Top Gear USA debuted in November 2010 as the States’ version of the best car show on television, Top Gear UK. The new Top Gear brings together Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust, and Rutledge Wood in their attempt to rival the UK show with their crazy challenges, mystery driver, and on screen antics. Top Gear USA has not been met with much enthusiasm from lovers of the original Top Gear, but the History Channel is hoping they can turn things around and make Top Gear USA a force to be reckoned with.
If anyone happened to miss the very first season of Top Gear USA, there’s still hope! Warner Home Video will be stocking shelves everywhere with the very first season of America’s version of one of the best automotive shows ever on July 19, 2011. Couldn’t stay up to watch the episodes when they first aired? Watch them all for only $24.98.
The maiden season of Top Gear USA features comedian Adam Ferrera, champion rally and drift racer Tanner Foust, and racing analyst Rutledge Wood as they review some of the hottest cars out there. The guys were also on-hand to take part in the show’s best stunts, extreme challenges, and crazy antics. Check out the trio as they take a trip through the classic Prohibition route in the Deep South, teach a blind man to drift a Nissan 370Z, and race a HALO jumper in a Ford Velociraptor across the Arizona desert.
For a little celebrity action, check out astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Lost actor Dominic Monahan, Modern Family’s Ty Burrel, musician Kid Rock, Avatar star Michelle Rodriguez, and skateboard legend and game designer Tony Hawk as they "whip" around the Top Gear test track in the Suzuki SX4.
It’s all there, so fans of Top Gear USA better mark their calendars for July 19, 2011.
There are a lot of things that sound unnatural to combine, but actually make for quite an interesting surprise when they are. The combination of turkey, duck, and chicken - the Turducken - comes to mind. Who really needs three different birds– at the same time? However, while the latest combination might sound crazy, it just might make a bit more sense then that. Top Gear USA and NASCAR have just announced NASCAR’s Top Gear 300. The race will be part of NASCAR’s Nationwide series and will take place at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 28th, 2011.
While those dedicated to Top Gear UK may at first be very much against Top Gear USA’s partnership since all NASCAR does is, “turn left”, it actually makes quite a lot of sense.
The reason Top Gear UK is so good is twofold. First off, Top Gear UK’s got chemistry. Clarkson, Hammond and May are all “best mates” on and off the screen and that shows; it’s part of what makes Top Gear UK so fun. Top Gear UK also has a massive amount of viewers. The massive amount of viewers allows the BBC to give Top Gear UK a bigger budget, which finances better production and the road trips that we all know and love. Vietnam, the North Pole, and Bolivia– none of those would have happened without the money.
Top Gear USA received some good news recently after History decided to pick up the option for a second season of the US version of the hit British auto show, Top Gear.
This comes as a huge sigh of relief for the people behind the show as they seemed to have taken the pressure of producing a show amidst the enormous shadow of its British counterpart incredibly well. History, which is the new name for the History Channel, has ordered ten new episodes for season two with production set to begin sometime in the spring. No word yet on whether changes will be made for the second season, although the three hosts – Adam Ferrara, Rutledge Wood, and Tanner Foust – are all expected to be back.
The channel that carries Top Gear USA also announced that for the first season, Top Gear USA attracted a total audience of 60 million viewers for the entire season, with the show attracting a fairly young demographic, which History announced as being the youngest viewers of any series the network has ever shown.
Hit the jump to see what Top Gear UK thinks of the U.S. version’s success so far.
We have to say, we feel a little jipped with Top Gear USA’s final episode of their first season. With the increasing attention and interest we have shown in the show, a recap episode is not what we were expecting for their last hoorah of season one. It was rather disappointing to say the least.
Dressing it up as a "best of" episode, the three Top Gear USA boys shared all of the antics from season one with their top choices for best super cars, favorite old beaters, favorites races, favorite road trips, and something called "Making Mom Proud." Hate to say it, but Top Gear USA did not make us proud with episode 10 of season one. Not proud at all.
The good thing about this episode is that we did get to take another look at some of our favorite Top Gear USA moments as well. It’s not exactly an ideal season finisher, but we guess it got the job done.
Hit the jump to see Tanner, Ruttledge, and Adam’s picks for the best of Top Gear USA, Season One.
Top Gear USA is starting to really come around as the US version of the famous car show heads towards the end of its very first season. Eventually we see the trio of Adam Ferrara, Ruttledge Wood, and Tanner Foust coming into their own and not constantly being compared to Clarkson, Hammond, and May, but that’s still a long ways off. The US hosts need to spend a lot more time in the hot seat before they can rid themselves of the constant criticism and ridicule. Nonetheless, we’re beginning to love the show and most of the hosts. Sorry to say, we still love to hate Adam Ferrara.
Episode Eight of Top Gear USA was just jam-packed with goodies, as Tanner and Ruttledge try to figure out if its faster to fly or drive from LA to Las Vegas, Bret Michaels takes a turn on the Top Gear test track, Rutt and Tanner review a Porsche Panamera Turbo and a BMW X6M, respectively.
Hit the jump to get all of the details on Top Gear’s eighth episode.
We’re rounding the bend on the first season of Top Gear USA and although it may have started off slow, the show is really getting into a groove and improving with every episode. If there was one thing we would want to complain about at this point in time is the continuous references to Top Gear USA NOT being a reality TV show. Okay, Adam, we get it, this is real TV and not just some lame attempt at sneaking a peek at rehearsed "real" lives. Let’s move on now, please.
In this episode, Tanner Foust is given a break from losing at competitions so that the other guys can get a feel for what it’s like to compete against a much slower mode of transportation and still lose. Tim Allen makes a spirited and entertaining guest as he tries his hand at the Suzuki SX4 and the guys try their hand at selling used cars, all while wearing some questionable attire.
Hit the jump to get the details on this week’s episode of Top Gear USA.
That’s it; we’re halfway through the first season of Top Gear USA and the guys seem to be coming along quite nicely in their efforts to become a real car show. They’re actually getting some laughs out of us and they’re even getting their hands on some pretty nice rides. We didn’t think we would become full-fledged Top Gear USA fans so early in its lifespan, but, the truth is, we have.
In this episode of Top Gear USA, the trio take on a challenge that leaves them traveling by land, air, and sea to get from Miami to Key West in the shortest time span. Michelle Rodriguez takes on the Top Gear test track in the Suzuki and Tanner Foust hops on over to Britain to check out the Morgan Aero SuperSport.
Hit the jump to check out the full details for this week’s episode of Top Gear USA!
We are going to start betting on the fact that Top Gear USA is going to be a household name by the time it wraps up its third season. The show is gaining fans all over and the naysayers of the show are starting to come around.
And why shouldn’t they? With the funny challenges, the decent reviews, and the big stars, Top Gear USA is building itself up rather nicely. Let’s just hope that the balloon doesn’t deflate before we can win our little bet.
In this week’s episode, the guys from Top Gear USA run a few old GM models through a series of challenges to see which one should reenter production, Tony Hawk takes the Subaru around the Top Gear USA test track, and the news segment comes around again.
UPDATE 12/21/2010: Check out Top Gear USA’s rendering of their 2011 Buick Roadmaster in the gallery!
Hit the jump to see all of the details for this week’s episode of Top Gear USA.
We are almost halfway through the first season of Top Gear USA and we are pleased to say that the show is not a complete waste of our time. In fact, we actually enjoy watching it. The clips are informative, the challenges are funny and entertaining, and the opportunity of making fun of Ferrara will never slide past us. We can’t help it; we don’t really like the guy as the "main" host.
Now that all of that is out of the way, we can move on to the actual show aired. The fourth episode of Top Gear USA takes us through a long review of the Mercedes SLS AMG with Adam Ferrara behind the wheel. Only Ferrara can ruin the Mercedes’ camera time. Top Gear UK has Captain Slow, we have Captain Boring. ’Nuff said.
The more interesting part of the show was the two challenges. The first was a race between the Ford F-150 Velociraptor and a HALO jumper while the second was a jumbled mess of two old beaters shooting out paintballs. And by two old beaters, we mean Ferrara and Wood. Just kidding.
Hit the jump to see details on the fourth episode of Top Gear USA.
Another week, another Top Gear USA episode, and we may be starting to like the show a bit. Don’t give us a hard time; we’re only human. Yes, it’s still lacking the quirks and perks of the UK version, but these guys may just be finding their way.
The funny part about the statement we just made is that this week’s show saw fewer segments than the first two, but that could be what helped it. Everything wasn’t so forced and they didn’t jump to the next topic as if they were actually in a race. Of course, the downside to this was that they did not get the opportunity to review any vehicles and they inserted a brief and odd news segment.
Overall the producers for the show are starting to find a good balance between Foust’s car knowledge, Wood’s comedic randomness, and Ferrara’s dry commentary. Hopefully it will get all worked out soon and maybe people will actually begin to give the show a chance.
Hit the jump for details on this week’s episode of Top Gear USA.
