[spacedogg]

As a friend of mine commented...they woudl probably get Leno to do the show.

Ugh.

While I do have respect for the Corvette Z06 and few select American cars...I fear the show may turn into 44 minutes of fluff advertising for GM, Ford and Chrylser domestics. The unique charm will be gone...unless they are able to find three charismatic driver/presenters.

I think each presenter should have a bias...ie. a guy who only likes American cars, another guy who likes Japanese/Asian imports and another bloke that only likes European cars. That way when they do comparison tests it will be a bit more evenhanded.

Then they could do a "Best used sports car for $5,000"...the American guy would bring a Mustang, the Asian guy will bring beater Nissan, the European guy would bring a beater Porsche or BMW. That would be fun to watch.

[spacedogg]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

I really hope they don't mess up how the Stig is portrayed. American remakes often lack the charm and appeal of the foreign originals, especially in television with the unnecessary suspense, censorship, and dumbing down of content. I also hope the reviews remain objective and its not just a elaborate 60 minute car commercial. They need to bash cars that have things wrong, not be positive to everything on 4 wheels like Fifth Gear.

Jay Leno might make an 'ok' choice... simply because he owns so many of the cars they might test drive so they won't be confined to only positive reviews by a auto company putting restrictions on their testing of the cars. I also wonder how much of the show would actually be about American cars, because them driving around in Saturn Skyy's and Pontiac Trans Ams would be a bit dull. Alot of the charm in the original version is seeing a car normally well beyond normal reach being thrashed and abused with the presenter laughing evilly while loving every bit of it.

+1

My thoughts exactly.

[vladinecko]

how do you know it's going to be americanized? i would hope they'd just re-run clarkson's version of it.

[vladinecko]

Originally Posted by Stinger

NBC will screw it up. Why? Look at the difference between the BBC The Office and the NBC The Office shows. The brits just have a more biting whit that just won't carry over to Americanized version.

i agree with you on everything but this. i have to say i was very skeptical about US the offce after seeing the UK version of it but after the first season (which was basically copy & paste of its UK counterpart) i really think they took their own direction and made it really good.

[poldim]

Who cares?






If you know about the show that probably means you download it and will continue to do so. If you dont, then you wont know what you're missing.

[neuzpeed]

Originally Posted by billspreston

Do you have any clue what you are talking about? You are siding with the networks on this strike? Writers are the driving force behind all TV shows & Films and they are constantly taken advantage of and manipulated. How would you feel if you did all the work while some douchebag network exec rakes all the profits. I'm not sure if you guys have noticed, but the quality of all modern media content (music, movies, television) has been declining at an alarmingly rapid rate due to all these massive corporations.

Man I hate them not because they greedy but because I am going to be missing my favorite show because of them!! How dare they postpone Jack Bauer... he's an american hero!.. haha well he is in jail so it wouldn't have matter either way. However, that JACK Vs. TONY script sounds like it will be one hell of a ride!! They need to hurry up and get paid so I can resume being a couch potato!

[JackMac]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

how do you know it's going to be americanized? i would hope they'd just re-run clarkson's version of it.

The press release indicates that it will not be the original BBC shows, rather it will be a remake shot here in the US.

My expectations are low right now, I don't see how they can create such an un-PC show for the US market. It will be watered down. Don't want to piss off the advertisers, now do we?

[sparkyg]

Remake, errrrr, it gonna smell like arse..

Another Iron Chef butcher job

[vladinecko]

so how does BBC manage to keep advertisers on board? they only insult car makers if you think about it. so a possible work-around would be to only advertise car-related products, not cars themselves.

[Chowbow]

I'd like to see it, but I'm not too sure how it will come out... What makes Top Gear good are the hosts. The cars are cool but it's the hosts and how they make it humorous and the things they do. Bad hosts will just turn into a boring show...

[Avery]

I will watch but will more than likely be let down. I guess if we compare the new show to a Motor Week and not to the true and original Top Gear then maybe it will be viewable. From the sounds of things BBC will be producing it so maybe that will help. The key as every one has mentioned is the host and the fact that ,unlike all American car show which has come before, they all have opinions which they voice.

[335i4u2nv]

sweet and the count down begins!

[E90SLAM]

If its the NBC re-make ones...I'm not gonna hold my breath and expect it to be as good as the BBC2 ones....

[nmulax]

Why can't they just buy the broadcasting rights for the real Top Gear? If American's can't take a snide comment or two, that's just pathetic. Hell, we do the same to the rest of the world.
Anything they try to come up with is just going to fall short of the true show.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by nmulax

Why can't they just buy the broadcasting rights for the real Top Gear? If American's can't take a snide comment or two, that's just pathetic. Hell, we do the same to the rest of the world.
Anything they try to come up with is just going to fall short of the true show.

+1

Plus, I wonder which three person they're gonna pick to host? Its difficult to find three ordinery blokes "cocking about something"!
Especially three person with that kind of character and chemistry together!

[lyndon_h]

Originally Posted by billspreston

Sweet, hopefully we Americans don't fuck it up!

I agree. We already screwed "The office" by remaking the British version.

[Seth_Horwitz]

Originally Posted by nmulax

Why can't they just buy the broadcasting rights for the real Top Gear? If American's can't take a snide comment or two, that's just pathetic. Hell, we do the same to the rest of the world.
Anything they try to come up with is just going to fall short of the true show.

+2.

As the original poster, and not coming back until today, I just assumed that we would get simulcasts of the British version. Now you guys have me all bummed. I agree 100% that all of the value in that show is in the hosts. These guys have been working together for years, and are journalists, so I doubt they can be replaced by 3 guys from Motor Trend who think they're funny. The BBC America version is still years behind the episodes they show in the UK, so I just assumed that NBC would have new(er) episodes. Serves me right for reading a press release on the Bloomberg ticker and not doing more research. (Sorry, it's been busy at work.)

[E90SLAM]

Will the US version have the "Top Gear cock-o-meter"???

[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by spacedogg

As a friend of mine commented...they woudl probably get Leno to do the show.

Ugh.

While I do have respect for the Corvette Z06 and few select American cars...I fear the show may turn into 44 minutes of fluff advertising for GM, Ford and Chrylser domestics. The unique charm will be gone...unless they are able to find three charismatic driver/presenters.

I think each presenter should have a bias...ie. a guy who only likes American cars, another guy who likes Japanese/Asian imports and another bloke that only likes European cars. That way when they do comparison tests it will be a bit more evenhanded.

Then they could do a "Best used sports car for $5,000"...the American guy would bring a Mustang, the Asian guy will bring beater Nissan, the European guy would bring a beater Porsche or BMW. That would be fun to watch.

tbh, if there has to be a celebrity, Jay Leno would probably be my first pick. I know, ugh.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

so how does BBC manage to keep advertisers on board? they only insult car makers if you think about it. so a possible work-around would be to only advertise car-related products, not cars themselves.

They don't. BBC television doesn't have commercials. Instead, everyone that has cable or satellite there pays an annual fee in addition to the cable bill.

Another reason the American version won't be up to par.

[voltron1011]

Does anyone remember the Americanized versions of Top Gear that they had on the Discovery Channel a few years ago? They were dreadful!!

[Dammmittt]

Hmmm...I guess we can only hope for the best and that it is close to as good as the original....I wonder if they're gonna have a new stig...