Top Gear - Season 17

I'm not really sure why I keep writing about this show. I guess it's just because I write about every show I watch regularly. But Top Gear is unusual, because it's the only non-fiction series on that list. Well, some of the situations and gags are definitely made up. But it's a talk show. It stars personalities rather than characters, and is based on repeatable segments rather than a narrative. This is all a long winded way of saying there's not much new to say about it after every mostly-biannual series of a half dozen or so new episodes. But I keep at it because that's what I do, I guess. I had fun with these six episodes, as could be predicted. The guests were mostly a wash besides Rowan Atkinson. There weren't really any extended sequences that I loved as much as some previous ones, but setups like the makeshift car-and-trailer trains and trying to demolish houses were entertaining. Richard got to drive a pretty cool tanky jeepy thing. He also did a really nice piece about amputee soldiers who formed a rally team. The guys had fun at each others' expense. It was Top Gear, really. Not much else to say, but I'll keep saying it until that changes.

Top Gear - Season 16

This was sort of a low-impact season of Top Gear, though it was still Top Gear, so a lot of fun was had. The show introduced its third Stig after the second one outed himself, some new records proved the most recent Reasonably Priced Car is definitely the fastest one they've had, and the three hosts generally made asses of themselves in entertaining ways. Not much about the show has changed since I started watching it a few years ago, and for the most part they haven't really needed to. The formula just works, and as the first few minutes of the American version proved to me, messing with it in any way, even if it's just changing which three guys are involved, might not be such a good idea. The scripted elements are getting a little too obvious at times - we all know that a lot of the wackier moments are staged, but it's more fun when they seem like they could have been real anyway, and it's pretty clear that Jeremy didn't actually set someone on fire during the combine snowplow test.

Still, they've yet to go too far, and the overreaction to a throwaway line about Mexico proves the show still knows how to push buttons and entertain a gigantic audience. The Middle East special was one of their most daring stunts yet, and the race against the sun's rotation shows they still haven't thought of everything that can be done with the format. Jeremy mentioned in an interview that the three guys all agreed that it's just assumed at this point that the show will keep going like this until one of them dies in an accident, and while I'd hate to see that happen (and it almost did a few years ago), I admire their dedication to putting an entertaining and informative show on the air. I look forward to more later this year.

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.

Top Gear - Season 14

It took forever for season 13 to get here, but 14 came right after. Maybe they just wait until they have a full year's worth of content before shipping it overseas? In any case, seven more episodes of Top Gear means seven more hours of enjoyable content. The Bolivia special might be the show's most harrowing episode yet, as the intrepid trio have to drive some pretty poor vehicles through jungles, along roads at the edges of cliffs, and up hills so high that both they and the engines become starved for oxygen. In another episode, they try to build a better electric car and fail spectacularly in the way only they can. In another, they build an art exhibition for car-based works in a museum, and seem to find every conceivable way to mess up the presentation. Jeremy finds new and exciting ways to review cars on the cheap, James attaches a car to a hot air balloon, and the Stig continues to impress with his driving, whoever he is. Not much I can say about the show's future that I didn't say a month and a half ago, so I guess I'll just keep waiting for the next season.

Top Gear - Season 13

This season finished airing in England seven months ago, and the fourteenth has already aired there. Why do they show it here so much later? Oh well. A lack of timeliness doesn't make it less fun. These seven episodes featured plenty of the same thrills and laughs I've come to expect from the Top Gear crew, from the fake reveal of the Stig's identity to an encounter with some American stunt drivers to fake car advertisements that actually got them in trouble with the weird content laws over there. There's been some discussion of the show getting too wacky and an admission that it's probably closer to the end than the beginning, but I haven't found myself enjoying it any less. And the American version is apparently happening after all thanks to the History Channel. As much as I continue to not care about cars, I still love watching these guys play with them.

Top Gear - Seasons 10-12

With the last year and a half of Top Gear apparently being available on iTunes, with the most recent two seasons even being the full versions and not the chopped ones shown on BBC America, and them deciding seemingly randomly to put the tenth out on DVD this year, I guess I should talk about this show. If you don't watch it, you should. It's the sort of program that's so entertaining, it transcends its subject matter. I don't know anything or care about cars in the slightest. I can change a tire and check the oil, but that's about it for mechanical knowledge, and I'm not particularly skilled at or interested in driving. I like a good car chase in the movies, but can't really tell any apart or know much about them. Still, Top Gear makes me care while I'm watching it. It's the only non-fictional show I watch regularly, and I anticipate its eminent return with great zeal.

The show works because its hosts are knowledgeable, entertaining, and get along well together. I don't know how much time they really spend together when they're not filming, but while the show's going, they just seem like a few guys having a ton of fun with something they love. Pretty much everything they do is enjoyable. The car reviews are well-written, stylishly shot, and usually feature good music. The news segments are always hilarious. The special races are unique and exciting. The challenges from the producers consistently make me laugh harder than anything else on television. The Stig and his various alter egos are badasses. And whenever they have specials in foreign countries, you know you're going to be thoroughly enjoying yourself for the next hour at least. I could take or leave the interviews, but at least they've introduced me to a few other interesting British people. I'm skeptical of the apparently still upcoming American version, but if the hosts can even come close to matching the chemistry between Jeremy, James, and Richard, it will be well worth checking out. In summary: Top Gear is fantastic.