"Top Gear" TV show

[english si]

I think that, to some extent, there's a cultural thing - the self-depriciating humour, the public school (totally the opposite meaning over here) type pranking relationship, etc.

Agreed.  But the humor is part of what makes the BBC's Top Gear fun.

That was my point - the US guys can't replicate what's good about the UK version - not least as 'humor' is not 'humour'.

Persons from the United States don't usually do a good job of replicating humor from Britain, even though it's fun when the Britis do it on a British show.

Well, you can't spell humour for a start

So getting back to your original comments above, I think the U.S. Top Gear needs to be a series aimed at a North American audience, and not try to emulate what has aired on the BBC. 

yes and no - my point wasn't that clear, but it was basically "the US won't have the je ne suis quoi (spell froggish right this time), but part of the US Top Gear problem is they are trying to make something else, not using different ingredients to make the same thing."

Now a US audience might want an entertaining car show, but Top Gear's success has come from being a car-based entertainment show. Absolutely the US version shouldn't be trying to ape the British show, but take what's good and aim for that with what they have got, rather than take a radically different tack.

Take my example of The Office - the first series, especially the pilot, was trying to be identical in every way except based in Scranton, rather than Slough. (TV Tropes describes the pilot as "simply the British pilot with the word "jelly" changed to "jell-o" and with 8 minutes and all the funny cut out"). However it got better - it changed from the original's awkwardness-based comedy to a more Carellian absurd-based comedy. It was still a mockumentary about working for a paper company in an ugly place beginning-with-S, with exactly the same format (other than the need for ad-breaks and the American length seasons after season 1) - it was still the same concept, just with a different set of personalities. And it perhaps outshined it's predecessor in terms of being funny (though some of that is that you get to know the characters well - it's not 7 hours and your done, but 18 hour seasons - which is part of UK Top Gear).

What I saw of the US Top Gear (not much as I fell asleep out of boredom and it airing late at night) was that it was an entertaining car show, rather than a car-based entertainment show. That might work in America, but it's not learning from the success of the UK version.

My wife insists I am James May and we do have quite a bit in common, personality-wise.

Do try and watch other stuff he's done.

It's quite interesting to see what else they do - Clarkson does DVDs of crashes, high speed stuff and all that, Hammond does a kid's science-based game show, used to do a science-based entertainment show 'Brainiac' (which is good) and presents 'Total Wipeout', May has some factual-based programmes that are rather good. "Things you need to know" is a bit lame, but "Man Lab" and "Toy Stories" are good. And the 'Oz and James' programmes (about alcoholic beverages, mostly wine, where May is the novice with no clue) are also good.

Toy Stories is May trying to get kids (and adults) to use the decent, but simple, toys of his youth to build stuff - a Plasticine garden, a full-size model Spitfire, a Meccano footbridge, a Lego house (where James stay's the night), model trains on 10 miles of disused railway and a toy car racetrack that rebuilds an old real car racetrack. Man Lab is May 'teaching' skills that men "need to know" - disarming a WW2 bomb, building manly household things (worktop, bar, pool table, home cinema), making a snack, wooing a lady, duelling with sabres and pistols, escaping from prison, playing in a rock band, felling and decorating the Christmas tree, etc... Both fall into the American documentary style of repeating/promo upcoming stuff every ten minutes, though Man Lab is more an entertainment programme like Top Gear (you will learn stuff, but the aim is that we act a bit stupid and the learning stuff is incidental), though without Jezza and the Hamster it's a bit more serious, obviously.

[6a]

Do try and watch other stuff he's done.

It's quite interesting to see what else they do - Clarkson does DVDs of crashes, high speed stuff and all that, Hammond does a kid's science-based game show, used to do a science-based entertainment show 'Brainiac' (which is good) and presents 'Total Wipeout', May has some factual-based programmes that are rather good. "Things you need to know" is a bit lame, but "Man Lab" and "Toy Stories" are good. And the 'Oz and James' programmes (about alcoholic beverages, mostly wine, where May is the novice with no clue) are also good.

Toy Stories is May trying to get kids (and adults) to use the decent, but simple, toys of his youth to build stuff - a Plasticine garden, a full-size model Spitfire, a Meccano footbridge, a Lego house (where James stay's the night), model trains on 10 miles of disused railway and a toy car racetrack that rebuilds an old real car racetrack. Man Lab is May 'teaching' skills that men "need to know" - disarming a WW2 bomb, building manly household things (worktop, bar, pool table, home cinema), making a snack, wooing a lady, duelling with sabres and pistols, escaping from prison, playing in a rock band, felling and decorating the Christmas tree, etc... Both fall into the American documentary style of repeating/promo upcoming stuff every ten minutes, though Man Lab is more an entertainment programme like Top Gear (you will learn stuff, but the aim is that we act a bit stupid and the learning stuff is incidental), though without Jezza and the Hamster it's a bit more serious, obviously.

As soon as I heard of Man Lab it sounded like something I would enjoy but I don't think it's airing here just yet.  I'd also heard of the infamous Lego house but cannot find that either.  I may go poking about for some DVD's one of these days.

As for how things translate to an American audience, my favo(u)rite example is March of the Penguins.  The American DVD was narrated by Sigourney Weaver, presumably because we need it to sound pleasing or some shit.  I hunted until I found the proper Attenborough version; no one else on Earth should be doing nature shows for crying out loud.

[Brandon]

Do try and watch other stuff he's done.

It's quite interesting to see what else they do - Clarkson does DVDs of crashes, high speed stuff and all that, Hammond does a kid's science-based game show, used to do a science-based entertainment show 'Brainiac' (which is good) and presents 'Total Wipeout', May has some factual-based programmes that are rather good. "Things you need to know" is a bit lame, but "Man Lab" and "Toy Stories" are good. And the 'Oz and James' programmes (about alcoholic beverages, mostly wine, where May is the novice with no clue) are also good.

Toy Stories is May trying to get kids (and adults) to use the decent, but simple, toys of his youth to build stuff - a Plasticine garden, a full-size model Spitfire, a Meccano footbridge, a Lego house (where James stay's the night), model trains on 10 miles of disused railway and a toy car racetrack that rebuilds an old real car racetrack. Man Lab is May 'teaching' skills that men "need to know" - disarming a WW2 bomb, building manly household things (worktop, bar, pool table, home cinema), making a snack, wooing a lady, duelling with sabres and pistols, escaping from prison, playing in a rock band, felling and decorating the Christmas tree, etc... Both fall into the American documentary style of repeating/promo upcoming stuff every ten minutes, though Man Lab is more an entertainment programme like Top Gear (you will learn stuff, but the aim is that we act a bit stupid and the learning stuff is incidental), though without Jezza and the Hamster it's a bit more serious, obviously.

As soon as I heard of Man Lab it sounded like something I would enjoy but I don't think it's airing here just yet.  I'd also heard of the infamous Lego house but cannot find that either.  I may go poking about for some DVD's one of these days.

As for how things translate to an American audience, my favo(u)rite example is March of the Penguins.  The American DVD was narrated by Sigourney Weaver, presumably because we need it to sound pleasing or some shit.  I hunted until I found the proper Attenborough version; no one else on Earth should be doing nature shows for crying out loud.

You must be thinking of "Planet Earth".  Morgan Freeman narrated "March of the Penguins".

[6a]

Son of a bitch...you're right.  But my Attenborough claim still stands.

[cpzilliacus]

Well, you can't spell humour for a start

I think we are in agreement regarding humor and humour and TV programs and TV programmes.

I can spell in British English, but please don't ask me to drive on the wrong side of the road. 

[Brandon]

Well, you can't spell humour for a start

I think we are in agreement regarding humor and humour and TV programs and TV programmes.

I can spell in British English, but please don't ask me to drive on the wrong side of the road. 

Or shift with the sinister hand.