The British Space Shuttle

[Mirelly]

It's a chilly April Saturday and I'm vegging out playing Spore, with the TV on showing re-runs of Top Gear. Now I know BBC America has produced a USian version of its Petrol Head flagship show, but frankly the Americans seem to take it all too seriously.

The Brit show surpassed itself when they guys challenged themselves to recycle a bit of classically naff Brit automotive engineering heritage as a low-budget alternative to the Space Shuttle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b4WzWFKQ20
Enjoy 10 minutes of sheer nerdy luncacy ... and marvel at the successful parts!

 

[Kevin]

I remember that episode when it aired on BBC America over here. The sight of Top Gear Dog (eg: around the 4:15 mark) always made me smile.

BTW: The US version is not by BBC America, it is by the BBC directly in agreement with The History Channel and is where it airs. BBC America shows the UK imports, not the US remakes.

 

[Mirelly]

Ooh, thanks for the correction, Kevin. I only watched one episode of the US version before concluding that, while it was a worthy effort at making a programme for petrol heads (and I confess to being one myself) the trio of presenters lacked the self-deprecatory qualities which make the Brit version so addictively funny.

 

[Kevin]

Ooh, thanks for the correction, Kevin. I only watched one episode of the US version before concluding that, while it was a worthy effort at making a programme for petrol heads (and I confess to being one myself) the trio of presenters lacked the self-deprecatory qualities which make the Brit version so addictively funny.

If you watched an episode from the first version of Top Gear USA, then, yeah, it was pretty bad (although @BirdOPrey5 would disagree) because, in my opinion, they were trying too hard to fit into the stereotype characters that the UK hosts have become but as the US show progressed they started getting more comfortable in being themselves. I still think the UK version is better but the US version has improved.