Rutledge Wood has a new gig

F

foehammer111

Guest
http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2010/04/21/topgear-usa-alive/

Starting this fall on the History Channel, Wood will be one of 3 hosts for the American version of the UK car show Top Gear. He will be joined by Formula D/stunt driver Tanner Foust, and comedian/actor Adam Ferrara.

From the official announcement page:

Top Gear said:
Rutledge Wood is a race analyst best known for reporting on NASCAR. Think Martin Brundle with a beard, but with no need for the words ‘right turn’ in his lexicon. We’re impressed that he owns a 1953 Plymouth Suburban, and even more impressed that it was given to him by The King himself, Richard Petty. That’s a good friend to have.
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For those not familar with Top Gear, it's a very funny and sucessful TV show about all things automotive. It's an hour long, and consists of segments like car reviews, epic road trips, and "star in a reasonably priced car" where a celebrity is interviewed, and then drives around their test track as fast as they can in a 4-door family car.

Here's a few of my favorite segments.

BMW Z4 vs Nissan 370Z review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHUvDUYBRXg&feature=player_embedded

Corvette ZR1 vs Audi R8 V10 review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIzOpQ51Ac4&feature=player_embedded

Vietnam bike road trip: (part 1 of 8)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZGBEuU8ySk&feature=player_embedded

Communist cars: (part 1 of 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS-2zQLOTqk&feature=player_embedded

USA Muscle car road trip: (part 1 of 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZseBpPufLI&feature=player_embedded

Ken Block rally racing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFF2bkiHNVQ&feature=player_embedded

Big dogs in small cars test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYcuzv9C_L0
 
Good luck Spike, U.K. you can have Rutledge and feel free to keep him.
 
The farther that dork stays away from my TV, the better. The UK top gear show is enjoyable (my son's a huge fan), but with Rutledge on the Amercian version, I see nothing but a poor, poor imitation.

Maybe with him gone, I can start watching raceday again..:D
 
GREAT AMERICAN RACE FAN said:
Good luck Spike, U.K. you can have Rutledge and feel free to keep him.
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VaDirt said:
The farther that dork stays away from my TV, the better. The UK top gear show is enjoyable (my son's a huge fan), but with Rutledge on the Amercian version, I see nothing but a poor, poor imitation.

Maybe with him gone, I can start watching raceday again..:D
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I don't know why SPEED put him on, and then decided to put him on every single SPEED broadcast there is. He represents why I don't watch SPEED (except for the ARCA races). Too much interest in being goofy, ridiculous and trying to be funny and not enough interest in racing.
 
I believe that Rutledge and Digger appeal to the twelve year old market that Nascar in trying to attract.After all , we are getting older.
 
I was on NASCAR Smarts last fall at Loudon,and Rut was my teammate.
It was a very long day:growl:
We won,just because I knew more than Rut.Nice enough guy,but the track mascot Milo The Moose was smarter than Rut!!
 
I'm kinda neutral about Rutledge being on US Top Gear. He's too over the top on all the SPEED shows he's on, but that might be partly due to how the show is produced.

I'm a big fan of the UK show, and from what I've read the US version is being produced to be nearly identical. I was actually hoping for Adam Carolla, Bill Goldberg, and Jay Leno to be hosts because they are all huge car fans. And Goldberg would be comedy gold trying to fit into some of these small cars.

:D
 
Being a big fan of the UK version I see only Foust as the one that won't make an ass out of himself on the US show. The show will be canceled in a month.
 
foehammer111 said:
I'm a big fan of the UK show, and from what I've read the US version is being produced to be nearly identical. I was actually hoping for Adam Carolla, Bill Goldberg, and Jay Leno to be hosts because they are all huge car fans. And Goldberg would be comedy gold trying to fit into some of these small cars.

:D
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I like this idea.
 
Magnethead said:
I like this idea.
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This is actually the 3rd time they've tried to make a US version of Top Gear. The first time was on the Discovery channel, but it never got off the ground. Then NBC went so far to make a pilot episode with Adam Carolla, Tanner Foust, and someone else as hosts but it never aired. Now the History channel is giving it a go.

Here's an article about what to expect from the US show:
http://jalopnik.com/5521968/top-gear-usa-what-to-expect
 
foehammer111 said:
This is actually the 3rd time they've tried to make a US version of Top Gear. The first time was on the Discovery channel, but it never got off the ground. Then NBC went so far to make a pilot episode with Adam Carolla, Tanner Foust, and someone else as hosts but it never aired. Now the History channel is giving it a go.

Here's an article about what to expect from the US show:
http://jalopnik.com/5521968/top-gear-usa-what-to-expect
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For anyone who watches the UK show it will be hard to match the hosts they have. Those guys are great. If they don't deviate from the format and most viewers have never seen the UK version then it might work. I hope it won't be as bad as I think it will be.

What might be cool is whenever the UK version does some silly test, like what type of bus is best for London or whatever, they use actual known race drivers from over there on a track racing real hard against each other in various types of buses. If they did something similar and used american drivers from outlaws, nascar, IRL, etc.. that would attract a lot of viewers.
 
chromehorn said:
For anyone who watches the UK show it will be hard to match the hosts they have. Those guys are great. If they don't deviate from the format and most viewers have never seen the UK version then it might work. I hope it won't be as bad as I think it will be.

What might be cool is whenever the UK version does some silly test, like what type of bus is best for London or whatever, they use actual known race drivers from over there on a track racing real hard against each other in various types of buses. If they did something similar and used american drivers from outlaws, nascar, IRL, etc.. that would attract a lot of viewers.
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The article I posted mentions that they're not trying to make a US version of Jeremy Clarkson. They acknowledge that Clarkson is one of a kind, and is one of the most famous people in Britain.

I'm kind of neutral about the US hosts. I'll reserve judgement until I see the actual show. My only concern is Foust. If they do any challenges that involve racing, he has a major advantage right off the line. Also, it's kind of counterintuitive to have a Stig when one of the hosts could potentially put down lap times that are just as fast.

Also, I really like your idea about the US drivers. If there's one thing I don't like about the UK show, it's the localization. Some things like having the F1 drivers on the show is OK because if you follow the sport you know who they are. But having DTM and BTCC drivers on limits the overseas appeal since those series aren't really shown outside of Europe. That's part of the reason I can't get into "star in a reasonably priced car": because I don't know who most of these people are. I always end up skipping through that segment.

EDIT: And as for the US Stig, I hope they choose someone like Boris Said for the job.
 
foehammer111 said:
I'm kinda neutral about Rutledge being on US Top Gear. He's too over the top on all the SPEED shows he's on, but that might be partly due to how the show is produced.

I'm a big fan of the UK show, and from what I've read the US version is being produced to be nearly identical. I was actually hoping for Adam Carolla, Bill Goldberg, and Jay Leno to be hosts because they are all huge car fans. And Goldberg would be comedy gold trying to fit into some of these small cars.

:D
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Would anyone else just love to see Goldberg spear Rutledge Wood?:D
 
foehammer111 said:
The article I posted mentions that they're not trying to make a US version of Jeremy Clarkson. They acknowledge that Clarkson is one of a kind, and is one of the most famous people in Britain.

I'm kind of neutral about the US hosts. I'll reserve judgement until I see the actual show. My only concern is Foust. If they do any challenges that involve racing, he has a major advantage right off the line. Also, it's kind of counterintuitive to have a Stig when one of the hosts could potentially put down lap times that are just as fast.

Also, I really like your idea about the US drivers. If there's one thing I don't like about the UK show, it's the localization. Some things like having the F1 drivers on the show is OK because if you follow the sport you know who they are. But having DTM and BTCC drivers on limits the overseas appeal since those series aren't really shown outside of Europe. That's part of the reason I can't get into "star in a reasonably priced car": because I don't know who most of these people are. I always end up skipping through that segment.

EDIT: And as for the US Stig, I hope they choose someone like Boris Said for the job.
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I usually FF through the star in the car as well.

Boris Said as the US stig would be awesome.
 
Tanner Foust and the Top Gear crew was caught filming on Mulholland Highway in California; one of the most famous roads in America. Cars at the scene with Top Gear plates include a Porsche 911, Ford Mustang, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

Photos:

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