I just saw something, and I really don't know how to feel about it...

[Graffiti62]

Last night, since the Philly-New York game was kind of one-sided, I decided to channel surf and was blind-sided from what I saw on the History Channel--an American version of Top Gear. I do think, to a degree, that it is cool that the concept of the show has garnished such international appeal that there are national spin-offs. But, no matter who does the show, its hard to beat Clarkson, May and Hammond--I think those guys have enough of a working chemistry that makes the show more enjoyable to watch.

I also felt that some of the things that they copied from the main show are a little lame. For example, they do have a "Star in a reasonably-priced car" segment of their own. They had Buzz Aldrin on the show, and had a two-minute interview with him that he could have basically grunted through. I dunno--I personally would have given the second man to step on the moon more of an in-depth interview.

Maybe I should give it more time, but overall, from what I've seen, I give it about a C or a C-; an okay show behind a legendary concept, but not fully impressed as of yet.

 

[JaySwear]

i felt the same way. i'm not sure if i'll be watching again next week. love the BBC version! but this one? eh. only tanner foust really even deserved to be there. and the interview was awful. the annoying comedian almost literally started the interview by saying "so... you flew in a rocket ship."

the two things i didn't like... they're trying really REALLY hard to copy the original series. and the hosts are so randomly picked. they got a descent real driver in foust, a really annoying comedian in adam ferrara, and a tubby guy who i guess is supposed to be clarkson. they don't really have any chemistry at all. i'll try to give it a watch next week and see what i think, but i spent most of the time trying really hard to like it and wincing at all their really dumb jokes.

 

[nexrex]

We had the same problem here with one of our major networks making a licensed Australian spin-off using local celebrities. It was a massive failure without Clarkson, May and Hammond. They cancelled it after only a few episodes.

 

[Jusatele]

Last show I truely really respected was the BBC version of "whose line is it anyway"  besides that the current show on Natgeo, "Border Wars" is really a good show.
But TV generally boors me, you find a good channel and 4 weeks later they are in reruns. And the networks Just rip each other off. There is no really new ideas floating around, some one makes a hit and everyone clones it.

 

[JaySwear]

yeah, i'm a huge history channel fan (have been ever since i was little), but they NEVER really run anything new. if they do it's one of their stupid "documentary" shows about fisherman or truckers or whatever. the only way they keep themselves going is that they have a gigantic stockpile of old shows. they don't really need to come out with much new stuff because there's a good chance people haven't seen or don't remember all their reruns.

anyway, i'm all for the US top gear, but it doesn't seem like it's really well thought out. i'd love for them to prove me wrong though! the real top gear season is over and most of the reruns they show on BBC america are ones i've already seen.

 

[Kadmium]

I've never really understood the need to make American versions of shows that are already good. We don't need to re-make 30 Rock with Australians for it to be good - it's already good. It's ridiculous that we've done this with Top Gear, but I've noticed the US doing remakes of, for example (and with varying degrees of success), The Office, Red Dwarf, Whose Line Is It Anyway, The IT Crowd and the US version of Planet Earth saw Richard Attenborough dubbed out in favour of Sigourney Weaver. What was wrong with the originals?

 

[Graffiti62]

I've never really understood the need to make American versions of shows that are already good. We don't need to re-make 30 Rock with Australians for it to be good - it's already good. It's ridiculous that we've done this with Top Gear, but I've noticed the US doing remakes of, for example (and with varying degrees of success), The Office, Red Dwarf, Whose Line Is It Anyway, The IT Crowd and the US version of Planet Earth saw Richard Attenborough dubbed out in favour of Sigourney Weaver. What was wrong with the originals?

Some of the remakes I can logically see, especially "Who's Line."  I love and understand British comedy (I think I've seen nearly every episode of 'Are You Being Served,' 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' and 'Keeping Up Appearances'--thanks PBS), but there are sadly too many people who do not get it, so it has to be changed and, I really don't wanna say "dumbed down,"  but it has to be adjusted for the American palate. And as for Attenborough, the sound of Richard's voice will make people actually realize that they're learning, instead of tricking them into learning. I personally like Attenborough--he's kind of like a British Morgan Freeman. He could read the ingredients list off of the back of a can of corned beef hash and it would still sound intelligent and pleasant.

I think the one show that may be safe, and I'll crap if its "Amerified" is Doctor Who. I don't watch it a whole lot, but I do think David Tennant is a better actor than Matt Smith.

 

[ORCRiST]

Yeah. F-that. Its the British version or bust. Top Gear is one of my favorite shows, there is NO WAY
the American version would have the budget that the British version has. Half the coolness factor is
seeing the guys hit foreign roads as they cross like four countries in Europe (or some other continent)
on some challenge.

Its just like the 'Iron Chef' - the Japanese version f-ing RULES... all the "American" versions are
f-ing stupidly pathetic half-assed attempts.

ORC

 

[Rickgrxbass]

I think the one show that may be safe, and I'll crap if its "Amerified" is Doctor Who. I don't watch it a whole lot, but I do think David Tennant is a better actor than Matt Smith.

Well, there was that "backdoor pilot" made-for-tv-movie they tried in America in the late 90's in which The Doctor inexplicably needed a Cesium clock to power the Eye of Sauron or something...

But yeah, TG America was pretty lame.  I've got it set on my DVR, so maybe I'll watch a couple more episodes.

Its just like the 'Iron Chef' - the Japanese version f-ing RULES... all the "American" versions are
f-ing stupidly pathetic half-assed attempts.

ORC

And you always seem to get the feeling that the Iron Chefs aren't very happy to be there, like Kaga was holding them hostage...

 

[B3Guy]

The only way I could see it working is if they make it different and their own, while still being smart about it. (they are trying to differentiate by emphasizing "american taste in cars", rather than real sense, which they boil down to "muscle is the best so we'll say the dodge viper is a good car".) If they're going to differentiate, they need to do something different in the format, like maybe (gasp) drive and review more cars than Top Gear.

Let's be frank. Top Gear (and by that I mean the real top gear) does a lot of silly, barely car-related stuff just for our amusement (which is great and hilarious). But that is also the one thing that it is going to be impossible to recreate without the dynamic trio. Rather than make pitiful attempts at recreating this humor, they should just cut it and SHOW US LOTS OF CARS!!! Their humorous characters can develop while they show us awesome cars (which alone would draw me to any show), and then after a season of awesome cars and familiarizing the audience with the hosts, then maybe throw in a bit where they race across america in Geo Metros or have lame showoffs with Vipers and helicopters.

 

[Jusatele]

You know they must really be grabbibg at straws to have to remake stuff popular in other countries, But then IDOL is a remake, so guess it works.

And look at how Shark week has been watered down, Remember when it was all about documentaries about sharks ?  Last few years it has been Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs doing dirty shark Jobs those two talentless fags from Myth Busters doing some myth busting no one wants to see. I want info on sharks, to see Great Whites doing aerobatics, to see Tigers and their natural eating habits, to see cave sharks and the giant swarms of hammer heads, I could care less about Mike Rowe doing taxidermy work on sharks or the Ass Chap Wearing Jami trying to see if a ........................... as he prances in front of his butt buddy.

Now, Look At Border Wars on NatGeo, they are reporting on that show, stuff just in the news last month is being shot and put on prime time TV this month, by professional camera crews, And look at it's effect on the Network News shows. We are now seeing their crews riding in Helicopters, embedding with the ground crews. Etc, and Why? Because Border Wars is showing them up , they are GETTING GREAT RATINGS and the networks want some of those. ^ months ago you could not even get a reporter down to the border and if he was there it was in the last 5 minutes of the news, now that Border Wars is a growing hit, we finally are showing the limp wristed pole smoking liberals what is happening at the borders and why we need to stop what is going on. I am watching drug smugglers driving SUVs into the Rio Grande river at 50 MPH to avoid being captured. See Cartel members patrolling the Mexican side of the river with better assault rifles than we issue to our troops. The news claim all the guns come from here but when was the last time you saw us selling fully automatic H&Ks in our stores ?  Seems the networks are beginning to see the truth, and it is not what they are reporting, it is taking a prime time show to bring it out into the open.

no wonder they cannot get us anything new on the history channel, they cannot even see what is going on in front of their face.

 

[JaySwear]

Border Wars is a boring show about border cops searching the same damn 1983 honda civic for cocaine every episode. Myth Busters is an interesting show about science in which usually almost everything gets blown up.

this is why they make so many, you can't make a show to please everybody :icon_biggrin:

 

[Jusatele]

Border Wars is a boring show about border cops searching the same damn 1983 honda civic for cocaine every episode. Myth Busters is an interesting show about science in which usually almost everything gets blown up.

this is why they make so many, you can't make a show to please everybody :icon_biggrin:

High speed boat chases in Miami, Coast Guard seizing tons of cocaine. high speed chases of vans that do a Dukes of Hazard into the River Boring?
seeing how a guy had his toe pads cut off and surgically put on is finger tips boring?
Seeing the guys fail in busting a rumor so they just blow it up exciting?

I guess you are right, but I live next to the border and see how it is being over run, I have not been to Mexico in a year because of the violence down there. It is reality in a way no other show is showing it.

 

[ORCRiST]

And you always seem to get the feeling that the Iron Chefs aren't very happy to be there, like Kaga was holding them hostage...

Maybe, though they'd never admit it... Ninjo and Giri after all. If anything, they probably just wanted to get back to running their own restaurants.

The only way I could see it working is if they make it different and their own, while still being smart about it. (they are trying to differentiate by emphasizing "american taste in cars".

Yeah, and "American tastes in cars" suck ass. Theres only one reason we're spoon-fed the shit, er I mean, given the car "options" we do... the fricking EPA and emissions controls regulation BS. Yes, we need regulation, but there are several ways to adopt engines for emissions specs. Expensive? Sure. But I wish it was MY f-ing choice, not the governments. Thats one of the many reasons I love Top Gear, we get to see all the cool shit we're screwed out of even hoping to drive, much less buy...

You know they must really be grabbibg at straws to have to remake stuff popular in other countries, But then IDOL is a remake, so guess it works.

Actually I'd say at least 80% of American TV "ideas" are test-marketed in another country before it ever see's the green-light in the US.

Yes: "Idol", "Survivor", (indeed almost every reality-based show you've ever seen or heard of was debuted in the UK or Europe in general years before American audiances had a clue) - one gem was called "Coupling" (f-ing hilariously AWESOME show) - which became "Friends" in the US years later.

...now that Border Wars is a growing hit, we finally are showing the limp wristed pole smoking liberals what is happening at the borders and why we need to stop what is going on.

LMAO. Well said.  :laughing7:

It may not be 'politically correct' but I'd like to see a barrier stretching the entirety of the US/Mexican border so lethal it would
make the Berlin Wall look like a white-picket fence.

ORC

 

[AutoBat]

Even the first season of Clarkson's Top Gear wasn't that great.  Aussie Top Gear got better.  The trick is figuring out which presenter needs to be replaced for a great second season.

 

[ptirman]

I've never really understood the need to make American versions of shows that are already good. We don't need to re-make 30 Rock with Australians for it to be good - it's already good.

Just to be devil's advocate (don't you hate it when people say that) - wasn't American idol an American version of an Aussie show? Wasn't a lot (not all and I'm not saying all) of American music somewhat an imitation of a British imitation of American blues? Imitation is flattering and I don't blame TV execs for trying to recreate what's been successful elsewhere figuring it can make a buck over here. Too bad some attempts fall flat like it sounds that this one did.

 

[Kadmium]

Wasn't a lot (not all and I'm not saying all) of American music somewhat an imitation of a British imitation of American blues? Imitation is flattering and I don't blame TV execs for trying to recreate what's been successful elsewhere figuring it can make a buck over here.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind that at all. I don't object to people hearing, say, The Beatles and wanting to do something similar. What I object to is, instead of getting a local release of Sgt Peppers, getting a release made by an American Beatles covers band. I don't mind if someone takes the IT Crowd, says, "That's a good idea," and makes The Big Bang Theory. It's when they take the IT Crowd and just make The IT Crowd again with Americans that I despair.

 

[ptirman]

Wasn't a lot (not all and I'm not saying all) of American music somewhat an imitation of a British imitation of American blues? Imitation is flattering and I don't blame TV execs for trying to recreate what's been successful elsewhere figuring it can make a buck over here.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind that at all. I don't object to people hearing, say, The Beatles and wanting to do something similar. What I object to is, instead of getting a local release of Sgt Peppers, getting a release made by an American Beatles covers band. I don't mind if someone takes the IT Crowd, says, "That's a good idea," and makes The Big Bang Theory. It's when they take the IT Crowd and just make The IT Crowd again with Americans that I despair.

Good point. It's kind of uncreative, a bit lazy, and as in this case sometimes lame.

 

[Jusatele]

actually, if you look at Idol, it is a very cost effective way to develop new talent.
the contestant signs a contract or can not get on the show. So from that point they are bound. And how many are going object to that. So now you have them obligated to you.
Now we put them on TV and find out their appeal to the public, also we are having them go to workshops where they learn stage appearance, how to gather a crowd in to you, we give them songs, we instruct them on how to be a star. All the time we are making money off of them on a top rated TV show. It does not mater who wins, but who the masses will pay for the recordings. Whoever that is, we have not had to waste 2 recordings and releases and finance tours just to see if they hit, we already know by their votes they get each week.

Now what record executive would deny a contract to a known, developed, and promoted person that landed in the top 3? And Idol holds their rights because they signed them away just to audition.

That Englishman who brought the show over here is a genius.

 

[bigguspickus]

one gem was called "Coupling" (f-ing hilariously AWESOME show) - which became "Friends" in the US years later.

Coupling ran from 2000 to 2004. Friends premiered in 1994. ...however Coupling was much funnier than Friends could ever be.

I find British shows (The Office, Extras, Peep Show) are generally better because they're written by 2 or 3 people who actually care about making a good show, and they only do 6 episodes a year so they can focus on making each show good.

American 24-episode, 9-season sitcoms naturally become stale, formulaic and watered down. Plus they're written by a roomful of hacks in LA who wouldn't care if they were writing for David Brent or Al Bundy.

Top Gear (and by that I mean the real top gear) does a lot of silly, barely car-related stuff just for our amusement (which is great and hilarious). But that is also the one thing that it is going to be impossible to recreate without the dynamic trio. Rather than make pitiful attempts at recreating this humor, they should just cut it and SHOW US LOTS OF CARS!!! Their humorous characters can develop while they show us awesome cars (which alone would draw me to any show), and then after a season of awesome cars and familiarizing the audience with the hosts, then maybe throw in a bit where they race across america in Geo Metros or have lame showoffs with Vipers and helicopters.

I knew the American Top Gear would be awful as soon as I saw the first preview. They're gonna cram that spikey haired fat guy down your throat, funny or not. The sad thing is, I read last year they produced an American Top Gear pilot with Adam Carolla, but it didn't get picked up because of the recession. I probably would've watched that version because Adam's basically an American Clarkson--crotchety and racist, but the hosts they ended up with just annoy me.