Top Gear - Season 15

Although the previous season's final episode didn't technically air until last January in Great Britain, it looks like this will unfortunately be the first year to only have one season of Top Gear since 2006. On the bright side, it came over to America after something much closer to a reasonable delay (You might as well air it the next day guys, it's the most pirated show in the world), and for the first time was not edited to a shorter length. There's apparently a new special from the Middle East airing this Christmas that I'm just now hearing about for the first time, but hey, the regular season's over. It was fairly eventful with the inauguration of a new reasonably priced car and a huge bump in the general profile of the special guests, including Rupert Grint from the Harry Potter movies and even big American celebrities like Tom Cruise and the delightful Jeff Goldblum.

But the highlight as always is not the appearances by famous people but the more inspired taped segments. Highlights included Jeremy driving a three-wheeled Reliant Robin in one of the funniest things the show has ever done, and one of the more clever challenges as the three men tried to build their own version of a superior mobile home. Some of these bits are too obviously planned for purely comedic value sometimes, and while it can be more fun when it seems like they're at least trying to make it real like in the races, I appreciate the extent they go to to avoid running out of fun ideas. I'm not sure what's next for the show, or if the American version which is now fully in production will be able to hold a candle. Whatever happens, I hope to spend some more time with these guys.