Mildred ([info]_yungfuktoi_) wrote,
@ 2008-03-17 04:08:00
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Top Gear goes to America
This is well worth your time to watch: absolutely hilarious and scary enough to make me want to jump on the first flight home to London. I am not actually joking.

Dear fucking god.

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[info]anachronaut
2008-03-17 05:20 am UTC (link)
That one is one of the best episodes. Next to the one where they try to launch a car into space and when they turn a pickup truck into an aquatic vehicle and drove it to France across the channel.

But seriously we know America is like that... that's why we stay away from the deep south.

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-17 06:21 am UTC (link)
We wear our metropolitan area like some sort of cape of invincibility. I forget where I am half the time, and these people seem like their on an entirely different planet, truth be told.

Love the caravaning episode, too. These guys are so entertaining that I almost care about cars.

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[info]anachronaut
2008-03-17 06:33 am UTC (link)
I care about cars watching that show in that they could manage to set fire or cause to explode almost anything.

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-17 06:37 am UTC (link)
How fucking true is that?
They're also totally honest. They fuck up shit all the time even though they're at the top of their game, but their misadventures pretty much sum up the entire programme. Perhaps that's why non-gearheads can enjoy it, even though much of the content is over our heads.

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[info]anachronaut
2008-03-17 06:53 am UTC (link)
I'm a little afraid, if they're the guys who are at the top of their game... their idea of making a vehicle buoyant was to fill the engine with foam... which then caught fire as they were trying to drive it.

There was a US show where a group of guys did similar things with cars, and managed to be successful... but it was nowhere near as amusing, because those guys did things like 'planning'.

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-18 03:06 am UTC (link)
I think the show is a hit largely for its lack of bravado, commonplace when you're dealing in the realm of tv shows based on technical skills. They screw stuff up all the time, but they have this intense love for what they do and the skill to substantiate a television programme.
Ultimately, you never get the feeling that they take themselves too seriously.

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[info]wrayb
2008-03-17 05:34 am UTC (link)
eh gawwd.

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-17 06:23 am UTC (link)
It'll all rather a bit like that.

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[info]mb2u
2008-03-17 07:01 am UTC (link)
I have very mixed feelings about that episode. You know Jeremy Clarkson HATES America almost as much as he hates France, so his attitude throughout the episode is understandable. That the producers chose to create "challenges" guaranteed to offend somebody was stupid. Yes, Alabama is full of throwbacks, but you don't wave raw meat in front of a pit bull and not expect to have all your fingers when it's done...

When they arrived in New Orleans, driving in from the east through some of the worst-damaged parts of the city-which are still damaged after all this time-and seeing their reactions? "How can people sleep?" was a very appropriate reaction. I wonder how some people CAN sleep...

Not all of the deep south is a set for Deliverance.

And I still love Top Gear. The show does car porn better than anyone. The guys are a blast to watch. The Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car is fun to watch. And where do you get to see a Peel driving through the BBC studios?

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-18 03:13 am UTC (link)
I echo your sentiment that they assumed a risk, because they didn't take the threat very seriously. I'm not sure that even the producers knew, to be honest. Until you've actually been to rural, southern America it's difficult to gauge how they would react to irony. One would presume 'not well', but the killing references were clearly made in jest, and the locals only served to reinforce the statement the offenders were making, so I can forgive them.

The New Orleans bit was pretty shocking, and totally embarrassing. In a way, it was a perfect ending to what started as a fun idea and turned into, with every mile, a scathing commentary on the state of this country.

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[info]mb2u
2008-03-18 12:35 pm UTC (link)
The New Orleans bit was pretty shocking, and totally embarrassing. In a way, it was a perfect ending to what started as a fun idea and turned into, with every mile, a scathing commentary on the state of this country.


If you drove the same route into New Orleans today, you'd probably see very little progress, thanks to an inept city government, a failing state government and an indifferent federal government. Most of the progress that has been made is courtesy of residents of the area, individuals and NGOs who invest time, money and labor.

New Orleans is an example of how criminally inept the Bush Administration has made our government. Every American ought to go to New Orleans East, the Lower Ninth Ward, Lakeshore, the 17th Street Canal, and then tell me they think the present government works...

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[info]hasimir
2008-03-17 08:31 am UTC (link)
I saw that episode a few weeks ago. The roadkill was a bit special and the attempts to get each other killed was even more so, but the car shopping was funny and breaking before the alligators reminded me of the opening to The Muppet Movie.

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-18 03:15 am UTC (link)
Yeah, they took the whole driving-into-a-pond-of-alligators a fair bit better than I would have. And his mates just standing there laughing? Priceless.

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[info]nic
2008-03-17 10:20 am UTC (link)
For a moment there I thought you meant that the BBC had sold off the rights and there was an American version of Top Gear! I was just waiting to see some brash American car guy trying to pull Clarkson-style metaphors out of his hat. I'm almost disappointed... :)

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[info]rxgreene
2008-03-17 02:08 pm UTC (link)
A few months back they were casting for an American version of Top Gear, they are going to shoot it out in LA.

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[info]nic
2008-03-17 02:40 pm UTC (link)
Now I can't wait :)

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-18 03:16 am UTC (link)
I'll give it a chance...I hope they don't get a bunch of smug meat-heads to host it, the appeal of this show is its playfulness.

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-18 03:17 am UTC (link)
Someone should totally draft a coffee table book of his quotes.

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[info]mb2u
2008-03-18 12:45 pm UTC (link)
They are trying to do an American version of Top Gear. Originally, they wanted Clarkson to host a show here, but he didn't want to do the traveling. I know NBC is working with the BBC, and supposedly Adam Carola is going to be a host.

Personally, I don't see it working. What will happen the first time they want to call a car crap and it's made by an advertiser?

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[info]_deadlydoll
2008-03-17 02:57 pm UTC (link)
This is one of my learning English shows. When I saw this on t.v. I wanted to leave America too. =(

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-18 03:17 am UTC (link)
Really? I'll bet you have a very interesting accent :)

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[info]_deadlydoll
2008-03-18 02:13 pm UTC (link)
I don't know about interesting!

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[info]hellopebbles
2008-03-17 04:30 pm UTC (link)
best.episode.ever.

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[info]_yungfuktoi_
2008-03-18 03:19 am UTC (link)
Have a watch of the caravaning episode:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9024772146433653493&q=top+gear+caravan+duration%3Amedium&total=22&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6

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Oh my cock!
[info]wrong_monkey
2008-03-20 02:45 pm UTC (link)
Now that I'm back from Guy's and St. Thomas's. With fresh stitches from a near hour long
laugh-a-thon. I must thank you for sharing and commiserate you on the land of you fathers.

I, like nic, thought for a moment the BBC had sold off the rights but feared some brash, irony free, lard arsed 'auto mobile' septic tank sweating cheez and murdering the show.
I fear the smug meat-heads too. I hope they get *The Shatner and **Rollins!

Innabit love

X



* Most disappointed to hear he won't be in Star Trek XI
** For President... OF EARTH!

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