For years, BBC’s Top Gear has been one of the world’s most popular television series worldwide, appealing to a seemingly universal love for all things that go “vroom”. It’s so popular that it’s been adapted to run in different countries around the world including Russia, China, Australia, Turkey, Korea, and now the United States.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, the necessity of creating an American version is questionable because the original British version uses humor very much accessible to those in the US. So why did it happen? Why did they adapt The Office? Why did they adapt Skins? Why did they consider adapting Spaced?
For some reason networks believe Americans don’t get British humor, and so they alter themes and punchlines accordingly. The first season of Top Gear USA suffers from a lot of the problems you might expect: the trio of hosts don’t quite gel, the writing includes painfully bad jokes, and there’s a tone different from the UK version that just doesn’t have the same punch or intelligence. However, for now, we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that it’ll get better with time, because as is the first season shows promise amidst all the clutter.
Stepping in for James Mays, Jeremy Clarkson, and Richard Hammond are American comedian Adam Ferrara (Rescue Me), professional racing driver Tanner Foust, and racing analyst Rutledge Wood. With each episode they take on a challenge, typically pitting three cars against one another in a combination of resilience, speed, comfort, style, or whatever other criteria they see fit to add. In one episode they test for the best American truck and in another they race three different Lamborghini models testing to see which one really reaches the best top speed. Highlights from the first season include some over the top stunts, the most extreme being a game of cat and mouse between an assault helicopter and a Dodge Viper, which is more amusing than it is meaningful. Just like its UK counterpart, the Top Gear USA is at its best when it goes for a cross country adventure with ridiculous requirements built in. Unfortunately, Ferrara, Foust, and Wood are still learning the art of quick quips to add in the right amount of levity, but hopefully that’ll get better in the next few seasons.
The show has maintained some of the classic UK bits, albeit with a few slight name changes, including “Big Star in a Small Car (compared to the UK’s “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car”) and the weekly time effort where the Stig, the anonymous masked racer, takes a prime example of engineering and goes for a timed lap around the show’s standard track. The “Big Star in a Small Car” includes a guest who comes on answers a few questions about their love of cars or the first one they ever owned, and the first season boasts a list of stars including Buzz Aldrin, Tony Hawk, Michelle Rodriguez, Tim Allen (Home Improvement), Bret Michaels, Kid Rock, Dominic Monaghan (LOST), and Ty Burrell (Modern Family). Tim Allen definitely wins out as the most interesting of the lot if not just for his particular knowledge of cars that can actually rival the hosts’. A poor choice on the behalf of the US version is that they only have one of the hosts sit down with the guest instead of all three hosts.
The chemistry of Ferrara, Foust and Wood just hasn’t matured yet and it doesn’t help that the lack of cohesion is made all the more obvious by some poorly written comedy bits. When they’re standing in the middle of the hangar which acts as their set, with the audience standing around them, the long silences and tepid laughs following failed jokes serve to remind you how much work they need to equal the back and forth that Mays, Clarkson, and Hammond have achieved. We’ll give them time though, because both they and the show’s writers need time to get the formula right and there are just enough laughs to prove that the trio can work once they’re more comfortable with one another.
DVD Bonus Features
The set isn’t loaded on the extras side, but the webisodes and poolside chat with the hosts are enough to be amusing, though the commentaries need as much work as the show itself.
"Top Gear USA: The Complete First Season" is on sale July 19, 2011 and is not rated. Documentary, Sports. Starring Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust, Rutledge Wood.
