NBC passes on U.S. Top Gear for now
NBC's dubious attempt to duplicate the unique cachet of Top Gear with a Stateside spinoff has apparently come to a screeching halt. They couldn't even get it together on a cast, so the news doesn't come entirely as a surprise. The newly announced fall lineup doesn't save a seat for "Gear," though room is made in the lineup for that clunker of a retread that is Knight Rider. Seeing how much worse NBC has managed to make the campfest original Knight Rider, we're all better off without a watered-down, sucking-up, entirely neutered iteration of the original. Done before it even started -- we've all been spared by a mild outbreak of sense at a TV network. Thanks for the tip, r4m3n.[Source: Dark Horizons]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
John Johnson 8:59AM (5/15/2008)
Mr. Roth, you sir have made my day.
Now just post the report saying "Just kidding, Top Gear is returning June 15th with a full season!"
Reply
Hiro11 9:01AM (5/15/2008)
Thank God. This was an extremely dumb idea from the start.
Reply
Joe Blow 9:02AM (5/15/2008)
Crisis Averted.....
Reply
Maxima98 9:34AM (5/15/2008)
I agree
ehisforadam 9:02AM (5/15/2008)
It was a mercy kill.
Reply
Jared 10:10AM (5/15/2008)
Agreed. NBC just would have made a hash of it and ruined the TopGear brand in the US.
Chad 9:04AM (5/15/2008)
Agreed, that was destine to suck.
Reply
Shawn 9:07AM (5/15/2008)
I agree, nothing can touch the original Top Gear...I'd rather watch 5th Gear in between than a watered down NBC attempt
Reply
Mike 9:17AM (5/15/2008)
I feel both happy and sad at the same time.
The thought of a show based on real cars (not talking ones) on a big network at prime-time gave me some optimism for our society. Of course, the skeptic in me knows that these big networks are too greedy to make the show even close to the original, making me think it's better off that it won't happen.
I guess we'll be stuck finding out which fan base is more powerful- the 10-14 year old girls voting for one David or the 16-20 year old girls voting for the other one.
Maybe if we raised our kids right, they'd be more into cars than crying over wannabe pop stars.
Reply
416Hammy 9:41AM (5/15/2008)
Who are the 15 year old girls voting for?
Will 9:44AM (5/15/2008)
Miley Cyrus.
Call Me George 1:01AM (5/16/2008)
They might be voting for Miley, but they're doing something else to me. Giggity giggity goo.
FSM 9:19AM (5/15/2008)
Just send us the current episodes (not last years) on BBC America and I will be happy. For now I will continue to download the current episodes from www.finalgear.com
Reply
Red 9:32AM (5/15/2008)
Thank God...after what they did with Knight Rider movie, which wasn't originally that great a show to begin with, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
God bless Jay Leno for expressing his thoughts on steaming, bubbling pile of crap to be.
Reply
Sean Flanagan 9:32AM (5/15/2008)
This is actually quite a few weeks old (see: http://www.finalgear.com/news/2008/04/08/gear-dead-before-it-even-started/ ), and doesn't necessarily mean it's been cancelled (see: http://www.finalgear.com/news/2008/04/08/gear-not-dead-at-least-not-yet/ ). It only means they haven't made a decision about it yet.
Reply
xpolarx 12:16PM (5/15/2008)
Damn it! I don't like the idea of this show hanging in the balance. It needs to die completely until they can find some proper hosts. Adam Corrola? That guy's a massive tool and he couldn't drive his way out of a paper bag. They need someone clever...like Conan O'Brien, if he could drive.
Sean Flanagan 1:13PM (5/15/2008)
Couldn't drive out of a paper bag? Adam Carolla owns and races vintage Datsuns. What more do you want out of a driver?
Tom Winch 1:39AM (5/16/2008)
There was a Speed Test Drive show featuring the new Pontiac G8 GT that had Adam Carrolla and Tommy Kendall driving separate G8 GT's around the track at Willow Springs while commenting on the car. It sure felt like an audition for Top Gear. Carrolla was trying to be knowledgeable while humorous, with mixed results. What the program did show, though, is that Carrolla is a good driver. I race at Willow Springs almost as much as Buttonwillow (the pic in my avatar was taken at Willow Springs) and Carrolla was driving the correct line for the most part and did some showing off, pulling controlled drifts with Kendall around turn 3. Clarkson & Hammond have nothing to worry about from Carrolla & Kendall when it comes to Top Gear though. And no U.S. network television show could ever tell it like it is about cars because the networks rely on advertising $$$$ from the auto makers. The BBC doesn't rely on sponsors, so the Top Gear guys are free to speak their minds about the cars they test. And to launch rocket powered Mini's down ski slopes, and race a bicycle, a train, and a power boat across London, and go to Miami with $1000 each and buy a junker to drive to New Orleans, and..... you get the picture.
MGBYG 9:33AM (5/15/2008)
Hey, we always have PBS's MotorWeek with Fat Gauze.
What, John Davis isn't supposed to kiss the maker's ass with every review?? Every single car is not great??
Reply
emre.aydinceren 10:52AM (5/15/2008)
You couldn't be more right... The only bad thing in their review is less than perfect gas mileage.. They didn't refresh their format, it is utterly boring, reviews are not objective.