[01x01] September 29th, 2008

[Sir Mad Hatter]

I didn't enjoy it. Cox was just an annoyingly past his prime no-body, Steve was such a try hard I wanted to beat him to death with a stick and Warren was smothered by the other two any time he started to get entertaining.

The track at times appeared to be a couple of cones laid out in a car park and the reviews were non-existent.

[adsmack]

would I rather watch it than the UK Top Gear? No.
Would I rather watch it than anything else on TV tonight? Yes.
That's all that really matters isn't it?

I thought it was OK. It'll get better hopefully.

[Leo_Straight6]

I couldnt help but compare the presenters to their UK counterparts really...

Anyone read the article about Top Gear Australia in the Green Guide a few weeks ago and they were saying that they would bring their own merits and personalities to the show?

It somehow feels like they are trying to imitate TGUK too much, Cox is Clarkson, Pizzatti is Hammond and Brown is May.

I'm not such a great fan of Pizzatti either tbh, Brown is the only one of them I like, hes a good presenter

[mitchtj]

Originally Posted by fbc

Yeah, so far this thread is exactly what I was expecting...

It's lucky some of you guys aren't parents - your kids would be suicidal...

hey i came into it with an open mind

i'm trying not to draw comparisons to the english version, but as an hour of entertainment, its still only worth 60%.

[voltagex]

Not bad, but they need to let Steve & Wazza talk a bit more!

[SL65]

I was tempted to be generous and give it a 7. But I was honest and gave it a 6/10.

The presenters:
I genuinely like Warren and Steve. They've got their own styles and personalities which are evident on screen

Steve is a funny guy and my favourite at the moment. I liked a couple of his jokes/lines. He seems very confident on camera and knows how he wants to be interpreted. Much better than I expected...

Warren also fits the show nicely. I look forward to seeing more of him in coming weeks.

However, I am struggling to like Charlie. Its hard to put my finger on it - but he is somewhat 'lost' on that program. He needs to loosen up a lot. He seems too formal and I think is naturally, just not a funny guy. And thats something Top Gear really needs.

The program itself:
The main challange was good but they under utlised the fantastic scenery they went too. It needs polishing up a bit and they need to take more cues from TG UK to get it up to standard. But that will happen in time.

I thought the news segment was the strongest part. I can only assume thats because its scripted like UK TG but thats no bad thing. It didn't look scripted which was nice. All the in-studio bits were done well except for the SIABSC segment which was cringeworthy because Charlie didn't host very well and didn't have much to say.


This program needs more time than I initially thought. Theres definately potential but something needs to be done with Charlie. Hopefully he finds a groove in coming weeks or else I fear it'll negatively affect the show.

[whiz]

Ah Guys, of course it's a direct copy.
That's why it's LICENCED to be Top Gear!

A quick summary.

Pizzati talks too fast. Not scripted enough. Too technical. Too much of a car show. Too many ockerisms. Charlie Cox is not witty at all and sounds like he should have given up smoking quite some time ago.

There is little jocularity between the hosts.

In all though, it seems to have potential. They ran with the surprises and gave each other some crap.

Every single show has a rough first go and this one has an awful lot to live up to.

Give it three episodes before you really trash it. The guys have to get into stride and not be so damn nervous.

They definitely need better scripting.

Now on to everyone else to stab it to death. But you'll watch to see what happens next week...

Kiss of death is the fourth episode..

[deags]

sigh.

No Fords or Holdens on the first week.
Vince was awesome.
Shark thing was stupid.
Should have been more blunt on those half-assed city 4wd junk cars.
I feel the hosts need a few more eps to get a good feel for their roles.
Should speak more freely on the news items heh.
Test track needs some work.

[vanderwater]

I don't think they did too bad a job really. Plus its only the first ep. Charlie Cox needs to learn to talk to the camera not shout at it! Plus Steve Pizzati thinks he has to be Richard Hammond the early years jumping up and down. Warren Brown is so very very good. I really liked him.
They will settle into it I'm sure. Best thing about the studio stuff is they tape it week by week and will take on advise and refine it each week. Not a bad job guys.The film challenge was really good.

But the track on the other hand is completely shit. And the reasonably priced car, a Proton come on! they could have done better than that.

[hainerob]

We need to be comparing this with TGUK back in season one. It will take these guys at least a season to form there own style of presenting.

Also, TGUK has a huge budget in comparison, And lets face it SBS dont make fantastic television --- probably one of the better shows they have ever done!

[flyingfridge]

Originally Posted by cdougw

Next episode with the Holden vs Ford thing.. uhh.. kill me.

Yeah funny how it only took them 2 weeks to give in to the biggest overblown bogan cliche in motoring. Sad really.

[voltagex]

How much shorter did you think the track was?

Also, did anyone else notice they named part of it "Clarkson Corner"?

[Malus]

The episode wasn't bad. But its not what i was hoping for.
Charlie Cox...... get rid of him. To dull and up himself like John Laws.

[underscore]

I remember classic Top Gear not being all that great when it first aired all those years ago.

They really should have introduced the test track, to me it seemed like a carpark with cones and barriers around it. But to give the show a positive spin, the star in a reasonably priced car was actually good. For the past couple seasons of TGUK I have skipped the segment as I couldn't care less about some regional radio presenter. I didn't know who the fella was when he came on the screen and I still don't know who he is, but at least it was interesting. They did the soft roader segment well, star in a reasonably priced car well and they did the 'do something stupid with a car' well. They seemed a bit rushed for the rest of the segments, but I can see hope for the show with a few episodes practice.

[fabsio]

Nope not sold...yet!!

I know we arent comparing this to TGUK but if you went and watched the FIRST TGUK episode, it was pretty crap. The chemistry was not right, the camerawork rubbish and the music mundane, now look where TGUK is. I can't say I wasn't expecting TGAU to be bad, because I was, but only because most fledgling shows are until they find their niche and exploit it, that is what I am now waiting for.

I do strongly think they should have devoted the first episode on introducing the cast and the track, but we would probably have complained even more then that it was boring, so all in all, a not bad effort. I will certainly watch again and hope the iron out those rough edges.

[jonez]

Originally Posted by mitchtj

I'll definitely be tuning in next week for Holden v Ford, but past that i'm not so sure.

Same here. To the people complaining, go back and watch season one of the current top gear UK. They took time to get everything together. IMHO it needs to be considered that it is a new show with a live audience element and huuge expectations.

Taking all these things into consideration, I would give this episode a 7. I hope that the series can improve like it should and not get stuck trying to chase the UK version just for ratings.

The Holden vs Ford does look good, I forecast a lot of traction loss.

p.s. either way its better than 90210 that my gf 'accidentally' flicked onto.

[Hidden_Hunter]

I didn't think it was that bad.

[xsirhc]

I think coxie (or whoever the blonde blokes name is) is going to have to pull his head in a bit, hes trying too hard to be funny. there were glimmers of spontaneous humour there, but not much
warren deserves the inaugural medal for best presenter, his reviews were quirky and well thought out, already defining his own style. and the 3 soft roaders challenge was a good start for the presenters, getting stuck in the snow saw some pretty funny banter, sadly lacking within the studio, but what the hey; that will come with time.

6/10 and definetely deserves to get better

[voltagex]

Originally Posted by Malus

The episode wasn't bad. But its not what i was hoping for.
Charlie Cox...... get rid of him. To dull and up himself like John Laws.

Yeah... but after all the hype of the selection process, how are they gonna explain that replacement?

[Colin H]

Folks


If the HUGE number of audition videos were played as the weekly episode, we would not have to put up with what we just saw....and it most likely would be funnier...

Oh well, only upward from here...

CH