TopGear Goes Chinese
The wild Chinese autoblogosphere had been abuzz about a Chinese version of TopGear for a week now. Truth be told, it escaped my divided attention. No excuse, it will happen again. First on the story was my good friend Tycho, the intrepid red-haired Dutchman who runs the TheTycho car blog. He had an inside source at China’s state TV CCTV. Now, the matter is (semi-) official.
China’s Global Times, the English sister paper of the party-owned People’s Daily, followed-up on the Dutchman’s post and cornered Cao Yunjin. Cao is a famous Beijing-based comedian and TV show host. He was fingered by Tycho as the Chinese Clarkson. Cao confirmed that he will join another two men in hosting the local edition of Top Gear. A 30-minute pilot episode of Top Gear has been filmed already.
It will be TopGear with Chinese characteristics. According to Global Times, “producers will recalibrate how the fun is dished out to meet with censorship requirements.” UK antics, such as ” pushing a Maserati over the top of a three-story building and smashing it, may be too much violence for a fun program in China,” Cao said. “We will do more localized fun stuff.”
In deference to China’s rich agrarian culture, the pilot episode features a Cadillac racing a donkey. Both push millstones to see which is more efficient for farm work. Very funny – if you are Chinese. Cao did not disclose the winner.
Global Times even went as far as conducting a poll. They did not specify how scientific. Over a quarter of the respondents had no interest in the Chinese version, 39 percent said they would be curious to watch. No info on the remaining answers.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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TGUS is so bad, I don't know how there can be an ad-nauseum debate. Is there anything actually good about the show, aside from some of the cars? Whomever it is responsible for that steaming pile of dog exhaust should deeply, deeply ashamed of themselves.
I agree, I found myself watching BBC almost non stop during the last marathon of Top Gear. I think the US version should be used at the CIA to soften up terrorists.
GOT to be better than the USA version, which, in the words of Simpson's Comic Book Man.... WORST SHOW EVER!!! Those three are an embarrassment to America.
I don't think that Top Gear is that bad, it's not as good as the original. However most car shows on US are abysmal. What do I see on USTV, 1. Lots of car auctions, 2. 1 hour infomercials (motorweek). 3. Shows featuring expensive totally impractical custom builds on cars that should be left alone. 4. That boring guy with the handlebar mustache. (Mr Rogers meets classic car?). 5.The guy who apparently chases classic cars but never seems to be able to make a decent profit when he re-sells. All crap if you ask me, give TGUSA a chance.