One of the cool things about a US TG is that we'll probably get segments on things like Chumpcar and Le Mons. You know, 'merican things.
I had no idea the fat guy was associated with Nascar and that scares me too. I hope to never see Nascar on this show other than as the butt of well deserved jokes.
FlightService wrote: In reply to carguy123: I have to disagree, Tanner seemed very wooden. It is his personality. I have seen him on three shows now and it doesn't change. Just not funny, entertaining, or interesting at all. My wife agrees, (so I must be right.) The chemistry thing, I hope, will come along. They also need some different writers. The Stig intro was horrible.
I think they need to have the writers watch, I'd say, the last 10 seasons of TGUK. The hosts also need to come up with their own commentary not rely on it from writers.
Hopefully by the end of this season or the beginning of next they will be have loosened up and it gets better.
Tanner really needs to get a personality. Awesome driver, but that's all he is.
I had low expectations but was still disapointed. I think a lot of it comes down to direction & script. The dudes looked nervous. Camera work was OK. I'm not a big fan of yuppie peter-pan-tann, but I can deal with him on the show with Paul Tracy, which was more engaging out of the gate. It has potential if they loosen up, but some genius should have been able to address that before the first episode aired.
I disagree completely - if I was calling the shots, I'd keep Tanner on the show and drop the the other two before the next episode.
I watched, I fast forwarded, and then I deleted it from my DVR.
To sum it up in a few words, not impressed.
Brian
Hocrest wrote: Ferrara - "Thrust mode...berkeley (shift) berkeley (shift) berkeley"
This was the first part that made me laugh - well at least chuckle a little. Think it started slow and got better. I hope the chemistry between the hosts grows and, while it is not as good as TG UK, it is better than any other car show. I will continue to watch.
Biggest problem I had was switching back and forth from it to "The Walking Dead"....
Bobzilla wrote: Biggest problem I had was switching back and forth from it to "The Walking Dead"....
I would have only made the switch once. And then kept it on Walking Dead. 
93celicaGT2 wrote:Bobzilla wrote: Biggest problem I had was switching back and forth from it to "The Walking Dead"....I would have only made the switch once. And then kept it on Walking Dead.
I switched back and forth, then realized both networks were replaying the new episodes back-to-back, so I've now seen 90% of both shows over a two hour span. Shoulda stuck with one and exercised a little patience.
Its OK, it may be a little cheesy as opposed to the wit and sarcasm of TG proper. I give these guys some real props for putting forth an honest effort, though. It would be incredibly intimidating.
I checked online for related vids at the History channel site, and the bigger dude has a Honda Civic CVCC wagon project going. You won't see that on TG. Those guys may destroy stuff or buy stuff, but they're not so good at creating it or preserving it.
I got it, I got it now. Top Gear USA people were on the Today show last Friday standing outside pimping their show and posing with four hot cars painted like taxi cabs. Saturday my son sent me pictures of a Maserati something, a Lamboroghini something and a big Bentley, all yellow.
Today he tells me that Top Gear is owned by A&E which is literally right around the corner from where he works. That's why I was getting all these photos of yellow hot rods in the city!
It was decent for a first episode. I like Tanner and Adam, once they get comfortable with each other they'll have more fun instead of sticking to the poorly written script. Rutledge is comfortable with the camera since he does CRASHCAR, he as well will be more entertaining as they warm up to each other. As long as they stop trying to recreate the US Top Gear hosts, it will get better. Most of the show was fairly entertaining, the Lambo test seemed to be the best portion. I'll continue to watch and it should get better each week.
Steven
Coming from TGUK, and only watching maybe 4 hours a week of TV, my biggest issue was commercials.
I have NO idea who those 3 are, and so far I like Foust and Rutledge, but Adam annoys me. Maybe it is the italian accent. I hope it feels more natural as it goes on.
I had a hard time getting a feel for the scale of the track. But it seems like it might be longer...
mattmacklind wrote: Its OK, it may be a little cheesy as opposed to the wit and sarcasm of TG proper. I give these guys some real props for putting forth an honest effort, though. It would be incredibly intimidating. I checked online for related vids at the History channel site, and the bigger dude has a Honda Civic CVCC wagon project going. You won't see that on TG. Those guys may destroy stuff or buy stuff, but they're not so good at creating it or preserving it.
Anyone who expects this to go toe to toe w/TG UK has never seen the first episode of TG. Go watch it, it is terrible. This was better than that.
carguy123 wrote: One of the cool things about a US TG is that we'll probably get segments on things like Chumpcar and Le Mons. You know, 'merican things. I had no idea the fat guy was associated with Nascar and that scares me too. I hope to never see Nascar on this show other than as the butt of well deserved jokes.
I am willing to bet there will be NASCAR on it at some point because whether you like it or not it is the most popular form of racing in the US. They have to make money and that means rating which equals probably NASCAR everynow and then. I haven't seen it yet. But I am going to go watch the first episode of regular TG before the new one and compare rather then comparing it to the current episodes of Top Gear.
DukeOfUndersteer wrote: would like to see them do an episode where they have to compete in a LeMons race or ChumpCar...
+10000
Just got done watching it. 
Way to many camera cuts, way to much camera shake. They had some really great shots. If only you could have seen them. It made the entire show seem very abrupt and jerky. Fire the camera crew, especially the guys mounting the cameras in the cars. Fire the production editor, quantity of shots < quality of shots.
The guy with the beard actually seemed to be having fun and getting into the show. The other guys, not so much. Kind of forced and stilted. Too much reading of the script. They got better toward the end of the show. Hopefully that trend will continue.
JoeyM wrote:DukeOfUndersteer wrote: would like to see them do an episode where they have to compete in a LeMons race or ChumpCar...+10000
Foust would own a Chump/LeMons race. Terrible host? maybe. OMFGDRIVER? Indubitably.
JoeyM wrote:DukeOfUndersteer wrote: would like to see them do an episode where they have to compete in a LeMons race or ChumpCar...+10000
I was thinking some savy car magazine oriented towards this show's demographic issueing some kind of challenge. You know, like a budget of $2011 and a triathalon kind of Challenge issued by some kind of Grassroots Motorsports organization.
But where would we find such a race?
Holding such a competition amongst the rolling hills at Lime Rock Park would be a GREAT idea!
Haven't seen it yet, but it will be downloaded the moment I get home.
I've liked Tanner in his other shows. It's contrived, but the banter between him and Tracy is still fun. Everybody does realize it's all make believe right? Even TGUK has writers and the hosts "act". Do we really believe Capt Slow "accidentally" wandered into Heathrow airspace? Or that Jeremy's camper went off the edge of a cliff in plain view of the camera while interviewing him? It's funny how a lot of people here talk about how bad Foust is at acting/camera presence. He has 3 shows currently airing! Apparently somebody believes otherwise.
Top Gear Australia was horrible the first season. I watched 1.5 episodes before I deleted the entire season. Just for the heck of it I started season 2. Night and day! Could only find 3 episodes for season 2 though...
Mythbusters Season 1 vs. current season - better now, right?
Patience young grasshoppers, we will have good TV soon enough.
Cone_Junky wrote: Mythbusters Season 1 vs. current season - better now, right?
Not necessarily...when that show started they actually were testing real myths, today they've sort of run out of ideas. A lot of the myths are pretty lame. :) I still like the show, and I agree the hosts are much better onscreen than when they started.
just finished watching. Wow. Implied humor hammer applied liberally.
Production values are there. Our hosts have yet to display a personality with any charm, though I did love the 'john deere sportscar' line at the end.
It actually irks me. Tanner is just as dry doing this as he has been doing the various supercar shows on SPEED he's been doing on and off for the last few years. You'd think he'dve loosened up SOME....
And whats with that ridiculous falsetto yell Rutledge let out in the passenger seat in front of that chopper? And he's the biggest dude of the 3?
Pumpkin Escobar wrote:JoeyM wrote:Foust would own a Chump/LeMons race. Terrible host? maybe. OMFGDRIVER? Indubitably.DukeOfUndersteer wrote: would like to see them do an episode where they have to compete in a LeMons race or ChumpCar...+10000
Think of how much fun it would be to get some of those driver penalties on national TV
Toyman01 wrote: Just got done watching it.
Actually, I thought the cinematography was the most faithfully captured element from TGUK. In-car camera shake & busy editing aside, I thought they got the textures, depth of field, & angles down very nicely.
I also thought that having Buzz on (that didn’t come out right) as the guest was a brilliant move…one way TGUS can exceed rather than just trying to match TGUK is to play into the aerospace, spaceflight, etc. industries.
Buzz’s list of cars he’s owned was spot on with GRM, TG, etc. types…Bug Eyed Sprite, some 2 stroke, 3 cylinder sports car, & a Corvair Convertible. That guy is the real deal.
Bottom line…I was expecting it to be flat out painful to watch but it turned out to be pretty reasonable.
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