I wasn't so sure at first, but now I am officially a fan

Artdisco

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The first episode I saw of the US version of Top Gear, I hated it, and I blamed it all on the hosts. Initially, I thought three lousy choices were made and I had no desire to watch it because I was afraid it would be crap. But despite myself, I am now a fan.

I put aside my prejudices and decided to power through all 10 episodes of season 1 and after watching last night's season 2 premiere, I'm glad I did. Tanner, Rutledge, and Adam are definitely coming into their own, they look poised, confident, and they are getting more comfortable in their roles on the show as well as building a good rapport with each other. They are also starting to show individual personality traits that make the hosts of the UK version so fun to watch.

After a not so promising start, I think these guys are going to get better and better, and hopefully, the show will make it for several more seasons and by then I bet they'll be as entertaining as their UK counterparts. I have changed my mind from my initial bad impression to become a full-on fan of American Top Gear.

Good job guys! Keep it coming, and I'll keep watching!
 
I agree, I didn't enjoy the first ever episode of the first season. However through the first season, I started to enjoy it more. It feels as though they're not trying to be a lot like the original Top Gear with the challenges...ish (a bit of a copy: Raptor vs. flyer, Evo vs. skiers, California vs. plane) . Season 2's premiere though, I really liked it! :D I have to say it's now become my favorite of the Top Gear spin-offs, mostly because they are trying to be much different. (Different opening scene! Yay!)
 
There were several laugh-out loud funny moments in this week's episode. None of the humor / banter between the presenters felt forced at all. It was a really remarkable improvement from year 1.
 
And tiny little observation, I absolutely hated the way Tanner closed out all the shows in Season 1. It was so deadpan and lifeless.

Last night's episode, however, he was a lot more energetic, which I liked.
 
I thought last nights episode was hopeless TBH.

However, it did make me laugh once (which is 1 more time than I laughed all of season 1).


They didn't have a SIARPC (or BSSC), nor did they have a track test of a car.

What gives?

45 minutes of only one segement; doesn't cut it for me.

Production team seems to be good.

I've always liked Tanner, and I don't mind the other two, but I don't think any of them are funny.

So far, the highlight of U.S. Top Gear was the Evo vs Skiers challenge IMO.

I will still watch every week, and I hope it gets better, but for now, it just doesn't work for me.
 
So far, the highlight of U.S. Top Gear was the Evo vs Skiers challenge IMO.

I agree, but I have to say the Velociraptor vs the HALO jumper was pretty impressive too. I'm just encouraged that the hosts seem to be getting better and I think, and hope, that they will continue to get better.

Admittedly, whoever hosts that show, they have some pretty big shoes to fill. Clarkson, Hammond, and May are a tough act to live up to!
 
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I think so many people, when this show started up, were very unfair to the series. It was coming in as a new version of a show that has had nearly 20 seasons to grow, improve, and give more personality and chemistry to the hosts. The UK version wasn't -that- great in it's first couple of seasons either. Speaking as an already big fan of this show (I love the UK version to death, but, come on...so much of the issues presented, such as speed cameras, road hogging caravans, I just can't relate to them. A localized version I CAN relate to), I think it has huge potential...I just hope the fanbase gets large enough for it to stick around.

And yeah, I know it's not the same without Clarkson, Hammond, and May, but I for one am very thankful the hosts aren't trying to be just like them.

They didn't have a SIARPC (or BSSC), nor did they have a track test of a car.

What gives?

45 minutes of only one segement; doesn't cut it for me.

Hasn't the UK version done that a few times? Bostwana, South America, North Pole....they've had plenty of episodes with one segment and no SIARPC.
 
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Hasn't the UK version done that a few times? Bostwana, South America, North Pole....they've had plenty of episodes with one segment and no SIARPC.

True, but those were EPIC challenges with huge budgets and really needed that extra time!! And TG US is not even close to those standards yet and the challenge was not epic enaugh to get the full show.
 
True, but those were EPIC challenges with huge budgets and really needed that extra time!! And TG US is not even close to those standards yet and the challenge was not epic enaugh to get the full show.

but it did anyways, so suck it up.
 
i dont dislike it asmuch as i did the first few episodes. but season 2x01 was pretty good. 2x02 was bad though the first car bit was good, the ultimate cars were bleh, and the bssc was crap (partiall cause i dont know who these guys are) plus i dont think that the fat guy's a good interviewer tbh. why the hell was the fat guy wearing shades inside?!? (the guest fat guy not the interviewer fat guy) on a scale of 1-10 i'm giving TGUS a 6-7 at most. but i do agree that they are improving a lot. TGUK season 1 wasnt that great either.
 
The "fat guy" has a name (Rutledge). So does "the guest fat guy" (Rick).
 
The guests were two of the guys from the show Pawn Stars: Rick (without the shades or hair) and Chumlee (with the shades and tattoos).

That said I have this to say about Top Gear US.
The first season was what I expected: disappointing, most likely because I was comparing it so much to the original Brit show.
This second season is off to a much better start and I see two reasons for it:
1) Indeed the show is getting better
and
2) It could be much worse. What if Adam Carolla had joined the show ? You may like him, I didn't know him prior to The Car Show and now that I've seen a couple of episodes I am grateful Top Gear US is as good as it is.


I'll keep watching Top gear US. :thumbup:
... I just may drop The Car Show shortly, despite being able to DVR it and skipping the ads.



Oh and Yeah! for a skydiving stiggy. :clap:
 
I felt much the same as most everyone else here: Series 1 got better as it went along; the last couple of episodes (not counting the "best of..." episode here) were as good as anything we saw in series 16 of Top Gear UK. And apart from the weirdness of using actual cars as truck replacements, episode 1 was pretty good. Maybe if they had intended to make utes out of the cars in the first place (which would have been an interesting mod that is not uncommon here in America) it wouldn't have been so odd. But they did, and I still laughed

But I think with Episode 2 of season 2, they have the secret sauce of a great show. Not a TGUK clone, but a great American car show brought to you by the proud parents at TGUK. Adam, Rut, Tanner: well done!

The dream first cars were bleah?! I'd say they were spot on. Adam picked a Vette, Tanner picked the current top Italian supercar. When I was in high school dreaming of my dream first car, it was either the Lamborghini Countach that everyone had a poster of on their wall (next to the Farrah Fawcett swimsuit poster, remember those?) or it was the Dodge Viper V10 that was inexorably making its way into production. So while their dream first cars may not have been contemporary to their first car ages, they were pretty well representative of what I wanted too.
 
I'm giving them time, I only hope they're given the time to develop. That said I'm pretty surprised by The Car Show.
 
Bashing TGUS is like bashing Hyundai. TGUS has come into its own from pretty much get go. It's just some people stuck up minds didn't catch up until now. Normally mentally developed people were able to enjoy its merits from the very first episode (even with some initial interaction clumsiness they were way more fun than anything UK puts up these days). The other ones (TGUK fanbois) simply didn't want to. If they asked me "one of TGs has to go, UK or US, so which should we leave?" I'd answer without hesitation "dump UK, leave US".
 
I'm giving them time, I only hope they're given the time to develop. That said I'm pretty surprised by The Car Show.

I'm surprised by The Car Show, also. Surprised at how bad it is. Adam Carolla is the worst host on television. There is something very unsettling about a middle age guy trying to appeal to the 17 - 25 year old male demographic. It's like watching a child molester - nauseating and revolting. Add another middle age fool too hip for his own good, Matt Farrah, to the mix and you have an hour long car crash.

Top Gear America is doing just fine. The only people here who hate it are Anglophiles who think the three British hosts are erudite. These dummies are impressed by British accents, even though those accents are all from the low rent parts of England.
 
One thing, though: Their native regional (Yorkshire for Jeremy, Birmingham for Richard, Bristol for James) accents are all, for the most part, gone and have been for years.
 
Top Gear America is doing just fine. The only people here who hate it are Anglophiles who think the three British hosts are erudite. These dummies are impressed by British accents, even though those accents are all from the low rent parts of England.

And no matter how many times you point out to those "haters" that the ratings for Top Gear America are continually improving and that the hosts are continuing to gain chemistry they continue to talk trash. Not to mention people on the History Channel Forums were terribly uninformed about anything prior to Series 10 of Top Gear UK (a.k.a. when they achieved massive appeal) and those people were the loudest of the "haters"...
 
It's like watching a child molester

I'll take your word for it Beech! :lol: Actually haven't seen the Car Show myself; not sure that they will make it given their venue. I'm okay with another car show, after all TGUK has Fifth Gear to push around!

Hello jmurphy, good to 'see' you here! Well met my friend!
 
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