I think ive just realised what the problem is

[junas125]

I think the biggest mistake the directors/producers etc made was to make the studio look just like TGUK. This brings you into TGUK mode and you expect Clarkson, May and Hammond to walk on stage and start presenting. But its not meant to be that and it really isn't. So what they should've done was to make a completely new set, Australian style, different from TGUK, so that you don't come into that TGUK mode and not expect it to be that either.
The hard-core audience, the one that comes to this website, would've been more forgiving then and I am sure it would have worked for the masses also.

[logifuse]

Originally Posted by junas125

I think the biggest mistake the directors/producers etc made was to make the studio look just like TGUK. This brings you into TGUK mode and you expect Clarkson, May and Hammond to walk on stage and start presenting. But its not meant to be that and it really isn't. So what they should've done was to make a completely new set, Australian style, different from TGUK, so that you don't come into that TGUK mode and not expect it to be that either.
The hard-core audience, the one that comes to this website, would've been more forgiving then and I am sure it would have worked for the masses also.

I think you've almost hit the nail on the head.

The above is true, but why is it true? It's because we have seen the original. If TGUK had never been screened in Australia, there'd be no set, group of presenters, style of reviews, camera work, etc. to compare it to (for the non torrenting public). Taken in complete isolation (if that's possible) it's a good show. But it has a yard stick & it's being hit with it.

Australian TV has always been full of imported formats, but how many can you think of/remember that have been successful when the original has been screened here? Apart from a couple of reality shows (I think US Idol & US So You Think You Can Dance have been screened here), there really isn't much. Who Do You Think You Are is one that springs to mind, but there is no presenter, no set, nothing too extraordinary about it. There's a different face every week, so jumping from Stephen Fry to Jack Thompson isn't that strange.

If Never Mind The Buzzcocks was screened here, Spicks & Specks wouldn't have gone past 1 season. How would Good News Week compare to Have I Got News For You or Mock The Week? How do you think CSI: Sydney would go? Flaming heap springs to mind. Would any local game show stack up to the OS original? Would Tonight Live (with Steve Vizard ripping off David Letterman) make it today when you can watch David Letterman instead?

Is it cultural cringe? Maybe, but things are only going to get worse for the TV networks with access to the "original" becoming more widespread through both pay TV & downloading.

As for TGA, read some of comments on non motoring sites (e.g. tvtonight, newspaper sites)- it's simply suffering from being compared to the original becuase the original is there to be compared to.

[mm_wrx]

I usually backup my Top Gear episodes to a DVD. Let's just say that the TGA is not worth that.

[junas125]

Originally Posted by logifuse

I think you've almost hit the nail on the head.

The above is true, but why is it true? It's because we have seen the original. If TGUK had never been screened in Australia, there'd be no set, group of presenters, style of reviews, camera work, etc. to compare it to (for the non torrenting public). Taken in complete isolation (if that's possible) it's a good show. But it has a yard stick & it's being hit with it.

Australian TV has always been full of imported formats, but how many can you think of/remember that have been successful when the original has been screened here? Apart from a couple of reality shows (I think US Idol & US So You Think You Can Dance have been screened here), there really isn't much. Who Do You Think You Are is one that springs to mind, but there is no presenter, no set, nothing too extraordinary about it. There's a different face every week, so jumping from Stephen Fry to Jack Thompson isn't that strange.

If Never Mind The Buzzcocks was screened here, Spicks & Specks wouldn't have gone past 1 season. How would Good News Week compare to Have I Got News For You or Mock The Week? How do you think CSI: Sydney would go? Flaming heap springs to mind. Would any local game show stack up to the OS original? Would Tonight Live (with Steve Vizard ripping off David Letterman) make it today when you can watch David Letterman instead?

Is it cultural cringe? Maybe, but things are only going to get worse for the TV networks with access to the "original" becoming more widespread through both pay TV & downloading.

As for TGA, read some of comments on non motoring sites (e.g. tvtonight, newspaper sites)- it's simply suffering from being compared to the original becuase the original is there to be compared to.

Yea its true what you have said, it was always going to be compared to the original, but they have for sure made matters worse by putting the same intro, and the same studio etc. They have amplified that effect.

[The Fishman]

After watching the whole first season, I enjoyed it. Charlie Cox is the weak link, he is not outrageous enough. Steve Pizzati has been interviewed on Melbourne radio SEN on Mondays. I can't really comment on how I felt about the first episode as my football team had won the championship on the Saturday (for Australian readers: my AFL team had just won the premiership).

[stiggie]

Originally Posted by The Fishman

my AFL team had just won the premiership

*looks at Fishman's avatar*



You don't say.

[tone76]

Originally Posted by The Fishman

I can't really comment on how I felt about the first episode as my football team had won the championship on the Saturday (for Australian readers: my AFL team had just won the premiership).

Collingwood?

[GerFix]

Originally Posted by The Fishman

<snip> I can't really comment on how I felt about the first episode as my football team had won the championship on the Saturday (for Australian readers: my AFL team had just won the premiership).

I can understand that. The first episode could have featured a test of a Koenigsegg (with and without the Top Gear Wing) against an army of angry Spartan Hoplites and a Tyrannosaurus Rex with a flame thrower and would still have been a let down after that Grand Final.

Regards,
GerFix ... Hawthorn supporter since before the introduction of unleaded petrol

[John0877]

personally the best thing they can do to save a few minutes would be get rid of the What Were They Thinking if for nothing else than to get rid of Warren saying What WERE They THINKING?