Ruining an icon: American Top Gear

[amirm]

I hope you have not been under a rock and know about the great BBC TV show called Top Gear. There is now an American version. They have copied everything down to where the screw is on the seat the talent sits. The three guys who host it look like they would be the perfect fit for the show. As the Brits say, "they look the part." There are expensive cars, fast rides, talents, Stig, everything. Never seen a show cloned this well.

But boy, is the sum of the parts less the individuals. There is little no chemistry. Hardly anything funny. The missions silly. I just can't explain why it is so bad when all the ingredients are there. It is either the writing or the hosts. Not sure which.

Anyone else has seen the show and agrees or disagrees?

Here is the show details: http://www.history.com/shows/top-gear

 

[JackD201]

The US guys just aren't as funny to me, they are too nice. What I love about Jeremy and Co. is that they really don't pull any punches. It's the one liners and nasty metaphors that make the Brit show what it is IMO.

 

[DaveyF]

Funny, because most of the jokes and one-liners of the Brit show are not really appreciated by the US audience. The Brit sense of humor (humour) in general is NOT appreciated in most parts of the world, particularly in the USA. I LOVE it, BUT that might say something about me

 

[amirm]

Funny, because most of the jokes and one-liners of the Brit show are not really appreciated by the US audience. The Brit sense of humor (humour) in general is NOT appreciated in most parts of the world, particularly in the USA. I LOVE it, BUT that might say something about me

I watched one of the episodes with my wife where they went to Africa. My wife was laughing so hard she was almost crying! I think some of the classic notions are universal: making fun of the little guy. The older guy who is now proven wrong. etc. etc. So while I am with that fair amount British comedy and culture doesn't translate, these guys have figured out the bit that does. I think I heard it is the most popular TV show in the world.

 

[DaveyF]

Amir, I don't think that Jeremy and the Beeb have really figured this out, instead I think that they are just true pranksters and dialed into the culture in the UK to a great degree. Some of the banter is going to be universal, but to me the funnier parts are the stuff that almost certainly goes over the head of the US audience. The appeal to the wide audience that you brought to my attention is VERY interesting, it surprises me that say someone in France or in S.America, would be that interested or understanding of the local humour.
The cars and the stars are most likely what draws them, OTOH the US show could easily duplicate that and to some extent does, BUT like you say the US show is but a skeleton of the original....I'm sure the US producers are pulling out their hair trying to figure out why

 

[amirm]

I agree they are naturally that way. They look like average Brits that are just funny! The British work culture thrives to harassing your fellow works (so i was told when I was managing my team there) so it comes more naturally to them I guess than it comes to us in US.

Ironically, my brother who lived in UK for many years and recently moved here hates the show. He thinks they are elitists who crash expensive cars and says many people in UK don't like the show for that reason.

 

[Dimfer]

I think they should throw a guy like Jay Leno (although he has his own car show) in there..

I love the British Version (thanks to Netflix I can watch it anytime I wish)

 

[smul]

In Germany UK Top Gear is broadcasted in a dubbed version: Jeremy, James and Richard speak German.
Now that's really an outherworldly experience with British humour.

 

[MilkMan]

Disclaimer: I am British.

Just like other British shows that have been cloned (e.g. The Office), American Top Gear is a flop. The real reason I think is that... well...it's not British!

That's not to say the Americans can't be funny. I loved Richard Pryor live and the Seinfeld show. It's slim pickings IMHO.

 

[vinylphilemag]

Disclaimer: I am British.

Just like other British shows that have been cloned (e.g. The Office), American Top Gear is a flop. The real reason I think is that... well...it's not British!

That's not to say the Americans can't be funny. I loved Richard Pryor live and the Seinfeld show. It's slim pickings IMHO.

I have to say, I agree with you (I'm originally from the UK too).

I think the biggest problem is when US companies try to Americanise UK shows (Red Dwarf was another huge failure). When they're not trying to do that, I find some of them very funny. I watch VERY little TV, but I always try to make time for The Big Bang Theory. As a geek (several people have compared me to a cross between Sheldon and Leonard!), I appreciate the humour and find most of it hilarious! But most other US sitcoms leave scratching my head wondering where the humour is...

As an aside, I hate shows with canned laughter: if the producers think I need a laughter track to tell me when to laugh, they're not investing enough time in writing the jokes!

 

[amirm]

I hope the British people don't take this personally as this comment also applies to where I live in Pacific Northwest . But the other great thing about the BBC version is masterful cinematography in that they take the drab UK weather and landscape and turn it into art. Wonderful camera angles. Perfect timing. Best area they could find to shoot.

The above is not by accident. London is one of the top sites in the world for post production of video and considerable amount of what we have in video came from BBC. I would say at least half of the top architects I had when I managed video hardware development were British. And they sure take advantage of this in the UK version.

The US by comparison, just uses common standards production. Not armature but none of that style and class.

A quick sampling:

Here is a great example of what I am talking about:

Gosh, even these images don't do justice to the great camera work.

 

[Simon Templar]

Disclaimer: I am British.

Just like other British shows that have been cloned (e.g. The Office), American Top Gear is a flop. The real reason I think is that... well...it's not British!

You forgot Scrapheap Challenge ( Junkyard Wars here in the States ) That one was little short of pathetic.



....sT

 

[amirm]

You forgot Scrapheap Challenge ( Junkyard Wars here in the States ) That one was little short of pathetic.

Is that what the original was called? I could swear even the British version had Junkyard Wars here as its name.

 

[puroagave]

top gear usa is a joke. it was painful to watch the few shows that i did. too bad too, because tanner foust was a great host for supercars exposed - and he can drive! TG usa is a poor platform for him (no surprise) and he comes off boring as heck. clarkson's acerbic wit is unmatched and if he ever leaves BBC TG, so goes the show as well. more importantly BBC TG has access to ALL the best supercars even those not ready for sale. in fact, if you're a mfr to be rekoned with you have or will be on BBC TG. many "firsts" debuted on their show.

 

[vinylphilemag]

Is that what the original was called? I could swear even the British version had Junkyard Wars here as its name.

It might have been broadcast over here as Junkyard Wars, but its original UK title was indeed Scrapheap Challenge.

 

[RCDAVE]

Top Gear UK has always been my all time favorite show on TV, so I was really hoping for a worthy American version. Right from the first episode though, things weren't looking too good. I gave it a chance though, thinking that they may just need to work out some bugs, and develop some more chemistry with each other, but it just never happened. That's one of things that made the UK version such a huge hit. Those guys are genuine friends, so every episode for them is like going out to the pub together.

Another huge difference is the fact that the UK presenters are actual journalists with a true passion for cars, and they present the show in the same way that they write. The American crew has a comic, a NASCAR "analyst", and a professional driver/racer. They have potential, but everything seems so forced and almost watered down. The UK version is a fine 20 year old(literally)single malt scotch, and the American version at this stage is Bud Light.

 

[MilkMan]

You forgot Scrapheap Challenge ( Junkyard Wars here in the States ) That one was little short of pathetic.



....sT

Right. And can you imagine American versions of Dad's Army or Fawlty Towers? How about 'Allo 'Allo!

 

[rockitman]

The US version sucks, imo. They should have just aired the brit version here.

 

[RCDAVE]

Yeah, I think more people watch the UK version on BBC America.

 

[amirm]

I watched their latest episode yesterday or the day before. It was about them driving semi trucks. Somehow the producers think "bigger" is better. Well, it wasn't. On top of that they fake stuff. They had one of them drive a truck with lit charcoal grills in the back. Really? I know the UK version does crazy stuff but there is a difference between crazy and putting other people's live in danger by driving a truck with flames inside. Well, turned out it was fake. They show smoke coming out of the truck. They stop and the host opens the back, only to have fire crackers shooting everywhere! In another shot you can clearly see the contraption by the door of the truck where the firecrackers were in.

It gets worse. The fire crackers proceed to set the adjacent farm on fire. The host dumps fire extinguisher all over the field which I am sure the locals were not happy about it. Then this cheerful fire truck shows up out of no where to put out the rest.

Sad state of affairs.