slngsht Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 The Hollywood Reporter The popular BBC car show Top Gear is revving up a U.S. edition. NBC has ordered a pilot for Gear, to be produced by BBC Worldwide Prods. Like the original, it will be a mix of cars, humor and celebrities. Casting is under way for hosts of Gear, which will be announced at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The pilot will be filmed at a secret location around Los Angeles equipped with a race track and hangar where the show will be filmed in front of a audience. "It's a show with a very edgy point of view," BBC Worldwide Prods. topper Paul Telegdy said. "It's a celebration of car ownership but also a celebration of attitude and anti-establishment in every sense of the word." NBC reality chief Craig Plestis said he is a longtime fan of Top Gear. "It all comes down to subject matter -- it's a cool show about cars," he said. "It's very compelling for us because we have a great platform and space on the network to have such a show." Plestis said the network already is getting numerous inquiries from car companies that had heard rumblings about NBC doing an U.S. version of Top Gear and want to participate. "This is a favorite of all automobile companies as it shows their cars in such a great light," he said. Top Gear, which airs on BBC 2, originally launched in 1977 but has gained wider popularity since its relaunch in 2002. Among Gear's popular segments that will be replicated in the U.S. are races where the hosts have to reach a destination using different modes of transportation, road tests, challenges like converting and refurbishing existing cars into anything from a stretch limo to an amphibian and celebrities racing a midsize car. (American Idol's Simon Cowell holds the record for fastest lap time with a Chevrolet Lacetti.) The U.K. show is hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May and also features the Stig, a masked test driver. The U.S. version also will feature a quartet of presenters, including a secret test driver. BBC Worldwide originally mulled doing an American version with the original British hosts, but the idea fell through in the summer, mostly over Clarkson's unwillingness to spend extended periods of time away from his family as well as the show's growing ratings success in Britain. In September 2006, Hammond was seriously injured while taping a test run with a jet-propelled drag-racing car. The episode featuring footage of the crash opened the show's highest-rated season to date, with the season finale drawing BBC 2's biggest ratings in a decade. Australian Broadcaster SBS recently bought the rights to produce a local version of Top Gear. In addition to the show, the British Gear franchise includes a popular companion car-themed Web site as well as Top Gear magazine. BBC Worldwide Prods., the company behind ABC's Dancing With the Stars, recently produced the singing competition Clash of the Choirs for NBC. Anyone wanna see Jay Leno and Tim Alan on a show like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locost7018 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Boy that would be a pair to draw to. But I doubt they could afford both, Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birkin42 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Picking the right hosts is going to be critical if the show is going to capture the magic of the BBC version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevet Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Interestingly (or not), Top Gear started out as a rather forensic look at the car business - fronted by a guy called William Woollard, if I remember rightly. It would look seriously boring now, but at the time it was the only car show on TV so had a pretty loyal audience - me included. It will be interesting to see if the US version is as politically incorrect as the UK original because that, along with the choice of presenters obviously, accounts for much of it's current popularity in the UK. The core audience used to be old farts like me - it's much younger now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparecr Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I can't see a US version of the show making it. Part of the appeal is it is one of the highest rated shows in the UK so they seem to get away with anything, never would fly here. That and there is no way NBC would risk loosing a sponser if the host were to be as honest as they can be on Top Gear. Just think one of the US hosts point out how bad a -insert car here- is and picks it apart, if it happens to many times sponsers will pull out and manufactures will stop providing cars. I hope it works but I would bet it won't make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 someone elsewhere pointed out exactly that. since the Beeb runs commercial free, it did not have to worry about honkiong off sponsors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southwind25 Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 I would only hope..it wouldnt turn into another venue for NASCAR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Yeah, I saw where they were pretty unmerciful on the ford mustang...... can't see that happening here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted January 18, 2008 Author Share Posted January 18, 2008 Yeah, I saw where they were pretty unmerciful on the ford mustang...... can't see that happening here. Mustangs? That's nothing compared to what Clarkson says everytime he sees a vette. Still like his show though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Yeah .. for the above reasons I don't see it happening in the USA .. Imagine the whole state of Michigan boycotting the show for neg reviews of Detroit's cars. Then imagine what politicians would say, "I don't care what Top Gear says .. America still makes the best cars in the world." Top Gear will remain a UK phenomenon. I would only hope..it wouldnt turn into another venue for NASCAR. Ugh! Redneck Top Gear! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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