I am a big fan of the original show and watch it all the time. I don’t really like cars that much, to me it’s a comedy show that just happens to revolve around cars.
So there is an American version of this show now, and I caught an episode last night where they were driving a Land Rover and 2 other 4x4 vehicles to the grand canyon.
I didn’t like it. It’s the same format as the Brit version (people doing wacky things in cars), but it was just missing the quirky British humor that made the original so special.
I am not ready to write it off just yet, I’ll give it another shot or two, but I am not impressed so far.
I watch the British version primarily for the humor even when I’m not that interested in the specific cars they’re using that episode, which is often the case. The amphibious watercraft on the previously serene river is a perfect example.
I’ll only watch the American version when they’re showcasing a specific car I’m interested in. I don’t dislike the American cast but they simply have nowhere near the charisma and charm as their cousins to the east.
Yeah, I never really understood the purpose of the US version, except maybe to showcase US specific cars.
I’d bet that 90% of the audience tunes in to see their silly shenanigans and ridiculous vehicles while they do some sort of crazy road trip in some strange part of the world, and the 3 US hosts just don’t have the chemistry or humor that Clarkson, May and Hammond do, and that’s what makes the show work.
I’ve seen several episodes and it doesn’t have the spark the UK version does. The US versions’ pranks and picking on each other feels forced while the UK version it seems like good friends just hanging out and goofing around. Maybe it’s because they’ve been together for so long and that might happen with US version in the future.
I used to watch it (the British TG) before it was cancelled in 2001. Since it returned it has been a lot more attractive to the eyes, but hasn’t really helped an average motorist or company car driver. It now excels in jokey, manufactured activities. It also advertises very expensive cars very well. I do enjoy many of the specials and usually watch regularly, but I have a nagging feeling it’s raison d’être is just to entertain. It isn’t informative anymore, just subjective.
The trips are fun. Sometimes they go places rarely seen on American television. Like I think the most recent series involved a trip across Ukraine and another visited Burma. Plus some of the cars featured are ones not at all available in the US. Clarkson is of course the star, and the biggest blowhard, but all three of them are fun. Each brings something to the mix.
The US program, on the other hand, was boring. No chemistry whatsoever.
I like the way that they screw with each other on the trips- that’s the way good friends act around each other in those situations, and it’s all the more funny because they’re pretty intelligent and ingenious guys.
I watched the first episode and maybe the second when it first aired. I thought it was really bad and I haven’t watched it since. I didn’t even know it was still on the air. The British version is vastly superior in every way.
Hmmm it seems no one here likes the American version either…
A little hijack of my own thread:
On the British version, when they show the crazy contraptions, how much work do the guys actually do themselves? Specific examples would be the cars and trailers they converted to a “train”, the one where they had to build “off-road” motorized wheelchairs and had the race through rugged terrain against army vets. Are Jeremy, James, and Richard actually involved in building these things themselves? Or is all the work done by the Top Gear crew?
Ok… I guess I’ll have to be THAT guy. I like the American version. It has been on since 2010 so I must not be the only one. I’ll admit I find the British version funnier, but I still enjoy the US version. I often can relate more to the cars they are driving. I just watched an episode where they were driving three retro mods… a Shelby Mustang, a Camaro, and a Charger.
The last British one I watched they had “modified” some cars to be RV’s or whatever they are called over there (caravans ?). One was so tall that it blew over in the wind. It was entertaining but not really a “car show” which I prefer. I kind of doubt I’ll ever build a three story structure on a car so I can make fun of camping. I know the US version does similar things, but not as often it appears to me.
The one I’m watching now (DVR) is three SUV’s… no modifications, but a challenging trek.
Didn’t they do some of the bits from TG UK when they first started out. I seem to remember “Big star, small car” and the like. Now they seem to be only doing the long trek with a few contests between the guys.
I think that’s part of the attraction of the British version, “the News” where they sit around and make fun of car related news stories, and Jeremy is a pretty good interviewer in the reasonably priced car bits. And they cut back and forth between their weekly contests and the set pieces. Plus, I don’t think Adam(?) was all that good at the interviews.
Yes, the format of the American TG used to closely match the British version. It used to be filmed here in Orange County at the closed El Toro base where I got the chance to attended the taping of a few of the episodes. The cast is much funnier when the cameras are not running. I don’t know if it was the writers or if they just can’t act to a script, but I am glad they got rid of the stuff with the audience.
You should write that up in a letter and send it to the British TG guys. They periodically read letters people have written about how impractical the segments are. They then show a segment with some very practical, affordable car and do lots of fun things with it, like drive it off an aircraft carrier or storm the beach in a simulated marine landing.
I often wondered, and this is speculation, that the British show has greater appeal as the UK has a recent history of producing mainly specialty/luxury cars, as opposed to the “big three” mass production of the U.S. and Japan, or even Germany and France to a degree (they have luxury/perfomance marques, but also many mass produced economy cars) and so forth. So there is a culture and a body of auto critics that approach cars in a distinct and often peculiar manner!
I second that. I enjoy the American version, sometimes more than the UK version. I think the problem is people expect it to be the same show. Think of it this way - it’s a different show with the same name. There’s already the UK Top Gear on BBC America, so why have the exact same thing only with US hosts and on the History channel? It’s similar to another UK import, The Office.
The “humor” in the British Top Gear is often really, really bad. Like the Burma special, Jeremy Clarkson is so utterly befuddled by his lorry that he accidentally dumps the contents of the truck bed when he didn’t mean to. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, oh British humor, are you ever funny?
No, the real magic of the British Top Gear is that they almost always have a point of view, and while there’s some enjoyment from the antics of the hosts, the show’s strength is that they’re all car guys and they want to say something about cars.
The American version is all of the lame antics without anything to say. But I still watch it, mostly because I like seeing Tanner Foust unable to control his hooning.