Red Jay

not bad IMO. i loved hearing that Viper V10 roar. loved the lambo segment too. kinda feels weird that TG USA has their own Stig now. seems as though this Stig is all business (just saying that because of the lack of funny and corny music he listens to in the UK TG). what did you guys think?

Rather B.Blown

I'll give it another chance, but so far, color me unimpressed. I didn't get a single laugh out of the entire show. Those have to be 3 of the most boring people I've ever seen on a show together. The show has potential to be good, but it would take a cast enema.

Ministang

IMHO the original is better in every way, but it is still watchable. It would probably be better if I had never seen the original BBC Top Gear, so I wouldn't be comparing TTG USA to the BBC TG all the time, but I'll keep watching it. There aren't that many half decent car shows (at least that I can get on my cable plan), so I'll give this a serious chance.

Zastava_101

I thought it was pretty good.
Although I think they need to change the name, so people will stop comparing it to British Top Gear. Its a pretty good show, but not as good as British.

Juice

The chemistry that exists in the British version just isn't quite there. The car clips are great, but why coulddn't they find a good US car for the celvrity driver? I'd also like to see them focus on some US cars. The BBC show is full of European exotics, why not do something different?

Zastava_101

They drove Viper tonight.

future9er24

well...

there are some good moments, but im not sure if i think that because of this show itself, or because there are so few shows that offer this kind of automotive excitement

but there are problems. a laundry list of them.

the actual shots and clips are good..ish but not at the UK level. theres just something i cant place. maybe its the filters they use or the camera team itself but its just plain not as good as the UK TG. it feels like any other show when it comes to the visuals and that certainly detracts for me. My younger brother i think could create better driving scenes

as beforementioned.. the hosts. they're all pretty lackluster. theyre a bit boring, not nearly as funny, and i know its too early in the show for them to have a good reposte off one another but i dont even know if they have it in them. Clarkson, May and Hammond are such that you can SEE and FEEL how much they love cars of all shapes and sizes. these guys almost give the impression they only like the car because its cool to like the car :/

music. yes top gear UK seems to steal alot of fancy music from bigtime movies and whatnot, but at least its all good. i found a number of scenes where the action was silent. a good show will identify the need for silence as an inteeresting point here and there, but it will also know when it needs to combine good visual effects with good audio. not seeing enough of that here.

maybe its the fact that its on "real" TV and i have to deal with commercials but this show doesnt feel as long as the UK version either.

The Cobra VS Viper thing was a cool idea. or at least, it would have been had it been original. i already saw this shennanigan with an attack helicopter and a lotus on UK top gear. show me something new

the lambo test... i dunno it just bored me. the guys just didnt have enough passion to have any fun with it.

theres alot of things wrong with top gear USA but i think its got hope. sorta. im pretty underwhelmed, but i dont hate it. the cast definitely needs to change though. if that improves i think the rest of the show will follow suit. im interested in what kinds of "budget" challenges will come up. my favorrite top gear episodes ar ethe ones where the challennge involves:

Here is an entirely inadequate sum of money. go buy a car that is ____ and and do _____ with it. i like the adventure, the "real"ness of having a BS budget that wont buy the best thing around and the feeling of truly growing attached to a car for its merits, not how shiny it is or how big the numbers on the brochure are


i will say this though.. for the past few years ive hated the dodge viper. i just feel like its not reaching its whole potential. why i dont like it would be a whole new thread's worth of debate, but for the first time in as long as i can remember, this car has started to grow on me.

Rather B.Blown

I'm right with you on the music Arin, I kept noticing places where it would have filled a blatant void. Cinematography as well, angles were just not as flattering as they could have been. And I noticed that in several scenes with the Viper that the engine soundtrack didn't match up well with the speed the car appeared to be moving. Its like they were trying to make it sound like it was traveling much faster than it looked like it was.

I agree with the Lambo scene as well. It just didn't pop for me. I think what killed it was running them one at a time to see which one was fastest. They should have done a drag race.

Moosetang

During the interviews leading up to this, especially with Jalopnik and Autoblog, these guys displayed some real chemistry. It looks like it was all edited out of this episode, though.

20115.0

definitely agree there, that was dumb. and like i said in the other thread, the comedy aspect just wasnt there. Its a good car show but not really like the UK version

southernmustangparts

Thought it was ok.

One of those times where the build up was a little too high.

Ken

Automagically

I would love to make a point of everyone's comments but I am just going to say that I agree with all of them.

The music, or lack thereof, will possibly evolve with the show or at least I hope so. I won't spend too much time here because there just wasn't a proper sound track. Speaking of though, if there isn't going to be music, I want to feel the V10 music from the Viper in my chest. A lot of people have home theater or 5.1 of some kind these days, and why not surround my senses with engine goodness. Oh, I think they should stop with the same intro music as TG UK. It sucks. It's fine that the UK uses it, but it's not suited for this side of the pond. The 5 min. trailer I got from iTunes has great music, who the hell produced that clip, they need to take more charge of the show.

Nitpick 2, stop treating the people watching this show like they are too retarded to know what Top Gear UK is. There was so much borrowed from TG UK that I thought they substitute hosted a UK show. Just the way the guys acted about the segments made me feel like it was trying to copy the UK show while treating it as if it were something new for this US show. Top Gear US, if I wanted Top Gear UK, that's what I would watch. Now, do your own thing.

Nitpick 3: Take that Shelby Daytona Coupe out and drive the **** out of it.

Nitpick 4: I don't want to say too much about host chemistry because with time this should get a lot better. As for now they guys are waaaaaaaaay too stiff and rough around the edges. They also seem as though they were picked up from random parts of the country and this is their first meeting. So I am going to take this out of the equation for now.

After the way they talked about the Viper, I think I want one now more than ever. It's true, that car is pure unadulterated awesome. It really is all American. A TON of power, no restrictions, loud, FU attitude, and tire smoking torque at all times. I love refinement, but I lust for the Viper.

The filming, was very odd, super bright, too reality TV like. I think someone mentioned the filters, I think that was only part of the problem, film speed needed to be slowed a bit, not so bright and the camera angles were awkward at times.

I just think it's going to take time to figure it all out. I enjoyed the show and it looks like there are some very Merican things in store but I have said it before, this show needs to be geared more towards the US car heritage. Needs more Muscle, Pony, whatever you want but the I suppose I am just jaded by the Italian super cars. Did I have like 5 Lambo Countach posters on my wall as a kid? Yep, but my heart belonged to an El Camino.

Boomer

Seems like the scripted/filmed field stuff had a better flow than the studio stuff.

Wasn't bad, has potential.

First ep....what can ya do.

Edit..just read this review of the first bunch of episodes
http://jalopnik.com/5694780/first-dr...yline=true&s=i

CO_VaporGT_09

I agree that trying to ignore the fact this is a rip-off of the UK version is a bad idea. They should come right out with it and say "yeah, we know we're not as good, but at least we're American and can pronounce aluminum correctly". Then say, this portion of the show is a rip-off, as is this, as is this, and here's our one piece of originality, which they didn't seem to have.

One last thing, they're test track is crap, it's as bumpy as my morning commute. Much too tight, as well, should have at least one more big straight-away.

I am impressed, though, that they have that many Lambos in the picture. That's not an easy thing for a start-up show in the US (look at how many tuner versions Tanner's supercar shows on Speed required just to get access to the exotics).

burningman

I agree with Arin.
Couple be good but it is in a HUGE shadow.
TG is the most watched auto show....(insert Jezza voice here) in the world.
That's a crap load of pressure. I really don't think it will ever be that great. TG OZ was ok once they got the line up sorted and just started coming into thier own when it got shelved (for now at least)

I just kept watching and thinking I've seen all these skits before. Not to mention the previews they showed half if it looked like a wedding cover band version of TG skits we've all seen already.
I'll keep watching if for no other reason than morbid curiosity.

BTW get the rip off idea out of your head..you can't rip something off if it's authorized by the original owner.
I think Cheap copy is more appropo

Automagically

Right, I think they should have gone their own way and just basically used the Top Gear name for an American enthusiast's view of automobiles and motorsports. Dive into the heritage of American car culture and subcultures. Not a copy of the UK show. The UK obviously has a winning formula but what people (in TV land) forget is that a winning formula takes every key component to work, not just some. TG USA doesn't have all the components so instead of Pepsi we are getting RC. Similar and yet not at all the same. Don't have to be a chemist to figure this stuff out.

Besides, Rutlidge looks way too much like a hipster. I feel he should only be able to ride a Vespa on the show.

lsanch33

I thought it was OK . . . .. . I guess these 3 aren't going to AUTOMATICALLY discriminate against American cars! That always PISSES me off in the UK show, especially whenthey talk S**T about American Fords (Mustangs, GTs, etc) . . .. they do love European Fords (Fiestas, Focus, etc) . . . .

They actaully film the show in my hometown (Irvine, CA) . .. . We Mustang brothers and sisters need to represent there! I will see if I can get in . .. . .

Here is the link to get tickets . . . ..http://www.on-camera-audiences.com/s.../216/Top_Gear/

tacbear

Drop the big fat redneck and replace with Jay Leno. Replace the yankee with Jerry Sienfeld and replace Tanner Foust with Tommy Kendell. Now you have a hit.

StangMahn

^truth

the camera's were too low the entire episode, every shot was from about 4" off the ground, and were very unflattering.

I'll give them some more time to get stuff settled in, but they're not going too well so far

Moosetang

leno's a great car guy but he's tied into his NBC show and his humor is hit-and-miss with other people. Kendal I'll grant you. Ever wonder why Seinfeld hasn't been in anything but cameos, commercials, and voice work since his show ended? Because he made a bajillion dollars and then semi-retired. Why kill himself on a shoot schedule again, ya know? I look forward to seeing him on the show once, though.