[02x02] May 18th, 2009

[02x02] May 18th, 2009


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Well, i cant speak for you guys down there, the whole challenge, if you can really call it that and not just a sponser plug that went terribly wrong

Because SBS is government funded, it has an entire law that applies only to it. It is illegal for SBS to not explicitly state who the show's sponsors are.
 
Holden Review: 7/10
Old Commercials: *yawn*
SIABSC: 7/10
Model T: 6/10
Backwards Race: 5/10
Electric Cars: 7/10

the show felt off pace, very slow and the bits were completely disparate. I gave it a 7/10 but really just rounding up from 6.5 or so. After episode 1 it was kind of a letdown, however still lightyears ahead of all the episodes in series 1
 
I went in thinking "urgh not more commodore" but it was a very good review I thought with a proper conclusion
 
Football, meat pies, kangaroos and electric cars.


hahaha it's still in my head!

Not as good as the first. Hopefully they'll do better next week.
 
Because SBS is government funded, it has an entire law that applies only to it. It is illegal for SBS to not explicitly state who the show's sponsors are.

Thus....

http://img199.imageshack.**/img199/4723/picture22g.png
 
The Holden HSV Superclubbie review was good, and I love how they pointed out that 22in wheels on a car drastically lowers performance.

.

Agreed, those 22 in dubs were atrocious and made the car look like a hooptie.
 
Am I the only one who likes the old commercials? I dunno, i just reckon they're a great laugh.

The superclubby review was great.
The electric cars was good i was really suprised how well warrens went, little disapointed steve didn't just bodge it and somehow fix it up.

The model T was BY FAR the best segment they've ever done, totally unscripted, natural, and hilarious, warren was getting serioulsy agitated and i loved it.

The SIARPC was no good but only because the guest was so unengaging, Warren does a great job at interviewing.

And the reversing bit was good, but seemed to be edited together too quickly, i never really knew why they were doing it?


But yeah overall 8/10 for me.
 
I have to say that I'm really liking this second season so far. The three presenters do a great job together and I'm glad they got rid of Charlie Cox. I don't know why but I just couldn't stand him.

That's the best comment yet, I agree totally, this series is shaping up to be bigger and better than the last. Never liked Charlie that much as a presenter, probably a nice guy but, something about him made me cringe.

Last series I got to about week 2, downloading each week, but then sort of gave up. I have downloaded them since but not the day they came out. It just wasn't something I was looking forward to, if you know what I mean. Now though I'm actually wanting to see the next episode.

I never thought I'd be praising this show but IMO Top Gear Oz is here to stay, while it won't ever match the UK version it's still good entertainment. Gave the show 8/10

Praise from a Kiwi.:D
 
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Good solid episode. Their on-track review was good .. liked the depth of comparison they did with the different wheels in particular. The reverse race was amusing, although I don't see how they could come to the conclusion James uttered at the end. Model T bit was great. Didn't watch the SIABSC .. celebs with names I barely recognise aren't celebs in my book. Electric car challenge was OK .. but I would have liked Steve to explain why he chose to power his MightyBoy with drills. I think it was as good, or better than last week (as an overall package).
 
5/10 this time,way better than the 1st episode.
Its good, certainly light years ahead of last season but theres always a few things that bug me.
1/ the post production sound quality changed, the voice-overs seem lack lustre, tired, no excitement.
2/ the continual use of the toilet-tube lens , when a little would be more effective.
3/ how many times can you say "Clubby" before it gets boring.
And Warrens doing a terrific job with the interviews, I saw him as a real standout this ep, Steves getting more personable and James too is coming along, pity about Ian Moss,Christ that guys boring !
 
now that I've had a chance to sit down and take in Episode 2... I think it flowed a bit more smoothly than the first episode. The timing between Steve, Warren, and James is starting to come together. I gave it an 8/10

The in-studio stuff wasn't as compelling as last weeks. While the remake of the trampoline ad was hilarious....

The Model-T stunt... while it was well done... was sorta... James and Jeremy's trip to find the genesis of cars as we know it was just better... but on the other hand, they also had a lot more time and weren't trying to shove it in-between ad-breaks. I think this is one of the situations where the format of TG-Aus is more to blame.

The SuperClubby : also well done.

The Charger Ad? Well, one of the things I like about UK Top Gear is when stuff from past episodes comes back and Bites a presenter in the rear. Warren's Football, Meat Pies, Kangaroo's, and Electric Cars was just precious. I'm not sure if the Charger ad will come up again... although if it's referenced in the same way the Holden cars ad was, that might make it worth it.

The Electric cars: Steve gets a big fat WHAT WERE YOU THINKING award. At least he admitted it during filming. Warren's car pretty much salvaged that section... The worst part was, for me, is that Steve really should have been smarter than that... and the choice of drill's really reeked of producer desires than anything else.

**

Also, something else that I've noticed compared to last season. Last season the format of TG-Aus pretty much followed the format of TG directly, down to a main presenter heading things up. Charlie Cox tried to be a Jeremy Clarkson... and um... that really didn't work. One of the reasons Jeremy's Lord of the Studio ... thing... works is that he's actually quite charismatic, and he has more time to work inside of the show. The extra-minutes not dedicated to ad-time allow TG more time to feature the other presenters. We also get to see May and Hamster gang up on Jeremy quite often. The current TG-Aus format seems to place Steve, James, and Warren on relatively equal footing, without any single one of them dominating the platform in a captains chair. I tend to like that as it helps establish a separate feel to the show. It's still Top Gear, 3 guys cocking about with cars... but it's not an exact replica of Top-Gear UK.. which the first season desperately tried to achieve.
 
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Just did some lunchtime Googling and it seems the only 36 volt cordless drill listed on DeWalt Aussie web site is the DC900KL, which has a RRP of $1142.00. EACH! Gulp!

So not also did Steve effectively blow his budget, but it's no wonder they took on an in-kind sponsor in DeWalt to cover the cost.

Just a shame it all went horribly wrong.
 
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Just did some lunchtime Googling and it seems the only 36 volt cordless drill listed on DeWalt Aussie web site is the DC900KL, which has a RRP of $1142.00. EACH! Gulp!

So not also did Steve effectively blow his budget

Not necessarily. Quite often, the RRP listed on web sites can be a good 10-20% higher than the street price. This is often the case with appliances. An extreme example is with the TV we bought. RRP on the manufacturer (Sony) website was $1,699 - we paid $999. In most cases the difference in street price vs RRP wouldn't be that huge, but there is certainly a difference. I suspect that you'd have no trouble buying the same drill in a specialised tool shop sell for around $900.

That said, I suspect that De Walt may have sold the drills to TGA at cost (or maybe even below cost), in exchange for that little bit in the credits ... which would be cheating. Maybe some of the posters that cried foul about the lack of cheating in this challenge might want to rethink their positions ... :p
 
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That said, I suspect that De Walt may have sold the drills to TGA at cost (or maybe even below cost), in exchange for that little bit in the credits ... which would be cheating. Maybe some of the posters that cried foul about the lack of cheating in this challenge might want to rethink their positions ... :p

Not sure. That seems like a soft deal.

Remember TGAU probably approached DeWalt, so that put DeWalt in the driver's seat.

I'll guess that DeWalt supplied all the drills and spare batteries FOC on the condition that the logos were not taped over (standard procedure on most shows - TG, Mythbusters etc) AND that DeWalt had the rights to use the TGAU footage, and maybe even the car, for marketing purposes in the future - PR, promotion, advertising, trade shows etc.

"Just 4 DeWalt drills power this car on TopGear!"

Of course, all that free PR is in now the bin with the drills.

;)

EDIT: In the real world, seeing the drills catastrophically self-destruct would've been the best part of the story. But DeWalt no doubt had control over that part of the deal. And this is exactly why TGAU needs to be on the ABC and self-funded.
 
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Could you please start a thread telling us about episode 6 lockstops?

Sure, but I'm not sure I can. It doesn't seem to let me start a new thread when I try. Any ideas or perhaps can you start one and I'll fill in some info.

Also, just noticed, that Steve is on Twitter! There's quite a few 'behind the scenes' photos and information.
COOL- I love that stuff!
 
This is the sound of me peddling backwards.

After watching the ep in detail, it would seem there was actually drills in that thar Mighty Boy, they just never showed how they were hooked up in any great detail. Can't for the life of me think why not. Isn't that the crux of the story?

Anyway, I took another screen cap of the drills in situ on the track.

http://img206.imageshack.**/img206/161/picture21a.png

EDIT: I think I've worked it out, and it's the combined perils of no budget and having to rely on corporate sponsorship to get stuff done. Mmmkay. DeWalt are in the credits, so it's safe to assume they supplied the drills free under some sort of 'contra' deal. The problem is, that one (or maybe all) of those drills has had a catastrophic failure. And showing that wouldn't be good for the brand, now would it?

Check this out: http://twitpic.com/5qk8o

I'd say it's real, but like you, can't understand why they didn't show it in all it's glory or why he didn't repair it and continue racing.

Hmmm.
 
Quote from Twitter;

Steve Pizzati said:
It did actually go before we started filming but then it broke. Budget and filming schedule meant we couldn't repair it on the day. Dammit.
 
Wow! Nice pic. Looks great. And don't ya hate it when something works when the cameras aren't rolling. Remember, tape is the cheapest part of the entire production! No excuse. ;)

Okay Pizzatti, time to lean on DeWalt to show us the EXPLODING footage!

http://img17.imageshack.**/img17/4603/9637368.jpg
 
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Holden Review: Good review, very interesting time difference with the supercharged Super clubby without the low profile etc.

Old Commercials: These are always funny to see, but probably not a good idea for every episode.

SIABSC: Ian Moss ? seemed at bit unengaged, but never seen him interviewed before so maybe he is always like that. I liked Warren doing the interview.

Model T: The mucking about in the studio & the Stig lap were very good

Backwards Race: Didn?t do it for me, not that good.

Electric Cars: Bit of a cock up by Steve, quite funny

The series is going well, I shall continue to watch. :cool:
7/10
 
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