Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May courtesy BBC
What, you've never heard of the world's funniest car show? The genre-defying phenom is a national obsession in the U.K., and with-it fans in the U.S. have been downloading it off YouTube for years. But it's fair legal game now — BBC America tossed a bone to us speed-hungry Yanks when it premiered the show for the first time this week.
Part celebrity interview, part Jackass with cars, it's CarTalk but with a budget. And what a budget it is: The premiere episode extolled the death-defying (and -embracing) virtues of the Koenigsegg CCX, a Swedish machine that currently holds the record for the world's fastest speeding ticket (242 mph, somewhere in Texas) and runs at a paltry ₤415,000. That's quite a toy for these boyish lads, who've made a career out of humiliating themselves at the wheel in every imaginable test drive, remodel project and car trial. In the season-opener alone, puckish cutie Richard Hammond drives a neon-pink Nissan Micra convertible with a bag over his head. Later the lads pull the roof off a Renault Espace minivan (a ride that, according to wry elder Gear man Jeremy Clarkson, makes "you feel like you're drowning in wallpaper paste") and then drive it through a lion-infested wildlife preserve. The minivan denouement features a car wash on fire as the boys run away stiff-legged and freaked, ultimately taking shelter behind a dumpster to squabble in peace.
Their hilarious Python-esque antics prove even more riotous when the best and brightest of Britain's entertainment world come a-calling for the road-race segment. Actors and athletes risk life and limb screeching around the track, while Hammond and Clarkson sit idly by eating lady cakes, playing a bit of footie, and, in the premiere, enjoying an impromptu performance from Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman. The wit is wicked, the cars careen, and everything is still right in the Top Gear world. Rumor has it that the likes of Ewan MacGregor and Michael Gambon will be among this season's guests, so tune in and tune up, America.
Top Gear airs on Mondays at 8 pm/ET, on BBC America.
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