Thanks - watched it and it was better than I thought it would be. For a first episode.. not too bad, but still not the "real deal" just yet. Cinematography and soundtrack still needs some work.
When compared to say season 1 of Top Gear UK, it was better. It will never be "top gear" but it was still entertaining.
A reasonable first episode. I'm still not keen on the mix of hosts, though. I think they missed a big opportunity to parody themselves just a tiny bit. Everyone in the *world* knows it's a direct copy of the british version. So why not use that to their advantage? For example, they could have introduced the Stig the same way ("noone will ever see his face..."), and yet had a clear visor showing his actual face. Or accidentally said his name ("and here's Bob...err, I mean the Stig"). Or at least made the Stig's suite Red, White & Blue... p.s. the beard needs to go (or at least be severely trimmed back)... .
Well... they left room to improve. :arf: Felt a bit over scripted in parts, but not to good comedic effect. I'm not sure of the host's chemistry, but it was the first episode. It seemed like they missed a lot of opportunities, but as season 1 seems to be recorded I'm sure things will improve along the way. They have big clown shoes to fill, but they haven't lost me yet. Here is to hoping for gold. :beer
As a first effort I'll give it a lot of latitude but I was not bowled over at all. Lots of little details that need work. In car camera needs better resolution, to many times the images were fuzzy. Not from the cars vibrations but I think from their use consumer grade Go Pro camera's. They are a sponsor. The banter was stiff at times, hopefully a season working together will clear that up. They blew it with The Stig, he/she needs to be identifiable as the US Stig. One of the beauties of watching the BBC is the lack of commercials, the 20 min they had to lose to fit in all the commercials really made many of the sections feel rushed. HD needs to realize the audience and maybe give back some time to the show. We don't need to see the same ad's 4 times. Glad I used the DVR. To much reliance on the post production effects. I thought I might scream after the 10th or so use of 3 panels. I'm willing to give them some time to find their footing. Hope HD Net feels the same way.
Alas how many times is the copy as good as the original? The combination of the characters is as important to what makes Top Gear BBC a great show as is the content. To try and plug three different personalities in an American verision and expect it to be as good would he like attempting to revive the Three Stooges with new people.....
I agree with most stated so far, I am watching, but only one episode at a time for now. With the 'real deal' I was sure that I was in for them all. The commercials were especially annoying.
Well I am not sure how I feel about it. I am a die hard fan of TG UK. But this is just not the same. Yea I will still watch because they beat on 100k plus cars like I do video games. But I watch TG UK for more then just the cars. The comedy, the whit, The places they go. Wood is no Clarkson that for sure. And whats up with the test track. Dirty, Bummpy, POS IMHO LONG LIVE TOP GEAR UK!
Excellent point about the track. I mean come on, while I do not expect them to be using a custom F1 track, I certainly do not expect the POS track to be bumpy. And how much is it gonna cost to clean the track?
Yea it's not like there isn't any great tracks here in America that would have gone out of their way for the advertisement, to host the show....
The "track" is carved out of the runways at what was once Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Orange County, California Very convenient for filming as they don't need to leave the LA area.
Since it was on back to back, we watched it twice. It seemsed forced and too scripted to me.... One of the things I'm tired of on the BBC original is the 15 minutes of lurid, tire smoking slides in expensive cars. It's one thing to hang the back out here and there, but to spend 15 minutes shredding the tires is tiresome to me. Since Tanner Foust came from a drifting background, his excuse for being the slowest in every challenge will be that he shredded the tires while doing the drifting segments....they did get huge vibrations on the top speed runs in the Lambos....not cool. Less drifting, more actual driving please.... And the segment with the helicoter.....please! So poorly done as to be laughable, except it wasn't funny. I do hope the guys find their legs, soon. My wife asked if the original 3 were funny in their first shows too, so since Nathan has so graciously provided those shows here on MA, I'm going to que up a few and we'll see......
Well, I'll step outside the box here and say I enjoyed it. I already appreciate the American point of view. It always bugged me when they missed stuff like HP @ the wheels versus the crank, calling an AMG Mercedes a "Muscle Car", arrogant reviews of the Mustang and 350Z, etc... It does need work and I think they need their own soundtrack (odd hearing the UK intro tune etc...). It did seem forced as far as interaction, but finding a dynamic like Clarkson, May, Hammond is gonna be hard. Those guys just work so damn well. Aside from those foibles I'm good with it. We'll see if it gets better. I'm willing to watch for a season.
I'm willing to watch it for a season. It was refreshing to see that Tanner Foust wasn't being nailed every minute of a show by an AH like Paul Tracy (Supercars) and they are trying to get the three to gel as a team. I agree that we need some hints to fodder discussion about who the STIG is.
The fat guy needs to go. He looked absolutely lost. Foust seemed to be carrying the other two as far as having car relevant opinion. But it didn't totally blow. I think it has potential. But they do need to do something about those shaking in-car shots.
I am like the rest of you, consensus seems to be wait and see, dialog seems forced they did not look comfortable. On the up side there appears to be a segment coming with a 05 MINI in it, thats a plus, and the track does need work. As for stars in reasonably priced cars they couldn't have found an American built auto..