Top Gear 3 set for USA show

I think there are some good roads to be found. For some really nice drives there is always the hill country, and there are some good bends to be found east of Dallas as well - a lot of Farm-to-Market roads.
 
MotorWeak, MotorBland, CarAndBlather, your days are NUMBERED! Say your prayers, Cxzbz Czxrxa
 
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American TG Man said:
Thankfully, the American Constitution has an amendment toward the right to Free Speech. this means Top Gear can say whatever they want, provided it isn't slanderous, libel, or meant to incite violence, and they are politically allowed to say it, even if people disagree with it.
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Amen, however we can look forward to the following new Top Gear firsts:

- UAW thugs protesting their bashing of rental fleet cars
- Al Sharpton protesting because Jeremy said something slightly offensive if you blink and stand on one foot.
- Nancy Pelosi protesting because they dared utter a criticism of the DOT or DMV. Imagine if they went after an American bureaucrat like they do to the folks in the UK.

We really are in danger of becoming like Stalinist Russia as far as free speech goes. Some of the tactics used are right out of old Joe's playbook. And I ain't just talking about Fox Snooze.

As we've seen, the politically connected class will throw even one of their own darlings to the sharks (Don Imus) when it's convenient. This could be a disaster waiting to happen. On the other hand, I can't wait for their honesty to puncture the shroud of BS around here, on things automotive and otherwise. I just don't think the spineless network types will back them up.
 
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zenkidori said:
For those of you who think that Top Gear can't survive here because of liability, political criticism, political correctness, or that we won't be able to stand them because they are foreign, I implore you to actually watch some American TV.
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Right and you think these shows are politically incorrect? Compared to Clarkson, these shows are about as politically incorrect as a 3 year old baby. For the most part, they aren't meant to offend anyone but to make fun of them. Clarkson on the other hand, makes fun of and offends intentionally.
 
Obviously you have never watched any of them. great job.

besides, that's just the tip of the iceberg, there are far worse critics/comics/jounralists/whatever here than clarkson, far far worse.
 
thedguy said:
I kind of like the idea of a "US top gear with American hosts". The problem with doing it, is you gotta find a group of guys that work great together on tv. And you can't exactly put an ad on craigslist

"Wanted: someone that will have great chemistry with 2 other random guys who answer this ad that really like cars."

They don't have to be, as someone else sort of said, followers of the Fox news ideals, but different enough from the TGUK, and be willing to hate/love anything.

This basically leaves out anyone from Texas, you guys are so proud it's scary :D
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*looks at the forums* I'll audition for Jeremy's spot. Want me to bash the Ford Mustang for being a Fail-stang? Call Korean Cars "Kim-Chee wannabes?" Praise the Japanese cars? And lament why the rich do stupid modifications to their cars?

I'm all for it, where's my paycheck?!
 
zenkidori said:
For those of you who think that Top Gear can't survive here because of liability, political criticism, political correctness, or that we won't be able to stand them because they are foreign, I implore you to actually watch some American TV.
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Good points, but let's remember some counter points: Comedy Central is owned by Paramount/CBS (and so is MTV, and so was Don Imus) when it comes down to it. Sumner Redstone's whims and political connections set the tone. The trend is that there is an interlocking elite class of media and government. Just beware, is the advice I'd offer our BBC friends.

And let's remember the elite tolerate the incorrectness as long as cash flows, but even then there is a limit (such as CC blocking out Muhammed in South Park).
 
Also of note is that unless it airs on PBS, it will be hard to stay independant of bias, yet have the the manufacturers actually give up press cars when asked, if they have been burned on a previous episode.
 
gtrietsc said:
Also of note is that unless it airs on PBS, it will be hard to stay independant of bias, yet have the the manufacturers actually give up press cars when asked, if they have been burned on a previous episode.
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Doesn't appear to be a problem for TG UK. Though isn't Jeremy banned from ever getting a Vauxhaull Vectra, at least as a press car? The thing you gotta remember is the old saying "no such thing as bad press" or "any press is good press." The more they bash the more, the more some people may go to a dealership just to see how bad it is for themselves. And may find it's not quite so bad.

Or they'll pull some stunt in an attempt to break it cause they hate it (porsche 911 anyone?) and in doing so, showing just how tough the car is.

janstett said:
And let's remember the elite tolerate the incorrectness as long as cash flows, but even then there is a limit (such as CC blocking out Muhammed in South Park).
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And someone finally points it out! If the show is making money hand over fist, the network will care little. What some people aren't quite realizing is, once people realize that most of the show is just joking around, they will only be bothered by people who have no sense of humor, or because they said something severally inappropriate. This is basically why South Park and Mencia and Chapelle get away with what they do, and Imus gets fired and screamed at by the public for saying "nappy headed hoes."

Imus was serious (I assume, I didn't follow it on the basis I thought it was utterly retarded), TG and SP, Mencia, Chapelle aren't. I also wonder how much money Imus was making the broadcasters, compared to the aforementioned shows.

I'm not Takumi said:
America, Fuck Yeah......
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I don't get how that even relates to his post.
 
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thedguy said:
Doesn't appear to be a problem for TG UK. Though isn't Jeremy banned from ever getting a Vauxhaull Vectra, at least as a press car?
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Yes, but in the UK, TG is not reliant on advertising commercial breaks.
 
gtrietsc said:
Yes, but in the UK, TG is not reliant on advertising commercial breaks.
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And regardless of how it's funded, that doesn't have an effect on whether or not the car companies will give them cars to review, again, look at TG now, they don't have a problem getting cars. Except that City Rover, which just led to a comical attempt to go review it.

A show as popular as TG, once it got up to or near its potential, will have an audience large enough that just about anyone will advertise for the show, not just car related.

Just look at the age group of this forums members, 14-28 years old, thats a large audience, and an audience with a large amount of buying power. Plenty of companies out there with little to no ethics, or care for what the hosts will say about any car companies vehicles, would be glad to hit that audience.
 
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tiny said:
they did a run of 6 episodes on discovery, 6 episodes that covered the entire season.
how did they get it down from an entire season down to 6 episodes?
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They essentially did a series of 'best of' shows, with different segments condensed from various shows.

tiny said:
they took out most of the good stuff.
there was no celebrity in a reasonably priced car there was no car news there was no cool wall
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Most Americans wouldn't have recognized a lot of British celebrities and the car news would have been outdated or simply out of place (British automotive news about vehicles and issues that have little significance to the 99% of North Americans).

tiny said:
and also the greatest atrocity yet ... NO STIG!!!
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Now you're just making stuff up. The new Stig was, in fact, present in the Discovery Channel episodes. In fact he/she/it was very prominently featured.

---

Apparently, the rest of the world has decided that we're all a bunch of fat, incompetent, incestuous, ignorant, fundamentalist Christian, litigious, morons who can't turn right and are all on the verge of congestive heart failure.

In the same vein, all Brits are either effeminate, aristocratic, professorial types who believe that the Sun has yet to set on the Empire, or they're poorly educated, curry-swilling ne'er-do-wells who can't pronounce an 'h' to save their lives, which is mostly spent jumping through time in a disproportionately spacious police box.

The French are all cheese-eating, chain smoking, wine sipping surrender monkeys who spend most of their days either practicing their pantomimes or preparing to drop their rifles.

And all Germans are megalomaniacal, goose-stepping fascists who obsess about minor technical details and abhor cup-holders.

...

While I enjoy watching Jezza shoot his mouth off, a good 60% of what he says is utter malarky. Some of it is his opinion presented as fact and some of it is bombastically ignorant ramblings aimed at, ironically, hiding his ignorance.

No U.S. network pulled any of his shows because of his irgnorant remarks during the sickeningly horrific aftermath of Katrina. No one will "sue" anyone if Clarkson shows his (metaphorical) ass on U.S. television, it will simply drive viewers away, taking advertisers with them and the show will get canned.

If Top Gear does actually make it to U.S. televisions (a big "if", IMHO) it would probably consist of 50-60% of the show as aired on the Beeb, with some North American cars mixed in and some U.S. automotive news.

That said, I do wonder which network would carry it (it would have to be cable, as the big four broadcast networks wouldn't want an hour of car-stuff to interfere with their endless parade of cheap reality shows, mindless gameshows and incessant crime-based formula dramas.
  • Discovery is a BBC partner, but it's obsessed with "Stunt Junkies", "Hazard Pay" and other cheap, 'extreme' shows.
  • Speed, owned by Rupert Murdoc, buries its non-NASCAR programs (all three of them) at odd hours and already carries 5th Gear (if it even bothers to air it).
  • ESPN, owned by Disney, is too cheap to even show Champ Car
  • Fox Sports seems to only pay attention to NASCAR and only then because it benefits Fox's exclusive contract with the left-turn crowd.
  • OLN/Versus used to show A1-GP, but did little to advertise that fact, as 99% of their programing is shooting deer/birds/fish with guns/arrows/slingshots/harpoons.
  • BBC America seems to think that there isn't enough "Trading Spaces", "Cash in the Attic", "Clean House" or "Absolutely Fabulous" on the air, considering that's about all they show, aside from the same three Eccleston "Dr. Who" episodes and various episodes of "Robin Hood"
  • PBS isn't really so much a network as much as a federation of independent stations -- all of whom are struggling financially thanks to the efforts of the Republicans who have run its budget into the ground because of the known "liberal bias" of objective facts and science.
 
It seems from the Clarkson article, that they don't know what material to use. I can't believe they just don't go back to all of the successful seasons for inspiration. I know what Clarkson is saying about last season, and he's right. They just did off-the-wall stuff, and hardly any car reviews.

They should go back to doing a few car revews, pitting a few cars against each other (like the 350z, Audi TT, and RX8 episode), and then throw in the the things like creating a rocketship out of a Robin, like they always have.

Anyone know if they lost the Top Gear track? That might be playing a huge part in this too. Not that they can't replicate the same track elsewhere...
 
sharkd said:
That said, I do wonder which network would carry it (it would have to be cable, as the big four broadcast networks wouldn't want an hour of car-stuff to interfere with their endless parade of cheap reality shows, mindless gameshows and incessant crime-based formula dramas.
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Howabout Spike TV? They have what, 2-3 hours dedicated to Cars....Okay, dragsters, Musclecars, Redneck mobiles, and PPPPOOOOOWWWWEEERRR!!!!.

http://www.spiketv.com/index.html
http://www.powerblocktv.com/
 
I'm not Takumi said:
Howabout Spike TV? They have what, 2-3 hours dedicated to Cars....Okay, dragsters, Musclecars, Redneck mobiles, and PPPPOOOOOWWWWEEERRR!!!!.

http://www.spiketv.com/index.html
http://www.powerblocktv.com/
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Spike is far too cheap, considering that the majority of their programming consists of police/amateur video shows, wrestling and syndicated shows owned by parent Viacom/CBS/Paramount - Star Trek and CSI.

Furthermore, Top Gear, in addition to being entertaining, is rather intelligent and oft-times thought provoking -- definitely not what Spike is looking for for the audience it assumes to be just slightly above brain dead.
 
am fairly certain it will simply be the usual show with the SIARPC cut and a few of the links rehashed
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I think this will probably be the case. There's no reason why they couldn't use segments from the UK show and mix them with other bits for the US show. They could actually film them both at the same time and go nuts in the editing room. Besides, it's not like those 3 guys work that hard.:rolleyes:
 
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