Top Gear Russia

[Kingsoup]

Things I like about TGR:
1. The presenters have some character. They don't appear to be reading lines off the screen in front of them, they're natural and relaxed, and joke a lot. The Fomenko guy is a Porsche fan, and although he seems biased, at least he has enough passion for cars to be biased. It really seems as if they actually care about what they're talking about. TGA presenters are just dolls who read lines with no connection/chemistry whatsoever.
2. Audience and female cast. Most of the girls in the studio are very pretty. Lots of eye-candy.
3. The challenges. You could actually see Fomenko recklessly speeding in the city streets WHILE there's traffic and people walking around. This could only be done in countries with no laws like Russia. Looks like there'll be fun.
4. The humor. It's Russian, but it's there. The program is made for Russian audience, so they don't try to please the world, just themselves. And it works for them. A lot of stuff said is really silly, and there's lots of careless word play. It's funny, I actually chuckled.
5. The pace. It's good. The scenes short/long enough, are complete and are just right. Everything lasts as much as it should, and there's just enough information provided to keep viewers entertained.
6. The feel. It doesn't feel corporate, if you know what I mean (nudge, TGA). It feels homey in a Russian way. It has warm atmosphere, and I like it.

Things I don't like:
1. Presenters obviously are not car experts. All admitted they were musicians. They reviews are going to be rubbish. But you know what, I don't care. Just say what you feel and make it sound funny, and that's all I ask. I can draw my own serious conclusions.
2. The cars they get for review... I'm not sure if Russia has enough good cars and roads to test them on.

Other than that, there's nothing to complain about. It's cheap, it's fun, and it's Russian.

I agree completly with this! I think its a much more entertaining show then TGA which I find quite boring. The speeding through petersburg I thought was fantastic! And the way he was so arrogant to the cop who pulled him over, and its funny, I think its going to shape up to be the 2nd best of the TG's.

[lukenwolf]

I must admit, I love TGR. Although being german, I spent some 4 years in russsia. The people there is about the most lobeable bunch you'll ever meet - so welcoming - and TGR just captures it perfectly.

[Orubasarot]

Originally Posted by valbowski1980

or when left to their own devices come up with this:

No, when left to our own devices, we come up with this:







This is what a real Russian Top Gear should be about, what we have now is basically Top Gear Moscow.

[The]

Can someone please tell me there they get their Russian top gear rips because i can't seem to find them in any of the threads that I visit?

p.s. I do know Russian so a rip without subs is totally fine and even preferred

[lukenwolf]

Originally Posted by The

Can someone please tell me there they get their Russian top gear rips because i can't seem to find them in any of the threads that I visit?

p.s. I do know Russian so a rip without subs is totally fine and even preferred

One of the FTP servers in the "Video Offers" section has the rips although with a delay, since it takes time to subtitle them. In the episode discussions thread I usually put a link to an online rip, if I find one. Except for 01x04 - the rip of which is broken - I've succeeded on all of them so far

[valbowski1980]

Originally Posted by Orubasarot

No, when left to our own devices, we come up with this:







This is what a real Russian Top Gear should be about, what we have now is basically Top Gear Moscow.

Very nice!

A Zaz has matted with a Belarus

[lukenwolf]

One of my neighbours had a "Zappo" when we were still calling ourselves G.D.R. (east germany). In fact I owe my right hand to one of these carss. in 1984 I was attacked by a dog, which bit 4 fingers off my hand, leaving them connected to the rest of me body by nothing than the tendons. Some bloke rushed me into the hospital using a Zaporoshez just in time for the docs to nail me hand back together in a 2 hours surgery, so thats why I dearly love this little car - if I can get me hands on a decent one, there's no stopping me

[jenna42]

Is there any word about the ratings for the episodes shown so far - good, bad, average, falling, rising?

[waydee]

I've been watching a few episodes today and to be honest I don't mind it, of course it's not the original but it's a decent effort I'd say. It's even got a few chuckles out of me which I wasn't expecting, it does sometimes feel a bit forced and cheesy (the unnatural forced applauses particularly) but for the most part I think they've 'got' some of the humour and have tried their best to replicate it.

Of course not speaking Russian I am likely missing out on a lot of the more subtle stuff but what I have seen I've definitely enjoyed more than the Aussie version which I wasn't expecting, being British I always assumed the Aussie version would be more to my taste but I'd say the Russians have made the better spin off by far and shows the best promise for the future. It just needs a bit of time to mature and some of the rough edges tidied up, it took the BBC at least 3-4 series in the UK to start getting it really good and I suspect the Russian version will be the same.

Just saw the Rover funeral episode and had to laugh, I always wondered what the Russians would make of the endless crap Clarkson has talked about their cars over the years lol.

[freefall]

Originally Posted by waydee

I've been watching a few episodes today [...] Of course not speaking Russian I am likely missing out on a lot of the more subtle stuff [...]

While dogapult's dubs are much easier to follow (you don't get distracted by subtitles, so you might want to try it out, he's put much effort into it, although we're still somewhat being let down by recording quality), the subs contain some of the references and subtle jokes that we try to explain in italics.

TGR is much less sophisticated than the original in that sense. Much fewer subtle references and social analogies, you don't have to be Stephen Fry to get it, while with TGUK you sometimes have, which is a brilliant thing (or should I say had to, since it got dumbed down a bit since series 7-8, but may be getting back on track).

[BeeFzX3]

I just found out that new episodes are postponed until fall No idea on the date.

[Kiskaloo]

Originally Posted by BeeFzX3

I just found out that new episodes are postponed until fall No idea on the date.

Well the UK show is usually 7-8 episodes per Series, with two series per year, so it sounds like TGR is following the same format.

[Moopha]

To be honest, I do not like TG Russian Edition

Cast of actors... Fomenko not bad at all, but other two guys look from another planet..

Their jokes, artisitism are very dull and nasty... I watch series at Youtube,, I even do not want to have them on my hard drives..

[Inspectah13]

I liked the first season of TG Russia, but i love cars and everything car related so i am certainly biased. My only issue was i couldnt tell if the hosts or the translator was missing things occasionally. For instance in the episode with the modern mustang GT the subs say the host is saying it is a six cylinder engine, and i know that the GT has a v8, so was it the hosts, translators, or do russian gt's really just have a six? Also, many of the cars they reviewed arent even stiill in prodution like the 550 or 575(i couldnt tell which, the subs said 550 but it had the hood scoop of the 575) maranello that he raved on about. But all in all i love cars, it had cars, i watched it.

[MXM]

We do miss things occasionally, but the ones you've mentioned are to be blamed on the hosts themselves

[Inspectah13]

Originally Posted by MXM

We do miss things occasionally, but the ones you've mentioned are to be blamed on the hosts themselves

Well the show is cool and id never get through it without the diligent efforts of everyone involved in putting it together and translating it, so thanks to all involved for all of their efforts, they are appreciated.

[maxtortheone]

I haven't followed this TG Russia thing regularly, so this might seem stupid. They stopped after 8 episodes and they're coming back in the fall?

[MadOnion]

Originally Posted by maxtortheone

I haven't followed this TG Russia thing regularly, so this might seem stupid. They stopped after 8 episodes and they're coming back in the fall?

A few days ago confirmation appeared on the REN TV forum, that TG Russia will return in the next 2009-2010 TV-season, so possibly yes, this fall.

[maxtortheone]

Thanks for clearing things up

[MadOnion]

Top Gear Russia returns this Sunday.