NBC passes on TG USA

Basically this show was originally going to air during the writers strike, now that's over they have no reason to bring it over. See how the Australian version turned out, I'm kinda glad they didn't make this show. It'll dilute the TG brand image.
 
xmurrx said:
what do you mean by homo erotic?

none of them are gay.
Click to expand...

Six Feet Under did ram gayness down everybody's throat. Gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay, ok we get it David is gay, is there anything deeper to his character?
 
Wow, hard left, hit gay wall?

Showtime and HBO look for programs that will draw in veiwers. I don't think TG America will do that for them. We are the hardcore fans, I know car guys that just don't get the show. While BBCAmerica would be fine, it doesn't have a big following here.
 
American cable is so rife with advertising the fears that TGUSA will have to bow to advertisers is still a real threat. HBO being one of the few exceptions. HBO would be a brilliant fit with the show depending on how they decide to put it together. I have said it before and I'll say it again, any version of TG will live or die by who they get to host it and who works behind the scenes. The Aussies went for a straight copy with different accents and failed. It's not a horrible show, but it lacks "pop" and that is because the hosts are rather neutered and all the challenges are simply lifted from it's progenitor. If TGUSA finds the right hosts and technical crew to put it all together and make themselves as different as possible from TG then they can court advertisers other than car makers. Lord knows there are advertisers who would like to appear during a program that attracts such a strong, consumer oriented demographic of young people.
 
exactly.
im alright with the thought of adam corolla not doing tgusa as i just dont like him or his nasty voice. i guess hes an alright person, but that latest soundbite of him talking about how funny he thinks he is and how much better his pilot is than the original just sort of turns me off completely.



definitely no surprise in nbcs money hungry eyes staring at potential advertising embedded into the show. shows how shit american television is...with a few exceptions.
 
I hope the whole project is cancelled. TG is a British show and its nationality is an inherent part of its charm. Why spoil the name with a spin-off that will never be as good as the original? Smaller budget, shittier cars and locales, and generic guitar music--I'll pass.

We have Fifth Gear for when TG is off-air, that's enough.
 
Tobias said:
I hope the whole project is cancelled. TG is a British show and its nationality is an inherent part of its charm. Why spoil the name with a spin-off that will never be as good as the original? Smaller budget, shittier cars and locales, and generic guitar music--I'll pass.

We have Fifth Gear for when TG is off-air, that's enough.
Click to expand...

Normally I would probably agree with that sentiment, but the US has such a huge car culture it would be such a wasted potential not to tap into that, especially from a (hopefully) witty and sarcastic perspective. This is why the personality of the hosts is so important, and while I don't necessarily agree with the choice of current hosts (Adam, Tanner, Eric), I'm still willing to see how they turn out.

I love Top Gear's and/or Jeremy's commentary on American cars and culture and all, but there's more to it than "oh haha we're all fat and love muscle cars, the end".
 
He has a point, you know. Americans aren't just about muscle cars, they're big on trucks and SUVs, as well. :p Oh, and guns..

Honestly, if you dig a bit deeper, you find that American culture has more depth than what the TG3 tell you. Top Gear is only based on the stereotypes as a bit of fun.
 
I hope that eventually they actually produce a TG US so that they can make a UK film filled with stereotypes. *bam!* Right back at ya! :lol:
 
Ramseus said:
I hope that eventually they actually produce a TG US so that they can make a UK film filled with stereotypes. *bam!* Right back at ya! :lol:
Click to expand...

Hey, no need to wait that long. Just watch any Hollywood film or tv series where the villains are played by Brits or the ep is set in an England filled with toothless cockneys and upper-class twits. It's a 2-way street <g>
 
jenna42 said:
Hey, no need to wait that long. Just watch any Hollywood film or tv series where the villains are played by Brits or the ep is set in an England filled with toothless cockneys and upper-class twits. It's a 2-way street <g>
Click to expand...

They're still mad that all the bad guys in Star Wars have British accents ;)
 
I'm a bit late to this convo, but will throw in my $0.02 anyways. While I do think that Discovery would be a great fit for a show like Top Gear (it really does fit in with their edu-tainment line-up) I fear the they're in too deep with some automotive advertisers for it to work. Ford is obviously a huge sponsor of Dirty Jobs. Toyota has been a large backer, too, and it's obvious when you watch shows such as Build It Bigger.

Speed would be terrible. That's a terrible channel with terrible shows. No. Plus, again, the advertiser thing.

I don't think a premium channel (HBO) would be a good fit, either. Not enough viewership and it's not a show that's going to draw in more subscriptions.

I guess the best fit, sadly, would be a variety network, such as USA or Spike.
 
otter said:
I'm a bit late to this convo, but will throw in my $0.02 anyways. While I do think that Discovery would be a great fit for a show like Top Gear (it really does fit in with their edu-tainment line-up) I fear the they're in too deep with some automotive advertisers for it to work. Ford is obviously a huge sponsor of Dirty Jobs. Toyota has been a large backer, too, and it's obvious when you watch shows such as Build It Bigger.

Speed would be terrible. That's a terrible channel with terrible shows. No. Plus, again, the advertiser thing.

I don't think a premium channel (HBO) would be a good fit, either. Not enough viewership and it's not a show that's going to draw in more subscriptions.

I guess the best fit, sadly, would be a variety network, such as USA or Spike.
Click to expand...

What do you mean not enough viewership?

Do you realize TGUK has an estimated half a BILLION viewers?

If it went to HBO (or other pay service) and it was done well, there is no reason it would not increase their viewers. I know if TGUK was only availanble on HBO I would subscribe and this from a person that has not watched reg tv 5 hours the past month, maybe the past 2 months. Most of my TV watching is at other peoples houses.
 
skylock said:
What do you mean not enough viewership?

Do you realize TGUK has an estimated half a BILLION viewers?

If it went to HBO (or other pay service) and it was done well, there is no reason it would not increase their viewers. I know if TGUK was only availanble on HBO I would subscribe and this from a person that has not watched reg tv 5 hours the past month, maybe the past 2 months. Most of my TV watching is at other peoples houses.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing he means the viewership of that channel itself is not enough to warrant Top Gear going onto it?
 
skylock said:
Do you realize TGUK has an estimated half a BILLION viewers?
Click to expand...

Do you realize that that statistic is bullshit? It counts everyone who has only seen a one minute clip on youtube as a viewer, even if they have no clue what TG is. (and I thought it was 300-400 million, anyways)


And as was pointed out earlier, HBO has 30 million subscriptions, that's definitely not a small amount of viewers. The only problem with a premium channel is they might decide to fill the show with tits and people shouting fuck just because they can.
 
skylock said:
Do you realize TGUK has an estimated half a BILLION viewers?
Click to expand...

It doesn't, it just doesn't.

Those "estimated" #'s are as useful as me picking a random contact from my phone and saying their # is how many people watch it. There is no way to count all trackers and there is no way to count all IPs for people uploading to multiple trackers. The "stats" will count 6 people downloading if you use 6 different trackers.

After 12 series Top Gear peaks at about 7.5 million viewers, not 500 million. Pepsi (the people who would be paying for the show) don't care how many people illegaly download the show because ads are removed.


And this isn't TG:UK, look at TG Aussie the first episode did "ok" almost a million viewers and 3rd in the time slot, but every other episode after that failed to get 700k and was always last in the time slot.

[1x01]933,000 - 13th Overall - 3rd in timeslot
[1x02]674,000 - 26th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x03]668,000 - 24th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x04]598,000 - 25th Overall - Last in Timeslot
[1x05]435,000 - 26th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x06]635,000 - 20th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x07]612,000 - 25th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x08]662,000 - 21st Overall - Last in timeslot

Top Gear America won't be funded by license fees.


Ramseus said:
The only problem with a premium channel is they might decide to fill the show with tits and people shouting fuck just because they can.
Click to expand...

Ugh, Adam on HBO would be horrid. He is bad enough on radio where he has to be somewhat tamed but I couldn't even imagine the trainwreck that him on HBO would be.
 
Last edited:
Seasonone said:
And this isn't TG:UK, look at TG Aussie the first episode did "ok" almost a million viewers and 3rd in the time slot, but every other episode after that failed to get 700k and was always last in the time slot.

[1x01]933,000 - 13th Overall - 3rd in timeslot
[1x02]674,000 - 26th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x03]668,000 - 24th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x04]598,000 - 25th Overall - Last in Timeslot
[1x05]435,000 - 26th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x06]635,000 - 20th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x07]612,000 - 25th Overall - Last in timeslot
[1x08]662,000 - 21st Overall - Last in timeslot
Click to expand...

There is more to it than just numbers as well. The Aussie Top Gear airs on the SBS channel which a) not all Aussies can get (though its alot easier with digital tv) and b) is not popular channel for 15 to late 20s to tune into. If it were on one of the mainstream channel I would bet it would get significantly more numbers.

I hope TG US comes to fruitation though. Despite what people said about TG AU its great to see a different perspective and spin on a popular program and I think you guys over in the US have a massive car culture to draw upon!

Its either that or we tune into TG Russia when TG UK is in downtime:lol:
 
well....

I'm afraid that "Top Gear America" will end up on
The History Channel!
 :(

...let's hope not...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top