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The last British television export to the United States featuring a boss prone to making provocative comments - the cult comedy The Office - proved to be a huge success.
Now, a television show with an equally outspoken frontman may follow in its wake.
BBC chiefs are trying
to broker a multi-million-dollar deal with major American networks to make Top Gear USA.
The show could make a Stateside star of Jeremy Clarkson, the opinionated motormouth who presents the BBC2 programme, and his co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May.
A BBC statement this week confirmed that the broadcaster had begun talks with American television networks about the show, which focuses on motor vehicles.
The statement said: "BBC World has had exploratory conversations with the US networks to bring a local version of Top Gear to the US, but there is not yet a deal on the table."
A spokeswoman could not confirm if Clarkson would present the American show, but a source said he was favoured by the networks.
The source told the Sun newspaper: "It's very exciting. Jeremy and the guys can't wait to teach the Yanks a bit about cars."
It is believed the show's format will be almost identical to its original studio-based British version, but that its central focus will be models such as Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet. American celebrities will be invited to discuss their love of motoring and test their skills against the show's mystery driver, The Stig.
In its present format Top Gear, a Bafta and Emmy Award-winning series, is already shown in the US on the Discovery Channel.
The programme is estimated to have more than 350 million viewers worldwide, including 8 million in Britain.
The ninth series of the programme, which began in January, was delayed after an accident in which Hammond was seriously injured while driving a jet-propelled drag-racing car at up to 500km for a feature on the show.
Clarkson, who has come under fire for his provocative comments, is not the first presenter of the programme.
The original Top Gear was a half-hour programme that ran from 1977 to 2001, with William Woollard as the main presenter until 1991.
Clarkson joined the team in the 1980s and much of the programme's humour and light-heartedness has been credited to him.
He left in 1999 but rejoined as the host of a new series in 2002.
Despite criticism that the show is overly macho and encourages irresponsible driving, it has become hugely influential.
Clarkson has sparked several controversies as presenter. During an episode in November 2005, he mockingly said manufacturers should build a car that was "quintessentially German", suggesting turn signals that displayed Hitler salutes and a "sat-nav that only goes to Poland" - referring to the Nazi invasion that marked the start of World War II.
Last year, Clarkson again earned censure when he agreed with an audience member that a car was "a bit gay". He also described the vehicle as "very ginger beer", taken to be rhyming slang for the term "queer".
Last July the BBC rejected a variety of complaints about the way Clarkson, Hammond and May cover motor issues on the show. The BBC argued that their "provocative comments are an integral part of the programme and are not intended to be taken seriously".
- INDEPENDENT
