"American Top Gear To Go "Celebrity Direction""

[devil500]

Two guys I would not mind if they would be not biased

[superchevy]

thread merged.

[superchevy]

this is great news! jay leno?! woohoo!!!

i completely forgot about jerry seinfeld. he is indeed a well known porsche enthusiast. he's got over 40 porsches, and it's one of the largest porsche collections in the world. and i recall there being some broohaha with his neighbors over seinfeld wanting to build a multi-million dollar garage in nyc for his collection.

they've got to have atleast one automotive journalist though. although jay and jerry probably know more about cars than 90% of writers across the globe, the show still needs the perspective and impartiality of a reputable journalist.

"jay & jerry" has a nice ring to it too.

wiki exceprt on seinfeld's porsches:

Seinfeld is an avid automobile enthusiast and collector and is rumored to own one of the largest Porsche collections in the entire world. He rented out an entire hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, in Santa Monica, California, for an extended period of time during the 1990s, for storage of some of the vehicles in the collection. After his return to New York City he was involved in an extended dispute with several neighbors over the proposed building of a $1.4 million multi-story garage to contain the cars.

A current tally puts Seinfeld at 46 Porsches. Reporter Paul Bannister reports that his collection includes Porsche 911s from various years, 10 Porsche Boxsters each painted a different color and the famous, some would say infamous,1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, the same model and pearl-grey color that actor James Dean was driving when he crashed and died in September 1955 near Cholame, California. The centerpiece is a $700,000 Porsche 959, one of only 268 ever built. To his initial despair, he was not allowed to drive it as US emission and crash tests were never performed because Porsche refused to donate four Porsche 959s for destruction tests, rendering the car "not street-legal". He imported the car "for exhibition purposes", which stipulates the car may never set rubber on American roads.[22] The car was made US street legal in 1999 under the "Show or Display" federal law.[23][24] In several episodes of Seinfeld, Seinfeld drives a Saab 900 (NG) convertible, but a Porsche-themed painting, depicting a Porsche 904 GTS race car competing in the 1964 Targa Florio race in Italy, is visible on a wall in his apartment, as well as a Porsche racing poster featuring a 550 Spyder depicting the 1958 Targa Florio. In another episode, he is seen hiding behind a red Porsche 911RS parked on the street. In addition, an issue of Excellence, a Porsche-centered publication, is featured prominently on an outdoor magazine rack in one episode and on at least one occasion he is seen reading an issue of Road and Track magazine from circa 1990 with a cover article on the Porsche 964. He also wrote an article for the February 2004 issue of Automobile, reviewing the Porsche Carrera GT. For the story he was awarded Road Pest - Silver at the 2004 International Automotive Media Awards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_S...Car_collection

why are y'all complaining about seinfeld not being a petrolhead and only keen on porsches? james isn't someone i would consider a "petrolhead", and hammond barely qualifies. and i'm sure seinfeld's automotive prowess extends beyond just porsches. porsche just happens to be his favorite make, and that doesn't mean he is clueless about other automotive subject matter. and james is really the only average joe of top gear uk. clarkson was established prior to the show. richard is a metrosexual, and that couldn't be further from an average joe. james is the only one of the three that is mechanically inclined, and i think any proper petrolhead should be. americans love the mechanical aspect of automotives. that is evidenced in all the technical jargon and the in-depth numbers and statistics of our tv programs and automotive magazines. jay & jerry should both do a fine job of appeasing the mechanical lust of the american automotive enthusiasts.

as for "living up to top gear uk's humor"... this will be an american show. just like alot of you put us americans down for not appreciating jeremy's anti-americanism, we americans can now say the same to the rest of y'all, "it's an american show for an american audience." it'll have an american sense of humor, will probably be filled with a ton of technical info, and most importantly it will have accurate statistics (unlike top gear uk). i don't want top gear usa to be a carbon copy of top gear uk. what would be the point?

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by epp_b

EDIT: Dang it, just saw the post on FG's front page. Quiky/Viper/whoever, merge this with the appropriate thread, if necessary.

Merged with existing thread.

[Acoustic Nuisance]

I just wonder if Leno and Senifeld would be too big.

They wouldn't be able to mingle with the public the way the original TG crew does.

However, that being said....

Clarkson, Hammond and May all seem to do all kinds of stuff for the BBC so I really don't know how recognizable they are in Europe.



How about Steve Magnante?

[bafranksbro]

Originally Posted by Acoustic Nuisance

I just wonder if Leno and Senifeld would be too big.

They wouldn't be able to mingle with the public the way the original TG crew does.

Have you seen any of the new Tonight Shows since the writers strike? Jay interacts with the audience as a segment now, like he did before, the only difference now is that it's not scripted when he does so since they have no one to write the scripts.

EDIT: On another note related to Jay, you've got to take a look at this video of him setting up one of his steam cars to drive.
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...tml?vid=188720

[starfox07]

Tim Allan?

He's definitely a car guy, has the bravado (real or imagined) of Jeremy, and has a pretty good racing history. He can be pretty funny too.

[InfernalVortex]

Originally Posted by starfox07

Tim Allan?

He's definitely a car guy, has the bravado (real or imagined) of Jeremy, and has a pretty good racing history. He can be pretty funny too.

I think you're on to something here... It's Tim Allen, though.



Im now starting to think it's kind of a shame that it's an unfounded rumor. A show with Seinfeld, Allen, and Leno would be pretty good. They have different styles of humor than any of the british guys and from each other, but when you get em on a mock-improv type show to just do whatever, I bet it could work pretty well and wouldnt be all that much different from Original TG.

[MattD1zzl3]

Originally Posted by devil500

Two guys I would not mind if they would be not biased

A big part of the top gear formula is the bias, i wouldnt mind a little american bias to annoy the rest of the world .

This isnt international friendly hour, its [s]top[/s] gear!

[GTV V6]

From a UK Perspective, I think Jay Leno would be a front runner. He already has close links with Clarkson through the Times, he writes the headline article when JC is on holiday.
From a personal point of view I really like the guy, he seems very grounded and knowledgeable, I've trawled through nearly all of "Jay's garage" and he comes over as a complete petrol head.
Obviously I haven't seen the tonight show so I haven't seen him "working".

If they do go with JL, I can see the show being different to the UK version in that there is someone who actually knows what he's on about from experience, the UK team sometimes come over as not having too much knowledge about cars but a deep love of them.
Neither of these points are a bad thing. If the 2 shows were identical, there would be no variety and that's the spice of life (I'm a bit philosophical tonight)

What I'm really worried about is that NBC try to do an exact copy of the UK show (Presenters make a space shuttle, presenters make a amphibious car and drive to cuba or something).

Also I heard somewhere (probably here) that NBC are a bit nasty with torrents, so maybe I'll never get to see it

[bafranksbro]

Originally Posted by GTV V6

Obviously I haven't seen the tonight show so I haven't seen him "working"....

...Also I heard somewhere (probably here) that NBC are a bit nasty with torrents, so maybe I'll never get to see it

I don't know if lets you, being as your in Europe, but over here we can watch all the recent episodes of most NBC shows online for free within a few weeks of their original air date.

Try this link to see if it works, it's for the Tonight Show episodes. If it does work maybe they will put Gear episodes on there when it launches.
http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_...episodes.shtml

[superchevy]

there shouldn't be much problem downloading torrents. you can find any nbc show on the various torrent search sites. if anything, they may hinder this website encouraging them, but you should be able to find the torrents elsewhere pretty easily.

[GTV V6]

Another couple of points...

They cannot have a STIG. There is only one STIG, If they have a STIG I'll be pissed off. They can have Stig's cousin, Stig's cousin twice removed or Stig's long lost relative, but not THE STIG.

The reasonably priced car can be a Ford Mustang, hell any big V8 thing is reasonably priced (Compared to what we have to pay in Europe).

Another point. For the mods. Do you think we should move/give the Aus. TG a slot in "The Shows" segment. I do.

[superchevy]

yeah, the aussies should get a forum as well.

as for "the stig", i don't care what they call him as long as a) there is one; b) it's boris-fucking-said!

reasonably priced car? it has to be cheaper and more pussified p.o.s. than a mustang (as hard as that may be). perhaps even front wheel drive? maybe a honda civic, a saturn, toyota camry... oh, i got it... A PRIUS!

[MattD1zzl3]

Originally Posted by GTV V6

There is only one STIG,

News to me, top gear "canon" states that there many stigs, and none are not replaceable Kind of an anti-racing driver.

It has to have a stig, otherwise its not top gear. Especially since any idiot in a white suit and helmet can be the stig.

[GTV V6]

Originally Posted by MattD1zzl3

News to me, top gear "canon" states that there many stigs, and none are not replaceable Kind of an anti-racing driver.

It has to have a stig, otherwise its not top gear. Especially since any idiot in a white suit and helmet can be the stig.

OK fair enough, but he must be called "the American STIG", to diferentiate him from the UK STIG, better still, the US show should decide on a new name for the anonymous driver...

Here we go...

the Bald Eagle...
the Stars & Stripe...
the Jock...

Sorry if any of the above are offensive, I'm not a student of US culture...

come on, US STIG names here.....

If all goes to plan I can see a global TG network with the Stig, the Jock and the "insert name of Aus. TG stig analog here" having a race with the respective presenters on the sidelines taking the piss.

JC would always find a way to win though.

[tone76]

Am I the only one that finds it quite interesting how there are two offshore derivatives of TG in the works, yet both have totally different methodologies of recruiting talent? The US version is going for big name, big ticket celebs. The Aussies, on the other hand, are going for three unknowns whose only qualification is a love of cars.

It will be very interesting to see which strategy is more successful.

[Cobol74]

The US one will be sold world wide - well if it's any good.

Both strategies are different to the UK one too.

[Lupin_IV]

Why should the test driver be called anything but The Stig? There have been multiple Stigs over time, why can't there be multiple Stigs at once?