NBC drops Top Gear America... because Knight Rider flopped

[Laconian]

http://www.topgear.com/us/blog/more/bbc-passes-on-the-peacock-for-u.s.-top-gear-tv-show/

Update, Dec 15: Following our scoop last week on the much-anticipated U.S. version of "Top Gear", BBC Worldwide today issued an official line..."BBC Worldwide and NBC have decided to part ways on the Top Gear format and we are in the process of finding a home more suited to the show. With Top Gear UK version now playing on BBCA it has become clear the series attracts a strong, highly valuable, young male audience in the U.S. and we are already in discussions with several interested networks."

So, our colleagues in TV still plan to make a US version of the Top Gear show. Aussie Top Gear has just completed season 1 and they are currently filming another version in Russia. Let's hope the US show isn't far behind. As soon as there is some news you'll get it here first.

This gives us an opportunity to clear up some of the confusion regarding why TopGear.comis here. Lots of people, judging from comments and discussions in the forums,think we're the support website for an American "Top Gear" television show. We're not. Heck, we couldn't even discuss a pilot that was allegedly filmed at some point last summer somewhere much warmer than the frigid climes that surround our office in New York.

We, dear readers, are indeed so much more. We are here because Top Gear ? all of it, the show, the magazine and, yes, even the stunt spectaculars ? kicks ass. We know lots of you Internet-savvy fans agree, despite Clarkson's assertions that we're fat and sleep with our sisters.

We are here to nourish you, letting you feast on the very best of the U.K.television show, bring you the best stories from the U.K."TopGear" magazine, and feed you blog entries, features, carreviews, photography and video made right here in the U.S. (and Canada!). Sothere it is. Tell us what you wish there was more of, what we'd shut up about,or just sit back in your grease-stained"Iam the Stig" T-shirt and sop up all the fun stuff we have planned foryou.

[the Teuton]

The pilot was filmed in California last year.  It's in the can, but now out of date.  Someone on my Subaru forum went to the filming.

I say good riddance.  The Aussie show wasn't that good, and I'm tired of this franchise being tainted.  It cannot and will not work in an American format, not the way the Brits intended.

The three hosts are as follows:

Tanner Foust:  Know-it-all semi-pro racer.  Oh wow.  Whoopteedoo!

Adam Carolla:  Cool.  Perfect for the job.

Some other guy who is on HGTV who CRASHED HIS CAMRY HYBRID in an accident last year.  Come on, can they not do better?

[Raza]

Probably for the best.

[Secret Chimp]

Good. I'd prefer the franchise stay as it is.

[sportyaccordy]

Just bring over the one from the freakin BBC, why is it so difficult for them. They could cut it down to a half an hour w/o all the silly interviews and stuff

[Laconian]

Just bring over the one from the freakin BBC, why is it so difficult for them. They could cut it down to a half an hour w/o all the silly interviews and stuff

And bring over the cars while they're at it!

[Soup DeVille]

The maddening part is that the mental giants at NBC think that Top gear and Knight Rider share the same viewership, and if they won't watch a crappy redux of a cheesy '80s sci-fi car show, they surely won't watch a British import-style irreverent automotive journalism program.

[Laconian]

I wish the failure of a reality show would take down the rest of the reality shows with it.

[Laconian]

My younger cousin works on the team at NBC that does those seasonal "upfronts", so presumably she works directly with the idiots that made this decision. I'll definitely give her an earful at Christmas and hope the message propagates.

[GoCougs]

I don't think it would have done well at all in America.

Top Gear is a uniquely British thing, and a lot of the popularity has nothing to do with cars (kinda like Car Talk on NPR).

Corolla also is a dud in front of the camera.

[hotrodalex]

Good.

Just show the British show over here. What's so hard about doing that?

[Soup DeVille]

Good.

Just show the British show over here. What's so hard about doing that?

Already do. BBC America.

[hotrodalex]

Already do. BBC America.

Have they been doing that for long? I just recently heard of it playing on BBCA, but before I was under the opinion that it wasn't available in the U.S.

[Soup DeVille]

Have they been doing that for long? I just recently heard of it playing on BBCA, but before I was under the opinion that it wasn't available in the U.S.

I don't know how long, but I think its been about a year.

[SVT666]

BBC Canada shows it as well, but it's a channel that I have to pay extra for, and I'm not paying extra for 1 show that I will most likely miss at 5:00pm on a Sunday or 11:30pm on a Saturday.  The episodes are also 2 or 3 years behind the British show and I've already seen them all on the internet.

[the Teuton]

I don't know how long, but I think its been about a year.

I was one of those A-holes who wrote to the BBC after that format change scare rumor running around on the interwebs last year.  I said they should show us the show here and quit gypping us since they knew they had a fanbase here.  I am glad that along with probably a few hundred other people who wrote BBC, they actually listened.

[Raza]

Have they been doing that for long? I just recently heard of it playing on BBCA, but before I was under the opinion that it wasn't available in the U.S.

They seem to be at least a year behind the British airings, and they cut out the news portion of the show; which makes no sense, since most Americans don't know most of the celebrities they have on.

[280Z Turbo]

Already do. BBC America.

You have to buy really expensive cable to get that.

[Eye of the Tiger]

You have to buy really expensive cable to get that.

phuck that
http://www.watchtopgear.net/

[Soup DeVille]

You have to buy really expensive cable to get that.

Really?

I get it. I don't think its really expensive cable.

[280Z Turbo]

Really?

I get it. I don't think its really expensive cable.

I already pay $55 a month for cable + high speed interwebs and I still don't get BBC America.

[omicron]

Top Gear is on free-to-air here.

[Payman]

Just bring over the one from the freakin BBC, why is it so difficult for them. They could cut it down to a half an hour w/o all the silly interviews and stuff

I like the interviews, the "Cool Wall", and all the rest of it. I remember the interview with Chris Evans... who I never heard of... but he talked about his cool cars and it turns out he's the guy who paid over $10 million for James Coburn's Ferrari 250GT.

[Payman]

He was also married to Billie Piper. 

[VTEC_Inside]

Am I blind, where does it mention Knight Rider.

For all its lameness I kinda liked the show.

[Laconian]

Am I blind, where does it mention Knight Rider.

For all its lameness I kinda liked the show.

Oops, that was in an additional related article:
(http://jalopnik.com/5108040/nbc-cuts-top-gear-usa-due-to-knight-rider-failure)

Due to the failure of Knight Rider and expected production costs, NBC has decided to pass on Top Gear USA. The BBC's shopping the US rendition of the hit show to interested cable outlets.

Although the Top Gear website's claiming they took a pass on the Peacock, our sources at both NBC and the BBC tell us the brightly-colored feathered network passed on an opportunity to tie up the show after the failure of the new Knight Rider series and expected high production costs associated with the show.

So, rather than tie up the franchise with a deal or an extension, they've cut Top Gear USA free to search for a new home. Top Gear's website claims interested parties are available on cable and to expect a deal shortly. We remain hopeful they'll be able to find a backer with enough money on hand to really do the show right.

[SVT666]

He was also married to Billie Piper. 

[Accordsforall]

Hmmm
I have to say, if I might that Top Gear is pretty good. Didnt get involved in the TV show tll it started going apeshit all over the place. The European mag is decent, but I definately need more in order to go from CAR mag to Top GEAR.

Now...
Knight Rider back in the early 80s was a bit of a campy show. Decent car, decent story lines, minimal effects and it worked. A kind of a man against the world. I watched it cause it was a good show, and If I had the money to buy a KITT replica.. at the time I would.

Now...
The show is a nightmare.
There is no (guy in charge) Devon like character.
There is no (diagnostian) Bonnie.

Just a bad over-the-top KITT wanna-be, as the most out-rageous Mustang built so far, the 500KR!

Im actually disgusted, that NBC could pass on such a trendy show like Top Gear and actually have the chutspa to say its cause of Knight Rider.

Stupid... all around!

[TBR]

Watching a television network die is great fun, isn't it?

[Raza]

He was also married to Billie Piper. 

What?  Poop on a stick, I wanted that job.