Clarkson on TopGear America being 'canned'

[rlsimpso]

Here is an interview with Clarkson in Australia. He mentions TopGear America being 'canned'.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/02/06/clarkson-
top-gear-usa-canned-viewers-just-dont-get-it/

[Prost264]

Ok so the show was focus grouped. That will not work with this show. The car fans of the country needed to be asked first, then bring it to the masses.

And how would Americans not understand what other Americans are "on about?" Especially Adam Corolla.

I say BS to you, Jezza.

[svb]

Well, they could always make it more feasible by getting three relatively unknown guys to be the presenters instead of celebrities.

Just sayin...

[Steve Levin]

The appeal of Top Gear is not as a car show. Or more accurately, relying only on gearheads, there is no way TG gets shown on any major network. For that to happen -- even for it to appear on Versus or Speed -- it must appeal to a broader audience.

TG America was pervaded by the europhile attitude of the original. Not surprisingly, if you have a show that basically says "Americans and America are doodoo" -- most Americans don't care to watch it.

Epic Fail.

Steve

[svb]

Originally Posted by Steve Levin

TG America was pervaded by the europhile attitude of the original. Not surprisingly, if you have a show that basically says "Americans and America are doodoo" -- most Americans don't care to watch it.

Well, I'm not sure that's it. What are you basing that on anyway? My guess (and it's only a guess having not seen the pilot that was shot) is that attitude was not present in the US version.

Obviously the UK version has its fair share of this but I doubt that Carolla, etc would have carried that over.

[EverydayDriver]

Sadly, the networks and major film studios are ruled by focus groups. Add to that the massive risk-aversion in the industry and it is prone to kill any content that doesn't fit in a cute little box.

And Top Gear is lovable because it doesn't fit in the box and is prone to offend the focus group!

Any official confirmation on this news?

Can we blame it on the economy, like everything else?

[Dogbert]

Originally Posted by EverydayDriver

Sadly, the networks and major film studios are ruled by focus groups. Add to that the massive risk-aversion in the industry and it is prone to kill any content that doesn't fit in a cute little box.

Ding ding ding.

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by Prost264

Ok so the show was focus grouped. That will not work with this show. The car fans of the country needed to be asked first, then bring it to the masses.

And how would Americans not understand what other Americans are "on about?" Especially Adam Corolla.

I say BS to you, Jezza.

The problem was that they were hoping to draw in a huge audience with the American Top Gear. I don't watch the current popular TV shows, but somehow I don't think a new car show was going to be able to compete with them. What makes Top Gear Top Gear is the hosts, the show would be completely different if the hosts are different. People who are into cars watch a few shows on Speed TV (or whatever it's called now) and Powerblock on Spike TV.

[Steve Levin]

Originally Posted by svb

Well, I'm not sure that's it. What are you basing that on anyway? My guess (and it's only a guess having not seen the pilot that was shot) is that attitude was not present in the US version.

I'm basing it on listening to Adam Carolla talk about cars and things in general (with regards to cars) and what I heard was "Clarkson with a Yank accent."

Famously, Carolla himself said he was pretty much exactly like Clarkson, only funnier.

Steve

[yeeha]

Well we already knew that NBC passed on the show. This does at least give a reason for that as it appears the show did poorly in focus groups (they should have at least included mustang groups too). Other than that though I don't think this is really any new information. Hard to say if Jeremy's use of "canned" just means it is dead until they find a new channel or if they aren't even looking anymore.

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by Steve Levin

I'm basing it on listening to Adam Carolla talk about cars and things in general (with regards to cars) and what I heard was "Clarkson with a Yank accent."

Famously, Carolla himself said he was pretty much exactly like Clarkson, only funnier.

Steve

Carolla is much more boring than Clarkson IMO. Plus he's more "anti-American cars" than Clarkson could ever be.

[Backdraft]

I think the expectations were just too high before the show even got on the air. They were expecting numbers and support close to or even exceeding the British counterpart, but that's just not going to happen with any new show.

[Shawn]

It's okay guys, there's always Top Gear Russia.

[MadCat360]

I don't think Top Gear works in America.

Top Gear is great for us on the internet because it's very different, and it takes us to another culture. But the fact that the culture has influenced the show so much means that we just can't have a copy. I'm not talking about the writing but even just the format is really alien to people in the US; we don't have shows like that. Very few people would get it right away. The American entertainment business is about instant hits, not building slowly over time, even if the eventual result is a thousand times larger than the expectation for an instantly accepted show.

That makes me really depressed. Sometimes I hate this country.

[Topgearfanatic]

Most of the time, I hate this country!

[Kiskaloo]

Well fortunately BBC America is starting Series 12 on Monday, which is almost immediately after the end of Series 11 (which ended two weeks ago), so we'll be caught up with the UK and will hopefully get Series 13 quickly.

[Dogbert]

Originally Posted by MadCat360

The American entertainment business is about instant hits, not building slowly over time, even if the eventual result is a thousand times larger than the expectation for an instantly accepted show.

A lot of it is our instant gratificatino culture. Look at how many shows come out every year, and how many make it past half a season. If a show isnt' instantly successful, it's shitcanned. We don't develop quality shows over here, we just throw every idea and see what sticks, and then develop it into a quality show.

[GeigerSpeed]

Originally Posted by svb

Well, they could always make it more feasible by getting three relatively unknown guys to be the presenters instead of celebrities.

Just sayin...

I agree!!

[GeigerSpeed]

Originally Posted by Steve Levin

I'm basing it on listening to Adam Carolla talk about cars and things in general (with regards to cars) and what I heard was "Clarkson with a Yank accent."

Famously, Carolla himself said he was pretty much exactly like Clarkson, only funnier.

Steve

It wasn't even Carolla who said it first.... Andy Willman, the producer said that Carolla, being a COMEDIAN is naturally 1000 times funnier on the fly.

[ViperVX]

It looks like all attepmts to recreate Top Gear in US, Australia and now Russia failed miserably. American is cancelled, Australian got the lowest ratings in it's timeslot for 90% of the episodes and lost the main presenter, Russian TG (based on several clips and articles) is rubbish all the way thru (as everything else on Russian TV).

Therefore we have our answer, it's not the brand, the format, the expensive and fast cars, it's the presenters, and obviously you can't transfer them to any other market.