I've watched the first episode and also thought it was pretty awful - but I do think the UK version is lightning in a bottle. I've heard the USA version gets a lot better after the 3rd episode and the hosts start to gel somewhat, so it may be worth sticking with for a bit. :)

In fairness, I thought the first several episodes of the current UK Top Gear reboot were also pretty bad (the ones with the heavyset host who left fairly early on, who focused more on mechanicals and prices). Even Clarkson was pretty wooden and much less confident then, and there wasn't much if any Hammond/May/Clarkson chemistry yet.