American Carheads: Are you a fan of "Top Gear" ?(The old, british version)

[Al Doggity]

I'm not a big carhead, but I do like watching car performance/review videos on youtube. I also like stereotypically British humour.
That being said, I've never quite gotten into " Top Gear". Until the recent cast change, it was reportedly one of the most popular shows in the world. Every time I checked out an episode, it felt like a slog. Whenever I tune in, I always wonder what it is that I'm missing. Any Americans into this show?

[NarcissisticDeity]

The American version sucks and the new Brit version pales in comparison to the old.

[SuperTed]

I'm British so it's obviously a very popular show here.

It's peak was around 2002-2007 with Clarkson, Hammond & May at their peak. It went downhill after that with increasingly childish and scripted shenanigans.

It sucks now with Le Blanc and Chris Evans. The former is actually surprisingly good. Evans is awful though.

Wheeler Dealers is a better show.

[The Scott]

I don't watch much television but would sometimes join my family for the olde version of this show.  They no longer watch it as it's not the same and they've never viewed the Colonial Version.


For the greater part, television sucks so I stick to music and film.

[Tapeworm]

Saw a few times and dialed out pretty quick.  Maybe they got into the nitty gritty (beyond simply parroting manufacturer's claims) when I wasn't watching but from the little I witnessed it was a show about how comfortable seats are, whether or not a dashboard is well laid out, and if the sheet metal is stamp formed and painted stylish-like.  Accessible.  Which is to say: geared for car enthusiasts whose mechanical knowledge consists of "when I push this pedal, it goes." 

[Palumboism]

I'm not a fan of Top Gear.  There are multiple American car shows I like better like Jay Leno's Garage, Roadkill, Petrolicious, Tuned, Big Muscle, After Drive, Fast and Loud, and Motor Week.  I think any one of these shows has more passion for the cars than Top Gear. 

[Mr.1derful]

The previous version of UK Top Gear was awesome.

[fredrollon]

Old Top Gear made every motoring show look like it was wearing clown shoes. Best of British car journalism come to life on the screen:

Just have to watch a few clips to show how unbelievably well done it was,back in the day:

[fredrollon]

I'm not a fan of Top Gear.  There are multiple American car shows I like better like Jay Leno's Garage, Roadkill, Petrolicious, Tuned, Big Muscle, After Drive, Fast and Loud, and Motor Week.  I think any one of these shows has more passion for the cars than Top Gear.  

Alain de Cadenet's Victory by Design.from the old Speed channel, is still the best car porn around. No music and just pure engine noises:

[Palumboism]

Old Top Gear made every motoring show look like it was wearing clown shoes. Best of British car journalism come to life on the screen:

Just have to watch a few clips to show how unbelievably well done it was,back in the day:

I'll admit the cinematography is great, but I'm not a fan of Clarkson and Hammond.  

however, I do like some of Clarkson's earlier work. For example, this piece on the death of the British motor industry.  

Or this piece on the Japanese auto industry.

[mr.turbo]

Clarkson is a brat but he's hard to disagree with

[BIG ACH]

Yes. The old one...

Only saw first episode of the new one... loved Leblanc hated the chris Evans guy!

[fredrollon]

I'm not a big carhead, but I do like watching car performance/review videos on youtube. I also like stereotypically British humour.

Clarkson's motoring journalism was heavily influenced by the American humorist PJ O'Rourke.

Rourke's classic 1978 National Lampoon piece, 'How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink', was a source for a lot of Clarkson's sensibility and style:

http://www.heretical.com/miscella/reptile.html

[Al Doggity]

Clarkson's motoring journalism was heavily influenced by the American humorist PJ O'Rourke.

Rourke's classic 1978 National Lampoon piece, 'How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink', was a source for a lot of Clarkson's sensibility and style:

http://www.heretical.com/miscella/reptile.html

Nice link. I might be misinterpreting you, but no matter how much his style was influenced by an American, to American ears, the show's humor is decidedly British.

The thing I'm getting at is notsomuch  "why is this car show better than all the other car shows?" , but "why is this car show as popular as almost anything else on tv?"  If you look at any other popular show, there are other comparable examples in terms of genre and popularity. All those singing competitions, sitcoms, news shows, etc. In no other genre is there only one megahit.  Top Gear is sui generis in that regard. It is the only thing in its genre with anywhere near that kind of popularity.

 And it's sort of a weird show. I don't know if they still do this or have always done this, but I remember watching an episode a few years back and the entire audience was standing while the hosts were sitting. It just seemed like such an odd production choice.

[mr.turbo]

Nice link. I might be misinterpreting you, but no matter how much his style was influenced by an American, to American ears, the show's humor is decidedly British.

The thing I'm getting at is notsomuch  "why is this car show better than all the other car shows?" , but "why is this car show as popular as almost anything else on tv?"  If you look at any other popular show, there are other comparable examples in terms of genre and popularity. All those singing competitions, sitcoms, news shows, etc. In no other genre is there only one megahit.  Top Gear is sui generis in that regard. It is the only thing in its genre with anywhere near that kind of popularity.

 And it's sort of a weird show. I don't know if they still do this or have always done this, but I remember watching an episode a few years back and the entire audience was standing while the hosts were sitting. It just seemed like such an odd production choice.

I think you have to put him in there with the talk show genre 

[fredrollon]

And it's sort of a weird show. I don't know if they still do this or have always done this, but I remember watching an episode a few years back and the entire audience was standing while the hosts were sitting. It just seemed like such an odd production choice.

It's not an unusual format in the UK.It is odd for a car show,though.I grant you that.

In the UK you've often had talk shows with the host interviewing musicians or celebrities with musical acts in between,like The Late Show or the Tonight Show in the USA.. But instead of the audience seated they are just standing around like in a club. Presumably,this was originally done for budgetary reasons.

Chris Evans hosted one of these shows,TFI Fridays,which was hugely popular in the UK,back in the 90's.This resume,his laddish persona and him being a huge car nut,were I assume the reasons he was chosen as a replacement for Clarkson.

[fredrollon]

I'll admit the cinematography is great, but I'm not a fan of Clarkson and Hammond.  

however, I do like some of Clarkson's earlier work. For example, this piece on the death of the British motor industry.  

Or this piece on the Japanese auto industry.

Yeah,Clarkson is a great car journalist.

I thought his Motorworld was the best thing he did before Top Gear.

The conventions and peculiarities of a country's driving habits as a microcosm of a nation's cultures and values:

[Al Doggity]

It's not an unusual format in the UK.It is odd for a car show,though.I grant you that.

In the UK you've often had talk shows with the host interviewing musicians or celebrities with musical acts in between,like The Late Show or the Tonight Show in the USA.. But instead of the audience seated they are just standing around like in a club. Presumably,this was originally done for budgetary reasons.

Chris Evans hosted one of these shows,TFI Fridays,which was hugely popular in the UK,back in the 90's.This resume,his laddish persona and him being a huge car nut,were I assume the reasons he was chosen as a replacement for Clarkson.

LOL British TV budgets cut corners in the funniest places.