A simple suggestion: A Top Gear Spin-off focused only on cars

Apostrophe

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2006
Messages
24
Location
Vaasa, Finland
Plenty of people, myself included, have been rather unhappy to see Top Gear forge a path towards entertainment and away from automobiles in these recent years. We cry out for more cars and fewer space shuttles.

I just thought of a brilliant solution to this problem: A TOP GEAR SPIN-OFF! One that focuses only on cars! Still with the three stooges and with the same crew, but in this edition there would be no flying caravans or explosions. Just car reviews.

They could keep old Top Gear as it is, just produce this spinoff to satisfy the serious car-nut demand that we all know exists.
 
There is no audience for that sadly.
 
i guarantee that would flop bigger than Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day

theres not much wrong with TG as it is.... fifth gear was mainly car orientated and look where that went.

they tried to be TG like with stunts n shit and they were even worse! even tho TG has kinda awkward feeling script parts, when you compare it to the shite that fifth gear tried you can then appreciate just how hard it is do stuff like that convincingly and how good the 3 guys are.
 
Actually I think it could work, back to half an hour and bring back Needell and perhaps Tom Ford, and VBH if they insist and maybe combine it with some motorsports news as well on a Thursday night like it used to be back in the day. Call TGII or In Gear or something else and run it at different times of the year when TG isn't on.

Shouldn't be too hard - after all if Strictly can have a nightly half hour spin-off on BBC2 when it's running why can't they do something like that? TG makes huge amounts of money both for the BBC and the company that actually makes it. A show focussed purely on sensible motoring issues wouldn't cost the earth - they have the access to Dunsfold anyway and the relevant crew and if all they were doing was reporting and borrowing press cars from the manufacturers then there would be no need for a dynamite/stunts/cheap cars budget.

They could even have a weekly guest spot from TG presenters through the ages, as long as Jeremy didn't invade the studio to try and look at Kate Humble's badger!
 
I just thought of a brilliant solution to this problem: A TOP GEAR SPIN-OFF! One that focuses only on cars! Still with the three stooges and with the same crew, but in this edition there would be no flying caravans or explosions. Just car reviews.

Well we kind of get that with Jeremy Clarkson's annual DVD. Yes, there are plenty of explosions and an occasional flying caravan, but all the action takes place on a track and the story focuses strongly on the cars, themselves.

And it appears that, based on the reviews of 2009's Duel, this format is not overly popular, either.

As for a "pure" car review show, have you ever seen an episode of Autoweek? :zzz:
 
Plenty of people, myself included, have been rather unhappy to see Top Gear forge a path towards entertainment and away from automobiles in these recent years. We cry out for more cars and fewer space shuttles.

I just thought of a brilliant solution to this problem: A TOP GEAR SPIN-OFF! One that focuses only on cars! Still with the three stooges and with the same crew, but in this edition there would be no flying caravans or explosions. Just car reviews.

They could keep old Top Gear as it is, just produce this spinoff to satisfy the serious car-nut demand that we all know exists.


Already done. You may have heard of Fifth Gear.
 
bring back Needell and perhaps Tom Ford, and VBH if they insist

So that would be Fifth Gear? But really I don't think this is a really bad idea, but MWF got the point wrong cause it was that it should be with the same crew, not with irritating Tiff (Vicki's tits imo could came to TG, mm..)

As a car lover and a TG fanatic I still don't think they should, I really love the show in it's current format. It gives me hell of a laugh everytime I watch it, makes me happy and smile.

That is what it's about, not the cars or powerslides, I think it would give me a laugh if Jezza,Hammond and May would be in the show at the same kinda way, but honestly I don't laugh when I watch Fifth Gear.

And at last, WHY everyone newish person who come's to this forum starts this kind of thread!?!? Somebody started almost similar just 2 days ago! GODDAMNIT I DON'T CARE
 
Yeah, that pretty much was Fifth Gear. They started copying Top Gear with the lap board, among other things. Their reviews just were not at interesting. I wonder if they hadn't give away a car every week would their costs have been less (probably a thread for a different forum).
 
Plenty of people, myself included, have been rather unhappy to see Top Gear forge a path towards entertainment and away from automobiles in these recent years. We cry out for more cars and fewer space shuttles.

I just thought of a brilliant solution to this problem: A TOP GEAR SPIN-OFF! One that focuses only on cars! Still with the three stooges and with the same crew, but in this edition there would be no flying caravans or explosions. Just car reviews.

They could keep old Top Gear as it is, just produce this spinoff to satisfy the serious car-nut demand that we all know exists.

Obviously, everyone has pointed out that Fifth Gear was what you were looking for. Also obviously, it's been canned.

If what you want is car reviews, may I point you in the direction of Motorweek? It seems to be more or less what you're looking for.
 
Axed, that was.

The Fifth Gear webTV on youtube is still running and the episodes aren't bad actually.

I'm afraid that if there was a spin-off to focus purely on car reviews, it would get boring really soon, maybe more for the presenters/production team than the viewers (btw, personally I'm sensing that the TG trio is bored more and more with the show as such). If you look at Top Gear today and strip it down to car reviews only, there really isn't much variety. What has been there so far in season 14? Executive saloons by James, JC in Belfast in Renault, the SUVs on track and oh yes the silly kit-car review. If these were in a separate standalone episode, everybody would immediately start calling for more explosions :).

That being said, I see the point, because car reviews is what made Top Gear great for me. The Carrera GT review or the Cayenne review are still one of my all time favorites.

edit: my evil post #666 :D
 
The Fifth Gear webTV on youtube is still running and the episodes aren't bad actually.

I'm afraid that if there was a spin-off to focus purely on car reviews, it would get boring really soon, maybe more for the presenters/production team than the viewers (btw, personally I'm sensing that the TG trio is bored more and more with the show as such). If you look at Top Gear today and strip it down to car reviews only, there really isn't much variety. What has been there so far in season 14? Executive saloons by James, JC in Belfast in Renault, the SUVs on track and oh yes the silly kit-car review. If these were in a separate standalone episode, everybody would immediately start calling for more explosions :).

That being said, I see the point, because car reviews is what made Top Gear great for me. The Carrera GT review or the Cayenne review are still one of my all time favorites.

edit: my evil post #666 :D

'I'm speaking to you from inside the Venturi tunnels"

TG04x04.jpg
 
Didnt Wilman say he wanted to do something like this in a blog post? something called "Boring Top Gear"?

EDIT:

Thoughts about how Top Gear might mutate in future also seem at the forefront of Wilman's creative mind. He has considered the concept of a programme called Boring Top Gear which would provide the sort of down-to-earth consumer advice about motoring that has been cheerfully junked in favour of playing darts with scrap cars and blowing up caravans. It appeals to Wilman if only because it would allow him to be the producer of the first show with the world "boring" in the title.

Found the article:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/m...-of-top-gear-drives-a-honda-jazz-1651591.html
 
Last edited:
Hmmm, a car show only about cars...sounds like a good idea. But if I recall correctly, this has been done before. It was called 'Top Gear' and it used to screen in the 90's. It even had Jeremy and James...

As I?ve said before, the show just needs balance. Top Gear challenges were great because they were refreshing and different and it gave us a chance to see the chemistry between the hosts. But over time it seems the challenges have quietly fused themselves to the core of the show and whilst that was okay for a while, it's starting to become a bit cancerous.

I'm not entirely sure how the hierarchy at Top Gear operates, but I suspect a lot of the shows direction lies with the presenters and when you're flying all over the place making television shows/DVD's, writing magazine/newspaper columns (and books), participating in worldwide Top Gear Live tours plus trying to spend time with your friends/family, perhaps it's no surprise that the show has lost some focus...
 
Actually I had a random idea a few years ago when thinking about what would happen if Top Gear moved to BBC One that was something along these lines - but with different hosts.

My thought was (as Top Gear was moving towards a more comedy/stunt based show) that if Top Gear moved to BBC One it would have a bigger budget to concentrate on this big stunts and comedy features and then BBC Two could have a new show called Top Gear Extra with different hosts talking more specifically about cars, motoring and possibly more detailed tests of the cars they feature in the Top Gear stunts.
 
Why should anyone be against a good "not silly" show thats purely about cars? But it should not be a spin off... just a good programme by it's own.
 
Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a program which was all full of car stuff, like Fifth Gear, but it was also good, unlike Fifth Gear? Oh man, I think that would be awesome.

There used to be a show like that... It was called 'Top Gear'. They made it from 2002 - 2006. I miss it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TC
Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a program which was all full of car stuff, like Fifth Gear, but it was also good, unlike Fifth Gear? Oh man, I think that would be awesome.

There used to be a show like that... It was called 'Top Gear'. They made it from 2002 - 2006. I miss it.

Those were the days. *basks in the warm glow of good memories long past* :p
 
It's like asking: The Tonight's Show with Jay Leno vs. The Jay Leno Show. One was phenomenal. The other, much of the same format, not so good ratings wise.

TG simply needs to have a segment dedicated to a serious review of cars. Sort of an expanded news section once in a while as opposed to a "theme" competition between them all the time. Say 2-3 times per show season, a review of the latest offerings from manufacturers. They only have to change the approach slightly; no need of a another show.
 
Top