'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
The cancelled Top Gear USA... who loves ya baby?
by Danny Gallagher, posted Jan 6th 2009 2:09PM
The announcement of the death of the remake of one of the world's most beloved car shows, Top Gear, was followed with an obvious reaction. Practically everyone who had heard of the original BBC show celebrated its passing with the same fervor as the Ewoks when the Death Star exploded. It's a natural reaction. It's hard not to assume that once we Americans get our grubby remaking mitts on something, we're bound to mess with it too much and screw it up. We've done it too many times to count. The last three Fawlty Towers remakes were the combined equivalent of the sinking of the Lusitania, only with a lower body count.
But just like anything in life, there were pluses and minuses to us Yanks getting our own Top Gear. Now that NBC has ensured that we won't get one this season, here are the lovers and haters of what could have been the second greatest car show that may never be.
Loves Ya: NBC - The network may have had enough confidence to commission a pilot or two, but pulling the plug so close to the finish line shows they worried the production costs would outweigh the response. An American version of the show seemed doomed to succeed from the start because its very nature goes against the grain of network television. It's got to be brutally honest and genuine or it won't work, and there isn't much room in primetime for brutally honest television. Besides, what would happen if NBC helped Americans realize that the Ford Lightning is just a huge piece of plastic crap? Well...
Loves Ya: The automakers - Let's be honest, America doesn't create that great of a car. So how can a show that prides itself on its brutal honesty be that way when it's wedged in between commercials for the Pontiac Solstice or the Hummer H3? Plus, the auto industry is more strapped for cash than a college student whose daily diet depends on whether or not he has running water that week. It would be hard to convince a car company to keep what little ads they are running on your network when one of your shows is ripping their latest gas guzzler to tiny, confetti shreds.
Hates Ya: American Top Gear groupies - Admit it, as much as you thought it was a bad idea to remake it, part of you was excited to watch it. Top Gear has been remade and reproduced around the world and just about all of them have been a success. The same potential for success still thrives in the New World if it's done right. America, the nation that brought you the Thunderbird, the Mustang and the classic 1969 Dodge Charger (without which The Dukes of Hazzard would have been completely unwatchable), deserves a version of Top Gear to call their own.
Hates Ya: Adam Carolla - Some say his eyebrows can change the direction of the tides, and that his role on Buzz Lightyear: Star Command as Commander Nebula convinced NASA to give the Mars colonization project another go. All we know is that the former Man Show and Loveline host has not had the easiest transition from cable to network television the way his buddy Jimmy Kimmel has. Sure he's got his nationally syndicated radio show to put some heavy coin in the bank, but his time in the spotlight has dwindled somewhat since he left Comedy Central to pursue other interests. This show would have been a perfect way to get him that spotlight he deserves because he's a gearhead at heart, a brutally honest opinion churner and damn funny. His all denim wardrobe alone makes him a perfect American version of Jeremy Clarkson.
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