Which Top Gear spin-off is better: Russia or Australia?

[the Interceptor]

Since there was quite a substantial number of people saying that the first episode of the brandnew Russian version of Top Gear was better than the Australian incarnation, I became so curious I had to do a poll. So what do you think, did you find TGR better than TGA?

My personal opinion is that TGR felt "cheaper" in the making, yet it was somehow more substantial. TGA felt like it had more money behind it and was done more professionally, yet somehow they totally missed to get points across and therefore failed. Now, I still find both shows worse than the original by miles, but that ain't the question here. That's also the reason why I left a "I hate both!" option out.

So which one of the spin-offs do you prefer?

[Viper007Bond]

I couldn't stand watching more than a few minutes of TGR. It was terrible.

I like TGA however. It needs work, but it's actually fairly decent.

[freefall]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

I couldn't stand watching more than a few minutes of TGR. It was terrible.

I like TGA however. It needs work, but it's actually fairly decent.

Same for me. Can't stand pickups, but can't stand ignorance and overacting even more.

BTW, Viper, how about a countdown on the front page? It was much quicker with TGA, didn't take you a couple of days after the first episode release to set up a subforum either Don't even get me started on the unicorn that is TGUS I mean come on, the cold war has been over for a couple of decades now

[ahpadt]

Both are fairly terrible but I prefer Australia since I can actually understand what they say.

[pengwin]

i think russia had better content but because of the language barrier we cant really see it...(hear it?). Australia had crappier content but we could understand them so we found it bearable. this is for the first episodes only, TG,AU got better after a few.

[DarkReaper]

They need to refine the Stig somewhat, he seemed very casual in his scenes. From the white-blue racing suit, to the half-open visor he sported. Definitely need to improve it's driving terminator appeal.

The acting was a bit too obvious and Formenko seems to belittle his co-presenters too much. The landrover guy seems annoying to me but I guess he was a bit underused.
The Gallardo sounds dubbed over the Porsche was bad sport and the way they both broke the speed limit in the city and had a few near crashes seems dubious at best.

Overall, I'd say they copy UK Top gear too much. The first episode was just like the Ferrari vs. speedboat race just with far worse cars and boats.

Maybe they should try to handle it in more uniquely russian way, like doing a race along that fabled muddy highway where everyone always gets stuck in the winter. Make it between a Vepr or maybe their hummer clone, and a train for example.

[zookiemike]

I think the Rusk TG beats out the Aussie.
Even tho at times over acted, It was cooler to watch. I mean the race, It was good. They both got flicked by the cops? I didn't even watch all the aussie shows because it became kind of lame.

[nouseferaname90]

Top Gear Australia. Watching topgear through subtitles just isn't the same as being able to understand the stuff.

[IceDeath]

Well, at least now you know what some viewers have to come through, to watch Top Gear Uk, and they still love it =)

TGR was ok, at first it looks terrible, but at the end i thought "Hey, that`s not so bad". It`s good extra to the original TG.

and the way they both broke the speed limit in the city and had a few near crashes

Actualy boat was ok, and while i dont actually live in russia (im from Latvia), but i was there several times, and it looks like absolutely normal driving style at least for moscow. I`m sorry if im not right, people who lives in russia and drives every day, can comment better on this.

[informale]

It's too early to vote, just after 2 episodes of TGR. But still, i think even after 15 eps i would go for Aussie.

[Kiskaloo]

I agree it is too early to vote.

A number have commented on how they dislike that TGA and TGR are copying TGUK, but I think that is the whole point of the endeavor - to make a "localized" version of Top Gear to appeal to a wider audience in that country then the UK version does. Think of the UK version as a test whether or not a market likes the idea of a car show with three blokes cocking about while they talk about cars in-between. If they do, then the next step is to try and expand that initial "beachhead" with a localized version.

On that premise, I found TGR did a better job of "copying" TGUK with it's first episode then TGA did. While I agree the "challenge" wasn't much and the "track tests" were lame, at least the SIARPC segment had some attractive women which wasn't the case when the UK team held their own little party for the Lacetti at the start of Series 8.

I didn't write-off TGA after the first episode, but instead stuck through it for the entire series and came to appreciate it more with each new episode so I will give Series 2 a chance. Future installments of TGR may reinforce my position on the show vis-a-vis TGA or it may lower it.

I like all three presenters on TGR, which is a plus. They seem to already have some chemistry, which I didn't see with the initial episodes of TGUK and TGA. Replacing Jason Dawe with James May with the start of TGUK Series 2 was a great choice in my opinion. Charlie Cox was the TGA presenter I liked the least, so I am not exactly sad to see him go, though I don't know what credentials James Morrison brings to the show.

[Richmondgal]

Having to watch subtitles, as well as the cars and getting the lame humour, not to mention the amount of girls they have in their audience, TGR is pretty bad, but still good in a way.

TGA on the other hand is more out there, but still not being ambitious enough (ie new ideas, although you could say they had plenty of new ideas, but they did steal the amphibious car thing). And also you don't need subtitles.

[the Interceptor]

Although I liked TG Russia better, I'll surely keep watching TG Australia. It's just that they had a better basis than the Russians but still came off worse (in my opinion) that left me baffled. The Australians had great cars on, I quite liked the presenters, and they had pretty much all the bases covered. But what totally destroyed the show for me, and left me with thinking that the Russian version was actually better, was that their reviews only very rarely were anything useful.

Take Warrens review of the Maybach for example. I like they guy, I really do. But what was the point of that? He was being driven around it for 3 minutes, ranted about the headphone, and then he presented the conclusion that an S-Class is a much better car. Now, he may be right with the verdict factually, that I don't deny. But the way he got there was horrid. There was no structure in that whatsoever. And despite having a few funny and interesting bits on, it never got better throughout the series, independently of the car and the presenter.

So my verdict of TGA is a bitter one: they had everything they needed, but they missed an important bit throughout the series: composition. TGR feels much lower on budget and has a very different flavor. Yet, somehow I thought that even the very first episode had more substance than TGA. And that's why I prefer the Russian version.

[SickFinga]

In my opinion TGR was much better than TGA. I gave up on TGA after 3 episodes, but I should've given up on it after the first episode. What I liked about TGR is that hosts did not try to act like UK hosts, they were themselves. Some people said here that they were overacting, this is not true especially for the main host. There were some jokes that were lost in translation, but some very not funny at all. It does look like it's low on budget but it was much more interesting to watch than Australian one for some reason.


P.S. About 15 years ago, Fomenko, used to have a TV show called Interception. There were two teams, each one gets a car, 5l of gas and a LO JACK alarm in the car. Those two teams would have to run away from 5 police cruisers that could track LO JACK. Each team gets a 5min head start. They would drive on public roads breaking all kinds of laws. Everybody were speeding, running red lights, go "off roading". I remember one team used a crane to life their car on top of a building, another team put a car into an 18wheeler trailer. If after 30min they won't get pulled over they get a car. Greatest show on Russian television. I can't imagine how many politicians were paid off to allow this show.

[javierel22]

Both are very similar, but i hated the content of TG Australia. They seem to have more budget than the russians, but they're rubbish. I stopped watching TG Australia after a few episodes and i don't know if i'm gonna watch another episode of TG Russia...

[Jolly Roger]

I represent a minority of people who enjoyed TGR more than TGA. From the start of the show I knew that I would have to read the subtitles (forgive my ignorance, I haven't learned Russian). With that being said, I found the episode to be very relaxed unlike the Aussie counter part.
In TGA, Charlie Cox's voice sounding like a circular saw cutting through angle iron. I could hardly watch TGA without grimmacing in pain. Though the production quality was noticably better, the chemistry between the presenters sounded like very forced humor as if they were threatened to "be funny or die". Furthermore, TGA was attempting to create new features for the show before they had an feeling for what the UK Top Gear formula could provide. Honestly, who in the world likes the "What were they thinking" board?
TGR had a different approach. They new they weren't going to receive international acclaim for this show on its first episode. They had a proven formula and they used it. As much of a knock off as people claim, the show succeeded in it's mission to cater to the local car fan of Russia. The Russian's have it right. Step 1: Take an award winning show and don't mess with it. Step 2: Become gounded in the basics before moving onto new ideas.
Top Gear is a franchise. Use the formula in new locations and don't water down the brand image with experimental features.

[codymac]

The Russian hosts, especially Formenko, seem to have an inherent energy and enthusiasm. The only way I can really describe it is that his Russian-ness (and the show's) comes across loud and clear, and that's a good thing, IMHO.

I enjoyed it more than TGA.

Originally Posted by Richmondgal

Having to watch subtitles, as well as the cars and getting the lame humour, not to mention the amount of girls they have in their audience, TGR is pretty bad, but still good in a way.

I suspect you get what I mean.

[viilaaja@pt cruiser]

As a person living next to russia, i'd say it is slightly better than TGA, but still there is much more to do better.
It was enjoyable, but still meh.

Lets see how they evolve thourgh the series and then compare TGA and TGR later, for now i'll watch it as TG isn't on air

ps. TG is always better than TGA/TGR/FG

pps. had to update my sig for my opinion

[lukenwolf]

I think for the moment TGR is better. They got off to a sloppy start, massively improved on their second attempt with still very much room for even further improvement. The chemistry between the hosts seems to become better - very obvious in the news segment. I especially liked their little nasty digs at each other "two words, and you're going to cry" - "What, lets kiss?"

[Jolly Roger]

Where can I find it?