MadeBackwards

Well, if it doesn't, you'll actually be in a more privileged position as one of only 400 or so people to have seen it!

Aiolos

Did he mention anything about TG or Top Gear America being shot in HD?

Scott

Porn star??

caffine

I didn't hear anything said, but the cameras were definitely HD

GeigerSpeed

There defntly in HD.. the cameras all had gigatic multicolor HD stickers on them.. soooo im guessing that makes them HD haha

Viper007Bond

Any new show being show for NBC primetime would be in HD. Most existing shows were converted long ago as well.

MadeBackwards

Yup, certainly HD, although I hope NBC sort out their dreadful audio to video sync issue they've had FOR OVER A YEAR when it comes to cable 'broadcast'.

I shoot everything in HD nowadays even it's it's only intended for SD output. It still amazes me when people argue that HD adds a huge amount to production costs.

Unless you have a huge amount of post production special effects, the cost is only in the initial hardware.

Viper007Bond

Must be your cable company or whatever. No issues here.

helmethead

ISTR that Jeremy posted a 1:50 on the original Star In A Reasonably Priced Car leader board, and that he had passengers at the time. Perhaps it's my memory playing up though...

NooDle

yes that's true. His passengers were Hammond and Fat Bloke.

gtrietsc

No issues for me either - although I do remember NBC having that problem for a short bit of time on my carrier, but they fixed it.

MadeBackwards

Thanks, it must be a Cox and/or Tivo HD issue. Once the Olympics kick in and are unwatchable, I'll start making a stink.

I wonder if the US version being in HD will finally get the UK one up in resolution. We had the polar special. I know moving to HD increases costs slightly, but surely you get to a point where NOT being in HD is damaging.

I'd actually go so far as to opt for 6 episodes in HD than 8 in SD if it came down to it. I know picture quality isn't everything, but as we all know, the cinematography in TG is some of the best on TV - it just breaks my heart to see it in SD on a 50" screen...

jenna42

Hi -extreme newbie here so apologies if this is the wrong thread. I didn't want to start a new thread for mostly factual questions.

I'm really looking forward to the American and Australian shows. There can never be too much Top Gear.

I do have a few questions, however, about how American tv is likely to work with the new show.

1. If Andy talked about TGA being on in January does that mean he's likely to already have an order for a number of shows, rather than the pilot being a one-off, awaiting commisssion?

2. Is there a likely timeslot for the shot? ie do you have death-zone days and times when fewer people watch tv? Is it really likely NBC would give a "car" show a prime-time slot, like the BBC's pre-watershed 8.00pm on Sundays?

3. TG gets 6 million viewers here, a tenth of the UK population. That would translate to 30 million US which I believe only American Idol comes close to. What would a realistic figure be, to keep the US show on air? And would it be likely to be pulled even in the middle of a series, if the ratings are low, or would NBC at least show the whole run they'd contracted for?

4. Is 13 the minimum number of episodes required for a mid-season replacement? Given that the UK show takes 4 months to film a 6/8 episode series wouldn't a single run of 13 take at least 6 months to film in the States? I assume there's no way NBC could do 22 episodes or whatever the norm is for other reality/genre programmes, given the time constraints, not to mention the creative demands for thinking up content, challenges etc

5. If the show is only 43 minutes what's likely to be left out from the UK version? I assume 5-10 minutes each for SIARPC and the News, 5-10 minutes car review, 15-20 minutes for challenges. Was that the kind of ratio seen by those at the taping?

Many thanks for any information.

MadeBackwards

Hi Jenna42 - I'm not sure if I should be the one to say 'welcome' since I'm so new to posting myself, but, I've been made to feel VERY welcome here very quickly and I hope you experience similar!

My takes on your points are as follows:

1. When the pilot 'taping' wrapped, it was obvious that whilst no firm deal was in place at that time (other than NBC's option to make a show with BBC Worldwide) it was VERY likely that the show would proceed. I'm sure, from the confidence he exuded, that Andy had been told that so long as the pilot turned out well, the show would make it to air...and the pilot really did turn out well!

I'm not so convinced we'll be seeing it as soon as January though, unless we see the single pilot aired as a public one-off.

NBC recently did that with the 'Knight Rider' Pilot/Ford Commercial, which, was universally panned by critics, and yet has still somehow made its way into full production.

2. I have no clue as to a time slot. It's a hard one to call and in my opinion will be what makes or breaks the show. They already know all of us will seek it out whenever it's on, but it depends on the viewing habits of the demograph they're going for. As great as it is, Top Gear works by not being Prime Time Saturday night BBC1 fodder. Whilst NBC desperately need a big show, this will never rival ABC's Lost or FOX's American Idol etc.

3. I really have no idea on the numbers , but of course TG isn't going to pull 30m people in the US. It will, however command huge audience figures provided they get the time-slot right, and create a family viewing experience. TopGear wins because EVERYONE loves it, and by that I merely mean young, old, rich, poor, male female...

4. We've really seen the schedules hacked about recently, not least because of the writers strike we endured (probably a reason why there's an urge to move to less-scripted TV!), but during this period there didn't seem to be much of a problem having shorter runs. I do think an American audience would be confused by something as short as a six episode run though - probably thinking it had been canceled mid season - which happens. Personally, I'd love there to be 13, even if it only meant one run a year.

Andy's currently making 14 a year in the UK, so whilst lead-in time would be greater, obviously, it's certainly not impossible.

5. I'm not sure anything in particular will be left out. TopGear has something of a fluid backbone to it, with things like the Cool Wall appearing only here and there. With that as an example, whilst there was no Cool Wall present at the pilot shooting, I would still expect to see it appear in the US sometime, once the intra-presenter-banter is established. I'm sure we would just see slightly shorter films, slightly shorter SIARPC segments and very probably no TopGear Stunt Man

The taping took well over five hours. Cameras were probably rolling for a solid two and a half of those, and, much like in the UK, the unscripted news section and SIARPC interview ran on for ages (all entertaining) so would certainly be cut down, again, as it is in the UK. Andy mentioned that there were even areas of the challenge 'films' that he'd want to cut too.

During the filming of the pilot, I really felt like I was watching TopGear being made. I really don't think the loss of 17 minutes of content per episode will affect how you feel when watching the other 43. If anything, I say that for every two shows aired, they owe us another one which was lost to commercials...this could actually help us reach 13 shows quite easily!

UK next series: 8 shows x 60 minuntes = 480 minutes of TG
USA potential run: 13 shows x 43 mins = 559 minutes of TG

If course, using this as a rule, the UK gets 840 minutes of TG per year vs an expected 559 for the US...so 13 becomes eminently do-able! To get silly for a second, for the US show to cover the exact content of the UK show, the US would need 19.5 shows a year!

You raise some good questions...perhaps this should be a new thread of its own...?

jenna42

Many thanks, MadeBackwards - that's exactly what I wanted, information straight from the horse's mouth (so to speak <g>.) And thanks for the welcome - I am happily reading my way through the forum.

Given the hosts - including an excellent driver and construction experts who would know better than to want to stick 2 dirty great engines on the back of an amphibious boat - my other worry was that TGA might turn out to be not "ambitious but rubbish" but "ambitious and competent", which would spoil the fun completely.

I've seen mention of other US car programmes on the forum - usually not complimentary - are any of these, Speed, Motorworld, on the big 3/4 or are they all on cable and therefore not directly comparable?

MadeBackwards

Well, Speed network is owned by Fox, and they have a little 'cross-pollenation' here and there, for example, SPEED is the home of F1, but for four races a year they stick it on FOX. I've not really seen this happen with too many other shows though, so I think I'd be right in saying that TGUSA would be the biggest car show on in America, at least from a potential audience standpoint.

The time slot really will be the biggest factor.

Gabeasher

I've browsed these forums for along long time now but just decided to become a member because the news of TG America scares the crap out me. I keep hearing good things from people about how good the show will be but, I've never found an answer to why they just dont take the BBC version and and play it on NBC if they want more people to be watching thier show? It would be alot less work and save a considerable amount of money.
I'll give the show a chance but I fear NBC will pull out after one season if ratings are not what they expected. I think there is a good chance of this happening too because generally car programming dosnt go down to well with American viewers.

Spectre

Gabe, they took the BBC version, edited it to run commercials in the time alloted and showed it on Discovery. It REALLY didn't go at all well.

Personally, I think that was because of the poor editing they did. They should have cut SIARPC out entirely and they would have been just about done editing out stuff to reach the magical 43 minute mark. Instead what they did was chop time out of everything, always a bad idea.

topgearfan1

thanks for the description of your chat and the pilot. How did you all get tickets? lucky!

btw, Adam Carolla, his 13 cars and his thoughts here on Motor Trend today. interesting read.

http://www.motortrend.com/features/c...ive/index.html

Gabeasher

Oh thanks Spectre. Thats a shame. Hopeully Adam and the boys can do some good. Keeping fingers crossed.