[01x02] October 6th, 2008

[stiggie]

I liked it. I thought it was an improvement on last week. The track was filmed better and the boys seemed more comfortable. I would prefer it if they were a little more informative in the comparison tests though.

Next week's episode will be the real test as I believe that episode 3 will be the first one to be filmed after episode 1 had aired so we will see if they have been listening to us.

[national]

Woo Hoo! What a relief after the first episode.

Now I don't mind our overseas friends downloading the torrent.

Nice work, and I will now try to postpone the meeting I have next Monday night (or send in my apology).

[colddayin-hell]

Alot better.

Though Cox looks like a smug arsehole...wait...is one.
And he can't help but show it.


9.

It looks like it'll get better from here on in.

[Necx0]

Good solid episode!! I liked it a lot.

[JS1]

It was rubbish. Sorry - I want to like the guys and the show but it's the simple things they don't do that could make it so much better.

GT40 story was too long - I thought it had finished several times.... There is a lot of history with Clarkson and the GT40, which they could have thrown in - but seemed like they didn't want to offend anyone. In fact none of their tests so far have mentioned a single bad point about the cars (apart from a minor mention of the GT40's doors).

How can you do Ford v Holden and not even mention the power of the cars, the models tested or their price? As long as the GT40 story was they seemed to cut this very short - didn't have any proper results from their testing either.

The ute challenge could have been ok but they didn't set enough rules or explain it throughly enough - hence there was really nothing at stake for bragging rights.

The smart car thing was pointless.

Overall it's still way too rushed - they're simply trying to cram too much in to each show and their scripted jokes are ALL falling very flat.

[forrza]

Better then Ep1 but i still cringed when the star in proton was on. They need to improve that bit a lot. Apart from that and Steve Pizzati yelling at the camera and being generally annoying it was good. I give it a 6.

[stiggie]

Originally Posted by forrza

Better then Ep1 but i still cringed when the star in proton was on. They need to improve that bit a lot.

The celebrity lap is rarely any good even on the UK TopGear.

[jonathan102]

i just turned the tv off 30 mins in.
i was actually looking forward to the Ford vs Holden thing. but it was completely rubbish.

[GerFix]

Well, I'm really encouraged. If they can improve so much in just one episode (and remember, this was filmed before the first episode aired so they weren't responding to viewer criticisms tonight) this could turn out to be a great filler between TGUK series.

Quite enjoyed Charlie's visceral reactions in the GT, the "just warming the tires" catchphrase in the Ford v Holden test had me grinning, the interview with Steve Bisley was better than the Colosimo one (although Cox still has a habit of talking over the guest and jumping around with his questions) and the camera work on the test track was much better.

The segment in Kalgoorlie was really well filmed, with a few good jokes (particularly the Stig in the truck ) and an interesting challenge. I even liked the Smart car hearse bit .... some cocking about, an amusing premise and didn't drag the joke out too long. They could do a lot worse than a segment like this each week.

As with others, I would have liked to see the ford and holden lap Wakefield in competition. As it was, they only had 2 challenges ... should have been "best of 3". Also, Cox will take someone's eye out with all that arm waving ... have to keep a good distance from him at the filming I'm going to on Wednesday

I gave it an 8. Gave a 7 to last week's ... in retrospect should have given it a 6.

[gti138]

Was a pretty solid episode - nearly missed it as I'm getting used to Daylight savings! The episode seemed to flow a lot better - even the quality of the filming was better.

If they keep improving then it's going to be a great series (as an alternative to TGUK) I'll give it a solid 8.

[whitehornmatt]

I was a bit unsure in rating this, basically I gave the last episode a 7 and because of how much better this was I had to give it a 9, though I probably would give it an 8 if I were to vote again.

The GT review was quite good, better than the Porsche review last week. I liked especially how he did spend some time on an actual road rather than the whole thing being a track test, something I wish the UK version would do more often.

What were they thinking was also good, I found it really interesting and funny.

The Ford vs Holden review could have done with a lap of the track and them both in the Clubsport. The Ford really does look so much better, especially the back. It was quite funny with all the random heating of the tyres, I was a bit annoyed they couldn't pick one over the other, but it was a decent conclusion.

The News was better than last week, flowing as a conversation rather than Cox just bringing up a topic and everyone making a comment. The length was better as well.

The Utes in the pit was great, they managed to make something interesting and somewhat informative. Steve's comment about cheating was .

SIABSC was okay, I'm probably very odd in having never heard of him before but he was pretty interesting. In the GT review especially but here as well the filming of the laps has greatly improved.

The Hearse thing seemed a touch pointless, I was hoping to see a stretched Smart rather than a coffin chucked in the boot.

Overall a great improvement over the last episode and didn't seem boring at any point. The music was better as well.

Something interesting was that the show was only 50 minutes long but felt longer than the previous episode that was 55 minutes.

[Eyce]

I gave it an 8.

Much much better than the previous episode.

The power lap was filmed much much better- But finding out that the Nissan GT-R had the Speed Limiter on when they did the lap? What? O_O

Must say though, there's some hilarious material written in this thread by a couple of people with excessively high standards.

[Tommo]

I defended it last week and after tonights episode I breathed a sigh of relief, looks like someone from SBS read through last weeks thread! An enjoyable watch and something I won't be ashamed about our overseas viewers seeing. The SIABSC segment was pretty boring and you could see the guests brain slowly ticking over, its one of those unfortunate segments that plagues the UK TG as well. The studio segment was better but still needs some work to have them use a bit of improv on scripted sections, though it was nice to see smiles from audience members unlike last weeks show.

I gave it an 8, can't wait for next week!

[El_Poochino]

Better than last week.

Felt less rushed, and more relaxed.

Some of that Ford v Holden banter could of been in the studio, and jam in a lap.

Good to see Wazza unleash on the Indians with some more cartoons.

8/10

Enjoyable, good. But there is still room for more. Next week looks good, JC would tune in for the main review.

[fink99]

Hmmm...a few things still bothering me...we really do need to see how the test track works...the SIABSC and stig laps are very confusing to watch without knowing how it's set out. Planes in the background are distracting and the course looks like it was built by work-for-the=dole volunteers.

In-studio banter still sounding a bit creaky too, the interplay between the 3 that's visible on the filmed segments hasn't made into the studio stuff yet.

Thought the Smart hearse story was really nicely played, even though it was a daft idea. Gotta be careful not to get a reputation for that sort of stuff.

I hear that next week's episode is being recorded this week, so hopefully someone will read this and have a bit of a think about the studio stuff. Charlie's getting bagged here but it's a big ask for anyone to take on that role...he appears to be exhibiting Clarkson-esque traits...but he doesn't have JC's wit weaponry to balance. Maybe he should tone it down a bit. Steve and Warren seem to be comfy in their own skins without needing to channel May or Hammond, so perhaps it's that combination that should lead the studio material?

[Sarnya]

Originally Posted by JS1

GT40 story was too long - I thought it had finished several times....
Overall it's still way too rushed - they're simply trying to cram too much in to each show and their scripted jokes are ALL falling very flat.

I hate to nitpick...... but it almost seemed like you've contradicted yourself there. The GT segment too long, yet it feels rushed?

Anyway...A much better episode, didn't feel as rushed. Charlie seemed more at home doing pieces to the camera than in the studio. Ford GT was nicely shot, Ford vs. Holden... was great ("needed to warm up the tyres..." ) Loved the challenge... The hearse segment was a bit weird... looked like it was going to fall off at the end.

Stig in the dump truck and the cemetery was gold

Solid 9 from me.

[Red_Bull]

Originally Posted by GerFix

I gave it an 8. Gave a 7 to last week's ... in retrospect should have given it a 6.

I faced the same dilemma. This weeks episode was clearly better in every way than last weeks which I gave a 7 for, but is it really worthy of an 8? There are still some issues such as the track and the guest was pretty dull for me (although my parents were entertained as they recognised him from Police Rescue, or some such show) but overall it was very entertaining. Ahh hell with it, I'll give it an 8.

[stiggie]

Originally Posted by Tommo

I defended it last week and after tonights episode I breathed a sigh of relief, looks like someone from SBS read through last weeks thread!

Nope. This week's episode was filmed just after last week's was and well before episode 1 went to air.

[Wildy]

I gave it another 7.

It was much better though.

I did like the comics in the news though.

[Tommo]

Originally Posted by stiggie

Nope. This week's episode was filmed just after last week's was and well before episode 1 went to air.

Hah, I just made my post then read the ones posted in the time it took me to write mine and saw it was filmed before the first episode aired... woops. But hey, this might mean there's still a chance of them turning down Steve's volume knob!

EDIT - of course by Cox I meant Steve... still getting used to their names