Clarkson on TopGear America being 'canned'

[Kiskaloo]

Originally Posted by jeremysg

sure, its nothing like how GM has been advertising.. i think its "20 cars with 30mpg or better" or such.

I believe that ad is for BMW.

[svb]

Originally Posted by desertgeek

We all know it costs a ton to do TG per show, let alone for an entire year.

Though there are arguments to go the a British model.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...&cs=1&nid=2562

I totally agree on shorter runs for shows. That's a great article & makes very good points.

As far as it costing a TON to do TG per show, well that's certainly true with the UK version lately. But it doesn't have to be that way. The basic elements of TG can be put together very cheaply (I speak from experience -- see link in my sig) and don't require launching things into space or setting everything on fire (although such things are pretty sweet if you can afford them).

If you look at early TG, the formula is all there and it works, and it isn't a spectacle on the level of TG today. A lower-budget version could easily be done in the US if they wanted to. Personally I think starting small would work better and would allow the show to build as it goes. If the initial concept could be proven viable on a smaller scale, the big budget can always come later.

[jeremysg]

Originally Posted by Kiskaloo

I believe that ad is for BMW.

no. i may be off on number of vehicles (besides i didnt know bmw even had 20 models..). but it is infact a GM ad. especially since at the end of this ad its all "And in the next century, the chevy volt!".

[GusinCA]

Nobody does entertainment like America.
99% of the big movies come from Hollywood, and that's been the case for many years.
However, Top Gear is British, it is J, J and R.
It would be like taking "Friends" and trying to do it in England. Friends was Phoebe, Rachel and the others, and though they might be able to copy it, it wouldn't be the same. And that's just the point, and why TG Australia was such a bore, it just wasn't the same.

I'd love to see a TG America, but I'm sure I would be dissapointed since it's not TG England, and never will be...

[raphael]

This is a clear prove that even though Top Gear is scripted, they would be still hilarious if it wouldn't.

Originally Posted by anthrax

From 4:00 to 5:25: Jeremy and Hammond in the same pose. Dunno if it was on purpose or not....

... I didn't notice that. Did you know that people on southern hemisphere start sweating from left arm pit, and north of equator they start sweating from right?

[Topgearfanatic]

If were so big on entertainment, then why do we come up with shite like "reality" tv!

[ricochet]

Originally Posted by svb

If you look at early TG, the formula is all there and it works, and it isn't a spectacle on the level of TG today. A lower-budget version could easily be done in the US if they wanted to. Personally I think starting small would work better and would allow the show to build as it goes. If the initial concept could be proven viable on a smaller scale, the big budget can always come later.

Finding the perfect cast, time to develop it, a network that would run it and advertisers that would take a risk on it. That's a lot of big leaps of faith for risk-averse television.

Last I checked, even a low budget show would run a minimum of $250,000 for a 1-hour pilot if we're talking real television (not some local cable channel). I'm not an expert in this particular field, but I do have some limited experience.

The video you produced is decent enough for a web series. But I don't think that it's realistic to compare what you did for that with what's required for a real show. That's like suggesting that if you produce a newsletter you can also produce a nationally-circulated print magazine. (In this field, I am an expert.)

[MadCat360]

Originally Posted by jeremysg

no. i may be off on number of vehicles (besides i didnt know bmw even had 20 models..). but it is infact a GM ad. especially since at the end of this ad its all "And in the next century, the chevy volt!".

I know Toyota, GM, BMW and I think Hyundai all have similar campaigns.

EDIT: I also really hate how even in the commercials they say it "HUNDI".

[Topgearfanatic]

You can either say it hunday or hiunday, but hundi makes me mad!!!

[tone76]

Originally Posted by svb

The basic elements of TG can be put together very cheaply

Top Gear Australia is proof of this. That was made on what many speculate was just a small fraction of TG UK's budget yet, for the most part, it still came out quite well stylistically. Sure, some of the budgetary shortcuts were noticeable (such as the lack of cameras + camera angles on the test track), but no doubt TGA's production team will either get better at working with what they have or - just maybe - the budget might increase once TGA finds it feet and attracts a solid audience with sponsors queuing up.

[jaanjalgratas]

Originally Posted by GusinCA

Nobody does entertainment like America.
99% of the big movies come from Hollywood, and that's been the case for many years.

And 99% of the "big" movies come from Hollywood in 2008 was total crap !

OT - The Indian film industry produces some 900 films annually, the largest in the world and it has also captured the interest of the non-Asian communities in the West.

[Tommo]

Did they tell Steve not to talk?

[Komeuppance]

Originally Posted by Topgearfanatic

You can either say it hunday or hiunday, but hundi makes me mad!!!

Correct Korean pronounciation: Hh-yuhn-die. Now say it three times fast.

"Hey... I really really like that, I think I will buy that!" "I'll use my credit card."

No TGUS eh... maybe Clarkson realized how "brilliantly the yanks were carrying on" and decided to end it, taking lessons from history. LOL... I kid I kid.

-Robert

[tone76]

Originally Posted by Tommo

Did they tell Steve not to talk?

I just guessed that the press was there to hear Clarkson and Hammond talk. No offense to Steve, it's just the Australian press could theoretically talk to him or the other TGA guys any time they want. Hell, if a couple of bozos from FG can get to have a good old chat with Pizzati, anyone can.

[svb]

Originally Posted by ricochet

The video you produced is decent enough for a web series. But I don't think that it's realistic to compare what you did for that with what's required for a real show. That's like suggesting that if you produce a newsletter you can also produce a nationally-circulated print magazine. (In this field, I am an expert.)

Well I see your point, but how viable is a web series going to be in terms of revenue? Unfortunately, the way we did ours sort of put us somewhere in between web series and real show -- it was cheap but it wasn't so cheap that we could do it every week and survive based on web revenue, as far as I understand it. The costs of filming aren't a ton, but the car buying/fixing will add up fast. Plus I don't see how it could be done on a weekly basis without at least some of the people working on it full-time.

But the point I'm trying to make is that if you wanted to do a Top Gear-style television series, I think you could do it for cheap -- maybe not as dirt-cheap as we did for our one-time thing, but it can certainly be done for less than what TGUK spend on each episode.

[Sir Roger Moore]

I never liked the idea of a US Top Gear because like some have said the chemistry makes the show. I too did not like the Oz version as it just seemed cheap, the presenters were wooden and didn't reallt appear to know what they were doing.

The US entertainment industry has a very good idea of what it takes to make a program work and like it or not focus groups are part of that process. When shows are brought over from the UK to the US market they are generally more heavily produced than the original. Look at the difference between Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With the Stars or Hell's Kitchen - they are vast in terms of the polish in the content.

We do not know how Top Gear was marketed to the networks or how flexible Wilman and Clarkson were with adjusting the show to the US entertainment machines' needs. The comment made by Clarkson indicates some frustration with the system and we don't know how prepared they were to deal with the politics of making a show here in the states. BBC has done this for other shows, but who knows if Wilman and Co., were left to deal with this on their own or not. The effect of large auto sponsors is unknown as well - perhaps financial pressure was brought to compel NBC to drop the show or get the hosts to say good things about their cars.

I also know a great number of people who strongly dislike Corolla and this surely would have made a huge impact with a focus group. My mother for example, changes the channel whenever Corolla is on and the US entertainment companies want to make a show with the widest possible audience. Corolla is not the guy you want in a big show that requires mass appeal. The other hosts are relatively unknown by the general masses as well, they are niche players.

So, my theory is that TG USA was canned by NBC because of inflexibility of the TG production crew and poor showings in the focus groups due to the hosts in place. I believe that if TG were moved to HBO potential problems with sponsors would evaporate as would concerns over 'profanity', focus groups would not have such a major role, and the show could keep the same number of episodes as the UK original bringing cost down, plus it would have a better chance of retining some of the quirkiness of the UK version.

I would like to see a US version, but not on a major network where options and finances would be strictly limited - and, perhaps different hosts.

[ricochet]

Originally Posted by svb

But the point I'm trying to make is that if you wanted to do a Top Gear-style television series, I think you could do it for cheap -- maybe not as dirt-cheap as we did for our one-time thing, but it can certainly be done for less than what TGUK spend on each episode.

That's the big thing, once you shift from "fun part time project" to full time program with enough professionals to make the final product reliably consistent in terms of quality, the costs changes so dramatically and increases to such a degree as to make the part time project cost comparison moot.

Oh, and fwiw, there are lots of web shows that scratch a living from web-based revenue. You may not be familiar with them, but they are out there.

[RoamingGnome]

Originally Posted by Sir Roger Moore

I never liked the idea of a US Top Gear because like some have said the chemistry makes the show.

An unpopular view but I'm rather glad it got the can. TG as great as it is (and it is still the greatest show on TV) is slowly running out its course.

All those localized versions simply dilute it further. Nobody watched the Discover butcher-job, TG Australia is utter shit reminiscent of TG S-1 so I will no longer waste bandwidth on it, and boy now TG Russia, I'm not even gonna bother. I like JC, RH and Cpt Slow, it works for them and the show works because of that. There were a few shows transplanted from BBC and few if any worked. Coupling, to me one of the best Brit comedies, was total mangled crap on NBC and quickly canned; The Office, brilliant - still runs? less so but still unfunny crap in US guise.

I also won't deny that the broad appeal to me is that the TG is from UK, where outlook on cars, life and humor is a good bit different that on this side of the Atlantic.

I'm not surprised NBC passed on it either. Them and their retarded focus groups. OTOH, who in their right mind watches TV these days, let alone network TV? I think those focus groups are their sole audience. So, see ya TGUS, I'm not gonna shed a tear.

[MayHammondClarkson85]

I live in America and I watch it on BBC America. I would like the episodes to be a bit more current with the time, but I don't care if NBC, ABC, FOX or anybody picks it up. Maybe a station like SpikeTV or FX can, but you cannot replicate May, Hammond, and Clarkson, period. And that's Powerrrrr you cannot deny.

[Spiral Tap]

I'm still really looking forward to it. Of any of the Top Gear variations, I thought USA had the best host line up and were different enough as people to create an interesting dynamic. Not to mention all the reviews I saw of people who saw the pilot were positive.