Announced last year, there’s a new trio in control of Top Gear USA and it’ll be a return to the tried and tested format of the UK show from next week.
TOP GEAR USA WAS THE QUIET achiever of the Top Gear TV universe. After the horrific Australian version was, thankfully, consigned to the bin after a failed reboot, the US version went off in its own direction, catering to what its audience wanted to see. And that was, car customization, and less waxing lyrical about POOOOWWEEERRR.
Indeed, studio chats, car reviews and power laps were discarded after three seasons, with the show dedicated to car build-ups and stunts. But, for all the lovers of the format, the knockers took to the Internet to lament that it ‘wasn’t like the original’, but that was the point. The producers wanted it to be different.
Anyway, the old hosts have been binned and Top Gear USA is back on TV next week. What can we expect, well, according to the BBC, this:
“Hollywood actor William Fichtner (The Dark Knight, Entourage), Top Fuel drag racing triple champion Antron Brown, and British motoring journalist Tom ‘Wookie’ Ford join forces to launch Top Gear America. Embarking on fun and action-packed adventures across the US, they review exclusive, state-of-the-art vehicles such as the Honda/Acura NSX, the Lamborghini Huracán Spyder, the Maserati Levante and the Audi R8 and put the cars of America’s culture-defining past like the Mustang and the Cadillac through their paces. Celebrity guests, including rapper Xzibit, Aaron Carter and Hayley Joel Osment, take up the challenge to try and top the lap time leader board with a spin round the exciting new Top Gear America track – Speed Vegas”.
Now, we’ve all seen what adding a Hollywood actor to the cast of TG can be like… and while Antron Brown can drive very fast in a straight line… And then there’s Tom Ford. He’s a genius motoring writer and was pretty good on Fifth Gear in the UK. The show will return to the format set by TG in the UK, but whether it’ll work, I’m not sure.
If you’ve got Foxtel, Top Gear America will air Mondays at 9.40pm from February 5 on BBC Knowledge.
