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Can "Top Gear" make it in America?

Wittpilot

Wittpilot

Warbird Guru
Im sure many of you have seen that America will have it's own version of Top Gear soon. And with that being said, it is going to suck...... or at least suck compared to the real Top Gear....

Like Leno said when he was on the show..... A show like that wouldn't work in America, you couldn't say anything because you would upset all the sponsors!

What's your take?

-witt
 
I feel Top Gear's success had really revolved around that uniquely intangible quality of British humour. It's the spice and style that's placed the show well apart from others in the genre.

American society has very different qualities of endearment, humour, and style. I hope the only thing they franchise from Top Gear is the name.

Now....(mind you), there was another TV show that did well overseas, and then came to North America to meet even greater success. They changed the name, and John Ritter, Joyce Dewitt, Suzanne Somers and Norman Fell portrayed humour and endearment in a manner that was completely America and beholden to nobody. You'd never know the show originated in the UK.

Let's see how Top Gear USA comes out. I'm keen.
 
Hey All,

Magoo how in the world could you forget Barney Fife??

Top Gear I think could work in the USA but only for those who have never seen the British version. If you've seen it no American version will match it.

My favorite Top Gear episodes are the GTR versus the Bullet Train (I love that car!) and of course the best ever when they try to farm petrol - so totally clueless about tractors - I laugh just thinking about it!

-Ed-
 
I liked the one where they tried to kill that Toyota Diesel pickup.
 
Would Top Gear work in America? I don't think so. Firstly...we don't have a single car in this country that is worth putting on the show. The New Camero? The New Charger? Please...utter rubbish on wheels compared to the cars those guys in the UK show and drive. The humor would be gone...America is so PC and so uptight that 98% of the stuff that makes the UK version a hit would be cut out by the censors or protested by the sponsors and every single ethnic/social/religious group in America. In comparison to the Brits, we Americans are nothing more than a bunch of Puritan retards...we simply don't have the innate ability to laugh at stuff the way the British do.

Now, I am an American by breeding (or is that inbreeding), birth, growing up....but I must say, Americans are simply dour sticks in the mud who take things too darn seriously and get their nickers in a wad when they should just tell reality to bugger off and have themselves a bloody good laugh.

OBIO
 
the only show that was copied by american tv (or even vice versa by ours for that matter) that i think was as good as/better than the orig was whos line is it anyway :)
 
We had an Australian version of the show...personally I wasn't fussed about that one either, it just didn't have quite the same silly but amusing aspects of the Brit version.
 
Can "Top Gear" make it in America?

Put simply...... NO

The presenters (Clarkson,Hammond and May) ARE Top Gear. The interaction between these guys is what makes TG so entertaining.
 
Top Gear presenters consistently refer to American cars (and culture) as rubbish - it would be hard to do that and then cut to flag waving commercials for Buick every two minutes. They would have to change the format, the content, the presenters, the language and most importantly - the cars. Having said that the presenters (and the BBC) would do anything for money so they would probably agree to all the demands of the network and the sponsors but it would be a very different show indeed and probably wouldn't last very long. I think Top Gear has just about run it's course now, it's become very formulaic, predictable and so obviously scripted it's just not funny anymore as you can see every gag and crash coming. Viewing figures are not what they were three or four series ago.
It's time to come up with something new.
 
My question is: why?

Why do we need an American version? Isn't the Brit version we already get on BBC-America okay?

I'm with you 100% OBIO, Americans are too uptight.

And the thing about most American humor (other than Andy and Barney Ed) is that our best comedians cannot be so without being vulgar and crass. The Brits have an innate sense of humor, sometimes quite dark, which I like. It's that quintessential part of Brit humor where "nothing is sacred" that attracts me, most Americans cannot deal with that part. I eat it up.

Caz
 
Cazzie said:
And the thing about most American humor (other than Andy and Barney Ed) is that our best comedians cannot be so without being vulgar and crass. The Brits have an innate sense of humor, sometimes quite dark, which I like. It's that quintessential part of Brit humor where "nothing is sacred" that attracts me, most Americans cannot deal with that part. I eat it up.
Click to expand...
If you like Brit humour Caz (or anyone else for that matter) you would get a kick out of listening to some of the radio comedy shows available online. Many of the great comedy TV shows started out on the radio and the UK has a fantastic tradition of radio comedy stretching back over 80 years.

Every evening I wind down before bedtime by listening to 3-4 radio comedy shows available on BBC7. They play a wide variety of shows from the 1930's to the present time and some have me laughing so hard I am in tears. As I know most of the shows I just use the 'Schedule' page to listen to that day's comedy shows but the link below lists all the current comedy shows available as internet streams.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/programmes/genres/comedy/current

I can highly recommend the following shows:

Hut 33 - Set in the top secret code breaking section of Bletchley Park during WWII.

Old Harry's Game - Set in Hell where Satan has problems with the day to day running of the place.

Red Dwarf - The radio version of the hugely popular TV series set in space.

Revolting People - Set in the USA in the late 1700's just prior to the Revolution.

Rigor Mortis - A comedy set in the pathology labs of a hospital where even autopsies have funny stories.

The Goon Show - Classic comedy at it's best thanks to Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe.

The Navy Lark - A comedy about the inept crew on a Royal Navy Destroyer in the 50's and 60's. Featuring a Captain who just wants to fish off the stern, a Navigation Officer who gets totally lost if you turn him around three times and a Chief Petty Officer who is running every scam you can think of (and then some!)

The News Quiz - A hilarious and totally irreverent take on the past week's news stories. Nothing is sacred and everyone in the news gets torn apart.

The Right Time - A sketch comedy about growing old in the 21st Century through the eyes of the silver hair brigade.

That lot should keep you busy for a few hours! :icon_lol:
 
What I like about Top Gear is that they are unabashedly, unapologetically, absolutely, BRITISH.

No doubt, some version of Top Gear would work in the states, but it would not be the same dynamic.

I think we all sort of agree on that.
 
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It can work in the U.S., but I think it will appeal mostly to people who don't watch the REAL Top Gear. I'll probably watch the premiere, but I doubt I'll like it as much.
 
At least the three hosts look, act and sound like real gear heads. Would have been a real downer if the hosts were some of those hoity toity champagne sipping Prima Donnas who take the 100% Concours restorations to those uppity car shows that don't allow muscle cars, loud cars or any car that is not smothered in fine hand tanned Italian leather, wrapped in some ubber rare exotic hardwood or that goes faster than 20 miles an hour. You know the type I'm taling about...those old guys who wear sweaters tied around their necks, ascots and other those other silly looking things that make me call them a name that is now not politically correct to call anyone.

OBIO
 
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