- Jul 13, 2006
- 4,782
http://jalopnik.com/5108040/nbc-cuts-top-gear-usa-due-to-knight-rider-failure
Speed pick this up ASAP
Speed pick this up ASAP
Top Gear USA DOA
- Thread starter Kayvan
- Start date
Mullet
FORD GT OWNER
Top Gear by any other people than the three Brits would not be a "real" Top Gear. Their humor is what truly makes the show good.
I kinda feel I am like all three of those guys in one. :biggrin
I kinda feel I am like all three of those guys in one. :biggrin
Superfly
HERITAGE GT OWNER
:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup Absolutely agree!!
:lol You wouldn't happen to be from Clarkson Island by chance?? http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12549
nthfinity
Well-known member
I disagree. Much of Top Gear's humor is so blatently anti-US that we need a team of entertainers, drivers, and journalists biased towared US cars.
There is only so much Clarkson that one can take at a time.
not to say that I don't enjoy TG... but that show is so badly in need of the extentions (like TG Austrailia, and USA) to keep the show "fresh" ... the BBC version after 11 season's has seen better times... and IMO peaked in Fall 2005.
There is only so much Clarkson that one can take at a time.
not to say that I don't enjoy TG... but that show is so badly in need of the extentions (like TG Austrailia, and USA) to keep the show "fresh" ... the BBC version after 11 season's has seen better times... and IMO peaked in Fall 2005.
Kingman
GT Owner
Isaac, I agree......but what makes you think an American group of TV personalities would be any different than the self loathing American magazine journalists we have now? :bored
BlackICE
GT Owner
I don't think the Top Gear formula would work very well in the US. Let's see, bash German cars, especially those with hard tops and firm bottoms, bash Japanese cars with over 35% market share. The only things that the US media bash are US made SUV, truck and cars. There lies much of the problems with the sales decline in US autos! Maybe instead of a money bailout the big 3 would have better luck of the government passed the fairness doctrine applying to autos.
nthfinity
Well-known member
Most of that I won't respond to, I think plenty of others can and have already.
That said, when was Top Gear about the normal cars? We aren't looking for another Motor Trend TV, Car and Driver TV, or AMS TV.
The TG formula is exciting cars in exciting ways with over-the-top production, and ridiculous statements that have no basis in fact... just "fun" to say and repeat.
The TG formula is 3 entities who are quite different, and differing backgrounds... all, or mostly transformed into entertainers; and tire-smoke.
why would that not work in the US? most of the TG downloads are from people in the US as is
Exciting cars of the past... Subaru STi, Mitsu Evo VIII... what is leading the laptime boards now? The Cobalt SS... talk about the making of some nice TV time too? Absolutely in a TG fashion.
Herb, I think that is a very legitimate and worrying situation. This is why I think TG USA should have secured Jay Leno... a quintessential, and honest enthusiast... somebody that we are already willing to believe pretty much anything he says about cars already... and we want to see him. He is the kind of guy who could easily bring in non-enthusiasts into the fray of watching such a program; such is the case on BBC2 with Top Gear. It is the most watched because it is the most entertaining, and there is that connection the audience has that I'm not convinced either Tanner Faust or Adam Corrola have.
The formula is there, but not necessarily cut from USDA prime. TG Austrailia has their own natural Aussy bias, and the show maintains the rest of the formula... and is fun to watch.
Last edited:
Neilda
GT Owner
The advantage Top Gear has is that it does not need to pander to the wishes of advertisers - if the team want to slag off any car, they can do so with impunity. It's one of the reasons the show is so popular. I'm not convinced the format would quite so successful in other markets.
Kingman
GT Owner
Mullet
FORD GT OWNER
also, the "funny" stories they do are priceless. I just don't think Americans can pull that kind of humor.
soroush
Ford Gt Owner
- Aug 8, 2007
- 5,256
I dont know I think it could be very successful in the US market, however im on the fence about the possible candidate that will be in the show, Jay Leno would be great but how realistic is that? unless he does it out of pure enthusiasm it probably wont work out, the reason why top gear is popular is mostly due to Jeremy, you can watch the exact same show with someone else at the helm and it wont work, but the reason why I think it will be successful is because we are tired of watching the same lame tv car shows, like motor trend, or two guy garage, or hot rod tv, etc..... the new show with tanner is ok but far from top gear, plus top gear seams to have a very big budget compared to other car shows I doubt if the American version will be offered the same luxury. its time to find someone new for the show, that will be the most important decisions the producers will make.
Neilda
GT Owner
Jay Leno wrote this article in March this year....
"Like everyone in Britain I have long been a huge fan of the television show Top Gear, although we get it only sporadically here in America. You can find it on BBC America and occasionally it pops up at odd times on other cable channels. There have been rumours circulating that the show would eventually come to America. I hoped it would come with Jeremy Clarkson and the gang, but NBC seems to have bought the show and I got a call one day asking if I would be interested in being a part of it.
I do my show full time, and these programmes take a great amount of time to make, so right away I had my concerns about fitting it in. The general rule of television is that it takes an hour for every minute that you see on screen. My other fear is that the show will not be made by car people.
So someone calls me from the network and is clearly not a car person. He says: “You like cars, right?” I say yes. “Like, all kinds of cars?” Well, yes. I like all kinds of cars. Why? “Well, the network has bought the TV show . . . um . . . High Gear? Top Gear? Top Gear! Top Gear, yes. We know you like to build cars.”
I ask: what’s the plan for the show? “Well, like, one week you build a car that flies and the next week you make a car that goes under water.” So I said: you know you can’t build these things in a week.
In my mind I can just see Jeremy lambasting Americans for what they did to his show. So I think: I’ve got to run away from this as quickly as I can. So I tell him that, as much as I like the show, I try not to make my hobby my job.
I like the show just the way it is. Jeremy and the guys are extremely talented, so maybe it would be an idea to do an American show similar to Top Gear but not with the same name, because I think it would be impossible to recreate or live up to the standards of the British show.
Another problem for Top Gear in America is the biting humour and criticisms of the cars. My great fear in America is that, for instance, if Kia was our sponsor this week, we’d have to say the car was fantastic.
I said on The Tonight Show recently that the new Kia was available with a heated rear window, so if people needed to push it in winter they could keep their hands warm. Boy, the phones did not stop ringing. So imagine what Jeremy would have to put up with.
I don’t think you could be quite as freewheeling with your opinions as you can on the BBC, because sponsors pay for the programmes. Sponsors would be unlikely to embrace any criticism.
Americans don’t really see personalities like Jeremy on commercial television. They know that they have to be somewhat watered down. When Jeremy rips into some sponsor such as Ford or Chrysler, well, that’s the last time they sponsor that show. Then what you have is “the meeting” after the show, where they tell him to tone it down. That’s just not what they do at Top Gear.
Some British shows translate quite well here - The Office, for example. But with Top Gear I have such respect for the original show, I feel if they asked me to do it I would be a pale imitation of Jeremy...."
"Like everyone in Britain I have long been a huge fan of the television show Top Gear, although we get it only sporadically here in America. You can find it on BBC America and occasionally it pops up at odd times on other cable channels. There have been rumours circulating that the show would eventually come to America. I hoped it would come with Jeremy Clarkson and the gang, but NBC seems to have bought the show and I got a call one day asking if I would be interested in being a part of it.
I do my show full time, and these programmes take a great amount of time to make, so right away I had my concerns about fitting it in. The general rule of television is that it takes an hour for every minute that you see on screen. My other fear is that the show will not be made by car people.
So someone calls me from the network and is clearly not a car person. He says: “You like cars, right?” I say yes. “Like, all kinds of cars?” Well, yes. I like all kinds of cars. Why? “Well, the network has bought the TV show . . . um . . . High Gear? Top Gear? Top Gear! Top Gear, yes. We know you like to build cars.”
I ask: what’s the plan for the show? “Well, like, one week you build a car that flies and the next week you make a car that goes under water.” So I said: you know you can’t build these things in a week.
In my mind I can just see Jeremy lambasting Americans for what they did to his show. So I think: I’ve got to run away from this as quickly as I can. So I tell him that, as much as I like the show, I try not to make my hobby my job.
I like the show just the way it is. Jeremy and the guys are extremely talented, so maybe it would be an idea to do an American show similar to Top Gear but not with the same name, because I think it would be impossible to recreate or live up to the standards of the British show.
Another problem for Top Gear in America is the biting humour and criticisms of the cars. My great fear in America is that, for instance, if Kia was our sponsor this week, we’d have to say the car was fantastic.
I said on The Tonight Show recently that the new Kia was available with a heated rear window, so if people needed to push it in winter they could keep their hands warm. Boy, the phones did not stop ringing. So imagine what Jeremy would have to put up with.
I don’t think you could be quite as freewheeling with your opinions as you can on the BBC, because sponsors pay for the programmes. Sponsors would be unlikely to embrace any criticism.
Americans don’t really see personalities like Jeremy on commercial television. They know that they have to be somewhat watered down. When Jeremy rips into some sponsor such as Ford or Chrysler, well, that’s the last time they sponsor that show. Then what you have is “the meeting” after the show, where they tell him to tone it down. That’s just not what they do at Top Gear.
Some British shows translate quite well here - The Office, for example. But with Top Gear I have such respect for the original show, I feel if they asked me to do it I would be a pale imitation of Jeremy...."
soroush
Ford Gt Owner
- Aug 8, 2007
- 5,256
jay is the best option at this point, unless they have someone else in hiding. however, there is something to be said about copying a show, its never as good as the original except may for american Idol, never saw the brit version but Im pretty sure they couldnt even come close to the asian guy singing "she bangs, she bangs":biggrin
nthfinity
Well-known member
To me, a strong leader we already know would have been Jay Leno, or Jerry Seinfeld.
The line up they have is
Adam Corrola - Clarkson-like lead host
Tanner Faust - Hamster
Eric Stromer - who appears to know nothing about cars, and only got the job because he knows Corrola... kinda like James May.
Leno is too expensive for the show... his comments about commercial advertisements paying, vs the public fudning of BBC taking away journalistic integrity... since when has BBC2's Top Gear (new format) been about reviewing cars? It's about driving the piss out of them on excellent lenses, and fantastic cutting; and epic (movie) music... over the top production. In short, it's fun to watch... not what you base your next purchass on... most people don't buy cars in those supercar price ranges.
What's wrong with just buying the rights to publish the show here? Don't change it, just air it as it is. The show is popular because of the people in it, and the way they work it. Don't screw up a good thing. Any change would just dilute it and cause comparisons which would probably wind up in cancellation.
Neilda
GT Owner
Top Gear used to be about reviewing 'family' or 'ordinary' cars and was successful for many years - however the formula became tired and the most popular segments were always the testing of supercars. In the same way we watch thriller and horror films rather than needing to watch real-life documentaries. It's escapism or fantasy - a peculiarly human phenomenon. People don't want to watch a Volvo driven in a suburb and know how many bags of shopping it can contain - they want to see it being destroyed and then a Lamborghini go head to head with an Apache helicopter.
BlackICE
GT Owner
I think a lot of people would watch it, but what advertiser would support the show? Surely not US auto companies, nor the Japanese ones, since Clarkson always makes fun of them.
Neilda
GT Owner
GT38
GT Owner
Yesterday afternoon we spotted an orange bus (ok, a COACH, Neil) with Top Gear prominently displayed on the side. It was on I10 West headed towards Phoenix. We were going the opposite direction and only got a fleeting glimpse. It didn't have Top Gear's "gear" logo, but rather a sort of double swoosh with Top Gear in the middle. I haven't found anything on the internet that looks like the logo we saw. Does anyone know anything about either the BBC or the US version shooting in the SW US?