Anyone that hangs around my blogs knows that I am a fan of Top Gear, the BBC show that combines seriously cool cars, interesting challenges, speed, British humor and irreverent reviews.
I think it would be terribly cool to have a similar show here in the US... with cars that are actually available in our market. While part of the attraction for the British series is the "out of market" cars that aren't available here, that might be outweighed with more cars that ARE available here.
Apparently, it almost happened... and could still happen. NBC was in talks with BBC America to produce and air the show here. Rumor has it that the talks are over, a pilot was made, and the show is canned. But... there are a few details here...
- The hosts were to be Adam Carolla, Tanner Foust and Eric Stromer.
- It was going to follow the same format as the British show:
- Top Secret Test Driver comparing cars on the track
- Star in a Reasonably Priced Car
- Challenges
- The rumors even had them working on similar videography style...
Of course there are some key differences in the landscape between BBC and NBC. To begin with, BBC isn't commercial supported, and auto manufacturers would be the primary revenue source for a US series. So, while on Top Gear (Great Britain) the hosts are free to trash cars from all sorts of manufacturers without regard to advertising revenue, in the US, on NBC, that likely would be a major concern...
I'm also not sure that the guys selected to host would be able to pull off something as entertaining as Clarkson, Hammond and May have on the BBC.
However, if NBC (or another entity) decides to make it happen, I could be made available. I have a certain amount of snark that I could deliver... I also have a history in racing sports cars, so while there is no way I am qualified to substitute for "The Stig", I could be a co-host... I love the challenges and would certainly be willing to take those on.
TopGear USA Show Reel
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I'd love to hear from you...
i was turned on to that show by a good friend and I can not get enough of it. I enjoyed your post
Lane - I would have enjoyed the show, but I have a hard time believing that NBC can do anything right. No wonder it didn't make it.
Wayne and Larry - Check out BBC America... the British version is great. The biggest problem would be dealing with advertisers after trashing their product (when it needed trashing).