I thought for a first episode it was not bad. I'm sure the Brit hosts have developed their chemistry over time- probably watching their first show would be a bit painful too. Production values were very high- about equal to the UK show.
I just re-watched the first episode of the British Top Gear (the post-2001 incarnation, that is), which was originally broadcast on October 20, 2002. The introductory dialogue of that episode and of the first US Top Gear episode are very similar - they both say what they are
not going to be. And both first episodes include the Lamborghini Murcielago on the Power Lap.
There were remarkably few people in the studio of the first British Top Gear episode, and of course James May was not there. He replaced Jason Dawe beginning with series two. Clarkson was noticably more tame than he is now (
that was the painful part!), as was the general excitement level of the program.
The British Top Gear has had an eight-year head start on the US version, and I'm sure that given time the US Top Gear will find its own rhythm too. The Australian Top Gear is also a very similar format with equally high production values, so it's not surprising that the US version is what it is. Tanner's driving skills will undoubtedly be showcased in some manner in each episode, and I'll be looking forward to that each week.
The Ford GT was featured in the British Top Gear episode one - it was still called the "new" GT40 at that time, of course. There was a mockup of the GT in the studio throughout most of the episode. They noted that Ford had just announced its decision to produce the car, and that the price would be $150,000. The original sixties GT40 LeMans racers were featured as a lead-in to the segment.
During the US Top Gear premier I kept waiting for them to do something with the Superformance Daytona Coupe that was on the set, but they didn't. Hopefully that's coming in another episode.
