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Top Gear America Returns For 2019, But This Time On MotorTrend

Remember when the British Broadcasting Corporation tried to emulate Top Gear UK in North America? The first seasons were alright, but following the sixth in 2016, the lineup changed for the worse. Renamed from Top Gear U.S. to Top Gear America, the series has been picked up by MotorTrend for 2019 and beyond.
Clarkson, Hammond, May 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from YouTube
In addition to 24 seasons of Top Gear UK, the revamped series will come with fresh material this fall. The question is, how much will that cost? For “more than 200 episodes plus all your favorite MotorTrend and Velocity shows,” prepare to pony up “$4.99 a month.”

But wait, there’s more! “Before you can finish binging all that, we'll be adding seasons 25 and 26 in 2020, plus more Top Gear-related shows you know and love.” Looking at the bigger picture, the higher-ups at MotorTrend are beating a dead horse.

Top Gear is done. Ever since the fracas that ended the Clarkson-Hammond-May era, hardcore and casual fans have moved on. Amazon took the three amigos under their wing, and so far, the show has been a commercial success and tons more entertaining than all other Top Gear reboots.

"MotorTrend's heart is with motoring fans and car enthusiasts everywhere," said Alex Wellen, global president and general manager of the group. "Top Gear's brand, stories, and personalities are a natural fit for MotorTrend as we continue our mission to embrace, entertain, and empower the motoring world."

Reading between the lines, the higher-ups are convinced that viewership will go up if they’ll add Top Gear to the portfolio. Remember how MotorTrend decided to charge people for viewing their content? How about that time when the YouTube comments were disabled to dodge the backlash?

As much as everyone would like Top Gear 2.0 to happen, this isn’t the right time nor the right formula. Even the BBC couldn’t recreate the chemistry of Clarkson, Hammond, and May in the United Kingdom, so how could MotorTrend do the impossible with co-production help from the BBC?

On a personal note, the departure of Jason Cammisa in 2017 didn't help either.

 

Some say he is illegal in 17 U.S. States. All we know is, he's coming to MotorTrend! 💥The complete collection seasons 2 – 25 of Top Gear is coming to MotorTrend on June 4th! AND an all-new version of Top Gear America coming this fall. 👀 Link in bio for more details. #TopGearonMotorTrend

A post shared by MotorTrend (@motortrend) on Apr 11, 2019 at 6:00am PDT

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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