[01x05] October 27th, 2008

[The Fishman]

Best episode yet, could have spent more time destroying cars in Chapel St and less on Shannon Noll.

Charlie Cox is still the weakest link. Pizatti and Brown have the idea and are prefect for cocking about. It is improving every week.

[colddayin-hell]

Originally Posted by TopGearNorthAmerica

..."Can three drunken Aussies build a better sailing car than James May?" would probably have held the segment better than entering a sailing race and failing completely.

Even though they weren't drunk...and not every Australian is drunk 24/7?

[magrat]

Thought the BMW review was really good, made me laugh when I saw the wombat crossing sign in at 21:55ish - perhaps a few less references to balls, but I thought the review plus the lap afterwards was probably the best 15 odd minutes of TGAU so far. Good to see the track getting a mention, and some much better camera work on the corners.

The R8 section was a happy coincidence - saw one last night where I'm staying in Henley-on-Thames, bloke pulled up outside the real estate agency, had a look for a minute then hoped in a drove off in a disappointingly sedate manner. Thought the camera work was really nice, but I guess given how little room they had on the runway there probably wasn't much more than driving up and down that he could do with it. Burnouts were a bit cringe worthy after a while.

As is said week after week, could somebody tell Cox to relax a bit, perhaps somebody could tie his hands behind his back, might help him.

[edit:] and I want to see their Audi nauticar making the journey from Bondi to Manly beach, or from Rainbow Beach to Fraser island, I hope it comes back (perhaps a season finale around the sydney to hobart yacht race time, racing with the fleet out to the heads!)

[logifuse]

Originally Posted by colddayin-hell

Even though they weren't drunk...and not every Australian is drunk 24/7?

Maybe Dr_Grip can tell us if this is racism or not?

[STIG_mata]

Originally Posted by colddayin-hell

Even though they weren't drunk...and not every Australian is drunk 24/7?

Altho being drunk might help Charlie loosen up a bit ? I get a bit uneasy watching a 'straight' man gesticulate on TV for an hour.....
Maybe he's just not the right guy for the show, he cops a lot of flak and has few supporters.
Hes a bit like Nigel Mansell, (ex F1 driver),... knows a lot about cars but a complete tool when it comes to communicating.

And if they can put up a 'super' or text saying where to get a map of the track because we all asked them for it...
then couldnt they have just put up a small map of the track instead ??
Like Grand Turismo.

Or did they just want the internet traffic to their site ?

[AshDav]

of all the episodes so far, this one's angered me the most
i know that it's been roughly the same as the other ones, but i just saw everything so negatively

first of all, im glad to see the audience is now laughing more. the down side is that its as though theres a giant sign being flashed with laugh written on it. its unnatural and they laugh consistently through all the bad jokes. it just doesnt feel right.

secondly, all of their reviews lack substance
at the moment i have little respect for their opinions. whereas clarkson hammond or may will say something and ill take it into full consideration, i'm yet to consider anything the TGA guys say. They've never given a negative review on a car.
with the 135 review, it really annoyed me how they comparred it to the M3
they needed to compare it to a golf R32 or something in the same range. I see what they're saying about it being a small performance car, but the least they could do is give a propper review.

Lastly, it really needs to be less scripted. everything seems incredibly staged. the camerawork and editing is great, but it needs a much more candid feel, and only then will the stunts like the tractor crushing the car work.

at the moment it 'grinds my gears'
its started, engaged gear, but stalled

i have faith theyll get it started soon though

[GerFix]

Originally Posted by colddayin-hell

Even though they weren't drunk...and not every Australian is drunk 24/7?

Got to laugh about this Aussie drunk misconception ... according to the stats the consumption of alcohol per capita (people over the age of 15 years) in Australia is less than:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Luxembourg
• Portugal
• Spain
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom

... and is close to:

• Netherlands
• Finland
• New Zealand

We are simply not the champion piss-heads we seem to think we are.

[Wyvern]

It's funny, it seems to have been a bit of an opinion splitter when it comes to the comments but people who have voted mostly seem to have liked it. Including me.

I had no idea who Shannon Noll was until I looked him up (and to my surprise discovered he wasn't a woman), but I really enjoyed him being on the show. OK, so Charlie's interviewing wasn't so much bad as odd this week, but I found myself laughing even though I know nothing about him. Enjoyed the R8 and the BMW reviews (though I hope to hear a review as negative as those were positive at some point - and I think I'll be waiting a long time for that - just to show that there isn't an editorial bias towards whoever lets TGA play with their cars) and it was nice that they came to conclusions - albeit "this car is great" in both cases - rather than fizzling out. Loved the Toorak Tractor segment even though it was completely pointless. Yes, it was staged, but no more so than TGUK attempting to reverse park their clapped out 70s supercars. It just made me laugh. In fact, I laughed more with this episode than any to date (and there were no signs to tell me to do that here at home ).

The camera work is improving on the track, or they're trying harder or something. And it's good that they've finally pointed out where you can get an overview of the track. The thing is, even though I've seen it, I still find it hard to relate what's happening to the layout. But they do seem to be getting there slowly.

If there was a weakness, it was the H2O. I'm not saying they shouldn't have done it, but the shortness of the show compared to TGUK really showed here. The segment could have done with being longer to give it more structure but I noticed the running time when they went into the second part and there was only about 4 minutes of the episode left. It just wasn't enough time to do anything with it - which was a shame, because I'm sure more could have been done with it, especially as they didn't manage to sink or crash into anything. And they seemed to have been surprisingly successful in making the car work, so it's a pity the segment didn't quite pull it off.

However, it did give me a thought - if an amphibious challenge becomes a part of each of the international versions of TG, wouldn't it be fun to see an international TG regatta?

More solid work from Warren and Steve, and I'm still warming to Charlie, though I do think he's better out of the studio (see this week's SIABSC for evidence), though they all seemed a bit more relaxed and more free in the studio segments this week to me.

Overall... I still think it's getting there, and I'm enjoying it. That's what I watch telly for, so I'm happy

[STIG_mata]

Originally Posted by AshDav

first of all, im glad to see the audience is now laughing more. the down side is that its as though theres a giant sign being flashed with laugh written on it. its unnatural and they laugh consistently through all the bad jokes. it just doesnt feel right.

Its "unnatural" and "doesnt feel right" because no-one is actually laughing.

Theyre using a "laugh track", a series of recorded audience laughs used to bolster lame comedy.
My wife and I noticed that the 'laughs' are identical in some segments.
Its most noticeable when the studio audience yukked it up repeatedly but the vision showed no-one moving, smiling or amused.
I didnt notice the laugh track on the previous episodes so they are certainly using some post-production add-ons to fill in the silence / dead air..


Lastly, it really needs to be less scripted. everything seems incredibly staged.

Theres no flashing sign to make people laugh, they just add it in afterwards.

My background: Sound engineer, guitar maker.

[ChicagoCub]

As much as I disliked Steve in episode 1 he has come around and found his groove. Warren is genuine. BUT Cox is going to be the end of this show (well that and the all-positive reviews, and the pointless tasks, and the terrible on-set writing..).

For season 2 they need to get a longer time slot and send Cox to Black Stig's watery grave.....maybe in a 4-door holden?

[colddayin-hell]

Originally Posted by ChicagoCub

...and send Cox to Black Stig's watery grave.....maybe in a 4-door holden?

A VC Commodore with the Starfire 4, yes that must be done.

[stuccuking]

What a nice junket for the host, producer and crew to Hamilton Island. How much did Audi pay them?

I'd much prefer them get any 3 cars, (say Mazda 6, Accord, Mondeo) (Insert any 3 here) and take them for a drive a let us know about each car and then give an opinion. I'd like to see a Falcon v's Commodore in dept review as well.
Make it more local info. We don't have a 5th gear show here for the basics.

The 3 don't gel just yet and it's making me cringe. Charlie needs major work.

Is anyone else getting tired of that stupid "what were they thinking" catchcry coming from the audience and hosts. Good idea, back off the staged stuff though.

They have to learn soon that if a segment doesn't work throw it in the bin.

By the way I'd give last night a 5.

[Icedvovo]

7/10 This week.

Audi R8 - Why didn't they make up the Audi logo with the burnout marks?
Boat - Why?
Tractor - Funny-ish. Should've done more - loaded it with clothes shopping, picked kids up from soccer, gone to a golf club. Done a proper Toorak Tractor comparison.
BMW - Liked it, and I liked the car after seeing the film.

BUT!! This week, the TGAU Cock-UP Award goes to...

The Guy in The Audience wiping his nose on his sleeve!! Hurrah!!! (Just before the Stig drives the Bimmer)

[melbournian]

^ Holy shit I totally did not see that one

[fbc]

Originally Posted by Icedvovo

BUT!! This week, the TGAU Cock-UP Award goes to...

The Guy in The Audience wiping his nose on his sleeve!! Hurrah!!! (Just before the Stig drives the Bimmer)

Hah, I noticed that too - also just before that the girl in the shot gave her nose a good scratch / half-pick. Hey, you know, it's fine and all, but not when you're in shot...

Originally Posted by stuccuking

Make it more local info. We don't have a 5th gear show here for the basics.

This is Top Gear, not Fifth Gear, you won't see Fifth Gear style reviews & info on the show because that's not what it is.

[MikeW1975]

I thought it was alright this week, 8/10. The H2O thing was pointless, it would have been better if they had made it themselves (and we had seen it) and they should have made reference to the TGUK car-boats, all they needed to do was hold up the TGUK DVD - The Challenges or something. There should have been a race as well, even if it was only against some little kids or something.

They could have done more with the Toorak tractor thing, I would have liked to have seen more chaos but the cat story was funny as was the drawing. The reaction from those two woman when they hit the SAAB was great as well.

It's good to see Warren and Steve work together, they seem to be gelling well, Charlie doesn't quite seem to fit in. The looking at the roof thing really annoyed me and I wondered how Shannon felt when he was doing it.

My highlight for the season so far was when Steve took his hands off the wheel on the holden going around the test track. The look on his face was a classic, you could see that nervousness of not holding the wheel of a car travelling at 165km/hr.

I'll be hanging in there for the last three episodes of this season.

[Icedvovo]

The other thing is, they shouldn't let Warren wear a watch.

In "Toorak Tractor".

Talking about cat - 11:30AM
Looking for a park - 2:30PM
Reversing into park - 1:00PM

Oopsie.

So, they probably crushed the SAAB first and then did the whole "looking for a park" thing afterwards. And if you look carefully when they drive past the SAAB it looks oddly 'low and dark' at the front and you see glimpses of traffic cones and crew standing in doorways and crouching.

Hehe.

[melbournian]

that's a lot of time pootling around in a tractor and holding up traffic...I would have loved to have been on the street that day and seeing all the well heeled mums looking irate in their SUVS!

[colddayin-hell]

Originally Posted by Icedvovo

The other thing is, they shouldn't let Warren wear a watch.

In "Toorak Tractor".

Talking about cat - 11:30AM
Looking for a park - 2:30PM
Reversing into park - 1:00PM

Damn it, they said peak on Toorak road.

If anyone here has been down Toorak road at say 5pm or late on a Friday/Saturday night, then you'll know what busy Toorak road is like.

[A.Fonz]

Originally Posted by colddayin-hell

Even though they weren't drunk...and not every Australian is drunk 24/7?

This one pretty much is...