Horrible reports of a US Top Gear (again)
 

:-( This is terrible.

It is bad news, they will ruin the show. But for some reason i can see Jay Leno being the main presenter. He has a love and passion for cars and is leaving the tonight show this year.

that would be good choice....

They were also going to make a version of another great British TV show, The IT Crowd, but it's been cancelled. So who knows what is going to happen with this.

What can they ruin? UK TG will stay the same and we will be watching it like before, won't we?

I have faith. the British TG won't, I imagine, be sullied by the US TG. I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Australia already attempted at loosely "copying" the TG format. And it sucked. I hope the American's don't learn this same lesson the hard way. I was actually embarrassed for the presenters; watching them attempt to mimic the British presenters. Doing that puts you almost at the bottom of the journalistic-barrell IMO. :?:

Top Gear only works because we love the presenters. We'll watch anything with one of them in it. Okay fine the cars have a lot to do with it as well, as an American I don't really need to see whats hot from Dodge, I'm interested in seeing what I wouldn't get to see otherwise, and hear JC say something outlandish, and watch as Hamsters mind deteriorates, and listen to Cap'n Slow mutter obscure checklists off before he starts a car. Jay Leno? is he willing to put his Stanley Steamer into a four wheel drift?

Copy is always a copy and in this case it will most likely be a bad copy.

i'm not really supporting it but they did it with xfactor(american idol) and look at that but then again thats a whole another ballgame.

X factor's content is more the contestants, not the presenters.
As much as the cars are a significant feature of Top Gear, it's the story built around them to create a segment, and the presenters themselves that make the show. Without this... it would be, well, fifth gear? :-D

yeah i watched a couple of the 5th gear episodes and wasnt impressed. i do like tiff but thats no reason to watch the program.

they will probably get some shitty nascrap driver to be the stig.

^
And will be talking about how great and economical american cars are.

actually it will be a comical Motorweek. BORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING!

It will be a total disaster, Top Gear just won't be Top Gear, without JC, The Hamster, and Captain Slow. It will end up like Motorweek on PBS. Hopefully it will go by the wayside like Viva' Laughlin, and Anchorwoman. 1 episode and then canceled. Even though I am an American I have to agree with the guys on TG that we just can't make a proper car. Hell, I have a Monte Carlo with a 3.4 liter engine that boasts a huge 170bhp and 17mpg. Whoopee, Jeremy got the Audi A8 TDI to get 40 mpg and run 800 miles all that with a 326bhp 4.2 liter engine and twin turbos. 99% of American cars are rubbish. As I fear the American version will be.:-(

While I agree that the show will proably be rubbish since its hard to manufacturer lightening a second time, I think this statement overlooks an important point. 99percent of all cars everywhere are rubbish. The percentage doesnt change no matter what country you go too so anywhere would have to show cars worldwide.

edit: the italians have fiat, the germans have volkswagon , the brits have jag.. need i go on with the crap brands we all want to pretend dont exist.

I would not mind to own some crappy VW Paethon W12 or Jaguar XKR :-D

American Top Gear
 

Sorry You won't replace May Hammond and Clarkson even if you tried.

They should be granted sainthood for bringing us the incredible UK Show Top Gear.

Remember Pop Idol moved to the US with Simon and American Idol. AMERCIAN IDOL SUCKS!

Which is why we watch UK Top Gear. The caliber of the show is so much more than what is possible here in the US.

God Bless Top Gear!

Аctually I would't mind almost any volkswagen - most of them are great cars, maybe a bit expencive, but great. Shure some of them have a rubish drive, but the bild quality is allways very good, as in all the german cars. Maybe with the exeption of Merc, witch was poisoned and spoiled by the american Chrysler.

And what Im saying have nothing to do with the fact that Im living in Germany now)

I dont know if I agree with that. While the golf itself has a good reputation, VW has a long reputation for rubbish long term reliability. Don't confuse initial build quality with reliability and quality. Unless the US sold VWs are different I know quite a few people that wont go within 10 feet of one. Mercedes' down fall predated Chrysler, at least if you ask my uncle a former Merc mechanic.

But I digress.. One could make this same quote
About the premier car in almost any manufacturers lineup. The W12 sold for crap and the XKR has reliability problems.. That being said.. similar to the corvette for gm, the gt for ford, the viper for dodge, etc... Youd be lieing if you didnt say youd take that one car.

But that doesnt make up for the xtypes, the rabbits, the bugs, the stypes, the neons, the camrys, the fusions, and the cavaliers of the world. They still exisit and we still ignore them which was really the point of this dicussion. No matter which company makes them, they are still crap. Thats the average car buyer, whether you want to realize that or not.

The average american car is a camry.. the average european car is what? a mondeo? Yeah big jump there...

i think instead of them making another top sloppy, why dont they pay the bbc rights to broadcast top gear here in north america.

they do... its on BBC America. i watch every sunday at 8pm

SBS is having a stab at making an Australian version of top gear, and unlike the American one it won't be a complete sellout. I've applied to host, shooting begins at the end of April, it'll be out near the end of the year.

Apparently it's got a nice budget, and if i can get the gig i assure you it won't be garbage. If, on the other hand, they go with a "usual suspect" like Grant Denyer, then i will personally fire-bomb their studio to save the TG name. :P

good luck on being hired!

but joke or not... firebombing threats on a forum isn't good form :thumbdown:

I agree 100%. If "Gear" is to succeed then they need to search long and hard for the perfect presenters or the show is doomed

It's just there to test the NSA's system for monitoring every single transmission in the world. They do, you know...

George W Bush Terrorism Bomb 9/11!

Get back on topic and take the GWB statements somewhere else or I will be forced to close this thread

You people aren't up on your conspiracy theories, are you? Lighten up already! :p

Ok, on topic...

Uuummm, right, the American version, "Gear".

Looks to be hopeless, eh? Unless it's hosted on PBS, it'll be hard for them to resist the cash-waving of the car companies. Since NBC has the rights, and they've already dropped the "reality TV" phrase, it is all but doomed. Expect it to be hosted by former reality show contestants (you know, qualified people, like winners of big brother...).

For the Australian version, i want to be partnered up with a summernats enthusiast (ie, ute owner), and maybe someone with a background in design. Ah, the fun we'll have at each other's expense.

Speculation: Jay Leno or Jerry Seinfeld to host US Top Gear

these are the people i would call to take the spots of the EUR Top Gear in America...

Jay Leno - Jeremy Clarkson
Tim Allen - Richard Hammond
Jason Priestley - James May
Rhys Millen - The Stig

just an idea, all of them are car guys and they can all drive the piss out cars

Jay or Seinfeld would fit that bill nicely... as would Tim Allen~ perspective JC
Ryan Secrest~ ug... kinda pop like... kinda gay.... kinda Richard Hamster, including in physical stature (small) --- could easily be the outsider view
some 'well spoken gentelman' who fancies cars

Robbie Gordon as the Stig :thumbup:

It's just too bad that the ones on BBC America are from a season or two ago and are sometimes edited a bit. One time when they aired the one with the FQ-400 feature they left out the top gear drag race against the cheap diesel rental car (which of course the torqueless FQ-400 lost) as not to offend. They also did that same bit of editing when they showed them on the Discovery Channel. lame.

couldnt deal with seinfeld... to much of a comedian

fuck ryan seacrap. he is infecting everything now. i just want to smack that stupid smile off his face. stick with american idol shit


like i said, Jay Leno, Time Allen and Jason Priestley

Amen! :thumbup:

Agreed! :-)

The Stig couldn't be a NASCAR driver. all they know how to drive is left...:mrgreen:

hell the track will probably be a oval track if they do that... most americans wouldn't know what to do if they saw someone turning left and right on a race track.

they'd be like
"what's he doing, Ethel?"
"why is he jerking that car around?"
"where are the high banks and what the hell is a lam---bo---genny?"


i'm not the biggest NASCAR fan if you didnt notice...

Wow, you do realize that Robby Gordon is better known as a Baja legend right? Let's not forget that he is also a former Indy car racer. He's proven himself to be more than capable in events such as the Dakar Rally. Also, as far as NASCAR goes, he's one of the "road course aces." He can more than hold his own against the likes of Ron Fellows (my other favorite driver) in a stock car. What's more though, is that he has professionally driven just about every type of race vehicle known to man and, therefore, would be more flexible than most race drivers who have spent most of their careers in one specific type of car on one type of surface. He would make a great test driver for the myriad of cars (and perhaps events) thrown at him.

It looks like you left out a "not" in your sentence.

Please. You don't even know who Robby Gordon is. He's pretty much done everything short of F1. Open wheel, Sports car, Dakar... He's a Jack of all trades.

And NASCAR drivers are quite talented.

thanks... I inserted the "not" (its 2am)

i'm just saying that it should be an unknown. i suggested Rhys Millen. he is known by his dad and his drifting but not to the mainstream public. we shouldnt resort to anyone that would be a celebrity(hence NASCAR drivers). you pop in robbie gordon in as "The Stig", he mine as well don't even put a helmet on.

^It's not like what we think will actually happen. I'd rather not have any non-UK Top Gear. And I know who the Millens are. We all probably do anyways. Robby Gordon's pretty popular, but he's not one of the "mainstream" NASCAR drivers like Jeff or Jimmie Johnson. And the Stig only worked because his very existence was a joke. I'd be very much happy if they just had Robby Gordon as himself doing lap times for the US show. More so than having a US Stig.

the great things about "The Stig" is that you cant be bias against him. you dont know his background and you dont know what he has raced in, you just know he can kill the track everytime he gets in the drivers seat. thats why he has the best track time of any driver on Top Gear.

Then they shouldn't bother with the Stig. The Stig should remain in the UK version only. And your argument is absurd. You're saying that if we don't know who the Stig is, his track time will be best. It doesn't matter if we know who the Stig is or not, as long as he sets consistent lap time. The secrecy behind the identity of the Stig just makes us think that he's the best driver for the job. Whatever we think shouldn't affect the performance of any professional driver.

Yea, Robby would make a great Stig. There's no reason he couldn't keep his identity a secret. He isn't high profile enough to be stalked by the NASCAR press. People are used to him flying back and forth all over anyway. Nevertheless, it's not likely to happen. Also, I don't find myself biased against a test driver unless he seems to be driving poorly (perhaps on purpose to make a comparable car look better). Just watch Best Motoring or some such show for examples . . . oh I missed the apex . . . 4 times and then went way wide . . .

then you might as well call the show "Fifth Gear"...

Fifth Gear's problem is not that we know who Jason, Tiff, and Vicky are. Its problem is that it has a small time slot, limited funding, and lame (when it comes to the funnies anyway, they're good on track) presenters.

Call it whatever you want. The UK Top Gear cannot be replicated to the same level of greatness. He makes a good point. There isn't a terribly good reason for the US to have its own Stig. I'd still like to see a Stig though. However, I'd rather just have NBC or some network just broadcast current Top Gear as it is shown in Britain. Maybe, they can put something else in during the British celebrity interviews if they feel it's "too British."

i just think if they do a US version of Top Gear. it will be a disaster. it will probably be a hugely funded Fifth Gear then...:laugh:

Somehow I don't see US Top Gear getting the same "huge funding" as the original version.

the thing about taking "The Stig" out of the equation. your taking out one of the things that everyone loves about the show. its like taking out geroge from seinfeld or curly out of the three stooges. its just not the same but then again its a copy.