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caldrail

Entry posted by caldrail

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Top Gear USA? You gotta be kiddin', right? Out of curiosity I watched a few episodes. As part of a franchise there were aspects I found familiar. The stage set, the theme tune, the general format of the show, and having some celebrity race a cheap car around a track. All well and good. But of course this was an american show and so I was struck by cultural differences.

 

Firstly the presenters, who despite their obvious enthusiasm for wrecking telegraph poles, abandoned houses, pulling trains, and generally driving huge pickup trucks where no pickup truck driver was ever meant to go, came across as incredibly bland. Not entirely characterless but there was nothing about them that said 'television personality'. Mind you, they were driving huge pickup trucks.

 

Then they got around to the Rally Fighter, a sort of cross country muscle car, which was an extraordinary vehicle designed for the headcase to go where-ever he wanted faster than anyone else. Not only that, but I can confirm that the presenter driving the thing tackled a sharp bend. Cornering skills? In America? It seems the Top Gear franchise is changing civilisation as we know it.

 

Money Walks, Bullstuff Talks

Of all the stupid things a british politician could have said, it had to be that reducing or capping benefit payments doesn't cause any misery. No, he said confidently, it's unemployment that causes misery.

 

What planet does that idiot come from? With people losing their homes because they don't receive the miminal assistance any more? Unemployment you can get used to. Constant price rises and threats from politicians to reduce your means is something else. I challenge him to spend three years as an unemployed person and find out for himself just how important money can get.

 

Think about it. No chauffeurs, gleaming limousines, haute cuisine, big homes in upmarket parts of London, or even all those fair weather friends that surround a fat wallet. Not because you're unemployed sunshine - it's because you won't be able to afford it.

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docoflove1974

I warned you...TG USA has zero redeeming qualities. It's as if they took bits of the original, slapped 3 people together to host, and called it a day.

 

Oh, and it's in the middle of season 2...ye gods!

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caldrail

Yep, you were right. I should have listened. But you know, sometimes to just have to go there and find out for yourself.

 

However to be fair if you look at the early TG series in the Jeremy Clarkson format, the audience was a handful of people whereas now they have crowd control problems. The problem the US team have is that they are trying to find an identity in the wake of their successful british template. I suspect they'll get better at it once they stop playing with everyday pickup trucks and discover the sports car. Especially the speedy red ones. Little tip there.

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docoflove1974

Oh it's true, that it takes time to build a good show. But you could see a spark of chemistry from the beginning with the UK threesome that is there now--something that still isn't there for the US version. Also, the utter lack of passion for what they do; hell, even Captain Slow obviously loves what he does, as he's testing out a new car for the program. That's the part that is completely missing from the US version: the passion for telling people what is right and wrong about the car as they put it through its paces. I think that's the part that they've forgotten about.

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