Welp, Top Gear US is done.

Jerry wrote: I really really wanted to like Tanner but he just...had no personality (IMHO). The fat guy (Rutt?) was ok, and the 3rd guy with the Brooklyn accent I wanted to punch every time I saw him.

Ive seen a handfull of episodes and this pretty well sums up my feelings on the show. I think what made the Clarkson/May/Hammond Top Gear what it was, more than anything else, is the chemistry of the hosts. You can't just throw three random guys together in a program with a similar format and expect that to work as well. The banter, or whatever you wanna call it, just always felt so artificial.

If it were up to me, I'd keep Rutt and let him pick whomever to replace the other two. He just seems like the kind of guy you ask one question at a car show and end up BSing with for a couple hours. Tanner I can at least respect as a driver, but his persona just feels artificial to me. The Brooklyn guy actively detracts from the show for me, to the point that I have literally turned it off because of him.

Basil Exposition wrote: You kids are so spoiled. I remember when the only car show available was Sam "The Ad Whore" Memmolo and big Dave what's-his-name on TNN with Shade Tree Mechanic. And Motorweek.

Shadetree Mechanic.. i remember it well, from a time when TNN had all the good automotive and racing shows..

typical dialog from every episode of that show:

"hey, buddy, can you grab me that wrench"

"here ya go, buddy"

"thanks, buddy"

"no problem, buddy"

they also had other good shows on at that time, such as Hot Rod TV (later Muscle Car TV after the licensing deal ran out) and Trucks- which morphed into what is now the PowerNation block of shows on CBSSN. HRTV was hosted by Joe Elmore and Trucks gave us Stacey David and his glorious mullet. they also had "Inside Winston Cup Racing" which gave a very good technical look at the cars as they were raced at that time and the people that built and raced them..

I think they needed this guy as a host.

Basil Exposition wrote: You kids are so spoiled. I remember when the only car show available was Sam "The Ad Whore" Memmolo and big Dave what's-his-name on TNN with Shade Tree Mechanic. And Motorweek.

Ah, Motorweek. Just about the driest, most boring show you could make about cars. But I still watched it every week.

Matt B wrote: I think they needed this guy as a host.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/xsxRiI5jAC8

With builds like this, someone needs to invite him to the Challenge. God, you could do seasons of Top Gear Challenges just from Handymans Corner and what he did to K cars.

I finally got SWMBO to start watching the Red Green show on Youtube. She just stares at me the entire show, judging silently...

I really wanted to like TGUSA, but so so much of it seemed forced or fabricated by some heavy-handed network exec.

Rut.
Leno Pasterjack

I'd watch that

DrBoost wrote: Rut. Leno Pasterjack I'd watch that

Leno would never do it. May I suggest Adam Carolla instead? His short lived TG knock off was pretty good.

HappyAndy wrote:

DrBoost wrote: Rut. Leno. Pasterjack I'd watch that

Leno would never do it. May I suggest Adam Carolla instead? His short lived TG knock off was pretty good.

How did I forget about Adam??!
What is this show you speak of?

In reply to DrBoost:

Adam Carolla's Car Show. IIRC, it only lasted about 5 episodes, but they all way better than USTG season 1 by a fair amount.

Hmm, I just had an interesting idea for an automotive entertainment show. I'll come back and start a new thread later in the day.

Last nights Cuba episode was pretty good.

racerfink wrote: Last nights Cuba episode was pretty good.

It was, even if it was the same formula of getting 3 vehicles, do stuff, mods, and then some stuff- winner drives something else.

TG is getting to be a lot of that, too.

It was cool to have them in Cuba, though.

alfadriver wrote:

racerfink wrote: Last nights Cuba episode was pretty good.

It was, even if it was the same formula of getting 3 vehicles, do stuff, mods, and then some stuff- Tanner drives something else. TG is getting to be a lot of that, too. It was cool to have them in Cuba, though.

FTFY.

ThunderCougarFalconGoat wrote: I finally got SWMBO to start watching the Red Green show on Youtube. She just stares at me the entire show, judging silently...

That's the CAT you idiot!

Tanner didn't have much of a personality, but he brought race car driver street cred to the show. Tv car shows already have too much personality and not enough substance. I liked him.

I liked Ruttledge, as a "Car Dude" he seemed legit. I felt like he got treated like a but of a punching bag on there. That was kind of irritating.

The Brooklyn guy was very annoying, but I did appreciate the "no berkeleys given" attitude towards driving.

In reply to Javelin?:

It's a female cat, SWMBO still applies.

Straight from The Beeb, it's official: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36649402

A spokesperson for BBC Worldwide North America said: "History treated Top Gear USA with great care, and the show had a solid five-season contractual run with the network. "We are fully committed to the hugely successful Top Gear brand - known all over the world - and have begun exploring new opportunities for the series in the US."