American Top Gear possible hosts

[STrRedWolf]

One good question for the group -- if you were building the hosts for American Top Gear, who would you get? Ignore the plans some production company have.

If we keep with the fomula of Brittish Top Gear, we'll need a large outspoken petrol head, a small enthusiast, an ecentric die-hard car maker fan, and a test driver. Of course, I'm simplifying things here.

My picks:

Jay Leno for Jezza. I hate to say it, but Jay's the best person I can think of to fill Jezza's role. He's a large car enthusiast, but he's also a work-a-holic of a comedian. He lives off of his earnings on the road, and keeps the Tonight Show earnings in the bank. As mentioned before, he writes a column in Popular Mechanics. Unfortunately, his work ethic means he could also fill the role for Richard.

Richard Petty for Richard. Seriously, the old coot still has his wits and is just plain lovable. His last TV show appearance was on Monster Garage for the 200 MPH street sweeper episode. Unfortunately, he could also fill in for Jezza too.

"Captian Slow" James... The only thing I can see is the host of Maryland Public Television's Motorweek show, because I haven't seen anyone else who could fill this role.

Of course, for the Stig, we have no shortage of NASCAR drivers, Indy drivers, CART drivers... eazy!

Anyone else.

[Kebab gud]

Leno has also done a test of a roller for the times... where jezza does his tests

[nomix]

I'm totally in with Leno as Jezza, but I have to say, some southerner driving around a circle is no replacement for the Stig.

[Labcoatguy]

Combine the manic energy of Richard and the curmudgeonliness of James and you get...Jerry Seinfeld, who Leno notes is also a car nut . The two of them wouldn't interact in any TG-recognizable way, for sure, but it'd definitely be completely unique. Then there's Brock Yates, who might still have some good years left in him, Dan Neil of the LA Times, whose Pulitzer might (keyword "might") translate into a good TV presenter presence a la James May, and the Cartalk brothers, whose NE hippyness might work against them, but whose love of simple fun cars could take them smewhere.

[epp_b]

Whoops...wrong thread for this post

[WheatKing]

Don't forget the other car nuts..

Tim Allen for starters..

he's done a few grudge match races against Leno..

as far a stig goes.. Schumacher is retiring.. not like he's gonna have any speaking parts! (and yea i probably spelled his name wrong.. you know who i mean!)

oh..

JOHN FORCE!

That guy has more energy than whole of england combined. he'd make an intersting reviewer.. because.. well.. gas milage is a foreign concept to him.. and usually is measured in gallons per foot!

[tmbrudy]

I def agree with Jay Leno doing the Jezza position, I remeber seeing him do a review on TV once of the 350z vs RX7 vs s2000 He wasnt afraid to rip on the cars and make jokes about them.

For hamster i think patrick dempsey could be good, although he might be too good at driving seeing as how he is a race car driver, but poeple like him

For may, i would say Tom Hnatiw from Sports Car revolution, although he might be too fast too.

[Narcolepsy]

Get a girl in there somewhere. What about Jessi Combs from Spike's Extreme 4x4, shes into offroad vehicles, and I'd image muscle cars and customs - and shes attractive. Would be a good counterpoint if whoever they got where anything like James, Richard, and JC. Stred wolf is right on, Leno would great. Then get Brock Yates, and then someone young and contemporary who likes imports and it would be gold (maybe Xzibit would do it, although I have a hard time imaging him with the likes of Richard Petty and Brock Yates).

Why can't they just syndicate regular Top Gear here? Better idea, if the show needs a shot of life - add an American presenter to bicker with JC and defend American cars, maybe get a girl like (wouldn't this be sweet) Sabine on there - put on it on prime time here. The US is such a huge market - and we have crap car shows, and we love cars - (although a good chunk would take umbradge at any redneck cracks, so there would AT LEAST have to be an American presenter to balance it out)

[Blind_Io]

Jay Leno
Tim Allen
Courtney Hansen, formerly of Overhaulin' - This woman knows her cars better than most men and can hold her own in a room full of male petrol heads and spanner monkeys.

[British_Rover]

I think we can all agree on Jay Leno for one presenter and his gig on the tonight show it almost up. I think he only has a couple of years left and then he plans to hand it over to Conan.

After that I am not sure. Brock Yates, Richard Petty or John force all sound like good posblities.

For the Stig I don't think you can use a NASCAR driver as the majority of them only know how to turn left on a banked oval. Just watch what happens on the one or two road courses they go to a year. The handful of NASCAR drivers with real road race experience dominate the race.

[madpsi]

Adam Corolla (sp) - Funny guy, car guy, does a lot of celebrity races and is a hell of a personality. Not afraid to rail on people with poor automotive taste... He also gives me the impression that he actually works on his own cars, since he can get into a lot of detail during his rants.

I think Danica Patrick would make a good stig.

[Blind_Io]

I have to say no to Adam Corolla for two reasons.

1 - I never liked him or his sense of humor much. The Man Show is horrible

2 - The names Shelby, Rouch, Ferrari, Ford, and Porsche are all giants in the automotive world. Adam Corolla shares his name with this

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

I have to say no to Adam Corolla for two reasons.

1 - I never liked him or his sense of humor much. The Man Show is horrible

That, and he's a fucking racist. But whatever.

If there's a girl in there, it won't matter what she does, everybody's just going to go "OMG BOOBIES!!1!!1!". Sex appeal sells, but on Top Gear it'd be odd.

Jay Leno, Tim Allen, Christopher Walken, etc...they're all big names, but they'd only pull viewers in because of their celebrity status, and not because of how good they actually are. If they all presented then it'd be an hour of them showing off how awesome they are. Why not get someone unknown but with loads of enthusiasm? Hell, how many people have heard of James May before? I'm sure there's at least one or two people out of the 300 million in America willing to take up the job.

[epp_b]

For the Stig I don't think you can use a NASCAR driver as the majority of them only know how to turn left on a banked oval.

You've got that right! It's got to be someone with actual racing talent on actual racing tracks. A retired F1 driver is the best bet, if you ask me.

Just watch what happens on the one or two road courses they go to a year. The handful of NASCAR drivers with real road race experience dominate the race.

Woah, woah...thar's a raat turrrn har, wudoIdo?!!

[Ventura6]

I'll do it. Where are the tryouts?

I'm willing to get on the Discovery Channel or TLC and review cars, stage mishaps (a problem with the last couple seasons of Top Gear), and race all over Texas in some kind of public transportation while Jay Leno gets a Caparo.

[The_Clincher]

Originally Posted by Labcoatguy

Combine the manic energy of Richard and the curmudgeonliness of James and you get...Jerry Seinfeld, who Leno notes is also a car nut.

yea i agree with seinfeld, i heard he has a huge porsche collection...and also he's not doing much right now so why not host top gear!

[teletubby-warrior]

Seinfeld renovated a two story Manhattan building into his state of the art garage. 8)

[Momentum57]

They went another way with Bruno, a professional drag racer with casual tales of crashing at 230mph; John, the super keen jock, blessed with quaint 'sir and m'am' good manners that only Americans can do; and Johnny, a former reality show winner with a nice line in weird humour.

It will pale in comparison to the original, and I feel that it will have serious problems if it tries to emulate British top gear too much. I feel your spot on with Leno as a host, as it is now all the hosts look a bit stereotypically “interior home designer meets denim collection” from the shot on Top Gear. Automotive programs in America, and the world over, I find for years have suffered from all sounding and looking the same. Shot of the car driving along the road no other noise but the wind it makes and the host reading the car spec sheet. I believe that DC is going to produce something different; either it will be different good or just different, and doubtless wonder that this site will let them know.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

That was just the pilot (and it was reportedly pretty faithful to the original.) There's nothing to stop them from grabbing some other hosts.

[Blind_Io]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

That, and he's a fucking racist. But whatever.

If there's a girl in there, it won't matter what she does, everybody's just going to go "OMG BOOBIES!!1!!1!". Sex appeal sells, but on Top Gear it'd be odd.

Jay Leno, Tim Allen, Christopher Walken, etc...they're all big names, but they'd only pull viewers in because of their celebrity status, and not because of how good they actually are. If they all presented then it'd be an hour of them showing off how awesome they are. Why not get someone unknown but with loads of enthusiasm? Hell, how many people have heard of James May before? I'm sure there's at least one or two people out of the 300 million in America willing to take up the job.

Actually Jay Leno would be pretty close to Clarkson, he regularly writes columns for auto magazines and everytime I see him start talking about cars he loves it.