but i was talking about the more current format of the series that started with jeremy and richard and that jason guy, and then in season two, james may arrived. and yeah, i caught a few of the old top gear reviews on youtube. i can't believe i got bored watching tiff needell review the twin turbo mark IV toyota supra. that guy SUCKED.

 

Yeah, Tiff has no personality. Not sure how he lasted for so long. Jeremy is the undisputed legend though. Here's some classic Clarkson from 1993:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11sS5gk8EY (Nice hair!)

 

I actually like the selection of Carolla. He seems like he could be the dickish say whatever he wants kinda guy like Clarkson. (not that they compare)

One of my favorite episodes was when they crossed the english channel in a Nissan pickup, and I honestly cant see Leno or Seinfeld doing something like that. I think they would just rather sit around and talk cars rather than bash them and then go roll over an SUV for the fun of it.

 

well, jeremey is a great car fanatic, he has a huge depth of knowledge for cars and a tremendous personality, but after watching some of his specials, where it is just him talking about cars without james may and richard hammond...he was just kinda a blowhard and it isn't as good to watch without them putting eachother in their places on a regular basis.

 

Leno I can see, but the other two, would have to see it, but sounds like a flop. TOP gear ftw

 

You know what needs to happen?

We should have a Top Gear over here. It should basically be the same show. It doesn't need big name celebrities, it needs serious car guys (or maybe a car girl or two?) that have a sense of humor and on-screen chemistry. It needs to do American cars, and Top Gear needs to divy up cars it reviews between us and them. It needs to be a perfect mix of Mythbusters and Motorweek.

And do you know where it needs to be? Discovery Channel. Discovery is the perfect network for this. Face it, most of the demographic that can really enjoy Top Gear: America also enjoy at least one show on the Discovery network.

DO NOT try to make it a big name show on a big name network. The show almost requires it to have a certain level of wit and a certain level of controversial humor for it to succeed, and you just can't have that on a big network. Do not play to all of America, because all of America won't get it. Play to the Top Gear audience in America, and the American audience -only-, and you'll build a better fanbase than trying to stuff it down America's throat on prime time.

 

Double post what.

http://www.nbcumv.com/broadcast/rele...urengines.html

Adam Corolla, rally/stunt driver Tanner Foust, and carpenter(?) Eric Stromer are the hosts, and it's produced by a bunch of guys that do (hey hey!) Discovery channel shows.

I think it might not be absolutely awful, but it still has a huge mountain to climb.

 

I'll bring this one back from the dead to point out that Top Gear isn't really about cars. It's more about the interaction of the hosts. Sure they talk about cars but folks tune in to watch them banter, play jokes on each other, and do outlandish things. I still can't believe the Reliant Robin/Space shuttle project.

This formula has a hard time in the US market because this market is sponsor-driven, and it isn't just the show's sponsors that have a say. Let's say that the US Top gear does a piece on the Chevy Aveo and pronounces it "slightly better than the Chevette". Well that would anger GM and even though GM may not have a piece of the sponsorship of Top Gear they might threaten to pull sponsorship of other NBC programming. The word will come down from On High to lose the criticism.

The Australian show is interesting, but without the original hosts it will have to develop its own chemistry. They can't just have three guys playing Clarkson, Hammond, and May.

Leno may have been contacted, but there is no way that they could afford him. He's obviously not very much in favor of a US version of the show.

Unfortunately, US versions of British shows seldom surpass the originals. Scrapheap Challenge was ruined as Junkyard Wars because the producers tried to make it edgier, introducing conflict, angst, etc. to the mix. Max Headroom maintained its quality in the transition, but was killed by the network, probably because it was a bit too close to the truth.