[02x01] May 11th, 2009

[Adunaphel]

http://www.finalgear.com/shows/topgearaus/2/1/

And that is number one for the second season.

New lead host, how will they fare?

Oh, and
Remember to vote!

[stiggie]

Thanks Adunaphel.



I thought it was a great episode. Much improved over series 1. It was very funny and James fit in really well.

[L2D]

I thoguht it was actually quite good.
I liked Waz and Jim on the 'huge luxury crusier with the jacuzzi' and that lambo was just so awesome
the trampoline part was hilarious
skaifey was all over the place, surprised he didnt crash
couldn't really care for the review

Decent ep, 8/10

[Tommo]

Everything flowed through nicely, there weren't any cringe worthy moments, they attended to the gripes from the old series and finally did a track run through. The segments didn't feel rushed and it looked as though the audience was genuinely enjoying themselves. Warren did a good job at interviewing, I didn't find Steve as annoying as he used to be and I thought it was a good start for James.

The race with James and Warren was a bit dull, but expected as I believe it was the first segment they filmed together. I gave it a 9 for being good to watch and a huge improvement over the last series.

[Bomber]

I think the producers are getting the idea of what Top Gear's about (although come to think of it only one segment was spent testing cars). I think James has elevated the other two compared to Charlie Cox, I only hope that Warren is the best interviewer of the three if he will be doing the rest for this season.
I can say that I wanted to watch this episode rather than making myself watch it, which if nothing else is an improvement. I really hope that showing the old Holden ad was a one-off, there's no way to pretend that this is a real segment.

[vanderwater]

HUGE improvement

I really enjoyed it

the new production team are on the right page

James does fit in really well and is quiet comfortable in front of the camera

Warren does a much better job at the interview part

A solid 8 from me

[evan_a]

There's definitely a different scale to the voting this season I think - last year I voted comparing it to every other "Car Show" that had been on Australian TV beforehand. This year, if the first episode is any indication, it can definitely be rated on its own merits.

That said, I really enjoyed this. Warren was a 100% improvement on Charlie during the interview, his delivery was much more natural (it almost seemed as though he was making up the questions as he went along?), someone told Steve to stop trying quite so hard (I think his TG Live experience probably helped here), and James was great, if (understandably) a bit nervous.

The challenge was entertaining, without being truly epic, it was nice to finally have the track explained in some detail, loved seeing that stupid WWTT wall being smashed, and their attempt on the Lancer ad was pretty damn funny.

All in all, a pretty fresh start, and certainly a good one.

[melbournian]

I honestly do not have a bad thing to say about this episode. James fits in so well with the other guys, and they do gel so much better as a team now than they did with Charlie Cox. They way they got rid of the WWTT board was just priceless, and as pretty much all of us guessed Warren is doing a really good job with the interview so far, he's so much more natural and engaging. I think on the whole they've all stopped trying so hard and it's just become more natural and enjoyable to watch. The recreation of the Lancer Sportback ad was just priceless (although I do kind of wish they'd thrown the double bass off the side...). It was great to get a walk through of the track as well, I had a 'now I get it!' moment after they explained how all the corners worked. all in all a massive improvement on last season, and now I really am looking forward to seeing what else they can come up with.

[Mr Snow]

Funny and enjoyable episode 7/10
James was a bit wooden but to be expected for the 1st time. The Evo review was ok but nothing standout, challenge didn't live up to all that much but the in-studio parts were good.
Liked to see them taking a jab at themselves and stepping away from some of the UK Top Gear shadows.

Hope it gets better as it goes... next week looks good on that front, lets see how it pans out.

[Atreidae]

Watching the ep for the second time now (missues just got home)
no more of charlie fapping on about utter CRAP!

and it was actually funny for once too!!
nice one taking the piss on the lancer Ad

[watever]

huge improvement. glad they ditched the WWTT board. that segment was plain annoying. solind 8/10 from me

[lockstops]

Wow! Top Gear Australia is finally here!
What a difference getting rid of Charlie has made! The dynamic is instantly so much better. But what I was really curious about, was to see how a seasoned 'pro' like James would go. It just goes to show how hard a gig it really must be because, even with 30 odd years of show-biz under his belt, he looked a bit wooden compared to Steve and Waz. Actually, just on that, I think Waz was simply wonderful as an interviewer (and THAT look from Mark Skaife was priceless!) and Steve was quite engaging and informative.
Great job. I hope they keep it up.

[camsinny]

I'm interested to see what the rest of the world thinks about this because I throughly enjoyed it.
I had genuine laughs throughout the whole episode and everything seemed a lot more fluid.

James meshed perfectly and I loved the first segment. I especially loved how they focussed on the race on the track between the two, some great shots in there.

The explanation of the track was great, I still think that the cameras are a bit off, at least they were in the SIABSC segment. But that, and the annoying vignetting on the in-car stuff in the first segment are my only complaints.

The cinematography was much improved on the first series too.

I liked the stunt and all the in-studio stuff was good.

Now I can't wait till the 21st when I get to be a part of the audience

9/10

[Icedvovo]

Set the scene. Kids in jammies. Comfy hand-me-down couch. Longneck of West End Draught for dad. Hard rubbish data projector connected to an eBay G5 Mac via a Zazz HD USB TV stick. TV is writ large 6 foot wide on the wall.

The perfect conditions for TopGear Australia. Season Deux.

What an improvement!

The Mitsi vs BMW was beautifully shot. I still can't figure out how the flying shots were done. Stunning. Seamlessly edited. Bravo.
Love the explanation of the track. Nice graphics.
Skaiffy was great. How frikkin' competitive is that man! One of the best SIARPC ever. Globally.
Warren - very natural. As usual.
Steve somehow reminds me of Brett from Flight of the Choncords.
James was a bit 5th Gear. But that's okay. He'll come good.

On the flip side.

The Challenge was a non challenge. There was no 'Heroes Journey"

Here's the formula of The Challenge. It worked for George Lucas, it works for TGUK, it will work for TGA. If you producer guys read this, please PLEASE use this for your future challenges.

http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/sm...f/summary.html

Mitsubishi so very obviously had money in the show. James picking an Evo 10 out of all the cars in the world and then the (curiously quite funny) recreation of the Lancer ad. Very contrived. (But funny all the same)

And what was with the 'forgotten' ad segment - Football, Meatpies ad thing? Pointless.

However. In all. I believe there was was a suspension of disbelief. For the first time ever I actually thought I was watching TopGear

8/10

Take a bow.

[dophoto]

They are doing a thing with old ads, its not a one off thing.

I thought the Ep was great, and a big step forward in the right direction. I have noticed they arent doing Stig intros anymore like UK. And they way they have structured the new season is good.

I have to rewatch some bits as i was in and out.

Compared to last season i give it a Solid 8.5

[stiggie]

There was no news. I'm going to miss that if it doesn't come back, its an integral part of TopGear.

[Oaksey]

I thought it was good.

Nice that they got the chopper out to take some shots of the track rather than from some tripod hundreds of metres away, a couple of nice chopper shots of the lambo too and both well edited.

Icedvovo: you perhaps didn't notice with them dropping the stuff into the car it was a proton, same or more or less the same as the "bog standard car" from the track.

Challenge was a bit mediocre but watchable and it had it's moments. I think the WWTT board started well in series one but then they ran out of good material so I suppose it was fair enough to can it and in dramatic fashion!

Overall I enjoyed it, it did well to not really have any lows but I think it still has more potential to grow so I gave it 7/10.

[stiggie]

Originally Posted by Oaksey

Icedvovo: you perhaps didn't notice with them dropping the stuff into the car it was a proton, same or more or less the same as the "bog standard car" from the track.

And James is a huge fan of rallying. He has even competed in a few rallies himself. It isn't a surprise that he'd pick an Evo X for his first review. Especially since TGA have already reviewed the WRX STi.

[gti138]

I went with an 8 for this return to the screen (and return to form!)

Glad Charlie has left - I could only handle so much arm waving and general faffing about. Warren was excellent at the interview - however Skaifey is a pretty good interviewee and quite media savvy - will be interesting to see how he fares with someone less engaging.

It should get better from here... Welcome back TGA! Will also tide us over nicely until TGUK comes back too!

[jullenberg]

This was actually quite a good episode, a huge improvement over season 1. New presenter was better than the old one and segments were all solid. Too bad the track segment was a year late though. Looking forward for the next episode.