I want to go on record saying, publically, that season 9, episode 3 of Top Gear might be the finest thing ever shown on television since the medium was invented.
And not just because of this segment.
Well, OK. Mostly because of that segment. But the political commentary about New Orleans is spot on as well.
I’m sure many of my urban liberal friends will think “This is unfair. It’s Alabama.” But the truth is that I can drive 30 minutes outside of Pittsburgh and find towns which would have given the Top Gear boys the exact same reception.
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Yes, but I think Pennsylvania is also something of a special case in the Union, Pete. God knows, one of the way we city slickers is defined is by our use of Pennsyltucky. Although, that seems to be more of a Philly thing.
Carville’s infamous for his description of PA as “Philly one one end, Pgh on the other, and Alabama in between” – and God knows, he used it when he ran the Bob Casey Sr. Campaign.
I remember reading a few years ago that PA was the state with the fourth-highest number of klan members as well. This is one bizarre state.
Awesome clip.
Top Gear – not only is it the best comedy on British TV at the moment but you get a travel guide and cookery programme thrown in as well. Only drawback is I just have a short drive to get to work so I havent seen any roadkill yet….
That episode was actually frightening. I’ve only been to Chicago, San Jose and Los Angeles in America, and I found them all perfectly pleasant and in fact I liked California a lot, but put it this way… I won’t be heading to Alabama any time soon. I’d assumed the stereotype was a joke. How wrong it seems I may have been.
I also had no idea New Orleans is still in that kind of situation. I’d assumed it had all been cleared up by now. What the heck is up with the priorities of a [country/goverment/president, delete as applicable based on how general you think it's appropriate to be] that is the richest in the world and lets it’s own citizens live like that? And paying more attention to a country on the other side of the world, just because it has oil?
Truly frightening.
Unfortunately, the youtube clip has been pulled, which makes it hard to appreciate this post.
Cheers,
–Jonathan
If you search YouTube for “Top Gear Alabama” you will undoubtedly come up with more versions of the same video.