Top Gear USA hosts...

[randomlinh]

announced

 

[JulesMaximus]

Hmm, it has possibilities...depends on the writing ultimately.

 

[ayabe]

Personally, I don't think Adam Corolla is very funny except in very specific circumstances. I watched his Comedy Central Show a few times when it was on and it was a painful, painful experience.

So basically, we have two guys who know absolutely nothing about cars paired with one who does minus Clarkson's wit.

I'd say epic fail in the making.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I am not sure half these guys are really into car guys like the BBC fellas....it'll be odd :/

 

[Pariah]

This show is destined for failure. One of the primary things that makes the original so funny is Jeremy Clarkson and his over the top criticisms which simply wouldn't be allowed on US TV. It doesn't get much better than when he said the Nissan Micra looked like a scrotum. With the sterilized US market, the sponsors aren't going to put up with their products getting embarassed on network TV, so the show is going to have to be toned down from its British counterpart.

Something about seeing Adam Corolla driving around in half million dollar cars acting like an ass isn't particularly appealing to me either. I don't know who the other 2 guys are.

 

[stash]

Stupendous fail. They're putting the guy from HGTV in a car show?

Are they going to rip off The Stig too?

 

[getbush]

I really enjoy the special bits they've done. Arctic in trucks, botswana beaters, american road trip, hacked limousines, amphibious cars 1 and 2, $1500 porsches, and then that defunct British make challenge. All hilarious. I don't think it can be replicated.

Edit:
They REALLY need to have their own "track" just like the original. That is key, so they better keep that format. They need to do the celebrity in a cheap car lap challenge too. That would be a good draw. With American celebrities of course. You could still have Gambon come over and see if he could roll an Aveo on the new show . He was in Harry Potter (and Layer Cake!) after all. Simon Cowell too of course. He is in one of the faster ones in the UK.

 

[Kelvrick]

I'm also sensing fail, but I'll still watch it.

 

[dud]

Doomed to failure ... no token women. To be successful here they need the token HOT woman to pretend that she knows about cars ... even though it really doesn't matter.

 

[sniperruff]

i dont know if any of you have watched BBC topgear long enough, but even the first season in the new format was dry as hell... it sure wasn't funny from day one. wouldn't count anything out...

i do agree that clarkson is the heart and soul of topgear.

 

[HannibalX]

That guy from HGTV is an annoying twit. The other two are fine with me.

 

[HannibalX]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
i dont know if any of you have watched BBC topgear long enough, but even the first season in the new format was dry as hell... it sure wasn't funny from day one. wouldn't count anything out...

i do agree that clarkson is the heart and soul of topgear.

Yeah it was. The studio was EMPTY and they talked mostly about every day cars for average people. The show didn't take off until May returned (he was a host during the old format) and they started joking around and destroying stuff.

 

[getbush]

Adam Corolla is it or miss or can be love hate. Sometimes he his funny but sometimes his "comedy" is just abrasive, painful and not funny.

 

[Kadarin]

Those guys almost look like they could have come off the set of Dukes of Hazzard (except the middle guy looks kinda like your typical L.A. douchebag.)

 

[GoatMonkey]

That guy from HGTV is absolutely the wrong choice. For a house fix-up show that a lot of women watch he probably gets good ratings. For a show about cars that is targeted mostly at guys, he doesn't belong.

Tanner Foust is pretty good on "Supercars Exposed", but it's really a pretty average car show that is just not up to the entertainment level of Top Gear. He's probably the best fit of the 3, but still not quite up to the level of the Top Gear guys.

Adam Corolla has a kind of abrasive uncomfortable comedy style that is really not going to work here. He pulled off the Man Show reasonably well, but he was mostly carried by the Juggies.

Now, who they should have? That's a lot tougher. The first person who comes to mind is Jay Leno, but I don't think he could pull off the rants the way Clarkson does. There are some writers who do it in print, but I don't think they can do it in a TV show. One of the Car and Driver writers would be good to have in there. I think they would be dry on TV though, judging by Car and Driver TV. It's too bad that George Carlin doesn't seem to be into cars.

I would put Scott Speed in there. I think he could pull off the pro-driver role on that show and he's not too serious.

The other way to go, it just get some random fanboys, one for America, one for Europe, and one for Japan, then set them loose on each other.

 

[AdamK47]

I don?t see an attempt like this ever succeeding in the US. It will be on network TV so expect plenty of product placement and hype. The shows presentation will be altered to cater to a broad US audience to get as many viewers as they can. I expect it to fail miserably, but not before NBC can milk it out of whatever profit they can.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: GoatMonkey
That guy from HGTV is absolutely the wrong choice. For a house fix-up show that a lot of women watch he probably gets good ratings. For a show about cars that is targeted mostly at guys, he doesn't belong.

Tanner Foust is pretty good on "Supercars Exposed", but it's really a pretty average car show that is just not up to the entertainment level of Top Gear. He's probably the best fit of the 3, but still not quite up to the level of the Top Gear guys.

Adam Corolla has a kind of abrasive uncomfortable comedy style that is really not going to work here. He pulled off the Man Show reasonably well, but he was mostly carried by the Juggies.

Now, who they should have? That's a lot tougher. The first person who comes to mind is Jay Leno, but I don't think he could pull off the rants the way Clarkson does. There are some writers who do it in print, but I don't think they can do it in a TV show. One of the Car and Driver writers would be good to have in there. I think they would be dry on TV though, judging by Car and Driver TV. It's too bad that George Carlin doesn't seem to be into cars.

I would put Scott Speed in there. I think he could pull off the pro-driver role on that show and he's not too serious.

The other way to go, it just get some random fanboys, one for America, one for Europe, and one for Japan, then set them loose on each other.

They offered the job to Jay Leno and he refused because he didn't want to ruin Clarkson's show thanks to American marketeering capitalism.

 

[DivideBYZero]

I don't understand why they can't just broadcast the original show as it is, just a week after UK broadcast, on US network TV.

It will be ruined mostly because you guys KNOW how much you enjoy the original and will be constantly comparing it. Failure is assured.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: dud
Doomed to failure ... no token women. To be successful here they need the token HOT woman to pretend that she knows about cars ... even though it really doesn't matter.

Who is the woman for the UK Top Gear? I think that would suck royally to have a woman as a co-presenter. It would be like having a woman co-presenter on the Man show...it would take away from the essence of the show.

 

[rh71]

I can't stand Corolla's voice and demeanor. It reminds me of a lesser-known Jerry Seinfeld (who I can't stand either). :thumbsdown:

Whatever the case, I just hope the writing is just as witty and the production just as crisp.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: PricklyPete

Originally posted by: dud
Doomed to failure ... no token women. To be successful here they need the token HOT woman to pretend that she knows about cars ... even though it really doesn't matter.

Who is the woman for the UK Top Gear? I think that would suck royally to have a woman as a co-presenter. It would be like having a woman co-presenter on the Man show...it would take away from the essence of the show.

He might have it mixed up with 5th Gear.

FWIW, Top Gear >>>>>>> 5th Gear.

This will still be interesting, I'll reserve judgment until I see it.

 

[Aharami]

not gonna succeed. With the show depending on sponsors' money, they wont allow the hosts to rip on the sponsors' cars

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Aharami
not gonna succeed. With the show depending on sponsors' money, they wont allow the hosts to rip on the sponsors' cars

hopefully the sponsors are old spice and miller lite then.

 

[AMCRambler]

Would have been awesome if they got Jay Leno. That dude knows his cars and he's funny too. He's the closest thing to Jeremy Clarkson we have over here I think.

 

[Pariah]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: PricklyPete

Originally posted by: dud
Doomed to failure ... no token women. To be successful here they need the token HOT woman to pretend that she knows about cars ... even though it really doesn't matter.

Who is the woman for the UK Top Gear? I think that would suck royally to have a woman as a co-presenter. It would be like having a woman co-presenter on the Man show...it would take away from the essence of the show.

He might have it mixed up with 5th Gear.

FWIW, Top Gear >>>>>>> 5th Gear.

This will still be interesting, I'll reserve judgment until I see it.

He's talking about Vicky Butler-Henderson who was on Top Gear before moving to Fifth Gear. She's probably a better driver than any of the guys in US Top Gear.

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Aharami
not gonna succeed. With the show depending on sponsors' money, they wont allow the hosts to rip on the sponsors' cars

hopefully the sponsors are old spice and miller lite then.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. If this show rips everything from Ford for example, Ford will threaten to pull all their advertising from NBC, which NBC isn't going to be too happy about.