seinsmeld13

I caught the second episode on StreetFire, second episode was much better.

NWS4Guy

Agree, though over on Azine many said it was worse.

WatchNut

I thought it was worse

DrGP

Here's the problem . The format of the program is basically the same as the British version. BUT, there seems to be very little if any chemistry going on between the 3 characters. I especially am having a hard time warming up to the dark haired guy with the New York accent. The car test segments are really not bad. But its the characters and their interaction that make the original show what it is. My brother in law (from the UK) originally put me onto the TG show. He told me that the Australian version is horrible for the same reasons we are not liking the US version. NO chemistry.

MainlandMig

the way i see it is ... point blank ..the UK production staff is just more TALENTED.. they just do better work and their efforts show... its like they try to outdo themselves each time... look what challenges they put their personalities thru. they can make me feel 12 years old again...they can make me watch tom cruise segment and not have me say "what the hell is wrong with that guy?" u cant just "copy the format" ..thats just Dumb and Dumberer.

B6bydesign

Actually, the production staff is almost the same as that which makes the UK show. Rutledge Wood posted about it over on HT:

"BBC Worldwide Productions (who makes TG UK) made this show hand in hand with History. The goal was never to attempt to fill the roles of the three unique hosts of the UK show, or it would have been a failure from the start. SO what you have instead is 3 very different car guys with very different backgrounds. As the season goes on, our roles and backgrounds and what most people would call "characters" will be more defined and much richer. But that takes time. We have 44 minutes to have fun with cars and try to entertain you.

This is a sister show to the UK one. We had many of the same producers and writers that the UK show has. It is not meant to be a replacement show, but a companion. I certainly understand why everyone is comparing to the UK show, but I didn't have time to call all the fanboys like me across the US to explain what we were doing."

http://honda-tech.com/showpost.php?p...&postcount=121

seinsmeld13

I actually enjoy the Australian version. Agree the British show is so much better. The original in most cases is always the best.

KrustyClown

I think that part of it is that the British have an irreverence that the Americans don't (actually, I think it's more can't). When Brits make fun of the French, or Germans, or audience members they can say things that are borderline derogatory, either because it's culturally acceptable or legal (i.e. not censored) or both. Somehow it works, and comes across as tongue in cheek.

I think the other part of it, is that they needed these guys to work together for some period of time before they threw them on the air. You get the impression that Clarkson, May, and Hammond hung out at the bar together as buddies for eons before ever working together. These guys look like they were just introduced before they got on air.

That said, any opportunity to see cool cars do cool stuff is okay by me. I prefer the U.K. version for sure, but I'll watch this whenever I can (difficult in Canada) just for the cars.

JD15

I liked the second episode a little more than the first and will give the show an entire season before I consider it a failure. I'm not sure if most people remember, but the UK Top Gear was not as strong during the first couple of seasons; in fact, James May replaced one of the original hosts after the first season. The first two episodes of the US Top Gear are certainly not going to compared well to those of a show that has been on the air for over 100 episodes.

dingosatemyaudi

Have to agree here.

I didn't see the first episode, but I have to agree the hosts are wooden and their personalities don't come through. One thing I don't like is that they've copied every element from the UK version. A second mystery "Stig"? It just doesn't work a second time. How about adding the test driver/instructor to the Star in a POS Car interview segment to add commentary instead of Tanner's lame commentary. Use an electronic lap time board. Trying to duplicate every element of the UK version will certainly end up in failure.

During the Tanner's "race" against the skiers, they made it appear he was doing this on an open public road. If that's really the case -that's totally irresponsible. I don't believe they did, but why add the segments where he's behind traffic?