REVIEW: Top Gear

there's a show that has completely captured my fan-dom... Top Gear. it airs on BBC America here in the US. and it is awesome. if you're from the UK, i'm sure you've seen it many many times since it's been airing for something like thirty years. (though they re-tooled it in 2001 or so, according to wikipedia, to give it the current format.) it's a car show... but appeals greatly to non-car people, too... as my wife would attest. they do more than review high-end cars. they review everyday cars, too... it's a lot more relatable when one segment is about a bugatti and the next is about cargo vans. they also participate in ridiculous challenges - racing across europe in a car bought for $1000 is a typical premise... and it's just the sort of thing that myself and my buddies would LOVE to do if we didn't have real life getting in the way.

while the ultimate compliment is to make an american version of a show - and they are working on an american version - it's the hosts that worry me most. you just know an american network/casting is going to go either "too big" or "too non-car guy" with the hosts... whereas the british hosts (presenters, as they say) fit the show without overpowering it, i suspect american producers won't do the same. if they're smart, they'll think more along the lines of the sportscenter guys and less about danny bonaduce or mark mcgrath.

not to mention - and this is no small point - THE SHOW IS ALREADY IN ENGLISH. you don't need an american version to do the same exact things that the british guys are already doing. half the time, they're doing high-end, ultra-fast sports cars - a ferrari is a ferrari in the UK and the US. the other half is beater cars - an old fiat in the UK is an old omni in the US. can we really not deal with an accent and some different places? does it make it better for us if they drive from philly to pittsburgh instead of london to edinburgh? no.

while i don't trust the american version to be as good... or even remotely necessary... i do know the british version is fantastic.

http://www.topgear.com/