Reality television has been branching out lately, what with the abundance of shows related to pawn shops, pickers and guns.

One of my favorite shows these days is "Top Gear," appearing on The History Channel. Lately, another guys-talking-about-and-driving-cars show has emerged, aptly named "The Car Show," starring comedian Adam Carolla, on SPEED TV and ROOT sports.

•••

"Top Gear" covers a lot of ground, including automotive journalism, talk show segments and some nutty contests involving the hosts, a professional rally driver (Tanner Faust), a comedian (Adam Ferrara) and a, well, plaid-laden racing analyst (Rutledge Wood).

The guys banter about in a seemingly unscripted way throughout the episodes. Any time a driving contest erupts, Adam and Rutledge take great pains to outperform the professional of the group, Tanner. More often than not, Faust prevails, but it's really not about the contest - it's about the trash talking and the I-can't-believe-we-get-to-do-this-legally flogging of the automobiles in the name of research and, for sure, ratings.

One week the guys will each pick a used truck from the Big 3 (Ford, Chevy or Dodge) and drive it for a couple of days through the mountains and desert of southern Nevada, the next week they are trying their hand at buying (and selling) a used car, with a dollar limit for purchase and prep.

No matter what the end result, the trio manages to irritate each other as much as possible, regardless of whether or not they have a chance of winning the contest.

Another segment of the show places celebrities in a vehicle on a race track (Big star in a small car). After they get a little instruction, the guests take to the course and then come back to the studio, an airport hangar, to discuss how they did with one of the guys. All the "drivers" are taped during their run, and the audio and/or video is often worth a chuckle as they try to lay down a clean lap.

The course also gets some professional activity, when an unnamed driver, the Stig, puts featured performance cars through their paces, with the guys comparing his time in each on a magnetic tote board.

The show is a direct knock-off of the british version, starring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and the original Stig. It's been on the air more than 30 years.

•••

"The Car Show" doesn't come close to the production level of "Top Gear." While the former tries to put Carolla's comedic genius to good use, the out-of-studio feature pieces just don't have the polish that "Top Gear" delivers week in and week out.

Carolla hosts along with Dan Neil (The only automotive journalist to win a Pulitzer prize), Matt Farah (host of his own Web video series "The Smoking Tire") and former NBA star John Salley, supposedly included because he's a "car guy."

In pre-release hype "The Car Show" promised "a perfect mix of comedy, shop talk and eye candy." I'd have to say they miss the mark on holding a car guy's interest. While Carolla does his best work complaining about this and that, the other three eat his vocal exhaust, and the show coasts to a stop at the side of the road while "Top Gear" whizzes by at full throttle.

Jerry Hitchcock is a copy editor for The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2017, or via email at [email protected].