Top Gear Australia

[whiteballz]

Well, It wasn't the worst hour I've spent infront of the television, It was however far from the most enjoyable.

The commentary felt forced between the hosts, just for the sake of emulating clarkson and hammond regarding flappy paddle gear boxes, when I get the feeling both of the australian hosts prefer the H pattern gearbox.

I think once the hosts settle into a rythm with each other a truer more relaxed style will flow through the show, untill that point I'll not cry if I miss an episode.

It was a good show, faithful to the UK in terms of shots and style, but abit more originality. Did anyone else notice that our track seems tighter than the UK track?

Further to clutch monkeys and mine MSN convo he can fill you in on the rest of our thoughts...

[pimento]

Definately a tighter track, seems it'll favour the nimble cars a bit more than TGUK's power biased track. It'll be good to see how the boards end up comparing. As for the hosts, if you compare it to the first series of TGUK there's some pretty similar short-comings. It was definately a bit forced, but given that only one of them has had TV experience (and not much at that) it wasn't too bad. Once they settle into the groove they'll hopefully be a bit more polished about it.. should be good to see it evolve. They could also probably have done with having one segment fewer.. seemed a little rushed.

[clutch-monkey]

all the ground work is there imo; the camera work etc is quite good.

the only flaw is the hosts at the moment... which is a big goddamn flaw but hopefully they'll grow into it. they and the commentary are quite annoying but when they're isolation, for instance the 911 review, they're perfectly watchable. It's just the sort of forced dialogue between them.. eh i suppose TG UK season one had that fat man.
so my solution: moar reviews

probably walking a fine line of how much to take from top gear UK and how much to change yet keep it faithfull; i'm glad they knew not to copy the cool wall for example and the 'what were they thinking' wall is a pretty good alternative.

it's hard to sum up but for instance i was pessimistic about it being ford vs holden but when they showed the preview for next week... i'm actually looking foward to seeing that review. so that can only be positive

i think it will be entertaining to watch but not TG UK good (better than fifth gear though)

[pimento]

I reckon the Ford vs Holden review should benefit from being something they've been immersed in since forever. That and most of it will be spent sideways

[fpv_gtho]

Isnt the track supposed to be around Camden aerodrome?

I keep missing TG due to work.

[pimento]

The media launch was there, but the filming is at Bankstown Aerodrome. At least, that's where they told me to show up on the 8th...

[whiteballz]

pardon?

[IBrake4Rainbows]

The old dude bluntly annoys me - they're trying to set him up as a Clarkson IMHO, and the only problem is he has some form of motoring talent. And as such he lacks the incompetence and wit that makes Clarkson bearable, instead, he's a know-it all - the worst kind of Twit.

The short guy (didn't even get his name) was a non-entity. He was there but only ever got a rise when doing his best "Gangsta Rap". Weak.

And Warren....Well, He's the one to watch. I see him going either way, either lovably retarded, or just bluntly annoying, like that dickhead off fifth gear.

Star in a Reasonably priced car either didn't translate well from the track to the editing suite or just plain sucks. I don't know whether it's the track or the set up but somethings going to have to change because I was bored rigid watching Vince Colosimo (when is he a Celebrity? WHEN?) sort of moan around a track.

The overall set up annoyed me as well - if i wanted a blatant copy of the UK format, I'd be watching the UK version.

What were they thinking? about "What were they thinking?"

On the Plus Side:

The camera work was excellent. they made great use of the the scenery & there was some gorgeous action shots.

The Soft-Roader story had some genuinely interesting & exciting bits. Too bad the rest of the stories were non-events.

I'm glad to see they weren't forced into backing a particular brand or vehicle because of sponsorship or advertising requirements. thumbs up there.

He might be annoying but the old guy knows his stuff & knows how to relay information. His crosses to the ad breaks weren't shite either.

OVERALL: C+. I was bitterly disappointed because it just seemed so forced. The back slapping and guffawing may come in time, but the studio audience was a true tester - and they didn't warm to the presenters very much.

I hope, for the sake of motoring enthusiasts around Australia, that they do a better job next week.

[NSXType-R]

Great, I don't think Top Gear USA is going to be that wonderful. Besides, does anyone besides real car lovers in the USA know what Top Gear really is?

Okay, so when does the next season of Top Gear UK start?

[john14]

Sadly, it looked like a bad Australian copy of the entertaining English Top Gear.

[pimento]

New TGUK will be in the third week in October.

Give the series some time, there's no point in writing it off completely.. same will go for TGUS. TGUK is something too unique to be emulated perfectly right off the bat, once the spin offs find their own identity and can go their own ways they may pick up. Or they'll forever stink and not last past two series... we'll see.

[f6fhellcat13]

TGUS won't develop with time, I'm pretty sure any show with Adam Corrola will just suck.

[Falcon500]

I do declare im not overly impressed by the whole thing. It has the same flaws as the uk series with even more drawbacks.

While I really like top gear even the UK one does have a habit of shitting me to tears (on occasion especially in car vs plane and other such silly rubbish) it still has 2 very likeable hosts (hamster and james) and clarkson is bearable and often entertaining when hes not being a racist bigot!

These guys are neither entertaining and as a first impression I think it will take some serious work to endear these guys to the viewing public.

[SlickHolden]

So we got Swearing Clarkson.. C+. Swearing seems forced, The 4wd down the hill was funny.
We got Capitan slow.. B-. Slow also, Bit here and there.
And Hamon Hamster.. F. This little midget shitted me, He was very nerves and talked 1 million miles an hour.
The Stig a Roo A+, He drive and didn't make a mistake talking.

Give them sometime to settle in, I hope they lift and become a good team..
But the hamster wanna be shits me already.

[tgpatrick]

I though Wazza was the best. Dunno but there's something about him I like. Probably his honesty. Charlie was abit nervous I thought, prolly trying to live up to Jeremy's attitude, but he was good, in his own way. Steve was just plain annoying and was trying too hard, he likes talking loud and yelling alot. The shark cage stunt was pointless. I think the boys need to get a few decent shows and car reviews under their belt before they do wacky stuff like that. Gotta earn some credibility first I think. I do like the fact that everything is in kilometres and Australian dollars. I'm willing to give the show a chance, these guys need some support especially with being in the shadow of their British counterparts. Won't be long before they decide to do a Simpson Desert challenge I'm sure....