Top Gear USA -- The latest revision.

[Red coupe]

A brief in-car interview with the new hosts:
http://jalopnik.com/5682130/top-gear-us ... -motorweek

They got rid of Adam Carolla and that other guy and added the guy from Rescue Me and some large fellow. I still don't have much confidence in the show. I have a feeling they'll call every car they drive "AWESOME" and never share their true feelings for fear of pissing off an advertiser. Adam annoys a lot of people, but I imagined him giving honest if dry commentary.

Freedom of expression is what makes BBC's original Top Gear work. They even let Jeremy get away with making hilariously racist, homophobic, and sexist remarks.

And Jalopnik, with their deep tome of journalistic experience, wastes the interview asking the guys what they think of Jalopnik instead of getting details on the show.

I wish Carolla would have been on it. I have never been that big a fan, but I just started listening to his weekly car podcast "Car Cast" and I am finding it pretty damn good, it sounds like he would have made an awesome addition to the cast.

However, from listening to Adam's regular show I don't think they "got rid of him". He mentioned that he is under contract with NBC that prevents him from doing it. He said it would have been fun, but it couldn't be worked out.

[bigbadberry3]

Just a reminder to all, it begins tonight!

[IBCoupe]

Yeah, I'm gonna try to catch it.

[elwesso]

Adam Carolla is cool and all but I sometimes hate his voice. The only thing I would love to see him in is The Man Show. That was the best show ever with Jimmy Kimmel. After the 2 short seasons or so and after those 2 other guys took over (cant remeber names, Doug something), it sucked so many hairy ballsacks from hell. You can never replace the original.

^..sersly one of the best cars ever. wow

FACT... Man show>*... At least if the episode sucked, you could look forward to girls on trampolines!!

I get BBC America where Im at so I can watch Top Gear on TV which is killer sweet... Its hard to beat that, but I'll at least give it a try... Honestly I give them props for trying, theres really no comparable show in the US to Top Gear.. None of the car shows are really very entertaining except for Top Gear, I like the fact that you dont really have to be a car fan to watch top gear. For instance, if you sat down with your girlfriend and watched an episode of Top Gear, it would at least be manageable.. If you did the same thing with an episode of like Autoweek or something like that, HORRIBLY boring. I kinda like cars and that puts me to sleep.

If they dont try and copy the UK version and make their own name, then it will be fine... However, if it does suck I wont be surprised.. Everything about the car industry the US gets the worst of it..

Bottom line, in my opinion: Its all about the hosts, if that works out the show will be sucessful

[BusyBadger]

...and why is it on the History Channel?

Because that's what the show will be after a couple of more episodes.

[Razi]

...and why is it on the History Channel?

Because that's what the show will be after a couple of more episodes.

[HashiriyaS14]

From reviewers who have seen a few episodes already, I hear that around episode 3 the cast already starts to click noticeably.

I really want people to watch this so that the cast gets at least a couple seasons to get their act together. I think it has real potential, but no one watches it when it's still disjointed, we'll never get to see if it becomes good or not.

Look at the first few episodes of The Wire....crap. After that? Incredible.


Stick with it. I'm catching it On-Demand on Thursday morning.

[Jesda]

I'm watching it now. 25 minutes in. Rutledge Wood is a hoot; he really exceeded my expectations and seems like a natural fit for a car show. Tanner Foust seems like a nice fellow and appears to be one hell of a driver, but he doesn't seem to fit in to television, at least not on this level. His lack of charisma is apparent on a show with production quality this high.

BBC's Top Gear [the current version] replaced Jason Dawe with James May after one season, so maybe its not too late to replace Tanner, or maybe he'll loosen up.

That intro to The Stig was weak.

[Jesda]

Rutledge: "STOP!! STOP!! STOP!! Did you guys have lunch?"

Buzz Aldrin had a Saab Sonett!!!

[troskinatior]

I met tanner I really life. I always pictured him and a stuck up a** hole that only cared money, so with that image in my mine I never liked him. He was accually pretty fun to talk to and had some funny and intresting storys, but then later in the event he hit/spunout his competitor on perpose then I lost al respect I gained from him that day. And he is also super mona-tone and boring on tv/videos

[bigbadberry3]

No chemistry at all here, that was brutal. Back to the Walking Dead next week.

[Jesda]

Well, I give it a 5/10. Its pretty dry with potential. They should have made Tanner the Stig so we'd never have to see him. I'm looking forward to seeing commentary from Adam and Rutledge.

[orangeNblue]

Did anyone else feel as though they were watching a bunch of skater boys making awful jokes. Makes me feel kinda embarrassed to be American...they may be able to pull something out of their butts and make it work but from what I saw, it looks like they'll just leave it in there

[LocAL_anarchy]

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It'll never be as good as UK, but I will give it a chance. These US guys will need to get some passion in their commentary, not just blankly recite lines. It IS America, though, so the producers may hold them back. And I noticed the very first commercial was for Mercedes-Benz. So I'm guessing every M-B they showcase or drive will be the most awesome car ever.

The track layout looked pretty good. A little bumpy in the one part, but I'm curious to see what some of the more exotic supercars will do...

[the converted]

Episode 1, MEH. It was OK, nothing to write home about. Having seen all of the top gear episodes, it did take quite a while to get to the level that it is at now. It's tough to have the UK series as a ruler in that respect, so I'm willing to give them quite a bit of leeway for the first season. Having seen the dateline coverage with Clarkson saying how the genuinely loathe each other, it will take quite a while for that interaction to build, and possibly a few host substitutions. I'm hopeful, and will keep watching to see where it goes.

[Oatmealman]

I watched about five minutes of it and went back to watching the walking dead.The show was atrocious and I hope they cancel it.It make americans look like uneducated,dry,boring as f*** douche nozzles.

[IBCoupe]

I liked the snobby jerkishness of Tanner; it made a good foil for the other two guys, and you can already see, after the first episode, that Tanner's going to be the butt of many jokes.

He's obviously the most talented driver of the bunch, but I like that he's sliding into the "Captain Slow" slot. I'd be happy, however, if we didn't end up with a clone of the UK - I want to see their own individual personalities come out.

[tigersharkdude]

I was disappointed. IMHO they tried TOOOOOO hard at attempting the UK version

[Jesda]

I liked the snobby jerkishness of Tanner; it made a good foil for the other two guys, and you can already see, after the first episode, that Tanner's going to be the butt of many jokes.

He's obviously the most talented driver of the bunch, but I like that he's sliding into the "Captain Slow" slot. I'd be happy, however, if we didn't end up with a clone of the UK - I want to see their own individual personalities come out.

Foust has no personality at all. If you've ever seen him on Speed, he makes driving a supercar look boring. May on the other hand is stubborn about his fuddy duddy attitude and considers himself "above" his co-hosts, which makes for great humor.

If you've ever watched May's TV programs and specials, especially Man Lab, you'll find that he's the most enjoyable out of the three to watch by himself. Foust, on the other hand, makes Top Gear look like Motorweek. Even Motorweek, since moving to HDNet, has more interesting things to say about the cars they drive than Tanner Foust.

And he doesn't come across as snobby to me, just lifeless and afraid of being on camera.

[LocAL_anarchy]

Foust has no personality at all. If you've ever seen him on Speed, he makes driving a supercar look boring. May on the other hand is stubborn about his fuddy duddy attitude and considers himself "above" his co-hosts, which makes for great humor.

If you've ever watched May's TV programs and specials, especially Man Lab, you'll find that he's the most enjoyable out of the three to watch by himself. Foust, on the other hand, makes Top Gear look like Motorweek. Even Motorweek, since moving to HDNet, has more interesting things to say about the cars they drive than Tanner Foust.

And he doesn't come across as snobby to me, just lifeless and afraid of being on camera.

Exactly. The UK guys themselves ARE snobby, but mixed with their persona, intelligence, and on-screen presence, it works well. I doubt Clarkson's met a camera he didn't like...

[ADDirishboy]

Watching it right now. On the section of Foust testing the Lambo. This is actually painful to listen to.

The rest of it hasn't been awful. It's not as good as the UK version, obviously. But I quite like Adam and Rutledge.

[Jesda]

Mr1der should host. Rutledge Wood might be the closest thing.


I can sit here in my boxers and write hours of hilarious dialogue. I dont understand how they got it so wrong.

[ADDirishboy]

USA Today Headlines: Brown man on interwebs, known as Jesda, is hired to be writer for popular TV show Top Gear.

[sbird1]

Episode 1 was better than I was expecting. I did laugh quite a few times at their antics. The Viper vs. Cobra thing was pretty cool. I think the show actually has pretty good potential to become better.

EDIT: The only part I found painful was the Buzz Aldrin part. Tanner Foust does not seem to do interviews nearly as well as Clarkson.

[Jesda]

The interviewer was Adam Ferrara. You'd think they would have prepared better questions for a man who went to the freaking moon.

[krash]

The interviewer was Adam Ferrara. You'd think they would have prepared better questions for a man who went to the freaking moon.

I got Matt Ferra and Adam Ferrara mixed up. I was like, wow, that guy moved up FAST.

[Empty V]

Matt Farah is a fag, plain and simple. I feel sad in the pants when I think that we share a last name.

I was at one of the Tapings with 3 other friends down in Irvine. When we found out that we'd be stuck in a room listening to people talk about a video we couldn't see we walked out and grabbed a beer. All of us figured it wouldn't be worth our time. I DVR'd it and will probably disappoint myself by watching it tonight.

[MellowZ32]

Top Gear USA wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
I've been saying for years now. Tanner Foust is a horrible commentator. He has the charisma of a damp rag.
Adam Ferrara was somewhat entertaining and I didn't think much of Rutledge Wood.
I'll be watching it again next Sunday.

[PEZi]

Top Gear must hire Greg, Jesda, and Pezi!

Yes!
Jesda will go on about weird features on the cars he's driving, Pezi will do some cool powerslides, and Greg will whine about how the suspension is too stiff for his back.

i will refer to this as needed as this thread progresses.....

[Mr1der]

Mr1der should host. Rutledge Wood might be the closest thing.


I can sit here in my boxers and write hours of hilarious dialogue. I dont understand how they got it so wrong.

how about I write and you host in your boxers?