[01x03] October 13th, 2008

[MikeW1975]

I thought it was the best episode yet, they are really getting into it now and it was great to see the old Camry win the drag race.

[gti138]

Thought it was a solid episode.. The CLK black & X6 segments were pretty good. Warren pointing out the X6 shouldn't be taken off-road was great.

The paddock bombs were good - but they could have made it longer - Julia was OK - finally good to see someone get fired up when driving... Pity shoud couldn't drive a manual!

Charlie really needs to keep his hands in his pockets or something... The guys do seem to be gelling as a team which is encouraging. I just hope they get it right before SBS runs out of cash to throw at the show.

Reckon it was a 7-8/10 Can't decide really.

[SL65]

Originally Posted by Tranquillizer

glad that you said this, i really didnt notice him on that angle. BTW do you think that all the studio dialogues are scripted.

Do I think? Well I know for this episode that all in-studio bits were scripted. Apart from the Star segment, although even that has a loose script for the questions Charlie asks.

[stiggie]

I liked this episode.

It made me laugh quite a few times. The cinematography was TopGear quality. The reviews were both more definitive and more fearlessly critical than they were in the first two episodes.

The celebrity segment seemed a little too long and I think they need to cut it back to make the challenges longer. To be honest, SIARPC rarely works well even on the UK show. A third task in the scrap-heap challenge would have been better use of the time.

Steve continues to be the presenter I enjoy watching the most. His enthusiasm and humour are infectious. Warren also comes out with a few good lines. What surprised me was how much I laughed at Charlie tonight. His bit about watching a birth in reverse had me in stitches. They seem to be at their best in the non-scripted parts of the show when they are relying on their own wit.

It is really coming along. Good work boys.

[Stoopidflanders]

I really liked this episode. They're getting better as they go.
We have a ratings box thingy on our tv's at our house, and i always make sure everyone here watches it. So the ratings then go up, they get to stay on air, and get to refine the show even more. We need this show to do good, there's no way im watching The Car Show.
I noticed with the challenge cars, that Cox's HT Holden looked to be an old Varitey Club Bash/Rally car. You could tell by the rally tyres, the roll cage, the bigger 202ci engine and the jacked up ride height that those sorts of cars usually get. Would have been a good advantage off road.
And during the straight line test of the Camry on Oran Park's skid pan, i noticed a particular set of skid marks i left on the concrete at a drift day a few months ago. Never knew they'd be famous and seen all over the world when i left them. (i know its a petty little thing to brag about, and no one will ever pick them out, but i saw them and thats all that matters )

[fink99]

I thought the studio bits were actually a bit better this week...although the humour still feels horribly forced at times. dunno about new writers - maybe they need to let the presenters have a bit more input so what they say feels more comfortable. I heard somewhere that Mr Clarkson writes every single bit of his material on the show, so I guess that's why it never sounds forced.

I'm going out on a limb and standing up for Charlie...it's a difficult task he's been set and the current studio structure with him as "leader" makes JC comparisons inevitable, which doesn't help. I think we've yet to see the real value for money Charlie...he seems to me to be gradually settling in to something that'll eventually work. Let's be honest...if any of us think WE could do a better job, we're kidding ourselves.

[hypnotoad8128]

For me, this was the first episode that actually felt like a Top Gear episode. It was fun, there was less arm waving, some good reviews and some good jokes. A vast improvement. They need to keep it up though.

[Dsemaj]

Still getting there. I'm glad to see more criticisms int he reviews, and while I enjoyed it, I wished the cheap car challenge went for longer and included more things, but it was still a laugh.

[mazdaddy]

Originally Posted by hypnotoad8128

For me, this was the first episode that actually felt like a Top Gear episode. It was fun, there was less arm waving, some good reviews and some good jokes. A vast improvement. They need to keep it up though.

+1, and the airplane signalling from charlie will lessen. How can one man keep his arms that high for that long...

[Generation IV]

to be perfectly honest, I can tell the show will be brilliant the more it continues. Everything is starting to sort itself out and I do like watching the show. Notable statement by a fellow forum member is that, the more attention, the bigger the budget and the more interesting the show will become. This is obvious with the cheap car challenge. It was short, probably as a way to keep most costs down.

Im looking forward to later episodes, as this is developing much faster than the UK Top Gear did when it first started out.

And the poofteenth thing? haha well its a bit of stupid humour, a worthy addition i suppose haha.

Looking forward to the series progression

[Tranquillizer]

Originally Posted by Generation IV

to be perfectly honest, I can tell the show will be brilliant the more it continues. Everything is starting to sort itself out and I do like watching the show. Notable statement by a fellow forum member is that, the more attention, the bigger the budget and the more interesting the show will become. This is obvious with the cheap car challenge. It was short, probably as a way to keep most costs down.

Im looking forward to later episodes, as this is developing much faster than the UK Top Gear did when it first started out.

And the poofteenth thing? haha well its a bit of stupid humour, a worthy addition i suppose haha.

Looking forward to the series progression

yes they do do a bit of research lol

[colddayin-hell]

I quite liked it.

I gave it a 9.

[flyingfridge]

I think the track cameras are coming along nicely, it'd be good for them to do an intro to the track like they did early on with top gear UK so we can get a better idea of the layout.

Top marks to steve for the CLK black piece, he's easily the best reviewer of the 3.

Charlie still sucks with the interviewing for the star in the reasonably priced car (i refuse to call it a bog standard car, that is just wank)

[robyob]

Originally Posted by Tranquillizer

next time i will ask them to spend a million pound on the show.

That's the thing isn't it, it would require SO LITTLE extra effort and money to give the presenters some decent dialog. The three of them are doing are doing as good a job as you could expect three episodes in.

But the backroom work is not up to scratch. The writing is poor and the editing sometimes makes absolutely no sense, there's references to dialog that isn't shown which I'm sure confuses the hell out of anyone who isn't a diehard car nut.

Methinks they need an Aussie Richard Porter.

[stiggie]

Originally Posted by flyingfridge

it'd be good for them to do an intro to the track like they did early on with top gear UK so we can get a better idea of the layout.

There is now a diagram of the track on SBS' TopGear Australia website. It has also been posted to the Mapping the Test Track thread here on FinalGear.

[Icedvovo]

I can see a glimmer. Warren's X6 piece would've been a worthy inclusion in TGUK IMO. Nicely written, strong views and beautifully colour graded.

The rest? Hmm. Why couldn't they get Warren's Camry going? Or is it always going to be a Ford/Holden thing? Hmm.

I laughed out load at Steve's cabbie impersonation - "How's the price of fuel these days?".

The track stuff - Stig, SIABSC - seems to be a lost cause. Two cameras just ain't enough.

7/10

[Tommo]

It was a good watch this week, I thought the camera work was excellent in all of the segments.

BMW X6 - I found this to be the best part of the show, after the first episode I've found myself looking forward to Warren's parts the most. It was very thorough and covered pretty much everything you need to know about the car... or whatever it is. I suspect they didn't go further with the off-roading because it wouldn't be able to make it anywhere without getting stuck then severely damaged. Warren seems to improvise and add additional parts to his reviews, whereas the other two presenters seem to follow the script very closely.

CLK Black - It was good but seemed to lack detail. Yes its nice to hear engine noises, but it felt like there were so many because Steve didn't have much to say about the car. I do like it how their road testing and track testing the performance cars, something I'd like to see in TG UK.

Car challenge - Its one of those segments which needed more time and could have been so much more. After the SIABSC I was expecting there to be a large part 2 of the car challenge but there was just a race, then it was finished.

The studio segments still need work, I thought the news came together much more nicely than other weeks but the SIABSC doesn't seem to be getting any better. With any chance they'll have Josh Lawson on at some stage but somehow I doubt it. I'm not sure what others think but I simply don't find Julia funny. Watching her on Thank God You're Here I struggle to laugh at any of her jokes and I found it the same tonight. It might be time for someone to warn Charlie that he's about to take off!

Anyway, its still getting better and I'm happy to spend an hour on it each week!

EDIT - forgot to mention the "I AM THE STIG" shirt behind Charlie during SIABSC

[Wildy]

I like this episode better.

I'm also of the opinion that SIABSC is a bit too long. Then again I usually skip through that when I download the TGUK.

[Icedvovo]

Originally Posted by robyob

Methinks they need an Aussie Richard Porter.

Would Neil Crompton be an overkill to replace Charlie?

[DAFOOL]

I LOL'd at the Stig intro. "Some say his dad used to race greyhounds... and he'd always win because he was driving a V8 Monaro"