Line #20 Magazine/MotorWeek


1	--> "Hello, and welcome to [=MotorWeek=]! We're glad to have you with us."
2
3	''Motor Week'' (stylized as a single word: '''''[=MotorWeek=]''''') is a long-lived American TV [[GearheadShow automotive magazine]] series produced by Maryland Public Television and featured on various Creator/{{PBS}} affiliates nationally since 1981. Billing itself as "Television's Original Automotive Magazine", it is basically formatted as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a car magazine for television]]. Accordingly, the show features automotive news segments, mini-reviews (the "Car Keys" segments are a brief introduction to the features of a recently introduced model that might receive a more in-depth review in the future; the "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Long-Term Updates]]" are updates on how well a car has held up ''after'' the review and many miles of use), a [=DIY=] repair segment called Your Drive and most recently a news segment on how automotive technology is catching up with municipal and federal "green" initiatives. It can be considered a TransAtlanticEquivalent to ''Series/TopGearUK'', at least in its original pre-reboot form when it had a more serious and educational tone. Recently, their reviews and conclusions have been criticized for being "soft" and non-objective in their criticism.
4
5	''[[Creator/GawkerMedia Jalopnik]]'' holds a regular introspective feature in the magazine, mostly focusing on the earlier years but looking back at recent episodes as well.
6
7	MW has an official Website/YouTube channel [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Motorweek here]]. It's not a complete archive - they add new "old" features one roadtest at a time several times a week.
8
9	Compare to ''Series/TopGearUK'', ''Magazine/CarAndDriver'' and ''Magazine/MotorTrend'' (the latter two now mostly known for its Dead Tree-print products but also having both short-lived television series on [=TNN=][=/=]Creator/SpikeTV and now on Website/YouTube).
10	----
11	!!Come Trope With Us:
12
13	* TheAce:
14	** Lisa Barrow was a highly capable off-road driver and thus was their go-to reporter whenever they covered an off-road event.
15	** Pat Goss always has the answer for viewer's car care questions, no matter how difficult or off-the-wall.
16	* TheAllegedCar:
17	** Craig Singhaus was prone to drive these. John Davis once noted that the exhaust note heard at the end of each episode (from the late 1980s through the 1990s) is a recording of Singhaus' Ford Mustang with the muffler rotted off.
18	** On that note, Singhaus once presented a segment about the "winter beater".
19	* AnnualTitle: From season 7 (1987-88) to season 12 (1992-93). Since the new fall TV season coincided with the North American car industry's new model year, ''[=MotorWeek=] '89'' first aired in 1988 and covered 1989-model cars (for example).
20	* AscendedExtra: Craig Singhaus and Lisa Barrow can be spotted as nameless test drivers in the early seasons before they became feature reporters in the late 1980s.
21	* BoringButPractical: The whole reason why they eventually ditched the indoor studio filming was because they outgrew it, and thus it was much easier to simply film outside where they had all the space they'd ever need. Similarly, Pat Goss' Garage outgrew ''several'' custom-built sets, all of which were fully-functional garages (save for the one used in the pilot, which was just the borrowed backlot of a local gas station).
22	** Many, many of the cars themselves. Particularly in the early years which coincided with the pit of the Malaise Era of cars.
23	* BunnyEarsLawyer: Craig Singhaus. While he seems like the kind of guy that you wouldn't trust to pull your car into a parking spot, he's actually a capable high-performance driver and was one of the show's longest-serving test drivers, having been with the show from its very earliest seasons before being promoted to a feature reporter.
24	* CatchPhrase:
25	** "Hello, and welcome to [=MotorWeek=]! We're glad to have you with us!" (Recent shows, since the early/mid-2010s, however, have John Davis introducing it with "Hi, I'm John Davis, and this is [=MotorWeek=]!")
26	** "(So) Come drive with us! Next!"
27	* CoolCar: There are many cool sports cars throughout the show, like the Dodge Viper RT/10, the Lamborghini Diablo VT, the Lotus Esprit and the Acura NSX.
28	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
29	** During the show's first six seasons in the 1980s, the show had more of a typical "newscast" look with an indoor studio and newsdesk-style presenting. By the start of season 7 in 1987, the show is now presented outdoors with John Davis walking among various cars (used to be the ones actually reviewed in the show, now seemingly random leaning towards high-end, high-performance luxury models).
30	** Their review videos didn't have background music until the mid-1990s.
31	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The show is a weekly review of motor vehicles.
32	* LargeHam: Craig Singhaus
33	* LogoJoke: For a time in the late '80s/early '90s, the fully-formed "Viewers Like You" logo of the time appeared on the license plate of an actual car that the camera zoomed in on as the announcer recited the obligatory credit.
34	* PornStache: Craig Singhaus sported one of these in the late 1990s.
35	* TransAtlanticEquivalent: To ''Series/TopGearUK''. ''[=MotorWeek=]'' is arguably an American copy of the original ''[=TopGear=]''. In recent years enthusiasts tended to compare ''[=MotorWeek=]'' unfavorably to ''[=TopGear=]'', though this is less than fair given that ''[=TopGear=]'' was rebooted in 2002 as a personality-driven edutainment program while ''[=MotorWeek=]'' has been continuously in production with the same staff and presenters and both programs generally have different objectives.

Context Magazine / MotorWeek