NBC to make US version of Top Gear called "Gear"

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This always happens. Three months ago it was, "series 11 is gona b teh suxxorz. series 7 FTMFW."

Jesus, lets just wait for the pilot. Maybe it sucks, well then we just keep on downloading the BBC version and everything is fine. Maybe it's good, and we get both to watch on Sundays? Let's wait and see.
 
Your choice of video games as a comparison is ill-founded on two levels. One, there was the whole Gerstmanngate thing last month, when a writer from a popular website was allegedly fired because he gave a bad review to a large-budget game that had advertised all over the site.

Two, G4 has a fraction of the viewers that NBC does. Deal or no Deal on NBC gets from 10 to 15 million viewers. I don't know how many viewers a G4 major production - such as Attack of the Show - gets, but I bet it's not 10 million.

And, from wikipedia, "G4 has, in the past, boasted about its willingness to go beyond the traditional limits of advertising on the network. The willingness of the network to sell advertisements inside of program content as well as efforts in the past to sell coverage of products on shows to companies raises questions about the honesty of all content on G4."

Good job avoiding the point. AND using wikipedia as a reliable source? You're batting 1000 buddy :D.

Now if you had paid attention, you would know of the fallout from the "firing editor" incident (which nobody is even sure of the cause of) which was widespread condemnation and even boycotting of the magazine, i know i sure as hell trust them less because of it. The one time in my memory something like this has actually happened the entire video game community shit a brick. Imagine a review show on the NBC stage doing something so blatantly dishonest, it would be national news! And that doesnt even take into account the reputation of Top gear that "Gear" is now expected to uphold. I'm quite sure that the reviews will be unbiased, especially with the old top-gear producers and jeremy clarkson pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
 
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here's the basic problem.

All US car review shows are so galactically awful that i haven't sat thru a single one since my first viewing of Top Gear. When you throw in the fact that "Americanized" versions of international TV shows also suck hard enough to drag a bowling ball thru a garden hose, there's absolutely no chance of this show being any good.

Iron Chef was good because it was, at its heart, very japanese and its not something that can just be "Americanized" (whatever the fsck that means other than "it must suck").

Top Gear is distictily british in its deadpan humor, the juxtoposition of a right-wing extremist being on the BBC, and 3 blokes mocking ruddy awful British cars.

Let me try it this way...

how well do you think an "American version" of Monty Python work out?

Now look at all of the car shows that are on in the US. Name one that doesn't feature some guy BADLY reading his lines as you see the car drive down a wooded lane.

"The-handling-is-poised-with-just-a-hint-of-understeer."

ugh.

I'm quite glad that TG didn't come to America because it would have been wrecked, and Jeremy would hate us colonials even worse than he does now.

#1 reason that "Gear" will suck: you can't say "cock" on TV here.
 
At least "Gear" will more than likely be in HD! That should count for something.
 
NBC Shifts Into BBC Worldwide America's Top Gear

NBC Shifts Into BBC Worldwide America's Top Gear

Hi, I don't usually post on these forums but I found this.

?We?re always looking for innovative ways to partner with our advertisers, and this show offers a great platform for the latest in car culture," NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios co-chairman Ben Silverman said.

With "partnering with advertisers" you can bet there will be no more trashing cars with reviews.
 
Honestly it will probably blow. We don't exactly have a huge arsenal of cool cars here in the states to put in the show. I'm gonna get real tired real soon of seeing mustangs and vettes going around the track. i mean how many alterations of those cars am I gonna care to see? And if they base their rankings on how fast it goes in a quarter mile I won't care to watch at all.

I mean we will have stangs, vettes, and they will probably have a gallardo, R8, RS4, M3,M5,M6, the new GTR,S2K CR, a lot of the econo hot hatches which is the Saturn Astra, Si, maybe the TC, probably the Evo X, and STi. Anything cool and European will probably not be so favored. 10 to 1 i bet you the sponsor will be GM or Ford and they will over praise their cars because they are the ones paying their checks for the hosts.

I just don't think the hosts will be nearly as sophisticated and cool as Jeremy and Hammond. Even yes Capitan slow.


I'm sure I'm over venting a bit, but look how American Gladiators turned out? I watched it for 5 mins and hated it.
 
Yes, because we all know on-screen people are the only contributors to the show, which is why this new top gear will fail. Clarkson, hammond and may singlehandedly produce, write, shoot, distribute and edit the show themselves.
 
Peoples apprehensions are based on the fact that a vast majority of American shows are rubbish, and that until any evidence to suggest that this will not be the case - I and others will be weary. So yes, it is fair to guess it will suck, however it would be a lovely surprise if it isn't terrible...
 
This isnt an american made show, its a top gear knockoff from the creators of top gear, broadcast on an american network.

The vast majority of ALL tv is crap. Its not as if the UK (or even the BBC) produces nothing but TV gold. Every time i see "Cash in the attic" or "How clean is your house" i die a little inside :(
 
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I am actually looking forward to this show now, knowing that Clarkson and the TG team are supporting the US Top Gear.

As long as the show is funny and entertaining to watch (unlike most automotive programmes out there), I'll watch it. It'd be better of course if they have a anti-Clarkson-but-Clarkson-ish character in the show to keep the lunacy level up. =D (sort of like Simon Cowell, know what I mean?) It'd be weird to see a Clarkson mini-me praising everything Europe in the US.

I am fine with the show testing American cars, as long as they're willing to criticize crappy cars made by the companies those are sponsering them.

Chemistry is important too. The hosts need not to have an engineering degree to host this program, as long as they're funny, they like cocking about and they're sarcastic. Top Gear UK has never been about technicalities anyway, why do we need professional journalists? Comedians, talk show hosts or not, if they have competent driving skills and the ability to make things interesting, I'll watch it. It'd be fine to have journalists too, as long as they have all those essential qualities.

NBC needs to throw a lot of money in if they want Top Gear US to be successful. Making Top Gear isn't exactly cheap. More than that, they need somebody who is extremely creative to think new ideas for the show, and the video-editing ability of Andy Wilman -- it won't be Top Gear if they show us boring camera angles and poor soundtrack on television.

The Advertising problem is an issue, I sure hope that the motor companies will mind their own businesses and let them do whatever they want.

If they can do all those, I'll happily watch it -- might fulfill my wish of watching Top Gear live too, now that they're doing it in North America... Although Clarkson Hammond and May won't be there. =/

On a sidenote, some of you say that there're no good television shows in the US, and I'll have to disagree to that. Most of my favourite television shows are made in America. I've watched Friends since grade 9, Cheers (yes i know i am 18 but i watched the re-runs and they're good), ER, Frasier, Seinfeld -- they're all good shows. Now they have House, 24, Arrested Development (shame they cancelled it) -- all excellent shows. British shows are good (Top Gear, QI, A bit of Fry & Laurie, HIGNFY), but it doesn't mean that American shows are not.

I'm looking forward to the pilot.
 
American TV series like Dexter, Firefly, Sopranos are surely the best in the world,
but the reality shows and documentaries are among the worst I've ever seen.
Especially the ones about cars... among the most boring things you can watch on TV.

As I said, I hope "Gear" will be something to look forward to
and to discuss about... god knows there are enough crappy shows.
 
I have been a loyal viewer of Top Gear for a couple of years now and I must say that what makes Top Gear what it is, is not the content but it's presenters. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are the best trio since the Musketeers. Without them, the show is lost. They know cars and they know them well. As much as they're patriotic to their nation, they are not biased to their cars. They make automobiles more than just a means of transportation, they make them fun. From racing fighter jets to each other to the North Pole, Top Gear has made television interesting and fun. Fun being what the Discovery Channel or TLC do not have.

As for the point I have come here to make. The Hell with "Gear". It's another desperate attempt of Americans trying to make an easy buck while plagiarizing other peoples work. I will watch the pilot episode with much scrutiny but I won't hold my breath. With our communications regulations, liberals, and the greedy manufacturers, this show might as well be called Motor Trend Weekly. :lol:

I don't think I've ever read as large a portion of crap in the entire time I've been on this board.

1. It's on NBC, NOT The Discovery Channel, etc.

2. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are NOT irreplaceable. They would be the first to tell you THAT.

3. To "hell" with Gear? My God, son, the show hasn't even been filmed yet and you're trashing it? Motor Trend Weekly?

I thought I heard a lot of crap from folks outside of the U.S. on this board, and that's fine. But you really end all.

Have a wonderful day.
 
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US Top Gear

US Top Gear

Being in the US, gotta say I love Top Gear and the guys that do the real BBC show. I heard about this and think it could be good, but then again, like always, US big networks could screw it up.

I hope it is more to the BBC show and not a bunch of Mustang lovers where the "US Stig" drives around an oval track for best times for Christ's sake.!!! That would suck beyond words.

Hopefully they don't use Jay Leno or anyone like that, would be better to use unknowns, car journalists that love and understand more than just Mustangs and Corvettes.

Just afraid NBC won't have the guts to allow these guys to rip crap cars to shreds. I think they will have Ferrari's, Lambos, etc...

As far as getting back at all of Clarkson's USA-bashing comments, let's face it...I hate to say it, but half the jokes Clarkson makes about Americans is true :) Majority of us are overwieght people who think a car going fast in a straight line (or oval) is somehow the top of technology. Admittaly there will be some of that, but hopefully NBC realize not all Americans are die hard Nascar fans..!!?!

Hopefully it will be people hosting who 'get it' and don't make some stupid fluffy hour long car commerical....Sorry but Jay Leno hosting would make it like this.

Just my 2 cents...now someone will rip me to shreds.. :)

Anyone know where they are casting and when?
 
Being in the US, gotta say I love Top Gear and the guys that do the real BBC show. I heard about this and think it could be good, but then again, like always, US big networks could screw it up.

Oh, absolutely agreed! The US networks have had some success with retooling UK another other foreign (to them) material in the past. But this will be a challenge on several fronts.

First, just look at our cars. For all his posturing, Clarkson does have one thing right...there is a sameness about American Iron that kind of boggles the mind. A show with only American cars would run out of material fast. As long as our stuff is put up against machines from Japan and Europe, then there could be some good material here.

The bit about the advertisers, while not hogwash, is somewhat overstated. Remember, this the U.S. the land of the hard sell. Here it doesn't really matter what you say about a product, as long as you mention it. If the show attracts enough eyeballs, I can assure you the manufacturers and aftermarket folks will be lining up to buy commercials.

I'm completely agreed on your thoughts that unknowns (at least to TV) need to be the hosts. Maybe one writer (such as Csaba Csere), a Howard Stern-type media person, perhaps some crew chief from NASCAR or the Indy-type racing, heck, we might even try to get someone from the buying and selling end of it, since Americans love to shop for cars.

And yes, we do need to ensure that one part of each road test is to show that the cars can turn right...as well as left!

Oh yes...and please keep Jessica as the theme song! ;)

What's scary is that apparently we're suddenly and unexpectedly closer to an episode of American Top Gear than we are to the next episode of the real thing! :shock:
 
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I think without Clarkson's direct input the show is going to be rubbish. If it's going to succeed they need to make sure they have a good cast of characters and that the humor is of the same type. It's got to be a bunch of friends (all like-able) messing around having fun while talking about cars.

I don't think it will be as ambitious as Top Gear UK, but it will surely be more rubbish.
 
You know americans dont really talk like this right? I hope this new knockoff is done well. Just make a carbon copy of Top gear with new hosts and it will be just as good.

And there NEEDS to be a stig.

YEA... STIG's american cousin from series 9:lol:
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