would have gotten the boot.

 

[Chadstroma]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

No chemistry whatsoever. I never expected these guys to be as funny/interesting as the BBC guys their first go 'round, but this isn't even close.I'd be curious what people who've never seen the BBC version think.

I am also curious as to what people who are not fans or never seen the BBC version react to it. Part of the disappointment for me, besides agreeing with lack of chemistry, is that they don't seem to have had any ideas of their own.... they basically are trying to be the BBC Top Gear without the accents while putting on the American PC restraints.

 

[KGB]

They shouldve gotten Jay Leno (I know its cool not to like him) and Adam Carolla to do the US version.

 

[Eephus]

They shouldve gotten Jay Leno (I know its cool not to like him) and Adam Carolla to do the US version.

It's basic cable. They couldn't afford Jay Leno's gardener

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

No chemistry whatsoever. I never expected these guys to be as funny/interesting as the BBC guys their first go 'round, but this isn't even close.

I'd be curious what people who've never seen the BBC version think.

Chemistry sometimes takes time to develop but I agree, it wasn't a promising beginning. The BBC version also has much better production values. American commercialism and political correctness are going to be issues for the History Channel version. If the US version made the same anti-Mexican comments that Hammond and Clarkson said, it either would have been edited out or the US hosts would have gotten the boot.

Absolutely, and even folks who have been watching the Clarkson/Hammond/May version will tell you the chemistry wasn't there right away. But I just don't see it happening with the US version. That might not be fair after only one season, but the US trio just doesn't seem to have "it".

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

FWIW, I actually like Ferrara and Wood. Foust is way too serious, but not in a mockingly-overly-serious-James-May sort of way. He might be the most knowledgeable of the group; he might also be the major sticking point. If they can find a James May type egghead who can be a better straight man, that might be the key.

All this said, this is like comparing a Led Zeppelin cover band to the real thing. The hosts definitely got more comfortable as the season wore on, and assuming they're back for another season, I'll watch it again.

 

[badmojo1006]

Jeremy couldn't find Myrrh to bring to Bethlehem, so he bought baby Jesus a Nintendo DS...

 

[mattyt]

Jeremy couldn't find Myrrh to bring to Bethlehem, so he bought baby Jesus a Nintendo DS...

I'VE INVENTED SWIMMING!!!

 

[the hairy scotsman]

FWIW, I actually like Ferrara and Wood. Foust is way too serious, but not in a mockingly-overly-serious-James-May sort of way. He might be the most knowledgeable of the group; he might also be the major sticking point. If they can find a James May type egghead who can be a better straight man, that might be the key. All this said, this is like comparing a Led Zeppelin cover band to the real thing. The hosts definitely got more comfortable as the season wore on, and assuming they're back for another season, I'll watch it again.

This.That Alaska episode with the three trucks gave me hope for those guys. It was actually pretty good.

 

[squidrope]

FWIW, I actually like Ferrara and Wood. Foust is way too serious, but not in a mockingly-overly-serious-James-May sort of way. He might be the most knowledgeable of the group; he might also be the major sticking point. If they can find a James May type egghead who can be a better straight man, that might be the key.

All this said, this is like comparing a Led Zeppelin cover band to the real thing. The hosts definitely got more comfortable as the season wore on, and assuming they're back for another season, I'll watch it again.

This.That Alaska episode with the three trucks gave me hope for those guys. It was actually pretty good.

Are you kidding? Buying the trucks sight unseen? Tanner gets a purple truck? Tanners camper mods just happen to perfectly match the purple color of the truck. The whole show seems forced,staged, and fake. The hosts aren't real or likable.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

FWIW, I actually like Ferrara and Wood. Foust is way too serious, but not in a mockingly-overly-serious-James-May sort of way. He might be the most knowledgeable of the group; he might also be the major sticking point. If they can find a James May type egghead who can be a better straight man, that might be the key.

All this said, this is like comparing a Led Zeppelin cover band to the real thing. The hosts definitely got more comfortable as the season wore on, and assuming they're back for another season, I'll watch it again.

This.That Alaska episode with the three trucks gave me hope for those guys. It was actually pretty good.

Are you kidding? Buying the trucks sight unseen? Tanner gets a purple truck? Tanners camper mods just happen to perfectly match the purple color of the truck. The whole show seems forced,staged, and fake. The hosts aren't real or likable.

Oh, I agree with your comments re: well pretty much everything you said. I've said all of the same things on another board. The mods were obviously not done on the spot by the guys as they tried to portray them. Those were obviously not the same cheap trucks as they purchased them getting through all that rough crap. The suspensions were heavily modified. I believe as well that the entire trucks had been pretty well gone through. The show is but a shadow of the original. I'm just saying the guys finally started to seem like they were developing some chemistry to the point where there were some amusing moments...to the point where I now have some hope for the next season, but we'll see.

It had been pretty much unwatchable to that point.

 

[badmojo1006]

FWIW, I actually like Ferrara and Wood. Foust is way too serious, but not in a mockingly-overly-serious-James-May sort of way. He might be the most knowledgeable of the group; he might also be the major sticking point. If they can find a James May type egghead who can be a better straight man, that might be the key.

All this said, this is like comparing a Led Zeppelin cover band to the real thing. The hosts definitely got more comfortable as the season wore on, and assuming they're back for another season, I'll watch it again.

This.That Alaska episode with the three trucks gave me hope for those guys. It was actually pretty good.

Are you kidding? Buying the trucks sight unseen? Tanner gets a purple truck? Tanners camper mods just happen to perfectly match the purple color of the truck. The whole show seems forced,staged, and fake. The hosts aren't real or likable.

After rewatching the Bethlehem episode of Top Gear, that episode seemed staged. Them driving through the deserts of Syria, come on. Who are they fooling? Unlike the South America episode where you felt the danger (driving on the roads over 16,000 ft), Bethlehem seemed forced

 

[Raider Nation]

The one on the History Channel right now is

The guys set out to buy the ugliest, worst cars for each other. One bought a 1977 Mustang II, one bought a 2001 Pontiac Aztec and the last guy bought a 1988 Yugo GV. Now their challenge is to make these pieces of crap look cool.

 

[nightmare]

BBC Top Gear is on available Amazon prime.

 

[Chadstroma]

The one on the History Channel right now is The guys set out to buy the ugliest, worst cars for each other. One bought a 1977 Mustang II, one bought a 2001 Pontiac Aztec and the last guy bought a 1988 Yugo GV. Now their challenge is to make these pieces of crap look cool.

I gave up on the show. Maybe I am prejudice being such a fan of the Brit version but I just don't 'like' the guys much, they seem to force things where the Brit version seems smooth and natural even as it is outrageous and they are not funny guys as much as they try to be. That all said, that sounds like a great challenge. I would love to see the Brits do it.

 

[Insein]

American version is awful. Nothing beats Clarkson, Hammond and May's chemistry or timing.

My favorite challenge was the Bolivia Special. Best combination of comedy and adventure out of all of their episodes. New season starts next Monday 4/16 along with Hammond's new show, Crash Course. Looks entertaining.

 

[badmojo1006]

Watched the new one tonight.First couple of segments were good (Richard in the Pagani Huayra and James doing the road rally in the Bentley). Damian Lewis going around the track in the snow was the most enjoyable celebrity lap on Top Gear, even if it was the slowest.However, the last 30 minutes about the car that Jeremy built was crap, pure rubbish

 

[Insein]

Watched the new one tonight.First couple of segments were good (Richard in the Pagani Huayra and James doing the road rally in the Bentley). Damian Lewis going around the track in the snow was the most enjoyable celebrity lap on Top Gear, even if it was the slowest.However, the last 30 minutes about the car that Jeremy built was crap, pure rubbish

New season, I'll have to check it out. This show is so casual for me that I honestly don't care if there's a bad segment. I'll just catch it again next time.

 

[The Big Guy]

The thing about the US one that the British one can't make fly over here are those segments where they talk about the cars that they grew up loving and their first car in challenge segments. The US models and US car love/fascination helps bring us back to that time in our youth when we either had that car or one of our buddies did. This just doesn't work the same with Richard talking about some obscure British car company and teeny tiny roadster from their youth.Still think that the UK version is far superior to ANY of the other versions out there(many countries have their own version of this show now), but it is partly due to the absolute total lack of budget that they appear to have and the total agreement that they seem to get from every country to do whatever random stunt they desire where ever they so desire.

 

[Christo]

Just caught the one where they each had $1k to buy a car in Miami to drive to New Orleans.

 

[Insein]

Just caught the one where they each had $1k to buy a car in Miami to drive

That was gold when they scrambled to erase nascar sucks off they sides of their car.

 

[Buckfast 1]

FWIW, I actually like Ferrara and Wood. Foust is way too serious, but not in a mockingly-overly-serious-James-May sort of way. He might be the most knowledgeable of the group; he might also be the major sticking point. If they can find a James May type egghead who can be a better straight man, that might be the key. All this said, this is like comparing a Led Zeppelin cover band to the real thing. The hosts definitely got more comfortable as the season wore on, and assuming they're back for another season, I'll watch it again.

I need to go back and watch the American Top Gear on Netflix. I kind of grew up with Rutledge Wood. We grew up in the same subdivision as kids. He played in a cover band called Legend Has It with one of my best friend's older brother in college that we used to go watch all the time in Athens, GA. Rutledge played the drums and rapped. I partied at his house in Athens many times during college, and he ended up marrying one of my good friend's older sisters. Rutledge was always really funny and incredibly nice. When Rutledge quit the band, I remember thinking it was crazy to leave what seemed like the perfect gig at the time -- playing in a popular cover band in an awesome college town. I guess it worked out alright for him in the end.

 

[Shrugs]

My problem with the American one is they never actually have anything car related that I want to watch. It's just hijinx.

 

[Insein]

Bump

 

[RC94]

I love this show. For anyone who has Netflix and wants to add it to your queue: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70140457?trkid=13641790

 

[flapgreen]

Fantastic show. Love it.

 

[flapgreen]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

I quit watching the American version years ago.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

I quit watching the American version years ago.

Well, that post IS from 4 years ago. I don't think there is an American version anymore.I do have to say that the British version has gotten a bit more improbable. There were complaints earlier in this thread about how there was no way the Americans were doing their own vehicle mods and that is a valid complaint. But there is no way the Brits are making a lot of the mods they claim to make overnight and some of the repairs are just downright impossible. Hammond shears an axle on the Patagonia special, the other guys leave him behind, and several hours he somehow shows up and it's fixed.

The hot hatchback show from 2014 that they re-showed this week was especially bad with the obvious setups. Oh sure, Jeremy just happened to "accidentally" leave his keys on the roof while he put a velvet wrap on his car. And I'm sure Hammond tipped his car over all those times for real. Oh, and the giant magnet didn't affect Jeremy's car because ther was velvet on the rooftop? Please.

It's a great show and I love it, but it's gotten increasingly ridiculous and implausible.

 

[Insein]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

I quit watching the American version years ago.

Well, that post IS from 4 years ago. I don't think there is an American version anymore.I do have to say that the British version has gotten a bit more improbable. There were complaints earlier in this thread about how there was no way the Americans were doing their own vehicle mods and that is a valid complaint. But there is no way the Brits are making a lot of the mods they claim to make overnight and some of the repairs are just downright impossible. Hammond shears an axle on the Patagonia special, the other guys leave him behind, and several hours he somehow shows up and it's fixed.

The hot hatchback show from 2014 that they re-showed this week was especially bad with the obvious setups. Oh sure, Jeremy just happened to "accidentally" leave his keys on the roof while he put a velvet wrap on his car. And I'm sure Hammond tipped his car over all those times for real. Oh, and the giant magnet didn't affect Jeremy's car because ther was velvet on the rooftop? Please.

It's a great show and I love it, but it's gotten increasingly ridiculous and implausible.

I think that's the joke though. They know its improbable but they play it straight.

 

[flapgreen]

Has anyone caught the American version? No where near being like the original.

I quit watching the American version years ago.

Well, that post IS from 4 years ago. I don't think there is an American version anymore.I do have to say that the British version has gotten a bit more improbable. There were complaints earlier in this thread about how there was no way the Americans were doing their own vehicle mods and that is a valid complaint. But there is no way the Brits are making a lot of the mods they claim to make overnight and some of the repairs are just downright impossible. Hammond shears an axle on the Patagonia special, the other guys leave him behind, and several hours he somehow shows up and it's fixed.

The hot hatchback show from 2014 that they re-showed this week was especially bad with the obvious setups. Oh sure, Jeremy just happened to "accidentally" leave his keys on the roof while he put a velvet wrap on his car. And I'm sure Hammond tipped his car over all those times for real. Oh, and the giant magnet didn't affect Jeremy's car because ther was velvet on the rooftop? Please.

It's a great show and I love it, but it's gotten increasingly ridiculous and implausible.

I think that's the joke though. They know its improbable but they play it straight.

That's sort of how I see it. I'm cool with it.

 

[JaxBill]

PSA - This week's ambulance-related episode had me laughing so hard that I was crying.

 

[GroveDiesel]

PSA - This week's ambulance-related episode had me laughing so hard that I was crying.

Yeah, it was fantastic. Between Jeremy being wedged up next to the dummy boner and Hammond's ejection system, it was a great episode.