"Top Gear" (1978)TV series 1978-????

Director:

Chris Donovan

Seasons:

unknown

Release Date:

11 July 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy | Reality-TV

Plot:

Jeremy, Richard and James talk about everything car-related. From new cars to how they're fuelled, this show has it all.

Plot Keywords:

Motor | Automobile | Non Fiction

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Jeremy Clarkson	...	Himself - Presenter / ... (312 episodes, 1988-2008)
Tiff Needell	...	Himself - Presenter (236 episodes, 1987-2001)
Quentin Willson	...	Himself - Presenter (190 episodes, 1991-2000)
Chris Goffey	...	Himself - Presenter (179 episodes, 1981-1997)
William Woollard	...	Himself - Presenter / ... (174 episodes, 1981-1999)
Tony Mason	...	Himself - Reporter / ... (128 episodes, 1986-2000)

Also Known As:

Top Gear Xtra (UK)

Runtime:

30 min (1978-2001) | 60 min (2002-)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Australia:PG

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

For the first two seasons, The Stig was Perry McCarthy, a former Formula One driver as well as a test driver for three F1 teams. A new Stig took over from McCarthy after the original Stig's "demise" at the beginning of Season 3. On the 18 March 2006 the former Stig, Perry McCarthy, revealed that currently there is no one single test driver, but multiple test drivers who masquerade as the Stig; he said this when he appeared at a Palmer Sport activity day in Bedfordshire, UK. Rumours have it that one of the new Stigs is Damon Hill and occasionally Colin McRae. And in January 2006, the Daily Express claimed that the identity of The Stig is former Formula 1 driver Julian Bailey.

Quotes:

Jeremy Clarkson: [on the Corvette Z06] ... as something to live with every day, I'd rather have bird flu.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Have I Got News for You: (#32.4)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Supermoves

Finally Top Gear has come to America....or has it?

The Discovery Channel now has Tog Gear on. When I first found out, I was very excited, until I actually saw an episode. Instead of what they get in the UK, we get identical footage of the tests, but they decided to re-shoot the commentary in the studio for an American audience. I am very upset over this and feel like the USA is getting short-changed. There is no way the presenters can work up the same amount of enthusiasm (to their credit, they try pretty hard) after watching recycled video footage that they already presented to a UK live audience once before.

On the plus side, they do help us out with sub-titles that convert GBP to USD, but I don't see why this couldn't have been done without re-shooting the entire show. I'm glad it is on and this is better than nothing, but why the brass behind getting us this show thought it necessary to reenact live segments is beyond me