Apparently NBC has bought the rights to do a Top Gear America hosted by Adam Corolla, Tanner Foust, and Eric Strommer.
Anyone else think this is the worst idea in the world?
NBC initially approached Leno to host it...
"NBC has officially purchased the rights to produce an American version of Top Gear, and seeing as it has one of this country's biggest gear heads on its payroll, it's a no-brainer that they would at least ask Jay Leno to host. In his most recent editorial for The Sunday Times, Leno recounts being asked by a corporate suit with practically no clue about of the hit British show to host the American version. It goes something like this. "Well, the network has bought the TV show... um... High Gear? Top Gear? Top Gear! Top Gear, yes. We know you like to build cars." Sigh...
Thankfully Leno turned down the offer, not because he's unworthy, but rather because he knows he couldn't do the show justice and because the idea of an American Top Gear is doomed from the start. Being part of the BBC, the original version is not reliant on advertising to stay on the air, so talking smack about a particular automaker and its wares is no biggie. As Leno notes, things work differently at NBC and any episode in which a sponsor gets lambasted would immediately be followed by what The Tonight Show host calls, "the meeting". And then, bye bye sponsors and bye bye show."
The new episodes should be up on youtube in chunks pretty soon. If you don't mind looking at a small video, you can head over to
http://www.erwindesign.com/forums/index.php and sign up for the forums and watch all of the last 3 or 4 seasons including the polar special and some other ones.
