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mrwubblesNew year, new tv show to love.
Well, not a new show. I have been watching Top Gear on and off for some time but I've only recently watched it more regularly as--er--research during my stint writing Torchwood to fine-tune talking Brit and not like a ruddy American. ;)
Now, mind you, watching Top Gear and EastEnders by no means gave me a handle on the language differences but OMG, LOL, having just saw Top Gear's season ten, episode four, the Africa challenge, I can seriously declare I love Top Gear.
What is Top Gear you may ask? Well, BBCA markets it as Britain's answer to MTV's often puerile Jack_ss (I'm not even going to dignify it by spelling it out).
Au contaire, I think I may have to disagree.
I think Top Gear is a bit more polished than that. We have the sonorous Jeremy Clarkson, the deceptively solemn James May aka 'Captain Slow' and the enthusiastically contagious and irrepressible Richard Hammond aka 'The Hamster'.
It's a show, not quite talk show, not quite the geek-tified G4 marketed 30 minute block for the guy who'll wait on line a day for the newest sequel to PS3's Metal of Honor but somewhere in between.
If you haven't guessed from the title, yes, Top Gear talks about and reviews cars. Their first try in the 90s, they took themselves too seriously, reviewing cars the way you might review the newest European translation of Tolstoy. The updated version has them still reviewing cars but in a more boyish, "wheeee!", guy squee kind of way.
The show doesn't take themselves too seriously and frankly, they don't expect you to, either. They race the cars, pit challenges with their fellow presenters (ie: a hilarious challenge to once make their chosen cars float like boats...didn't work...lol), and have short, almost conversational interviews with the likes of Simon Cowell, David Tennant, Christian Slater. And oh yeah, afterwards, the interviewed has to race around the Top Gear. The difference here is they're having fun and have no qualms showing it.
The show is approached with the kind of glee that is catchy. It is a little destructive (they once catapult cars into a quarry in a mock game of darts) like Jack_ss yet it's all engineered to be mildly informative at the same time. I would say the closest equivalent is Discovery's Mythbusters.
The three are hilarious together, banded in solidarity when the producers of the show throw challenges at them. And as Clarkson would say, "How hard can it be?" Oh, usually hard, but oh, the LOLs you get watching them try.
It's silly, it's fandom crack and I adore it. The tipping point for me, however, was the African challenge. The three are told to buy a repo-car to travel across Botswana with. Clarkson chose a Mercedes, May chose a sturdy Lancer and Richard Hammond chose a boxy, little Opal called Oliver.
It was fun to watch them coax their worn cars through salt flats, sahara and dust clouds, but what really made the show was Hammond's almost giddy loyalty to his little Oliver even when the other two rib it.
At one point, Oliver got stuck in a river and Hammond is seen frantically running out of the little car, trying to push the car out, pleading "Float! Float, float!" with a final--what I call the 'angsty man cry'--"Oliver!".
It's...oh geez, you're sad and laughing at the same time.
I really don't have the vocabulary to describe this. It's one of those shows you watch without it really hitting you until that one moment that makes you sit up and take notice. Oliver made me sit up, made me go back on my Tivo and find the older episodes. It's just fun. Absolute, complete fun that reminds you of the days of when fandom was all "squee".
And seriously, how is it possible to be crushing on a tv-presenter like Richard Hammond? LOL
As Clarkson would joke self-decrepating at themselves: "Top Gear. Ambitious but rubbish."
Oh, but it is so fun to watch them try.
Well, not a new show. I have been watching Top Gear on and off for some time but I've only recently watched it more regularly as--er--research during my stint writing Torchwood to fine-tune talking Brit and not like a ruddy American. ;)
Now, mind you, watching Top Gear and EastEnders by no means gave me a handle on the language differences but OMG, LOL, having just saw Top Gear's season ten, episode four, the Africa challenge, I can seriously declare I love Top Gear.
What is Top Gear you may ask? Well, BBCA markets it as Britain's answer to MTV's often puerile Jack_ss (I'm not even going to dignify it by spelling it out).
Au contaire, I think I may have to disagree.
I think Top Gear is a bit more polished than that. We have the sonorous Jeremy Clarkson, the deceptively solemn James May aka 'Captain Slow' and the enthusiastically contagious and irrepressible Richard Hammond aka 'The Hamster'.
It's a show, not quite talk show, not quite the geek-tified G4 marketed 30 minute block for the guy who'll wait on line a day for the newest sequel to PS3's Metal of Honor but somewhere in between.
If you haven't guessed from the title, yes, Top Gear talks about and reviews cars. Their first try in the 90s, they took themselves too seriously, reviewing cars the way you might review the newest European translation of Tolstoy. The updated version has them still reviewing cars but in a more boyish, "wheeee!", guy squee kind of way.
The show doesn't take themselves too seriously and frankly, they don't expect you to, either. They race the cars, pit challenges with their fellow presenters (ie: a hilarious challenge to once make their chosen cars float like boats...didn't work...lol), and have short, almost conversational interviews with the likes of Simon Cowell, David Tennant, Christian Slater. And oh yeah, afterwards, the interviewed has to race around the Top Gear. The difference here is they're having fun and have no qualms showing it.
The show is approached with the kind of glee that is catchy. It is a little destructive (they once catapult cars into a quarry in a mock game of darts) like Jack_ss yet it's all engineered to be mildly informative at the same time. I would say the closest equivalent is Discovery's Mythbusters.
The three are hilarious together, banded in solidarity when the producers of the show throw challenges at them. And as Clarkson would say, "How hard can it be?" Oh, usually hard, but oh, the LOLs you get watching them try.
It's silly, it's fandom crack and I adore it. The tipping point for me, however, was the African challenge. The three are told to buy a repo-car to travel across Botswana with. Clarkson chose a Mercedes, May chose a sturdy Lancer and Richard Hammond chose a boxy, little Opal called Oliver.
It was fun to watch them coax their worn cars through salt flats, sahara and dust clouds, but what really made the show was Hammond's almost giddy loyalty to his little Oliver even when the other two rib it.
At one point, Oliver got stuck in a river and Hammond is seen frantically running out of the little car, trying to push the car out, pleading "Float! Float, float!" with a final--what I call the 'angsty man cry'--"Oliver!".
It's...oh geez, you're sad and laughing at the same time.
I really don't have the vocabulary to describe this. It's one of those shows you watch without it really hitting you until that one moment that makes you sit up and take notice. Oliver made me sit up, made me go back on my Tivo and find the older episodes. It's just fun. Absolute, complete fun that reminds you of the days of when fandom was all "squee".
And seriously, how is it possible to be crushing on a tv-presenter like Richard Hammond? LOL
As Clarkson would joke self-decrepating at themselves: "Top Gear. Ambitious but rubbish."
Oh, but it is so fun to watch them try.
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Me, too! Me, too!
Date: 2009-01-05 07:27 pm (UTC)I was thinking about this show and why it was hitting my fannish button. Hammond is your eye candy. The three of them together have a fascinating relationship. And it's just all good fun (except now I zone out when Jeremy drones on about how fantastic some high performance car is.)
Thank you for empowering me to fess up to my Top Gear obsession.
BTW, I think Hammond is well loved in the UK and lots of folks crush on him. Did you see that ep where they went caravaning? An older woman kissed his cheek, grabbed his arm and towed him into her tent to give him some tea. She wouldn't take no for an answer. I know how she felt.
I wonder if we should suggest a Top Gear panel at MWC? *g*
Re: Me, too! Me, too!
Date: 2009-01-05 08:22 pm (UTC)A: Oh, oh, oh! I adore Hammond with Oliver! As Clarkson and May strip their cars to lighten them up, Hammond's reluctance to do the same to wee Oliver was just too cute. And him willing Oliver to float? LOL. I wanted to make that my voicemail recording! But asides from a select few, who would get it?
And it's just all good fun
A: Exactly. They're having fun and not afraid to show it and not afraid to giggle helplessly at the antics of one another.
Did you see that ep where they went caravaning?
A: My third favorite challenge! The look on Hamster's face as he was taken in, then after May said the train whistle was romantic. LOL. I howled when he threw out the flaming cushion and whoops, torched the site next door.
My second favorite is the "damper van" he made for the boat car challenge. :)
wonder if we should suggest a Top Gear panel at MWC? *g*
A: Well, someone did a cute music vid on Top Gear.
And if you ever want to revisit Oliver again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tWu9uBJHW4
Re: Me, too! Me, too!
Date: 2009-01-05 08:49 pm (UTC)There was a music vid?! Oh no! I would have loved to have seen it. Damn.
I've just spent that last few minutes exploring Top Gear on lj. *g*
Re: Me, too! Me, too!
Date: 2009-01-05 11:03 pm (UTC)There's Top Gear LJ?
no subject
Date: 2009-01-13 12:34 am (UTC)I adored the fact that Hammond was embarrassed that he named it "Oliver" (since real men do not name cars), especially when the other two found out.
One of my fav eps was when they all raced to the aiport via a boat, bike, car, or public transport. The Stig on a bus was the funniest thing ever.
And I swear there was a Supernatural crossover with this show a while back, but I doubt I passed it on, because it was just funny to me. Dang. If I find, I'll share.
Oh, and have you heard they are remaking Top Gear for America? Jay Leno was tapped at first as host, but now I believe it has fallen to Adam Carolla and two sidekicks. Should suck greatly.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-13 10:44 pm (UTC)A: It's fun, since this post and my declaration to a bunch of girls I met for dinner, a few came 'out of the boot/closet' to profess that they like the show too even if they're not guys or that into cars.
It's fascinating because I don't think this is an anolomy yet social history dictates to us that us gals shouldn't like a show like Top Gear.
Then again, they had targeted 18-28 yrs old males for Stargate and look how wrong they were then.
What really
winds me upirks me is that there's hardly anything I can find for it. Not that I was looking for ff, mind you although right now, an odd sort of Top Gear/Torchwood popped in my head I'm trying to shush. LOL.But is it alot to ask for DVDs?
Oh, and have you heard they are remaking Top Gear for America? Jay Leno was tapped at first as host, but now I believe it has fallen to Adam Carolla and two sidekicks. Should suck greatly.
A: Sigh. You know when they copied Kato's Kamera from Japan to make American's Funniest Home Videos, I was like "Okay, it fits", then they started copying Japan's Ninja Warrior, Tetris Showdown and Kareoke Battle and I thought, geez, we've ran out of creative ideas. We're even taking horror movies from them.
But great, now from the UK, too. Come on, guys. Didn't you learn anything from copying Touching Evil and life On Mars? LOL
As for Leno...:-P. He's funny, but not Top Gear funny. And 'Hamster' was strictly a Brit product. I doubt you'll find another like him here. Yeah, it's sucking already. :D
no subject
Date: 2009-01-14 01:38 am (UTC)As for no DVDs, if you own a Region-free player, Amazon.com UK has a metric ton of them. I'm thinking they might get some released here once the American version airs.
But I do have to also admit my love for the American version of "Touching Evil." It featured a wonderfully pre-"Burn Notice," wacky/crazy/awesome Jeffrey Donovan, and his co-star Vera Farmiga who I have adored since she was in "Roar." Wow, really going wayback and off-track now, ain't I?