Top Gear

Most likely, all of the folks from the US on this forum are going to be like "I have no idea what this is"... but for the rest of the world, I'm sure we've all heard of this show and 99.99% of us like this show... the other 0.01% must not own a TV or watch video on their internet or... are blind deaf-mutes...


You know, Top Gear is so entertaining that I would actually buy the DVD season sets if they weren't DVD and were Blu-ray instead... Anyway, I was just wondering how many of us here are actually aware of this show, and if so, like it...

The best automotive show... in the world [/Clarkson]

We get it here in the US on BBC America, but we're always about a few months behind on episodes. Internet fixes that of course.

I have seen it, comes on here alot

I have seen it and I like it, but I wouldn't say I "love" it. However there was no "like" option so I was forced to choose "love it".

One cannot simply like Top Gear.

Arrr..... The Stig, Captain Slow and the Hamster, The next best export after the Doctor... Clarkson... We can't get rid of....

http://twitter.com/#!/Robert66jr

My brother is a big rev head, so its a bit unavoidable. But, its not like I hate it. I think its quite enjoyable at times, even though I don't really know what they talk about.

I've watched a few episodes but didn't think it was anything special, most of the time I'm jealous of them for having such an awesome job of trying out cool cars

It's funny, I really don't have much interest in cars at all and normally wouldn't care either way, but Top Gear is still a lot of fun to watch.

i love top gear, but, they need to release new episodes, im kinda getting tired of the same repeats over and over :/ still a fantastic show though

Seeing the Stig's Fat American Cousion, Stigs lion cloth wearing African cousion.... if Top gear did an a show down under, Why Stig's Ozzie Cus is like....

http://twitter.com/#!/Robert66jr

There was a Top Gear Australia one year and they had their own Stig...



...who is pretty much exactly like the UK Stig.

Oh man, you just reminded me of that episode - I was cringing and laughing at the same time through the whole thing. The charity not accepting Clarkson's Camaro was absolutely hilarious too.

I know crap all about cars and I enjoy this, but I don't watch it all the time

I'm more interested in motorcycles.

I think out of all of there adventures to far away places, their best and most epic one was their recent visit to South America... that was by far the best episode so far. Though the North Pole one was pretty cool... and their track through Africa (OLIVER!!) was pretty cool too XD ...but nothing beats the feeling of nervousness I got watching them going through the freaking Amazon and then into high altitude... I was so glad they actually gave up and went back down the Volcano. There's no way they would've made it if they kept on going.

There is now an American version of Top Gear. I watched the first episode last night on the History Channel. Yep, it's on the History Channel. Seems more like it would have been on Discovery or even the Science Channel, but whatever.

I discovered Top Gear a few months back when it came on BBC America after Gordon's Kitchen Nightmares, which is another British show I enjoy. Anyway, I was hooked on Top Gear immediately. Jeremy Clarkson's description of the segments for the episode during the opening credits was so off the wall and funny that despite not being a car guy at all, I just had to see what the show was about. It did not disappoint. Quite the opposite, actually. It was AWESOME!

Clarkson, Mays and Hammond are great. Even when they are just in the studio talking, they are fun to watch, but the segments where they go out on the road and do challenges are pretty much my favourite thing on TV right now. (You know, speaking of a British show, I just realized that it's kind of odd that I'm an American that uses the "u" in many words which is a British thing. Might as well point it out since I just did it talking about a British show and I'm an American and all that. I just thought it was kind of funny. It comes from when I was in Middle School and I read the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis and the Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. I've been spelling things with the "u" ever since.)

Anyway, I heard about Top Gear America last week. It premiered this past Sunday. I was skeptical it would be any good, but as much as I love the British show, I had to set my DVR for it. The segments are the same and they have a Stig. But what of the Hosts? The British guys are great and really what pulled me into the show at first, the Americans... not so much. They aren't bad, not at all, but they don't have the same natural charisma that, in particular, Clarkson has. Now, a part of the fun of the British show is the way they hosts play off of each other. They've worked together for a while and have a certain chemistry. They play off of each other well and it's obvious they really enjoy working together. This may be something that will take a little time for the American Top Gear hosts to develop. At the moment, they don't really have it and it seems obvious they aren't as comfortable working together as their British counterparts.

I still remember when I caught the first episode of Mythbusters. You knew immediately that Adam and Jamie were something special. Even though when I caught the British Top Gear they had been on for a while already, they still had that intangible quality that draws you in.

The American Top Gear guys, not so much, but looking them up on IMDB, none of them have a whole lot of experience as Host. Adam Ferrara is a comic/ actor, so at least he does have some experience on camera. He seems to be the Clarkson of the bunch, but played the hosting very straight. He didn't mess around the way Clarkson does, which is odd being that he is a comic.

Tanner Foust is Hollywood stunt driver... possibly a formula 1 racer, too... I don't really know, but at least he knows his stuff car wise and seems likable enough as host.

Rutledge Wood is... well, I can't find anything on him. His only other credit on IMDB is "Countdown to All-Star." Whatever that is.

The hosts aren't bad, not at all, but none of them has that quality, whatever it is, that draws you in and makes you really want to see what they do next. The segments are good, but you don't really care about the person doing the segment. It could be be anyone, really. Hopefully, in time, they'll grow on me.

Conan O'Brien wasn't funny for three years, after all.

Now, the segments are great. If you watch the British show, you have an idea of what they are about. "Stars In Reasonably Priced Cars" made the transfer from Britain, but the name was changed to "Big Star, Small Car." Not really sure why they changed the name. I like the British name better. In fact, I would go so far as to say I don't really like the American name for the segment. It's the same exact segment, though. Famous person comes out, talks a bit, then we see them on the track. Astronaut and politician John Glenn was their first Star to take to the track. He wasn't that interesting during the interview, but the man was part of the first moon landing and punched out a reporter that called it a fake. I think we can forgive his less than spectacular interview, all things considered. Adam Ferrara wasn't the greatest interviewer either. Another host possibly could have gotten more out of the segment.

One thing I do like is that their test track segments have a graphic in the corner of the screen that tracks the progress of the car running the track. It's a nice addition and one thing I wish the British version had.

Also in the first episode, they equipped a Dodge Viper with a system to register hits like the old Laser Tag game that was popular a few years back. Their foe? An Apache Helicopter. I think it was an Apache, it was a military helicopter and whatever the case, it was one badass piece of "I'm going to blow you the hell up!" Tanner Foust drove while Rutledge Wood was the navigator and the challenge was for them to race across town an back without getting three registered hits from the helicopter.

It was a good segment, but not as good as Clarkson testing out two cars as the Irish Military used the same system and fired at him at an old Urban Warfare training facility, which aired on BBC American just the day before.

I have to say that the thing I do really like about the American show is that I get the references they make. One of the drawbacks of watching a show from another country is that you don't always get some of the cultural references or references to people famous in the country the show is from. Rutledge Wood compared the Viper to something, I can't remember off hand what he said, but at the time, I completely got what he meant. Often one of the British host will compare a car to something that I have no clue about so the reference is lost on me. It would be like me comparing someone on one of those singing competition shows to a local singer.

Overall, I did like the American version of Top Gear. It was fun and enjoyable, even if it has something missing, I think it can develop over time. I can't wait until next week! And in the meantime, I have a bunch of episodes of the British Top Gear on my DVR! So, Bob Happy Lion!

There's been an Australian Top Gear for awhile now but I've never been able to get into it at all. The hosts just don't seem very likeable at all... that and most of the cars they talk about are no where near as interesting as the cars featured in British Top Gear.

I'mnot sure if it is or isn't... but I think the Australian version got cancelled... at least I think it did since I haven't heard about it for a long time and it doesn't seem to be advertised anywhere anymore.

Crazy segments aside, it is the hosts that make the show awesome. The American hosts are likable enough, I find, but not to the point that I would care if any of them were to be replaced... I wonder if Tory Belleci is a car guy. lol

I really think that's whats missing from the show. They just need the one guy that has "it" to bring the audience back week after week. Hammond and Mays are likable, but Clarkson really is the personality of the show. Any two of the American guys would be good with a third that had that over the top awesomeness that Clarkson brings to the show.

Maybe Jay Leno should have gone off to host the American Top Gear instead?