[01x01] September 29th, 2008

[01x01] September 29th, 2008

  • Total voters
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The question is will they have the guts to lay the smack down on cars they don't like? Thats what I felt was missing from the off-road challenge.
And yes I know they have that what were they thinking bit.. but that was just lame.
 
i cant imagine what those 3, plus the production crew are going through right now. after wrapping up the filming, all that was left was to wait and see how viewers react. im thinking positive. in fact, i liked it. improve the camera angles on the test track is another must, completely missed vince's near upset through the twistybit (how do u spell shikane? o_O) and more genuine opinions within the studio.
was it just me or did the proton actually sound pretty good? certainly better then the daewoo TGuk use
 
Its not a bad first effort!

Its not a bad first effort!

Well done guys!

I think the first episode succeeded on a number of levels.

1) Not a single reference to Ford vs Holden - THANK GOD - the fact that is for the 2nd episode is a good thing and hopefully the only reference for the season.

2) The presenters are ok to listen to, they are trying too hard in some places but I think they are carving out their own niche.

3) The use of the Australian Outback as a backdrop to good looking cars is a great idea.

Things worth improving:

1) Get a better test track, I am sorry but it looks cheap and nasty and its very hard to get an idea of the layout. Cessna's in the background just dont look good - sorry.

2) The presenters need to relax more, I am sure that will happen as the series goes on

3) The photography and editing needs improving. The photography in the UK version is fantastic.

I think its got potential and I will watch next week.
 
Mr Snow said:
Porsche test... Apart from the review itself and editing (with was nothing special but not that bad) my major grip was the speed it looked on the road, I know if it was fast, whingers would have gripped, but they made it look like it was travelling at 40, even the Soft-Roader suffered from the lack of road pace on the bitumen parts... Dammit speed it up :mad:
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Clearly to appease the wowsers who seem to have way too much political clout. They should stay well away from doing road tests on performance cars and keep it all the the airfield.
 
thetron said:
Commercials kill the show and break up the unique format that makes top gear interesting. To the point where each segments are beening butchered to fit in with ad breaks
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No ad breaks = no TGAu. They're a necessary evil for us.
 
I think the whole point of the maybach was merely to segue into the what were they thinking
 
fbc said:
It's an Australian car show - of course they're not going to ignore the Holden vs Ford thing. Provided they don't over-do it it'll be fine. And hell, leaving aside the Red vs Blue factor, look at it as a test of two of the best value for money performance sedans anywhere on the planet that also happen to compete in our market and are unique to it.
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he's one of those elitist import drivers

its cliche'd, but i tend to get on along better with most Holden or Ford guys, than the arrogant R33 drones, constantly trying to explain to me why their old pile of shit is better.
 
I think, as a television show IN ITSELF, Top Gear Australia has a lot to be desired. While the English-accented Australian does well as compare, his bearded young bloke's poor camera savvy and obviously over-scripted delivery is totally annoying. His overacting hurt this TV show more than anything else.

While I am fully aware it follows the same format as TG UK it, IN ITSELF, was a poor show. The other bloke (Warren) sounds a lot like Alan Brough from Spicks and Specks - is he a New Zealander? Please, don't take this the wrong way (about them sounding from Overseas), BUT,three Australians: One with British accent (nice job but stop screaming at the camera), One with a NZ accent (not bad, but stop being over-directed) and one with an inbuilt Hammnod Complex (who can't operate without overacting and working with obvious scripted lines and so bloody ocker it makes you cringe).

Stig fair - have a few thoughts on who (if Australian) it could be.
Agree with comments on five new cars being time trialled - trying too hard.
Loved the "what were they thinking?' wall. But get rid of the map pins and get some magnets so they don't swing on the pin when being put up.

I was was very happy to be educated on how double-clutch systems work. The drawing in the sand with a stick was very Australian and the whole family, especially me and my wife, found it to be the most worthwhile bit of car-speak on the whole show.

Vince Colosimo was easily the best part of the show. Glad the compare did the interview himself because the other two were: a) Little Bloke - Shit and b) Warren fair but could be far better with some less direction and do his natural feel.

And for Crissakes, do a map of the track, and do something with the (only?) camera! What did you do that with? A Handicam?

Will watch next week and the week after. If it's still crap by the end of Episode 3, that'd be the end of it for our family of five.....
 
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Ok so... lets get the critisism out of the way. firstly, as someone who focuses on voice a lot, my god I cant stand Charlie! I don't mind the hammond clone though... Steve I think? He seems to be intelegent at least.

The track, I would love a runthrough on it. It seems complicated, and whats with the roadwork blockades? Also... Clarkson Curb? theyre not serious...

The shark thing, um... what? I'm a little lost on that one.

And perhaps someone can clear up a little confusion I have. So, they get loan of a million dollar car... Which he never drives, and the most interesting thing they can find is the headphones in the backseat, that are no differant to normal headphones except they have the car insignia on them? Right... I'll spend less and buy my own headphones thanks.

I have two main issues with it though. Firstly, theyre cloning UK, badly. All three hosts are clones of the UK boys, the studio is near identical, the way they shot the 'car review' was just the same, Even the voiceover sounded the same, and couldn't they have had some fun with the stig, a new costume maybe, I actually liked the idea of an aussie name, I will forever call him Stiggo!

Secondly, and more importantly, the producers seem to think we're idiots, and have no concept of who we are. Forget cars, this is the brand new 'lets-see-how-many-aussie-steryotypes-we-can-fit-into-one-hour' show. bloody hell. Whats they're name for star in a reasonably priced car? Star in a bob average car or something? When is the last time we even used that term. Someone watched Kingswood Country and decided thats who they would market to didn't they.

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However, I wasnt completelty disapointed. I give critisism to see how they can improve.

I actually liked the soft roader segment, it was funny, it was somewhat informative, they could have done better but its a start, and while you city slickers mightn't care, it is relevant to quite a few australians (though, I'll stick with the 4WD myself.)

I also loved seeing australia in film, and having a news segment relevant to us!!! that was just... weird! lol

I love the 'What were they thinking' Wall and would actually like to see TGUK adopt it. It has a lot of potential.

I love the hammond-clone, almost as much as i love hammond (but not quite ;) )

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Chemestry takes time to develop, people take time to get into a comfortable place both with each other and with their medium. You couldn't have turned this on expecting a show like TGUK season 7/8 (their prime time IMO), and if you honestly did you're a moron. Go back and watch the early TGUK eps, they were the same. I think they may need the whole season before they really get the hang of this, and while I may not tune in every week, I havent lost my hope in them yet. If they let themselves be a little more individual, a lot less steryotypical, and learn the balance between cars and entertainment, they could make something of this.
 
I thought it was pretty good actually. I don't think I've ever watched a show that couldn't be improved in some way. They've shown some guts to pretty much put the show out there with all the publicity and hype straight up. No one off pilot or anything. They will refine it as they go along.

Some points:

- I don't think Charlie is too bad. He seems to have more of an anchor role than Clarkson, and if anything is more "polished motor TV commentator doing a walk to camera intro" in the studio. He'll relax a bit later. Big responsibility he's got.

- I think the comedic "timing" is off a bit in the studio, but think it's more due to the editing than what would have happened during filming. This will come together.

- They seem to be gelling well. However, you don't get to see the laughing after the comedy bit too much to emphasis how much they are having fun. You often get treated to JC and Hammond rolling around for 10 secs in TGUK. They all seemed to get on quite well.

- I think a lot of the editing problems are caused by a shorter timeframe (to cater for the ads), and trying to get a lot in one EP to get the season off to a good start. Trying to get a lot of TG Hallmarks in. A bit of "See? We are TG! Really!"

- The multiple cars around the lap a think were to get some cars on the board so that future tests actually had something to compare to.

- I've always liked WB. His Peking to Paris Doco was like going travelling with some of my mates, so he was always going to be good.

- I give it a 7, but I think in 3 EPs time it'll be a cracker!

- I reckon Pizzati will be good when he gets to do a review.

- My first thought about the Maybach review was, "$1M for a car, and no wireless headphones?"

- I didn't mind the ocker sayings, but liked the drawing the trans in the dirt with a stick to explain something. Pretty Australian thing to do.

- I reckon Charlie will actually NOT be a Clarkson clone. For a start, JC would plead ignorance about how the gearbox worked.

Not a bad first effort, and happy they made it. All will be good.
 
mitchtj said:
he's one of those elitist import drivers

its cliche'd, but i tend to get on along better with most Holden or Ford guys, than the arrogant R33 drones, constantly trying to explain to me why their old pile of shit is better.
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Let's keep this to a discussion about the show and leave the personal insults & generalisations aside eh?
 
Now that was the greatest flop I have ever seen. I agree with the very accurate criticisms voiced above and can only ask how can anybody spend $1,000,000 per show and come up with such rubbish. Their only breif was to "not stuff it up", well guess what, that sucked. we can only pray for an early death.
 
A solid 7/10 from me. I thought it was a very good pilot and sets up the rest of the series. It's been said again and again, but give it time to grow. My main criticism is they tried to cram an awful lot into that first episode and it might've benefited a bit more if they cut one or two segments and used the time to really focus on the soft roaders.

A few other things, mainly to do with the editing of the show which seemed a little snappy and the point of some of the videos became lost in their translation. The test track camera angles really need improving to give the viewer a sense of speed and even location of the car. The angles we saw just didn't convey any excitement and urgency that you get on the UK track.

I'll be back next week to watch it :)
 
mitchtj said:
you mean the most important battle in australian motoring, with the 2 real australian performance cars?

grow up
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I've been VERY sideways in both cars and know that they're both excellent in their own right. The need to argue about it is childish in the first place.
 
I agree with whomever made the comment about the ad breaks. It was a definite killer. It seemed that each time the guys warmed up, they cut to an ad.

I'm not a fan of Charlie but I'm willing to wait out the season to see what changes are made.
 
flyingfridge said:
Clearly to appease the wowsers who seem to have way too much political clout.
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I'd love to see Harold Scruby, president of the Australian Pedestrian Council and the prime reason why that Porsche piece looked like it was filmed in a school zone, as the SIABSC. Might help him loosen up a bit. He's also the reason why Aussie car ads can't quote power figures or can't allude to anything relating to performance these days as well.
 
flyingfridge said:
They should stay well away from doing road tests on performance cars and keep it all the the airfield.
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depends. i know of some windy bits in the victorian alps where the speed limit is set to a safety 100 or whatever, green circle around the speed. mt buffalo for example. a nice bit of road where it aint against the law to get some speed up, rather then pootling about at 40 like in that clip. that 911 could certainly handle some corners.
 
hey the original top gear episode were great. i admit. But thats because you look back at them now with more respect due to what the show has become. We will do the same if Aus TG gets the green light from people. But they too wernt very polished at the beggining. The show UK show has completely changed. no episode themes anymore.
J_288
 
Actually, I really enjoyed it.

In comparison to the First 'New' Seaon of the UK Based show, I thought it actually did better.

Give it a few weeks, and it will be even better.

They (the hosts) need to be more relaxed and naturally, and not use the 'forced' jokes they seemed to use.

Well done guys.
 
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