[01x04] October 20th, 2008

[01x04] October 20th, 2008

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Who cares about minor damage on someone else's Astra's? It was worth it for entertainment value.
Nobody complained when Clarkson backed a tractor with trailer into the side of an AH Astra when they were planting diesel seeds a couple of seasons back, and he did huge damage!
 
mitchtj said:
~ I would still like to hear a bit more feedback on the car itself, it was almost just "it goes fast, watch it do some burnouts" ~
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That was my biggest gripe with the W427 review too. They put most/all of the detail into the talking back at the studio after the fact.

And they could have added some points on the TRD Hilux too. But it was a challenge overall. (Maybe SBS told them to "make the indigenous bloke win"?)

News was ok and the lawn bowls was funny, liked banging up the astras :lol:

And I thought Jack Thompson would have been better than that! (he was pretty decent in the "who do you think you are" episode)

7/10
 
9/10 for me, I really really enjoyed this episode, and big improvements overall. The guys seem a lot more comfortable and natural in front of the camera.

Challenge - was enjoyable, and well shot, and the guys have a really great rapport going. Seeing grown men panicking about a bee is always amusing. Warren is still my favourite host.

News - Warren's cartoon of the electric car with the coal station out the back was gold, but also a very good point. 30 acid and lead filled batteries can't be all that environmentally friendly either.

W427 - LOL! Steve is hilarious. His staggering out of the security building was priceless, and the 'rotus' position around that test track was pretty cool to watch. The car looked amazing too (apart from the red leather interior...ew). I really really really wish they had more cameras on the track though! It's annoying watching everything being filmed from a kilometre away, and then when the car kicked up a bit of dirt you couldn't even see what was happening. Plus instead of actually filming the car going around the corners when they were talking about it, the camera was anywhere but.

SIABSC - He may be prolific but I can't remember any fantastic movies he's been in. Better than Julia Zemiro but the interview kinda lost steam pretty quickly once they started actually talking about his cars and career. I'm not sure whether that's Jack Thompson's or Charlie Cox's fault. Speaking of Charlie, he's growing on me, even with all the semaphoring.

Lawn Bowls!!!!!! When I saw the preview I was interested but not terribly so, but it was a great segment, and an absolute hoot to watch.

Aw man now we have to wait a whole week for the next episode.
 
Good episode, i liked it. Gave it an 8
Charlie still isnt impressing me though - either he needs to improve his on screen antics or get off the show
He *may* be bringing the show down..

Lets hope it will improve
 
Probably the 3rd episode I've given a 7 too now so a solid 7 at that. I think now that we are starting to get a bit use to them naturally they start to warm to us a bit. At the start it was just direct contrast (in finesse) to TGUK and cringing to be quite honest but now it seems to be getting a bit better. I think the presenters are not quite laughing at themselves unnecessarily anymore, occasionally this still occurs however. Though the jokes weren't so clever I just had to have spontaneous laughter they did manage to put a smile on my face a few times and there were some witty/original remarks in there that had the desired effect. I'd say they have done well to get this far, its certainly not too bad for a team that on the whole is essentially still a beginners attempt, however it seems as much that I am getting use to their style rather than any major improvements on their part. I actually dont think they necessarily need to try and be funny at all, I'd rather just have a car program that is people rather than a 1/2 hour-hour long advertisement of various car companies with some big shots presenting it. That I think is the true spirit of Top Gear. Scrap the forced and very obviously embarassing comedy and focus on just letting the team develop themselves.
 
As much as you say that, i havn't heard them rubbish a single car yet. Clarkson is at his best when the cars are at their worst.
 
Not bad. I rated it 8.

Quite entertaining, but the cameras on the track need work, Charlie needs to stop shouting and control his flailing arms...if he swings them round much more he might take off.

Oh and they should mention pricing a bit more...apart from that I reckon it's gonna be ace the rest of the season.
 
The SIABSC was the worst interview I think I have ever seen. Dont get me wrong though, this is meant as a serious critique. My main point about it is that firstly Cox seemed like he was drunk (no really), he slurred words and looked generally disinterested. Secondly Cox is given alot of space to play with what he was saying yet seemed to ramain silent. This call on a comparison to Clarkson, even in the first seasons he was able to connect with the guests, I think its probably his skills in journalism. JC is able to take what guests say and make it interesting, and he himself seems interested in it as well. Cox doesn't do that, I think if he did play with what guests say he will be a lot better for it.

Other then that I think the episode was pretty good. I loved the lawn bowel segment as i have relatives that play it and got me into it (on lazy sunday afternoons). I love Warren Brown, he is the presenter of all of them.
 
Ep1 6/10
Ep2 7/10
Ep3 6/10
Ep4 9/10

That was a really good episode! Great mix of segments, some good laughs, great filming and the music was much improved.

Firstly - HOW THE HELL DID WARREN THINK UP THAT LAWN BOWLS IDEA?! :lol: It was great! I wouldn't want to be the insurance company, or Holden haha...

The Kimberly challange was excellent. The filming was quality and the music was much improved, as mentioned before. There are quite a few good quotes coming out of that bit - eg; "My wheels in the air, thats a point of bloody interest!" - C.Cox. And Warren signing....ahhh that was classic, lol.

I liked the W427 review. I like how unlike UK TG, they allow us to hear the tyre roar and the sound of the car slicing through the air instead of putting music over it. And I just liked the general lunacy of it all. My only complaint is I didn't hear much information and/or opinion of the MRC (Magnetic Ride Control).

So all in all - that was a seriously improved episode. I feel sorry for the people who no longer watch the program after a rough start because they missed out.

BTW that was a seriously boring celeb. So boring it was funny :lol:
 
I'm afraid I dropped the markings and gave this one a 6...based on how I felt by the end of it.

Remember in the movie Planes Trains and Automobiles when Steve Martin's character is berating John Candy and says something like: "Here's a tip...when you tell a story, try to have a POINT"?

Well that's what I'm feeling at the end of most of the segments...were there any real conclusions? Did we learn anything? It all feels a little too lightweight, and just not entertaining enough to cover those learning gaps.

It's a hard job to come up with new stuff when TGUK has been repeated so much that most folks have seen each ep at least twice and could probably recite the dialogue (let's hope they don't).

Let's see what next week brings.
 
Dallas said:
SL65: I dont think it was just the Celeb.
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Oh yeh, I agree, its Charlie. I've been complaining about his hosting abilities for a while now. Particularly last week after a near-dismal show (IMO).

But on the plus - I found the guy much more likeable in the Kimberly segment and the Lawn Bowls :)
 
SL65 said:
Oh yeh, I agree, its Charlie. I've been complaining about his hosting abilities for a while now. Particularly last week after a near-dismal show (IMO).

But on the plus - I found the guy much more likeable in the Kimberly segment and the Lawn Bowls :)
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Yeah, Charlie out of the studio is funny and enjoyable to watch. His interviewing skills are a bit poor though. Let Warren do it! I reckon he'd do a much better job.
 
melbournian said:
Yeah, Charlie out of the studio is funny and enjoyable to watch. His interviewing skills are a bit poor though. Let Warren do it! I reckon he'd do a much better job.
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Shit, I didn't think of that. But it makes sense. He seems more like a journo/interviewer than anyone else on that show (no bad thing).

But we can't have Steve as the host. He'll knock all the stars out whilst waving his hands :lol:
 
I gave it a 9.
After the first 10 minutes or so I had the feeling that this is how Top Gear Australia should be.
My interest wained with the SIARPC. I know he is a good amd prolific actor, but someone should tell them that maybe the guests don't all have to be Australian. If they DO have to be Aussie, maybe get Russell Crowe on - people like to hate celebs - look at that idiot from X-Factor.
Personally I was a little disappointed with the lawn bowls. Its funny when hosts have old cheap cars and they run into each other. Its something different when they are new.

Over all though, this is heading in the direction that I think TGA should be going.
Loved the GPS segment.
 
fink99 said:
I'm afraid I dropped the markings and gave this one a 6...based on how I felt by the end of it.

SNIP

It all feels a little too lightweight, and just not entertaining enough to cover those learning gaps.

Let's see what next week brings.
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Yeah, I dropped too.

When they announced the challenge had a 'prize' I thought it might be something interesting, like be a glass of Moet in the desert, or maybe even a dessert in the desert!? (It's seriously not hard to make these challenges a bit special.)

But nothing. They just don't take the next step in creativity. They get half an idea, stop thinking and pull out the cameras. Personally I think it's just plain laziness.

;)
 
HoldenHistory said:
I gave it a 9.
My interest wained with the SIARPC.
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Its SIABSC!!!! Gotta get use to that :p
HoldenHistory said:
I gave it a 9.
Personally I was a little disappointed with the lawn bowls. Its funny when hosts have old cheap cars and they run into each other. Its something different when they are new.
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Yeh that made me cringe a bit. Nothing worse than that sound a front splitter makes as it scrapes the ground!

But I don't care. I'm not paying for it and its cool to watch :mrgreen:
 
Icedvovo said:
When they announced the challenge had a 'prize' I thought it might be something interesting, like be a glass of Moet in the desert, or maybe even a dessert in the desert!? (It's seriously not hard to make these challenges a bit special.)
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I didn't mind the prize. It was kinda in-line with the general cocking about-ness of that segment.

I understand what you say about them doing something a bit 'special'. Thats part of what made UK TG what it is today. Maybe they'll do that with the other 4WD challange to come in this first series. The one with the Range Rover, Lexus LX etc etc....

They are half-way there because the filming is excellent and the music (in this episode) was good.
 
SL65 said:
Shit, I didn't think of that. But it makes sense. He seems more like a journo/interviewer than anyone else on that show (no bad thing).

But we can't have Steve as the host. He'll knock all the stars out whilst waving his hands :lol:
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:lol: yes, he could get slightly overexcited. Did you see that mammoth watch he was wearing too? That is a weapon on the arms of an hyper-animated man.
 
Just briefly, can people please shut up about Cox's arm/hand movements? We get it, he moves a lot when he talks. It really gets tiresome reading over and over again "heh, Cox looks like he's gonna take off or hurt someone or break something or...".

As for the episode, the boys really are improving as each episode goes by. All minor criticisisms I have have already been mentioned so I won't bother going into them.

8/10
 
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