Monday, August 22, 2011

Top Gear USA finally has a flash of genius

I couldn't believe it. Last night, for the first time in a season and a half, Top Gear USA finally got a segment right. They ditched the redneck and the unfunny comedian and let Tanner Foust review the Porsche GT2 RS. That in itself wasn't the redeeming feature. The redeeming feature was that they had the police shut down central LA in the middle of the night so he could race it around the streets. The camerawork was great, the music was great, the post production was great, and they did a full on Fast & Furious light-to-light drag race with a pair of wonderfully turned out American muscle cars; a 500hp '69 Chevy Nova and a Dodge Viper SRT10. The audio in that 15 seconds was worth the entire train wreck of a show to date. The rest of the show was the usual steaming pile, but when they let the actual driver (and the only one who can talk to camera properly) do a segment on his own, they actually figured it out. There's a tiny glimmer of hope.

6 comments:

Ars.Gladius said...

Better, but still lifeless. It just doesn't have the energy or the interest of the British version.

Paul said...

I find it interesting that you have been bagging the show almost from the first episode yet you still watch it ;-)

Chris said...

I record every show and skip-watch it in case they're "getting it". I saw the nighttime stuff of the Porsche in fast-forward and thought "wait a second..."
Plus by recording every show, I can continue to bag on it :-D

JamesG418 said...

what is the song playing in the background when he is driving through the tunnel, its an awesome song but i cannot find it anywhere.... even shazam doesnt pick it up.

Chris said...

Not sure. The finalgear.com "what's that song" entry for this week only has a placeholder right now. No songs listed yet.

Mystery Girl said...

Yes it was a flash of genius but then I starting watching an episode of UK Top Gear and within seconds I was giggling at Hammond's antics in the 'marauder'. Top Gear US needs to 'get it' a lot more - hmmm for an entire show maybe. They are so not there yet - and they are still copying TG UK with the driving into the fat bloke in the check shirt (if he's supposed to be James May - the real one should sue) every chance they get. Lame.