http://www.history.com/shows/top-gea...d-car-salesmen

this episode is rather fun. It's unique and genuinely not a ripoff from TG UK, and the jokes do work. Tim Allen is not that interesting but the stupid stuff they'd do to sell a car is not as much of a top gear ripoff as other stuff they have done until now. Tanner Foust is getting the hang of it and being less of a bore, too. Which is always a good thing.

its def got growing pains, but rutledge is hilarious. his voicemail msg won major points in my ferris beuller loving heart

So the season came to an end, and this is my understanding...

From the car salesman episode you can tell they are not going to hold any punches when they laugh at stupid cars, whether they are American or foreign..

Which explains, in the greater picture, why they are stuck with History channel - probably only channel out there not affiliated with some car maker in one way or another, making honest "Car guy's show for car guys" without the commercial strings attached in the back all but impossible when you are going to have to hold back because the channel is associated with this brand or this other brand....

So they got the platform to talk whatever they want about whatever cars they want in whatever manner they like..... Which is important for a show like Top Gear.

But that also means they are very limited on fundings. BBC2 couldn't care less what they do with car makers' relationships because it's the taxpayer's money, but they are also filthy rich and they have the RAF and other government arms behind them to help them making all those larger than life stunts we have all come to expect and love from the original TG.

And then there's TGUSA. If we are to duplicate the situation, and recreate the perfect storm they have been riding on in TGUK, you are talking about a government TV channel that is not backed by private sector in its entirety.....

...Which sadly, does not exist in a purely capitalistic non-royal society that makes up the US of A.

So the arrangement is probably as ideal as it gets for the TG production environment. Now TGUSA has to look for more money somehow, if the first season (which we have all seen in its entirely) takes off and becomes a returning show, they just might be able to find sponsors without conflicting interest to sponsor the production of the next season.

So given the arrangement so far, there is still hope that there will be a genuinely entertaining top gear for the US of A eventually.

Oh there's also the finale episode of America's toughest truck....They made some stupid jokes about Canada too since they were in Alaska.
http://www.history.com/shows/top-gea...oughest-trucks
So....american's toughest truck is a....Toyota?

^ I actually had many good laughs in that episode, hahahah @ tanner's many spoilers
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I actually started to really enjoy the last few episodes. Yes, it still has some work needing to be done to it, but you can already see the chemistry growing between the hosts. The used care salesman segment was amusing and I was actually laughing out loud quite a few times during the truck special in the last episode. As hk2000 said, they're unfortunately stuck in a bit of a tough spot... Yes, History Channel isn't really affiliated with any automotive manufacturers (as fas as I can tell, anyway), but they don't have a lot of money to throw around. They truly need some greater financial backing if we want to view stunts similar to TG:UK, though I doubt we'll ever see anything of that calibre... at least, not for a while. I'm sure the USAF/Marine Corp/etc will be willing to help out if ever asked (that portion of the government always seems to enjoy helping out with films and tv shows, provided it doesn't paint them in a negative light), but that's probably about it. Honestly, I would love to see this show come back for another season with some greater financial backing in order to let them show off what they can truly do.

would love to see they drive a toyota iQ thru a shopping center as a "test"

Wow, I didn't realize this shows already been on for a full season. I thought yesterday wad the first episode until I saw this thread. LOL. I guess that means I font have to wait every week, I'm sure I can find the torrents somewhere.

Anyone else think that "The Stig" is Paul Tracy?
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personally, I think they just use Tanner as the stig. :p

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