Comments on: Is NBC’s Top Gear Really Dead?

By: Levi

Levi — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:43:13 +0000

A US Top Gear is going to be difficult to pull off.

Comedy:

The comedy of Top Gear is quite unique; something that would be hard to copy & get right. US versions of UK comedy shows have a habit of failing miserably. The Office did OK though, so it’s not definite failure.

Cool cars:

Lotus, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, koenigsegg, Ariel, Ascari, Spyker, Rolls Royce, Bugatti, Bently, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche. Are the makers going to stick with these car manufactures, or fill the show with more US made cars? I’m not saying all US cars are rubbish, just that the choice of good ones is much more limited.

Absurd, or large scale challenges:

Making a Fiat Panda into a stretch limo, turning a Renault Espace into a convertible, turing a Robin into a space shuttle, making amphibious vehicles or racing across Europe & driving to the north pole. Are these the sort of things that can be transfered to the US? How would they compare?

General Mayhem:

The caravan holiday episode, the growing petrol episode, trying to destroy a Toyota Hilux etc. What are they going to do on the US show?

Top Gear is probably the most universally loved show on UK television. It’s going to be nigh on impossible to match it, but I can’t wait to see it. Even if it’s only half as good, it should still be a good show.

By: ZACH OSIF

ZACH OSIF — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:01:48 +0000

im satisfied with grainy bootleg top gears on youtube.

any form of american network tv car show will include the following:
b-d list celebrity host
feature on ‘donks’
some time devoted to nascar
sole praise of straight line performance
sales pitches for crossover vehicles

…none of which need to be produced.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:31:51 +0000

Top Gear is one of the BBC’s most successful shows though, surely there’s something there for an American audience? Perhaps the reason it’s so successful here, can’t be transfered across the pond. I.e. the dynamic trio of Clarkson, Hammond and May and the humour they create. But most of the features; cool wall, star in reasonably priced car, the weekly smash something up section, or the many challenges and races, are all transferable? It wouldn’t be original, but surely this is just a repackaging project anyway?

By: TheCartorialist

TheCartorialist — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:46:05 +0000

@Trey - Right on the money.

By all means, make a show about cars, but an American Top Gear is not the answer. If the American audience was hungry for something like the format Top Gear offers, it would’ve happened years ago. And NBC doesn’t have a shot in hell in getting enough ratings for to lift and carry an entire season.
Some of the best TV shows in the world are American so I’m not critizing their ability to make television, but rather to make car television. When the two biggest shows on Discovery are about Choppers and Hot Rods and the biggest car related pastime is tailgating at Nascar events, then we all know that an American Top Gear is doomed, unfortunately.

By: Trey

Trey — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:16:18 +0000

There’s no “probably” to it, this is for the better.

We dorked up the automobile. Let’s not dork up a show about them.