Top Gear USA

Funny, witty, fun. I love this watched season 1-6 twice. Light hearted family friendly.

My friend said "you've got to watch this show called Top Gear. You'll love it even though you're not a car freak. It's awesome".

So I watched a couple and told my friend he was sadly mistaken. I didn't like the show at all. He was perplexed. What had I become?

It turns out that he was only referring to the UK show (and had never heard of the American show). I had never heard of either, and only stumbled upon the American show.

Now that I have since seen the excellent UK version, and he has since seen the wretched American version, the Universe has become stable again. My friend is no longer convinced I had become compromised by a body snatcher.

Yeah, I know Adam Ferrara is no Jeremy Clarkson but, he's not supposed to be. The show is surprisingly up front and truthful, considering that it is on a commercial network. People keep bashing the show for being dry and dull. But remember the early days of top gear where there was like 8 people in the crowd AND Jason Dawes.

The second season is where it started to pick up it's also when they introduced James May. Hopefully, they get rid of Rutledge Wood and replace them with someone more capable of the position. But come on give it a chance, let it get a second season and hopefully it will get better.

So every other review you read about this show talks about how it is not nearly as good as the British version, and it isn't but think about it, the UK version is in its 20th season. The UK series has has a lot of time to shape and grow into the amazing show that it is. The US version has taken the raw formula of the UK version and started with that. I think people need to give it some time to find what works for the US audience and settle in. As the hosts get to know each other better like Jeremy, James and Richard do the dynamic, and in turn, the show, will only get better. It is like comparing a seasoned veteran in any sport to a rookie, obviously they're not going to have everything figured out from the beginning. As a stand alone show though it is pretty damned entertaining and fun to watch.

Despite this show being wildly unpopular, I must confess myself a fan. I've been watching Top Gear for years, even in the old Jeremy Clarkson days and I love it to bits. Watched quite a few of the spin-off shows but never really enjoyed any of them.

US version makes its entrance and I'll obviously give it the benefit of the doubt. Season 1 wasn't very enjoyable, because the hosts don't have that instantly-loved chemistry of the UK guys plus they can't pull off the UK concept of reviews and the whole interview thing.

They quickly realized they needed to build the game solely on challenges, my favourite segments of the UK show. So every single show features fun and crazy challenges. The initial lack of great chemistry is made up by the content which admittedly is often taken from the UK show, however it's such a vague idea that is wildly different once you have different people, cars, circumstances etc.

As you work your way through the episodes, you come to love these guys. Rutledge Wood being that smiling, papa-bear type. Adam Ferrara being the loud New Yorker type that is slightly cocky but is prone to screw it up and Tanner Foust the professional race driver that is a more timid type that is just waiting to show off his abilities. It seems to work on some level!

Maybe I'm just crazy but the show being nothing but challenges and featuring some nice guys works for me, I really enjoy it and I'd rather watch an episode of this with challenges than one with nothing but interviews and boring car tests of the UK show.