Top Gear USA is starting this fall and it’s been a long time a-coming. In the past we’ve speculated on its existence, wrote an open letter to its producers, and more recently, posted the show’s first trailer.

So let’s cut straight to the chase here and address the 900 pound gorilla in the room (is that even how the saying goes?): will it suck? We’re totally serious with this question. After all, the original Top Gear- a phrase we’re still getting used to- is an international mega hit that owes its success to a healthy blend of factors including brilliant cinematography, an absolutely astounding line up of vehicles, challenges and specials that live up to the word “epic”, and of course, the character interaction that comes so naturally from Clarkson, Hammond and May .

That’s a hard ticket to beat (is that even how the saying goes?) and Top Gear USA will have a difficult time trying to recreate what BBC Top Gear has created. But is recreating the British version even the goal of Top Gear USA? The first trailer certainly makes it look so. And therein lies our problem. American viewers who know and love BBC Top Gear will instantly judge Top Gear America after just the first episode, saying things like “They hosts seem like they’re trying to hard”, “Man, even everything feels scripted”, or “Who the hell is Rutledge Wood?”

But for anyone willing to make up their mind after the first episode or two, we say take a breath, step back and realize the the Top Gear pooch hasn’t been screwed just yet (is that even how the saying goes?).

We bring up the fact that most people aren’t familiar with the older days of BBC Top Gear and that what you see on the telly today represents a lot of changes, tweaks and learning since the show’s relaunch in 2002. Simply put, when BBC Top Gear started, it was awkward, different, and easy to judge.

Take a look at the first episode for example (see below)- the Stig was black, James May was actually Jason Daw, the first car reviewed was a terrible and stupid Citroen Berlingo, and the studio was bare and painfully awkward with only a handful of people in it. A far cry from what the show is today. Had BBC Top Gear stayed like that, there is no way it would have experienced the rapid growth and success that it did.

Now with that said, are we saying that Top Gear USA will eventually become just as good as the original? No. Not even close. You can’t better perfection. Anyone who is expecting that will be sorely disappointed.

Will Top Gear USA suck? Who knows. But we are saying that when the first episode is awkward, different, and easy to judge, refrain from immediately casting the first stone (is that even how the saying goes?) and remember to give the show time to evolve and get comfortable in its new and fatter American skin. Or in simple terms, give Top Gear USA a chance!

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