Top Gear-USA

I'll give credit where it's due. It is getting funnier with each passing week.

Agreed.

I was rooting for the old Ford...if he had been a little easier on the truck maybe he wouldn't have broken the U-joint.

I was both impressed and disappointed. Sure, it was absolutely hilarious IMO. They've started warming up to their own brand of shenanigans. However, a broken U joint? I'm a little surprised they didn't allow a roadside fix on that one. And the Dodge didn't seem to have a catastrophic failure, or at least a REALLY catastrophic one. I know, it's not TGUK, but at the same time, I was really hoping for a few more roadside fixes, instead of just giving up and hopping into the Toyota.

It's still the best US car show although it could use a little tweaking. I still think they need to can Adam, although at the end of the season I find the funny looking fat guy does have SOME redeeming value. I wouldn't hesitate to replace him either, but if only one guy goes then please dear God make it Adam!

I like the show, and I like the hosts. Call me a simpleton......

In reply to DeadSkunk: Agreed

i think Ruttlege's redneck heritage served him well in this episode, and Adam's lack of redneck knowledge made it more entertaining just like when he launched the Caddy on the motocross jump.. Tanner was just "blah" as usual, but they did make a lot of good gay jokes at his expense and he did pick the right truck for the job.

as for the broken U joint- when Hammond had a similar problem in the South America episode of TGUK- i think he grenaded the entire rear differential- they just took off the rear driveshaft and drove on as a front wheel drive. it would have been fun to see how much stuff an F250 would go thru with the front wheels doing all the work.

i did see the Stig in one shot of the Toyota that was following them, so that was cool..

What was really funny to me, before I figured out what the rules were ( as I was only paying half attention) was I thought to myself "What, no taco?"..... and then sure enough, the penalty truck was a Toyota. I figured they'd do something a little more offbeat like a built Samurai, but I gotta say, the little Toyota held itself admirably, as did Adams' "diesel" stepside. I was surprised to see Rut's truck last as long as it did, because of Dodges' wonderful rep with those transmissions.

laughed out loud a few times during this one, would have loved it even more if I hadn't been treating myself to top gear uk for the last two weeks at a rate of 5 episodes a day LOL

when they said they had to pick out some durable trucks for challenges in Alaska, i was hoping that at least one of them would get an old International Scout.. yeah, it's not a pickup- but they didn't really need pickups and the Scout was already a bear proof camping machine and a bullet proof offroad machine.

I do like that Tanner, despite his driving resume, has accepted his role as the butt of the jokes. He annoyed me to no end previous to this show, but seems to have really settled into a more comfortable host. I like Adam, but all the interviews should be done by Rutledge.

...and yeah, it is still the best US car show by the same distance it trails TGUK

True... but most US viewers would have been, "International Scout? WTF is that?"

Yeah... there were a lot of mechancial inaccuracies and over-sights... and heading out into the Alaskian back-country in a 4x4 truck without a good stock of spares (like u-joints) is not something any real off-roader would have done... but regardless, the show held up the tradition of TGUK by not letting pesty facts get in the way of a funny skit.

I dropped cable so I can't seem to watch it. History doesn't have more than one episode at a time on, and sometimes it's current, sometimes it's not.
You'd think that a channel trying to launch a sub-par show would at least have all episodes available so folks could give it a chance....

I wouldn't call it sub-par... above-par, IMHO, compared to other shows... it's jsut that the original sets the bar so high.

I'm liking it more and more. Rutledge is still a little too hokey at times.

Overall, the production looks good and the chemistry between the three is working....just needs more episodes.

The Alaska episode was the best so far. A few observations....those trucks had awfully nice wheel and tire pkgs for the price. Anyone notice the roll cages? OK, safety first, but no padding? How many times did Tanner whack his head on the back window? These guys were going way too fast for most of the terrain, but it's more fun and better TV. Ford shouldn't have been sidelined for a busted U-joint, but the Chevy won, so all is well. This episode was the best in following the Top Gear UK spirit. Good location, vehicular horseplay, and the hosts poking jokes at each other.

In reply to mndsm:

Well Rutledge did say it had 159k on the odo, so it's probably been through 1 or 2 transmissions.

Ian F wrote: the show held up the tradition of TGUK by not letting pesty facts get in the way of a funny skit.

Exactly. Like I said several episodes ago

JoeyM wrote it could have been faked. After all, TG is an entertainment franchise, and they have a long tradition of not letting the facts get in the way of a fun story. Examples: * pretending that James flew the caravan-balloon * pretending that the caravan-balloon wasn't authorized to enter airport airspace * faking an emergency fire * using editing to make it look like a different car won a race * propragating a false story because they didn't try to verify it * using kit car replicas instead of the real cars in their live show

Gearheadotaku wrote: Anyone notice the roll cages?....These guys were going way too fast for most of the terrain,

Yeah, we talked about that while watching last night.

Honestly, it was a good episode, if not the best of the season. I would have thought however, that they would have done anything to keep their vehicles running like on TGUK.

Sadly, I was rooting for "Chuck Norris", since I have a fond liking for that generation of Dodge Rams. I had no hope for the F-250 because of how old it was and I wasn't surprised when Adam snapped the u-joint. The Chevy really pulled through and I wasn't surprised because I've had friends with 25 y.o. Chevy 4x4s that are still running and beating up the trails.

I was also baffled how no one snapped an axle.

I was humming Truck Got Stuck through a lot of it.

Best so far by a long way, they seem to be coming together as a crew.

Watched episode 8 last week, and... that's it? The entire first season is 8 episodes?

I thought it was ten episodes