Fan of Fridays: Week of 9/7/2012

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Top Gear (The British version, not the knock-off American version)

Although I seem to be constantly bemoaning our lack of cable, we get on pretty well without it. Between the free channels, hulu, and Amazon Prime, there always seems to be something worth watching.

Do you know about Amazon Prime? Perhaps the greatest thing Amazon has ever come up with? It's three-fold. First, free two day shipping, which basically makes online shopping as easy as going to the grocery store. Secondly, you can check out an e-book once a month, which really doesn't affect me since I don't have an e-reader, but is still awesome none the less. And lastly is the free TV and movies. While their library is quite limited, it does contain almost a dozen seasons of the greatest show to ever air: Top Gear.

Top Gear is pure perfection. Put three crazy British guys together with a bunch of the world best cars, some outlandish challenges, and a different celebrity every week and you have lightning in a bottle.

And here's the great thing about this show: you don't have to be a gear head to enjoy it. Yes, my husband the car guy loves the specs on horse power and torque and the zero to sixty times, but my little sister will happily watch hours of it with us. This is the reason why millions of people watch it world wide every week and why the revamped version has been on for 18 seasons.

The three hosts have wildly different personalities. First is Jeremy Clarkson. He's loud, stubborn, and opinionated. He's brash, a prankster, and pretty impractical. He interviews the celebrities who compete to race in their "reasonably priced car". 

Second is Richard Hammond. He likes flashy cars and being the most stylish. He's fairly gullable, can actually fix cars, and tends to be made fun of constantly for his height.

Third is James May. He's the most practical, but also the most boring. His nickname is "Captain Slow" and is usually the victim of the pranks of the other two. He tends to lose challenges, usually because his car catastrophically failed, but every once and a while, he pulls off a great win.

It's really hard to accurately describe it, so just watch the clips, track down full episodes, and become an addict like me.