Top Gear USA -- The Presenters?

[Made In the USA]

Militant stupidity reigns supreme. The builders on Discovery are rednecks who own a business.

Way to still be a bigot. Militant stupidity? Please explain...

Your last comment in unwarranted and is made only from the safety if your your mommy's basement.

Clean this up, make it legible, then get back to me...actually I reply, How is that unwarranted? I just gave an exmple that some Americans can indeed find Japan on a map. If any comments here are baseless, they come from you. Your comments of bike builders being rednecks, and/or Americans being full of stupid, arrogant people who can't read a map, is completely unfounded and said without provocation.

But then again, all frustrated impotent malkes live vicariously on the internet due to an inability to ever be a real man IRL.

Just as your second post proves.

 

[///M]

America is replete with arrogant stupidity by people who couldn't even find Japan on a marked map!

Well...the crew of the Enola Gay found it just fine, thats good enough for me.

Just have to say, great fucking come back.

 

[ishigakisensei]

Ah, I notice the who the resident troll is. I'll be sure to note that. Looking for intelligent discussion with Americans who hide behind the safety of their computer is a futile effort. Needing validation by being a troll on a car board.....how pathetic.

 

[bartboy9891]

Ah, I notice the who the resident troll is. I'll be sure to note that. Looking for intelligent discussion with Americans who hide behind the safety of their computer is a futile effort. Needing validation by being a troll on a car board.....how pathetic.

lol do you want him to fly over to japan to fight you?

 

[ishigakisensei]

Haha. Not at all. I don't need the internet to validate my existence like some other poster here.

Dins makes excellent points. Trying to capture lightning in a bottle almost never works. American Idol is somewhat of an exception, but now its getting gimmicky (from what I've read as I refuse to watch that tripe) with Cowell getting meaner to spruce up interest. Its losing viewers. Same thing with Weakest Link. It didn't translate well. Survivor is such a concpet that could be used anywhere as its a scripted reality show.

It is possible that TG America can be a smashing success (and I hope that it is), but there is nothing....absolutely nothing in automotive television history that gives any reasonable person any hope that it will be. American auto/bike shows have too much attitude and too little wit or fun for fun's sake. Fun is what TG is all about.

 

[E36_Darkness]

First off, where do you come off saying that they will be sued, it isn't against the law to have an opinion in this country. If that was the case GM would have sued TG years ago for killing the old vectra...pull your head out.

There is a very real danger of defamation lawsuits in this country for exactly this kind of thing. See the 1998 case of Oprah Winfrey vs pretty much the entire cattle industry, in which Oprah was sued essentially for having an opinion about beef on national television. The suit was ultimately rejected on first amendment grounds, but not before Oprah & Co spent nearly $1M defending themselves in court... Not to mention the way she was forced, through gritted teeth, to do an entire follow-up show starring carefully selected representatives of the beef industry spouting their propaganda, during which time she was "not allowed to present an opposing viewpoint."

You can bet that American TV producers are thinking twice about what they say these days. You don?t have to do anything wrong to get sued in this country.

The car companies may not sponsor, but if the ratings numbers are there the sponsor will be there.

False logic, for many reasons.

Bottom line everyone here are UK TG fanboys and look at anything else as an invasion of their pride and joy. It is a completely biased view on this board, but I don't understand why.

There have been lots of valid reasons cited in this thread as to why TG USA will *probably* suck balls (starting with the pattern they have already set by neutering the original for American audiences). Yet you continue to ignore them, instead opting in favor of profanity and ad hominem. I think we all hope you turn out to be right, but if so it will be through dumb luck, and certainly not the validity of your arguments.


Needless to say, it's not really the presenters that concern me...

 

[BlaRo]

Ah, I notice the who the resident troll is. I'll be sure to note that. Looking for intelligent discussion with Americans who hide behind the safety of their computer is a futile effort. Needing validation by being a troll on a car board.....how pathetic.

Is that why you've come here, with a staggering 10 posts, blindly insulting everybody with personal threats and cliched bigoted stereotypes from your made-up elitist point of view? Because you're in Japan, that makes you better than us? (I'm Asian, by the way, before you call me one of those zealous "AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!" rednecks.) Hiding behind your computer: so where the hell are you as you're making these posts? Are your words popping on the screen via telekinesis? Ironic that you're labeling us trolls when you come on here and start insulting us. Grow up.

America is replete with arrogant stupidity by people who couldn't even find Japan on a marked map!

Well...the crew of the Enola Gay found it just fine, thats good enough for me.

Just have to say, great fucking come back.

 

[hokiethang]

I'm not going to get involved in the flame war, so i'll go off on a tangent...

All I have to say is I hope it does well, but I don't expect much. Most of Discovery's new shows haven't been typical Discovery style. They need to get back to the Discovery of old (much like what Discovery HD Theater is now), where its mostly documentaries and science shows, instead of "American Chopper" and "Cash Cab". Also, I hate "Dirty Jobs", that's something better suited to TLC or one of those digital cable discovery channels.

 

[No Boss]

 

[janstett]

I think they should have at least one big name for one of the presenters though.. I don't mean to sound dumb, but, in Top Gear, were Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, or James Maye known at all before they got onto the show?

I do agree there should be one "famous" petrolhead to help carry the others in the beginning. Clarkson was already famous -- he had been on old Top Gear, and in his absence from the car scene, he apparently had a chat show and had been writing newspaper articles. He had been doing videos for quite some time too.

Hammond I'm not sure about -- he does other shows like Braniac but I think that came after Top Gear, not before.

May was writing for the Top Gear magazine and then went in front of the camera.

 

[ishigakisensei]

Is that why you've come here,

Nope, I came here specifically for you because you are so special to the existence of the universe despite your complete lack of reading comprehension skills. Militant stupidity knows no national boundaries or ethnicity as you so well prove.

 

[janstett]

I don't want to jump into this flame war but I'll just make a few comments

I'll quote myself.

Street Fury is a primary reason why people are doubting this show.

We've got crap car shows, that's for sure. From boring (Motorweek, Car and Driver) to sphincter-clenching (Street Fury, Tuner Transformation), we've got tons of crap.

That's why I have hope for an American Top Gear despite the indicators. Americans love cars. The car is BIG here, it's part of the country's DNA. Yet we've never had a hit, prime-time show about cars. We've never had anything remotely like Top Gear. Why? Ask a car enthusiast, he knows about Top Gear. And if he doesn't, introduce it to him and he will love it, guaranteed.

Americans, in general, are simply not sophisticated. Made in the USA has become a joke overall - for what's left being made here - and an American show trying to be witty and entertaining is a tall order that no American car show has been known to do yet.

I think you are way oversimplifying, but let me address your points.

American's aren't sophisticated? Watching our TV, you would certainly be tempted to come to that conclusion. But I believe the people are better than what TV executives think they are. I think TV is a projection of what dumb TV execs think the public wants, not reality.

Made in the USA, certainly our manufacturing has taken a pounding and I fear for its future. Which is a reason I'm most interested when the Top Gear crew talks about the demise of Britain's car industry, which has NO independent manufacturers left. There is a lesson to be learned here. The Mini is a BMW. The Russians own TVR. Lotus belongs to the Indians. Jag, Aston, and Land Rover belong to Ford. This could be the future of the American car industry. But while you're complaining about the USA, let me make a few points -- many manufacturers (Honda, Toyota, BMW, Merc, et al) have plants in the US. Many foreign companies have opened design studios in the US. Many Americans are design chiefs in foreign companies (Chris Bangle, et al). In the non-car industries, we still have strengths -- computers, software, banking, financial, pharmaceuticals, music, film, etc. But as a skeptical visitor from the Netherlands asked me not too long ago, "What does America make that is best in the world?". Indeed, and we paused for reflection; then we took him to the store where he bought an iPod, which he undoubtedly filled with horrible techno-pop the Dutch are so fond of.

Yes, an American car show trying to be witty and entertaining -- it IS a tall order. So here's hoping they can pull it off and cut through the bullshit. Rather than expecting them to fail, I will hope that they succeed.

 

[BlaRo]

Is that why you've come here,

Nope, I came here specifically for you because you are so special to the existence of the universe despite your complete lack of reading comprehension skills. Militant stupidity knows no national boundaries or ethnicity as you so well prove.

Did you know the longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched"? Think about it.

You fucking cunt.

 

[matt_shaw]

Is that why you've come here,

Nope, I came here specifically for you because you are so special to the existence of the universe despite your complete lack of reading comprehension skills. Militant stupidity knows no national boundaries or ethnicity as you so well prove.

Did you know the longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched"? Think about it.
You fucking cunt.

don't hide your profanity

ps: screeched is two syllables dumbass

 

[BlaRo]

Is that why you've come here,

Nope, I came here specifically for you because you are so special to the existence of the universe despite your complete lack of reading comprehension skills. Militant stupidity knows no national boundaries or ethnicity as you so well prove.

Did you know the longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched"? Think about it.
You fucking cunt.

don't hide your profanity

ps: screeched is two syllables dumbass

Well, don't you start with the name calling. "ed" or not, "screech" is still a long word with one syllable.

What is with this thread that brings out the inner asshole in everybody?

 

[matt_shaw]

Is that why you've come here,

Nope, I came here specifically for you because you are so special to the existence of the universe despite your complete lack of reading comprehension skills. Militant stupidity knows no national boundaries or ethnicity as you so well prove.

Did you know the longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched"? Think about it.
You fucking cunt.

don't hide your profanity

ps: screeched is two syllables dumbass

Well, don't you start with the name calling. "ed" or not, "screech" is still a long word with one syllable.

What is with this thread that brings out the inner asshole in everybody?

you specifically said that the word screeched was one syllable. i don't care if thats not what you meant, it's what you said. im not even being an asshole; dumbass is a loving word

 

[janstett]

And the cars that are available in the US is not nearly as diverse or interesting as some of the European cars.

In some ways, perhaps, but in other ways, not. In Europe you do have more manufacturers (including those that have left the US market like Fiat, Renault, Peugeot; and those that have never been here like Seat, Smart, etc.). And they seem to be big on those micro cars like the Smart, Nissan Micra, etc, which don't exist on the US market. It seems to me like the average driver in Europe would be excited to aspire to a Golf or a Ford Mondeo, everything above that is "exotic". But boy do you have exotic cars!

However, in the US, we have a different variety. First, the American cars, few of which make their way over to Europe, including the SUVs, trucks, and minivans (people carriers). We have most of the European cars. We have a lot of Japanese cars including ones that do not exist in Europe.

You'll never find a Radical or a Atom street legal in the US. So the show won't have that much interesting cars.

Well, first, you're wrong there. I just read an article in AutoWeek that Ariel is now manufacturing Atoms in Ashland, Oregon, and is gearing up to build a new 12 cylinder supercar called Rouge GT there as well. And they say it's possible to make the Atom street legal, even in California. There are plenty of people doing low-volume specialty cars in the US.


Finally, I don't recall if it was said in this thread, but somebody said a race across America (forgetting Brock Yates' Cannonball run) wouldn't be scenic as it would be plains and corn fields, wake the hell up. I spent a few minutes daydreaming of the places I would go for a race if I were involved in TG USA. From Miami to Key West... Chicago to LA on old route 66. New York to California. A rally in the Grand Canyon. A race to Niagara falls. A rally around the bay area of San Francisco. There are just so many great scenes waiting to be enjoyed.

Brock Yates also started "One Lap of America", a 24-hour endurance race where you're not only rallying from point to point but racing on the track inbetween.

 

[BerserkerCatSplat]

you specifically said that the word screeched was one syllable. i don't care if thats not what you meant, it's what you said. im not even being an asshole; dumbass is a loving word

"Screeched" is one syllable. It's listed as screeched in the dictionary, not screech'ed

For further reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screeched

You guys should check your facts before you start calling names...

 

[SL65]

Hokie tried bringing some sanity to this thread but you guys ignored the "sanity" part of it.

I have no idea whos at fault in this rather large and flame-filled thread so I won't point any fingers.

BlaRo - You think by reducing font size you can say anything you want. Well thats not true cos it looks really bad for you when Matt makes it 5X bigger :lol:


btw: HOW THE HELL did we get on the topic of the word "screech" and how its the longest one syllable word :?

Anyway, this thread is seriously OT now.
My first Nazi-lock

 

[hokiethang]

I'll unlock this thread on one condition... It stay on topic and stray away from the flame wars...

There was good discussion going on, until someone hijacked the thread with a flame war...

The second someone says something that continues a flame war or goes off topic, the thread will be re-locked and sent to the eternal depths of hell...

Catch my drift?