[01x03] December 5th, 2010

[01x03] December 5th, 2010

  • 10

    Votes: 15 6.5%
  • 9

    Votes: 49 21.3%
  • 8

    Votes: 86 37.4%
  • 7

    Votes: 45 19.6%
  • 6

    Votes: 13 5.7%
  • 5

    Votes: 7 3.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 6 2.6%
  • 3

    Votes: 5 2.2%
  • 2

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • 1

    Votes: 3 1.3%

  • Total voters
    230
I am really glad on the direction the show is going.... In my opinion I hope they continue with TG tradition and drop someone the first season, preferably Rutledge. I understand they're getting their feet wet but it just seems to me that he isn't cut for the part. Tanner may seem dry at times but he is comfortable in his delivery and can drive the crap out of a car. Ferrara is a good presenter but not the best driver (Although he did surprise me with the almost 180 degree in the Caddy lol).

The commercials are worrying me though, MB sponsorship and all. And theyre cutting into time where we could of seen that boss mustang go around the track... I suppose there's nothing we can do about that though.

Take my opinions with a grain of salt, new to the boards and first post so :-\

Gave it an 8.
 
Big Star, Small Car (SIARPC): Rubbish on this version. I was bored, bored, bored tonight. It zaps the entire energy out of the show. Plus, the hosts, especially Adam, can't interview worth a darn. They need to ditch it until they can hire a host that can make this segment seem interesting.

News: A welcome appearance of this segment, and much better than the SIARPC. I think they need to make THIS a weekly segment, and lose SIARPC.

Cheap Car Challenge: yeah, UK has done them before, but I think they came up with enough unique twists on it to make this the first truly original Top Gear US segment. This was quite entertaining overall, and really felt like Top Gear.

Hosts: Tanner is making Adam and Rutledge look like absolute fools with how well he can drive. His handbrake turn in that crappy Nissan was a thing of beauty. Still, seeing Adam throw that poor Caddy around tonight was just amazing. He almost got it to do a complete handbrake turn. Plus, seeing that thing flying on the offroad course was just amazing.
 
Moonshine segment was good, the rest was pretty weak. I give it a 6. Same problems, basically the SISC segment & now the news feel too rushed, and hosts generally suck. Still hoping Adam & Rutledge get the boot.
 
Well, it was nice to see the news made it to TG US. I wish that the Mustang could have had a more thorough power test (track run, comparison to the stock 5.0, etc.) but thats what you get with 45 minutes.

As much as I hope to see celebrities thrash around the track, I think the BSSC needs to go in favor of more room for other bits, like the moonshine challenge.

Speaking of which, I really enjoyed the moonshine bit. There was a nice diverse selection of cars amongst the hosts. Definitely was funny to watch Rutledge's makeshift cooling system repair, but it was also nice to see that he had some mechanical skills. Anyone else notice the not-so-subtle "Come-on! come-on!" chair rocking Clarkson reference in the bootleg-turn challenge?

Adam was funny as usual. I really liked the stab at NASCAR he made. The dirt track run in the Caddy is probably gonna go in the TG hall of fame.

Even Tanner wasn't bad. He really shined (no pun intended) in the spitting fire bit. Oh and the driving from him was good as usual.

All in all, great episode, I just wish it was longer!
 
Last edited:
Very good episode, I was enjoying it enough to overlook any faults. There were a couple spots I shook my head at the lame scripted jokes. I don't think it was delivery, the writers are at fault there.

I find it funny reading the comments that everyone has different tastes about the hosts. Seems nobody likes all three of them, yet nobody likes the same one's either. I personally am struggling with Adam, he seems like he's trying too hard. Rut needs to shave, and The Foust is doing great IMO. Nothing wrong with having a host who can drive.

I was also glad to see the news make a showing. No reason they should have to do a celebrity segment each week.
 
Gotta love Rut getting left on the side of the road, truly in the spirit of TG. The hosts and production are showing promise, too bad there's only ~45mins instead of an hour to work with.

seemed very scripted ill admit
 
It doesn't come close to the best of the UK version, but I think this "best of TGUS (so far)" episode is actually up to par with a passable/average recent-series episode of TGUK, scripted jokes and all included. Looking at the other countries' incarnations, that's quite an accomplishment in 3 weeks.

I find it fascinating that from week 1 to 2, and now from 2 to 3, the specific improvements made directly addressed so many things covered in this forum for that respective week. I think it shows that the people behind the show want the same things we want out of them and are at least trying to go in that direction, given that with the filming dates the feedback here can't affect the show.

Yeah, the hosts aren't going to please everybody, but who knows if they'll stick together past the first run. Yeah, there hasn't been a BSSC worth watching yet. Yeah, they're crunched for time, missing some great opportunities to flesh out certain things. But I think they're definitely heading in the right direction, and this was the first properly entertaining episode of TGUS.
 
Last edited:
Best episode yet. The Cheap Car Challenge was ridiculous (which is a good thing) and The News was good.
 
I think it's pretty easy to see from the last 3 episodes that the Big Star, Small Car (SIARPC) segment does not work in the US version. It should just be dropped in favor of always having The News and even that segment can be removed when the film they have takes longer then 35 minutes. Because they only have around 46 minutes for this show, your going to have to be willing to lose some things and BSSC should be that item. No one knows how to do it (and that's fine, it only Works on Top Gear UK because Jezza had a talk show.) or they should slot in Jay Leno to do the part (never going to happen.).

Moonshine segment was good, the caddy got some air! But again, it feels rushed. Over all, it's working better, 7/10 for sure.
 
Last edited:
After the second episode, I've said elsewhere that if TGUS continued to improve at that rate, it might genuinely rival the original within 3-4 seasons. After this episode, I have to take that back. It'll happen by the end of season 2 at this rate.

P.S.: I nearly fell out of my chair when they showed the electric Lamborghini.
 
I liked it. The in studio stuff felt flat and awkward at times but the moonshine was hilarious. Wood really is my favorite but the other two are coming into their own. I'm glad it's getting better but perhaps they could use some better writers. I'm glad they got Ty Burrell as Modern Family another one of my favorite shows.
 
a fantastic episode. 9/10 for me. the news segment was executed nicely, but considering that the actual running time for each episode is around 45 minutes, it's understandable that they don't do a news segment every week.

i happened to enjoy this week's BSSC. Ty Burrell has more more of a "car guy" vibe than last week's guest with Dominic Monoghan. but then, hybrid owners aren't really considered to be gear heads anyways.

and i have been waiting for the "moonshine challenge" for quite sometime, and i enjoyed every bit of it. i can't wait for next week's episode.
 
I really enjoyed this episode. Bit by bit, they seem to be getting into the swing of things. Adam Ferrara's offroad lap in the Caddy made me laugh out loud. Not to mention his waxing poetic about the 76 Coupe De Ville. He was absolutely spot on.

My dad was a Caddy freak too, and we had 2 '76 Cadillacs. 1 Coupe DeVille and 1 Sedan DeVille. When we would go on family vacations all over Texas, my older brother got the back seat, and I got the floorboards or the back package shelf. Mom would recline the front passenger seat and dad would drive all night. And never doubt the power of that Cadillac 500! You could do 120mph in complete cloud-like comfort, I saw it happen...more than once. (Momma had a lead foot.)

Back on topic, though, the chemistry is vastly improved. They feel more "real" in this episode than they did in the previous 2, and most importantly to me they're starting to give the show it's own American flavor. As much as I love TGUK, I think I'd feel cheated if TGUS was just a slavish rip-off of the original.

However, I agree that the SIARPC segment REALLY needs some help. They're going with too many softball questions. One thing a great interviewer never shies from is asking the controversial questions of his guests or poking some fun at them. So far they've had pretty boring guests, ones with no real controversy around them. Maybe with some notoriety the show will earn access to some more interesting guests. (Don't get me wrong, Buzz Aldrin is interesting, but not exactly topical other than in 1969 he was one the 3 fastest humans ever.)

Overall, though, I'm digging the show, and hope the improvements continue. I rate this one a solid 8.
 
Last edited:
5/10. The guys are getting better. The producers let them down, just not a well put together episode.
 
Best yet... but lose Foust

Best yet... but lose Foust

I really enjoyed this episode. Laughed way too hard during the camp fire segment. But Foust is absolutely the most boring presenter around. I know he can drive but every line is like listening to PBS. The other 2 have great personalities and I think Tanner just sucks the life out of what could be some really funny scenes.
 
anyone noticed wood started making insulting jokes, like the tiger wood one lol, way to go! this is the way Top Gear should be!
 
I really enjoyed this episode. Laughed way too hard during the camp fire segment. But Foust is absolutely the most boring presenter around. I know he can drive but every line is like listening to PBS. The other 2 have great personalities and I think Tanner just sucks the life out of what could be some really funny scenes.

AMEN, there should NOT be a pro racing driver on the show, it defeats the point of the whole thing an it doesnt help that he is so bland.

anyone noticed wood started making insulting jokes, like the tiger wood one lol, way to go! this is the way Top Gear should be!

yup, i mentioned it as well, its a definite UP
 
Top