Top Gear in the US....

[HappyHammer]

Who watched Top Gear on SBS last night?

I was pi55ing myself especially when the rednecks cornered them at the gas station and the Cadillac wouldn't start. Great boys adventure trip.

Not sure where Clarkson got that cow he bought back on his roof....

And only in America could you be sued for mis-representation when trying to give a car away for free !!

HH.

[Big Shed]

Yes it was a very funny episode, although just a tad biased in what they showed.

Jeremy's observations on New Orleans were food for thought, although I don't know how representative that neighbourhood was of the rest of New Orleans.

Very funny show though, they do it well. Apart from the news and the cricket, this is now the only TV show I watch.

I wonder if Top Gear shows in the US?

[Honorary Bloke]

I wonder if Top Gear shows in the US?

It may do, but I'd never heard of it until I read it here. :)

[Big Shed]

HB, this is the show (http://www.topgear.com/) we are talking about, very popular in UK and Oz.

[HappyHammer]

Bob,

You should go to the BBC website and see if you can download it. It would be interesting to get your perspective on what they did.

HH.

[Sebastiaan56]

Its great fun that show. I loved their adventure to the North Pole. Last night was a laugh, a real lads trip. New Orleans is an absolute tragedy, so much destruction. And yeh, the lawyer, only in the US.


Hey Shed, my only other regular watch is Time Team, 6:00, Tuesdays on ABC. It blows me away that there is so much history just under the surface of England. We just dont get that kind of stuff here.

[pharmaboy2]

so many laughs, but then so much depression and seriousness to it. a first world country, with a a vast expanse of second and third world conditions and crime, where the inhabitants still think they live in the first world (you may have to read that slowly) ;)

Aussies can look back on cyclone tracy and be proud - a totally destroyed city had people starting to return 5 months later, but more to the point the debris was cleared and rebuilding started started quickly - in the US there seems to be 2 countries living side by side.

did anyone notice that the top gear boys seemed to make the decision that calling the police wasnt worthwhile? I suppose they were so shocked that what they thought were movie dramatisations played out for real, that the same movie dramatisations might play out had they involved the lcoal elected sheriff in proceedings!

on a brighter note - ROTFLMAO at the cow! jeremy can be counted on to do the most insane things - he'd have needed 5 blokes to get that cow on the roof though - methinks there was some production effort there to locate said cow - all in the name of comedy i suppose! ;D

[AlexS]

It's one of the best shows around, even though I disagree with some of his revhead ideas.

I was amazed at the reaction to their 'car decorations'. In Australia, the locals would have dumped a heap of merde on them, but it would have all been in fun (at least for the locals). The woman & the 'boys' all went berserk. She actually seemed proud that they were in a 'hick town'.

I'd like to hear HBs take on it. Is this normal???

[HappyHammer]

Bob,

Background is they bought three cars for under $1,000 and then as a challenge had to decorate each others cars in an attempt to get each other shot or arrested as they drove across the southern end of Alabama.

slogans painted on each others cars included;

Hilary Clinton for President
Country & Western is Rubbish
Nascar Sucks
Man Love Rules OK (painted in pink on a white pickup truck)They got some funny looks on the freeway but when they pulled into a small town to get some fuel the owner of the gas station (woman) called in the boys to sort them out. The "boys" arrived in the back of a pickup and the camera crew were subsequently pelted with stones and had to make good thier escape.

HH.

[Big Shed]

I usually download the latest episode a few days after it screens in the UK from the Mininova (http://www.mininova.org/search/?search=top+gear) website, using something like BitLord (http://www.bitlord.com/)

[Sir Stinkalot]

Very funny show last night .....

You have to take it with a grain of salt ..... obviously a lot is scripted however there is nothing wrong with that as long as its funny. Very similar concept to the Porsche challenge they did in the UK.

I thought that the road kill challenge was a bit off ..... hard to believe that they are going to eat road kill when the convoy contains the three boys, a couple of cars for filming (camera work) and a truck. I would question if they even slept in the tent.

The funniest part was when they kept running into James car every opportunity that they got .....

[Harry72]

Pity the episode is 2yrs old!

[Honorary Bloke]

A few months ago, I did watch one episode of this show from BBC--when they went caravaning and burned their tent down. Can't seem to locate any vid so far about the New Orleans trip, although I gather it was in Series 9, a year or two ago.

Thought one one I did see was pretty funny. :D

[Vernonv]

HB, it's series 9 episode 3. Look for 09x03.

[jerryc]

Sir Stinkalot,
While I agree a great a deal of Top Gear is scripted, and very well done, the hick town episode was a little different. If those chappies were acting then they were the finest actors I've seen. That was real FEAR on their faces and REAL rocks were being thrown. Note how quickly the daubs were removed.
My wife ran up against the southern red neck when on a business trip to America. She was in a taxi with two other women, one American, discussing the medical conference they had just attended. For some reason, the driver thought they were talking about "niggas" and launched into what my wife described as a vicious tirade against the the women. My wife is not easily frightened but she found the foul mouthed outburst quite threatening. The women stopped the cab immediately and got out, concerned for their own safety.

Jerry

Everyone is entitled to my opinion

[rgum]

I loved this episode last night. Very funny. I've watched this show a few times. Please tell me. What is this show meant to be about.? Do they race across a country for money? Do they challenge each other or something? What's the actual point or subject?

What am I missing ?

I like this show!!!!.

Thanks....Now you can call me names ha he. :C

[Gingermick]

It's a show about cars:oo:. Mostly new cars and fast cars. :cool:

[finchy]

Who said Top Gear Challenges have to have a purpose :)

Just an FYI - A franchise for a local production of Top Gear was sold late last year - I don't know how well it will work here though - particularly since we don't have easy access to the European manufacturers - but it will be interesting to see how it goes (providing they are selective about who they get to host it)

And wait till you see what they do to a "Reliant Robin" next week

[Toyboy]

A friend of mine (we are mad Ulysses members), went to the States 2 years ago and met up with an ex-pat friend of ours from Florida. A group of 5 blokes decided to ride through the 'Deep South'. This was his fourth trip, but his first ride through the south.
According to my mate who is 61 years of age and a very quiet bloke, he will NEVER visit the USA ever again.
Whilst he and the others were not involved in any incidents, they did witness many events that he stated frightened the living daylights out of them. I won't even attempt to relate all of the incidents he mentioned, but suffice to say, that the episode of Topgear the other night, according to my mate, was bloody tame.
He reckons that all through the south, it is pretty much the same. If a black person was the target of an incident by a bunch of redneck whites, the police were even worse. He did say that very few blacks were around anyway, but he witnessed 2 disturbing scenes. When he another Aussie spoke to the police to tell them what really happened, they were threatened with arrest with the first incident, so they walked away from the second one for fear of causing more grief for the victims and themselves. The ex-pat put them straight also.
They also witnessed an incident where a bloke had his car trashed because a bunch of 'hicks' believed he was a homosexual. The guy bolted for his life, abandoning his car. Apparently he wasn't even a local. My mate reckons he is probably still running today.
My mate's advice to me?
Stay home. He's swears he'll never go back again.