In any country, Top Gear is fun. That's one thing this US version of the now-infamous UK hit gets right. Yet I wouldn't blame you if you came away from tonight's series premiere with a sense of deja vu.
As I said in my feature article last week, History found a solid trio of guys for the hosting duties. They're no Clarkson, Hammond, and May, but they're better than I think Jay Leno or Adam Carolla would have been. A name like Leno would have unintentionally drawn more attention to him and away from the show itself. Ferrara, Foust and Wood are engaging without taking the focus away from the content. They're the kind of guys I could imagine having a cup of coffee with. They don't yet have their chemistry working, and there are times when their banter seems forced for banter's sake, but I think they're a good team that will become better. I at least give Tanner points for using "bucolic" in a sentence. I'm not sure if most of the American public remembers that is a word.
The good news is that Adam, Tanner and Rutledge are working with a vehicle that deeply respects its UK predecessor. Unfortunately, it goes so far in doing so that it slides too far, passing spinoff and verging on remake. The set looks very much like the UK series, down to some of the same furniture. They have their own Stig. The titular attraction is a matchup between a Dodge Viper and a Cobra helicopter. The UK Top Gear already tackled that when they matched a Lotus Exige against an Apache gunship. You can argue that the UK edition's challenge is a few years old and the US audience might not remember it (it aired in May of 2004), but this isn't Law & Order: UK. We've seen the challenge before, and the US version doesn't enhance it. It was more fun when Jeremy Clarkson was having another trademark meltdown, although God bless him, Rutledge certainly does panic.
That's the fundamental problem I have with the US incarnation of Top Gear. I'd like to see it be unique, not recycle what the UK version has already done. At the very least, I want to see something in the recycled challenges that makes them worth rewatching. There's a lot of opportunity here. Even in the first episode, the three hosts show that they have a penchant for mischief and a willingness to try anything once, so why not let them? Let's blow up some motorhomes. Set things on fire. If the UK version can get away with things like that and still fit in regular content, there's no reason that the US version can't do the same. Unless - and I hope this isn't the case - History is trying to produce a more traditional, more "American" version. That's not Top Gear. Top Gear is about cars, yes, but it's also about why we love them and how much mayhem they can cause. If they really want to make a true Top Gear, make it less about looking the same, and keep it true to the adventurous spirit of the original.
Brittany Frederick
DigitalAirwaves.net
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