I have to admit I was skeptical they could pull it off, but after attending the taping of the Top Gear pilot I have to say I'm a believer. First, the set was perfect, walking into the Top Gear hanger created a wave of familiarity, but most importantly was the welcome atmosphere from the producers and talent. Andy Williams gave a great plug to the "
Final Gear Mafia" and Adam Corolla commented "
Now I'm sure you all can't wait to get home and talk about how terrible the show is, but we've locked the door and barricaded you in, so too bad!" All good joking aside, the crew made it clear they understand how important British Top Gear is and how big the task they have ahead of them.
To kick things off, taping started with "a celebrity in a reasonably priced car", and no less than
David Hasselhoff was the first to take the Kia Rio around the new Top Gear track. Adam didn't cut The Hoff much slack, and the segment was pretty funny. The rest of the show followed the traditional Top Gear formula, from a cheap car contest to an exotic car test. Is this forumla good enough to get the series picked up? I think so, it's time to ditch "Dancing with a CSI Idol" and start making some great TV, and Top Gear is the perfect thing to break the broadcast malaise we have today.
Congrats to the American Top Gear crew, and congrats to the
Final Gear community for keeping them honest. If the producers continue to respect and listen to the
feedback of your forum, I know this show will see nothing but success.
Labels: hoff, Hollywood, Top Gear