Top Gear

Let me say that this is easily my favorite show on TV...ever. It's not just because I am a huge "petrol head" automobile fan either. More importantly, each episode is so finely crafted. The cinematography, music, commentary and choice of subject matter is second to none.

Top Gear could have easily just shot a car sitting on some asphalt and talked about it. Instead, they use all types of lens filters to color shots, cloud part of the shot, etc. They use high speed cameras to show a tire spinning in slow motion with the smoke wafting off the pavement. They take shots from helicopters high above through patchy cloud cover as a car cruises down a winding race track. Every shot is beautifully executed.

This camera work would be beautiful alone, but it has been paired with a fantastic soundtrack. Every song is picked to illustrate some sort of emotion. For instance, the main presenter, Jeremy Clarkson is driving his beautiful Aston Martin DB9 through the French countryside and he begins to speak about the beauty of the car and how it is like no other driving experience. It is his favorite car. As he is talking, the sun is setting and they use a soft filter on the camera with an amber tint. To top it all off they play Massive Attack's "Heat Miser". If you know this song it is a slow, warm, almost sad mixture of simple piano key notes and deep string instruments. It fits perfectly and really conveys the emotion of the moment. I can't stress enough how NO show on TV would even think of using songs from little known artists like Massive Attack. I could go forever but just know that they play punk, classic rock, new wave, classical, hip-hop and obscure UK electronic...and it all fits beautifully. Producers of TV and even movies should get some guts and learn that we know this music and it has a huge impact on the depth of a show.

With all of this fine camera work and music as a backdrop comes some great commentary from the 3 presenters. Jeremy Clarkson (the older know it all), Richard Hammond (the young wild one), and James May (the conservative middle age guy) combine to bounce intelligent and very opinionated commentary off each other. This is all mostly scripted, but they do it in a natural way. It all comes off as fun and off the cuff. They don't pull punches either. They regularly attack the government officials, protest groups, auto execs, and other countries. It is great to see a show that is not afraid to say whatever it wants without fear of offending.

Lastly, the choice of cars is fantastic. If you watch this show, likely you have some interest in cars (you don't have to...it's great entertainment). If you do, you'll appreciate how they pick everything from exotic supercars to econo boxes. They pick not only the obvious in each car class, but also some lesser known and interesting cars as well. Vehicles from all over the world are put to the test. I really love the fact that they pick some wildly expensive exotics and some extremely valuable collectors cars and actually drive them hard. Car shows usually show you these valuable cars, but then drive them slowly around because they are afraid of damaging them. Top Gear does a fantastic job of keeping the car reviews interesting. Want to see how fast a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is? Well, lets put Jeremy in it and race it against a passenger jet carrying Hammond and Mays from London to Switzerland. How agile and fast is a Mitsubishi Evo? Let's put a champion rally racer in it and race it down a snowy mountain road against a championship bobsled team on a equal length chute. It's ideas like this that have kept this show fresh for so long.

There are many more aspects of this show I could talk about (ie. The Stig, Stars in a Reasonably Priced Car, the news, etc) but I am being a freak. I will end by telling you that the Discovery Channel has already aired a number of "edited for the USA" UK original episodes here in the States. They were chopped up and lost a lot of their flow and character. I was thrilled to see that Americans could get a chance to see this show. I was disappointed in Discovery for editing out a lot of the British slang, foreign cars, and worst of all the fun jabs at American culture. Are we Americans that sensitive that we can't handle pokes at our weight, love of anything big, gas guzzlers, and that our auto industry is falling behind? Are these secrets? Apparently Discovery execs think so. Well, Top Gear has announced they are making in conjunction with Discovery Channel a "Top Gear USA". They have said that the UK test run on Discovery was well received but (in their infinite wisdom) they think that a new USA version will go over better here. They have pulled the edited UK originals from Discovery and have already started shooting the new Top Gear USA. It is complete with a new trio of hosts, their own test track, and the Stig from the UK show. The biggest differences will most likely be no studio audience, only cars that we've heard of here, and a lot more US made cars. If you ask me this is a huge mistake. This show works as it is. Everyone I know here in the US that watches the unedited originals loves it. It goes to the old saying, "If it isn't broken, don't try and fix it.". I believe we will end up with a watered down, poorly conceived, cheaply made variation of a good thing. Wait...isn't that why America's auto industry is falling way behind? Ironic isn't it?

In short, Top Gear is the ultimate TV car program. If you like cars, it's the thing to watch - and if you don't, watch it anyway because you don't need to be a petrolhead or car buff to enjoy it. Pure, undiluted fun. Three insane Brits who are not shy of giving devastating test summaries for cars that didn't cut it. Not to mention the other stuff they think up, be that the 1500 quid used Porsche test or Caravan Conkers...the list is almost endless. While other TV car shows feature lots of boring junk, the Top Gear crew isn't afraid of anything. If needs be they put on helmets and crash test cars into a wall at 30 mph.

Even my mother likes to watch it, and her interest in cars is limited to "I like how that one looks" at the very best.

Eat your heart out, Richard Brunstrom! ;^> JK'05 aka Elkrider

...because I'm not really that interested in cars. And I haven't the foggiest when this is showing, but when I accidentally zap by it, you can be quite sure I am staying on the channel. It appears to me, as a 'non car enthusiast', that many of the reviews are opinionated and not very relevant to the average viewer (as are some of the cars they test for us) but it's all done with charisma and that dry British humor. That is a good thing by the way ;)

I guess the reason I'm writing this, is to show that even though you don't feel affectionate about cars, you can still easily enjoy this program. It's just me saying; 'good job BBC'

As an American, your selection of automotive programming is quite limited. On one hand there is the SPEED Channel that is not available in every market, and on the other there is the "Powerblock" on Spike TV that offers little more than how to add a bit of power to your Grandmother's '81 Caprice.

Even as an import, Top Gear simply blew my mind away during my first viewing of the show last year when The Discovery Channel ran a season of the show slightly altered for the US Market.

For one, the personality of the show is unlike anything I have seen before. The show's lead host, Mr. Jeremy Clarkson is rather opinionated on everything, and although he will never hide the fact that he does not like something, he himself is quite likable as a person. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there is Mr. James May, quite possibly the most British man I have ever seen on television or in the movies. He isn't offensive in any way, and although he may be known as "captian slow," his presentations are quite enjoyable as they always seem to come from someone with a level head. Caught in the middle is Mr. Richard Hammond, a rather young Briton who embodies the current generation of automotive fandom. All together, the hosts balance each other out, and each offer their own perspective to the show, appealing to a wide range of people.

Outside of the "acting," the cinematography of the show is breathtaking, given that it is a weekly event in the UK. Occasionally the segments rival that of some of the best television shows or movies that I have seen, and although they are primarily focused on the car and the hosts themselves, the surrounding environment often plays a large role in the different reviews.

...But then you add the great soundtracks of the reviews, the quirky setups to the different tests (such as a Bugatti Veyron racing a plane from Italy to England), and the great test laps done by the Stig... It all adds up to one of the greatest television programs, well, ever.

It truly is a shame that the viewing of Top Gear is generally limited to the internet via You Tube or Google Video here in the US, but there was a pilot filmed for The Discovery Channel in the US for an American version of Top Gear, but thus far, nothing has happened.

If you have the time, I highly suggest you take a look at the show, interested in automobiles or not.

Yes, this show is about cars, but then again it isn't. Mostly it's about extremes of opinion, dreams and fantasies, dares, one-up-man-ship, and taking everything just a little bit further. And it's also entertaining - very entertaining, which is what television is meant to be, and so often is not. I'm not all that interested in cars, and my son doesn't even drive, but we both love the show, and watch it religiously.

The balance of presenters: Jeremy, the loud-mouthed, cuttingly funny, over-bearing older guy; Richard, the young, cute, quirky, adolescent one; James, the sensitive, quiet, contemplative, intelligent one; is nothing short of genius!

It seems that no expense is spared, either on the experiments and dares, or on filming, and this adds to the visual experience. This show is funny, even hilarious at times, classy, controversial, and hugely entertaining. Most people I know who watch this show know almost less than nothing about cars, and I think that says a lot about how successfully this program reaches beyond the expected demographic of young male petrol-heads.