WTF he has video too, I was only listening to the podcast.

F TG:America this is the @#$#
http://www.motorator.com/videos/1481

this is great!!!!

Exactly. He would have been knowledgeable and entertaining to watch on the show, with a Man Show spice to it.

Watched most of the episode so far. Meh, actors suck but the cars are cool. Post and editing on the first segment sucked. Editing on the 2nd segment was better but post was WAY over done. I thought Foust sucked in Super Cars exposed but he seemed a little more experienced in this episode and more comfortable. His passenger in the viper segment just plain sucks. The 3rd guy seems like all actor. To throw in my 2 cents they needed some crazy driver who has no care for his own body. Like Pastrana or someone similar. Someone who is great on camera but also a true enthusiast

It was hard to get over the slick/corporate feel. I had the feeling if somebody said anything spontaneous or irreverent there was an armada of corporate lawyers waiting to pounce. The hosts non-Foust hosts oozed insincerity. All that said, I'm holding out hope for improvement.

Carolla is someone that I would definitely watch. I agree with Brain, he is a funny motherfucker. I didn't know he was a car enthusiast till cockslider got pwnt by Brain. The cast could have been SO MUCH MUCH better.

Lol @ Pastrana. I wonder how long it would take him to wreck some shit :giggle:

look how he holds his helmet...http://www.boostedmiata.com/gallery2...s+Glen+330.jpg

he dropped his gloves sitting on top of it... I knelt down and picked them up for him...when I handed them back to him i made sure to make contact with his flesh...it was a wonderful day.

The CarCast podcast is awesome, and Carolla knows his shit.

Jealous.

I keep trying to find this on my dvr but it never shows up. I can only find the british one.

oh yeah, he said thanks too. i got a boner.


You dont even want to know what happened when I talked to Randy Pabst about his win that day.

sucked

I don't like Carolla much at all, but the commentary on that CarCast episode was really quite good. And it was **gasp** spontaneous. I was much more into the CarCast episode than any of that disconnected, manufactured, over scripted crap from the TGA episode.

The viper segment made me want to drown puppies. And there is no use testing three vehicles in a standing mile without a drag race. Drag race = good TV, relying on pussies to report back on how fast they had the balls to go without a finite distance being set and real measurement equipment being used = bad TV. Depending on hosts who don't have a personality to pretend to have a personality = bad TV.

The Short Stig is tiny. It would save money of they just used Faust for the Short Stig so that is probably what they did.

Some of what is missing is the arrogant, opinionated, stubborn nature of Clarkson. He is the guy who's opinion you respect, but you always want to see him lose challenges to the other guys. And he is witty when unscripted. And so is Hamster. Nothing is left to the hosts on TGA to ad lib (which is probably a good thing looking at the talent they chose).

Meh, I'll probably continue to watch it for a little while in spite of the hosts just because I like cars...

I didn't find it nearly as bad as everyone else seems to think it is. The cinematography certainly isnt up to par with BBC's.

Hopefully it will find its own way and become great.

TGA is better when you watch with a group of friends. Its growing on me a bit.

Next week looks like its going to be a good episode.

If Adam Carolla and/or Tim Allen were on the show, oh man, would it be instantly watchable!

Still haven't seen it, waiting for a box to arrive with TGUS and the last half of the F1 season. My family = awesome.

*Pobst

Great guy, had several discussions with him.

'Course, the first time I met him was 27 years ago, lol. He and my dad go way back.

I enjoyed tonight's a bit more than the first episode. Hoping for it to get better every week.

Dog at the end had the right idea about this show. (as it is now at least)

the stig= paul tracy

I like it, but i do feel that it needs to come out into it's own. I'm giving it a chance, and hoping for history channel to dump either the fat dude or the douche bag jersey boy.

The evo segment was fucking awesome, though. that's classic top gear style there.

Wood and ferrerra I can deal with. Tanner Foust cannot act. At all.

. . . but that man can drive.

I will take driver skill over acting any day.

Top gear is a buddy show disguised as a car program. Driving skill is only one part of the equation.

Being entertaining is, too. They seem to lack that part.

Eh, it's coming together. Last night's episode was a good amount better than last week. The fat man was a lot better this time around. There were still a few things about his segment that annoyed me, but overall it was still enjoyable. The blind drift challenge was pretty entertaining, too, but it could have been a bit longer.

I think random ass american venues as well as canadian venues would make it a bit more entertaining.

I think the best thing they can do (and make it the finale of the season) is to do a cross country expedition to the SOUTH POLE! Talking shit about the brits the entire time. This time use an american truck to do so.

Has a truck ever been to the south pole?

I just watched the first episode last night, and I think you nailed it.

In part, it seemed formulaic and derivative. Ok, so the first ever challenge was a fast car being chased by a helicopter gunship to see if it can achieve missile lock. Hmm. Where have we seen that before?

Parts of it seemed labored, like the interview with Aldrin... Man, that was just painful. This guy walked on the frakking MOON, and you can't find anything interesting to talk about?

And c'mon, guys, you don't have to explain to us at every single point what you're planning to do and why, just go out and do it. I think that even Americans will be able to figure out what the guy in the white suit is for by themselves without you having to describe him to us.


But the biggest problem was that they just weren't funny.


There was no chemistry. None. They're all too similar, I think. One of the things that makes Jezza, Hamster and May interesting to watch is that they're all so radically different and they disagree, argue, and insult one another about absolutely everything. These three just seem to get along too well. It's like dropping a Mentos candy into a glass of water rather than a glass of diet coke- nothing happens.


Weirdly, I disagree re: moleman. I honestly thought that he was the best presenter in terms of entertainment value. I mean, his commentary while doing the standing mile in the Lambo consisted entirely of "Fuck! (...) Fuck! (...) Fuck! (...)" and it was easily the funniest thing I'd seen or heard in the whole 45 minutes.


I guess I'll watch EP2 tonight and see if anything improves. To be fair, the bar has been set pretty high. Anybody remember what BBC Top Gear looked like in Series 1, before they replaced Jason Dawe with James May? It was pretty awful. :rolleyes:

I just finished watching today's dose of the original top gear. I honestly "lol" every 2 minutes on average.

Joe I love all your similes and metaphors.


That guy was terrible.

If it gets picked up for a second season, maybe someone will leave/be tossed, and well get someone that fits in better. They are copying everything else TGUK does, so why not that?

I feel the same way about this show as I feel about GT5. Word.

Just watched EP2.

It's not getting any better.

"Hey, let's take a fast AWD car up to a snow covered mountain and then race to the bottom against two guys on skis!"

I think maybe that's been done before somewhere?

"Uhm, ok, how's this for originality- we'll put a blind man behind the wheel of a car and coach him around a track!"

Er.....


This just isn't working. Seeing these folks review a pair of Aston Martins reminded me of being in elementary school when, as a special treat, you'd get to watch a grainy old 8mm film about the lifecycle of the eastern white pine tree. There are colorful moving things and sounds, and it's sort of like entertainment in some remote way, but damn that lunch bell for taking so long to roll around.


The only funny part of the entire show - the only part that even made me chuckle just a little bit - was when the blind man's dog urinated on the logo at the very end.

Next they will have a competition with grandmothers doing doughnuts.

I feel like this is the South Park episode where every plan that Butters comes up with is met with "The Simpsons did it."
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clip...ng-out-the-sun

I think the second one showed a marginal improvement, tho still doesn't make for great tv. I hear the third should be a lot better, probably should have been the first episode.

They might come up with some original ideas for challenges, but that's not going to change the underlying fact that the presenters are boring to listen to and lack any sort of chemistry.

TGUS could air a whole hour of nothing but Molly Lewis, Felicia Day and Natalie "Kommodore" Thompson wrestling naked in a vat of Jell-O, and I don't think I could watch it if I were forced to listen to Tanner Foust and Rutledge Wood provide analysis and color commentary throughout the entire event.

The hosts from that metal show would be a huge improvement.

Thought this episode was pretty good. My absolute favorite thing about the UK shows is the used car challenges. So to see them use the cars that I have to avoid to get to work is awesome. Rut is defiantly my favorite, Tanner has loosened up some and seems more natural.

still seem douchey. I also dont like fake races like the EVO BS.

I fell asleep during last night's episode. More because I was tired as fuck from not getting much sleep the night before than because the episode was boring. Anyone have a link to it maybe?

the evo race is just as faked as all the other races that the BBC does. i still liked it, and it makes me want to take my evo out to the snow.

Last night's show was actually rather funny. i thought they were just carrying water, until they started spitting it into the fire and were causing fireballs. I thought it was a rather good show last night. No car for the stig last night seemed like something was missing...

I mean seeing the EVO like that made me want it more. They are on my list, and that just bumped it up.

But i didn't like seeing shots of the car with cameras attached and then the next shot they weren't. Then the whole jumping over the car was retarded. Like don't go as far as having the car sit in traffic and then magically it's perfectly synced choreography.

Then not seeing it on the hot lap was a kinda weak. and why not the v8 Vantage as well?

I would have loved to see the evo on the hot lap, but whatever.

The thing is, it was just like how they do it on the BBC version. I remember one little out run spot they did with bmx bikers, and there was several choreographed spots with the bikes jumping over the car.

I'm just glad they didn't do it with the Evo MR with the slappy paddle gear box. Foust would just bitch about that the entire time.

I forced myself to watch, but it really is bad. The hosts suck, plain and simple. In the BBC version, I can watch them arguing over where a car fits on the "cool" board, and it's entertaining. The US version shows a friggin' Aston Martin, and they still bore me to tears.

Bottom line, the hosts suck, and should die.

Cadillac on the dirt was pretty epic. We laughed our asses off!

I don't like that only Tanner can drive. Other two need to step it up. Take some classes or someshit.

I was watching that late last night, I bust out laughed, nearly woke my wife.

yeah honestly, the other two cant drive for shit... What is drifting?! how do your do a burnout!?

Funny how no one likes it, but we all still watch. Anyway, that cadillac off the dirt ramp was epic. I was sure the car was going to split in half. :laugh:

Theres people who like it. Hell, I do. I think those who don't like have already seen the UK version, or just don't really care for buddy car shows.

Well, shit. Ep3 still hasn't hit the torrent scene (what the hell is up with this?) and it sounds like it may have had some redeeming value...

the third episode was actually funny as shit.

I think the latest episode was hillarious too. My face hurt I was laughing so hard. If they keep it up like that I think they'll do really well. I think their personalities are starting to click more.

One thing I wonder about though is the simi (or completely) illegal stuff they're doing. The whole moon shine thing and then the drifting on public roads with other cars driving by kind of struck me as strange.

it was weak. it just had a moment...that doesnt make up for the rest of the 49 minutes.

I thought it was funnier and better then ep 1 and 2 so there is improvement. The caddy had me el of elling all the way. I think Adam "the Mole Fererras thing is that he seriously just seems to have a brass set. He supposedly had never gone as fast as he did in ep 2 with the lambo before that(dude was shaking) and then come on, the caddy was nuts.

Rutelage is starting to be offensive which I like and tanner is starting to be a bit less robotic. Watching them with the moon shine over the camp fire was funny also.

My wife doesn't enjoy but tolerates the original Top Gear when I watch it. She saw her first episode of TGA last night (EP3) and had a few comments about it this morning. She said that TGA seemed completely scripted whereas British TG seemed like they had an outline, but left the wording to be filled in by the hosts. The American hosts sound less genuine and interesting because of this. She also noted that they seemed to know very little about cars mechanically compared to the Brits. I don't know that I actually agree with that because Clarkson knows jack shit about wrenching, but I think she probably picked up on the fact that the Brits are very interested in cars and how they function, and maybe only Tanner has similar interests... maybe. Tanner doesn't even really speak with much enthusiasm about cars in a general sense from what I have seen. Maybe it is because he is reading from a script written by a Hollywood writer who has no interest or understanding of cars, but loves to write scripts... Hollywood sucks so fucking bad for that reason among many others. The scripts never really sound authentic no matter what character they write for.

The latest episode made me LOL a few times, so it is definitely improving. The other guys need to learn how to drive ASAP, or at least make it harder for Tanner by messing with his shit.

The moonshine at the campfire was the best scene.

You can legally buy moonshine and "Kentucky Fire Water" in Gatlinburg.....

It's actually pretty damn common to see moonshine around east TN and west NC too.



EP3 was a great improvement, Im starting to like the show more now.

This show blows. I came across a bit of it on TV the other night and could only handle a few minutes of it because changing channels. Horribly scripted. Brits-1, US-0

Ok, so Ep3 was less bad. The interaction between the three was decent both during the news and the cheap car challenge. It felt less scripted, more spontaneous.

There's a weird dynamic at play, however, that I only just put my finger on. In TGUK, the three hosts are not equal partners. You have The Dictator, the Pretty Boy, and the Fall Guy.

Think about it- Clarkson is in charge of the show. He does the interviews, he runs the Cool Wall, he introduces The Stig, and he sits in the Big Chair during the news. The other two are subservient, and as often as not, subversive. I haven't yet developed a sense with El Dorifto, Lumberjack and Moleman who the alpha male is.


On a positive note, thus far, fears that the show would pander to advertisers would seem unfounded. (Though in fairness, since I'm watching this in torrent form, I have no idea who the advertisers are.) None the less, in this episode, the three managed to harass / criticize / make fun of:

• The Toyota Solaris
• Kia
• The Ford Mustang
• All Buicks everywhere
• Mel Gibson
• NASCAR
• The Elderly
• The South

I'm hopeful.

I liked Ep3 better than the first two. It does seem like the dynamic is improving. I also agree with Joe that the Alpha male has not been decided yet. The camp fire was good.

Maybe they can improve and become better, but it will still never have a place in my heart like the UK version. Anybody seen the early seasons of Top Gear from the UK? They also suck, Clarkson has a more formal British accent and tries to be more serious, and of course none of the shenanigans from the later seasons.

Au contraire! It was obviously the blind man's dog.

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

Ok, I'm going to temper my last post just a bit. TGUS Ep3 was an improvement over their previous work.

But then I watched S15E01 of TGUK (I'm a full season behind) and it sort of recalibrated my awesome sensor. I was damn near choking with laughter when Jeremy rolled the Robin while pulling out of the parking lot. And then again pulling out onto the street. And then again pulling into the Reliant enthusiasts club meet. And then again on the cricket pitch.

Ah well- we shall see how things turn out.


One thing which does concern me a bit is that, here in the US, we never experienced some of the automotive silliness to which the Brits were exposed during the '60s and '70s. There were no Peel P50s, no Isettas, no 2CVs no Morgans... And we also don't have the same indigenous supercar culture as the Europeans. Think about it: we have Panoz. They have TVR, Noble, Gumpert, Koenigsegg, Ascari, Pagani, Wiesmann, Spyker, Bowler...

It makes one wonder how people ever drove those things in the first place.