[04x01] August 30th, 2011

[04x01] August 30th, 2011


  • Total voters
    54
8/10

That was fun. Seems that TG Aus have managed to figure out how to make a TG in the UK form for Aus. Great to see it improving. I wont go on with a review but ill say that i love how its working out.
 
I must say, this was one of the better episodes of TG Australia I've downloaded. But it really had more boring stupidity than entertainment or information. Strangely though, I enjoyed the SIARPC segment even though, being American, I have no idea who that guy was. He was more entertaining than anyone who's been featured on TG America so far.

There was so much potential, but stupidity brought just about every segment down.

Super Lawnmowers: After crashing, shouldn't you get off the throttle? You know, so as not to destroy the set? It was like watching a 6-year-old be destructive to get attention because he can't think of anything cute or funny to do.

Blind Rally: They had three rally drivers, and three cars (what cars? were the modified? do they have rally heritage?) but stretched out what may as well have been the same footage of those cars driving over grass and bumps (instead of racing) for way too long. There just wasn't anything visually interesting about it, or mentally stimulating since the outcome of a blind driver is pretty obvious.

Volvo: Thank goodness for TG Australia. I may have spent my whole life under the assumption that an S60R would win against a 911 Turbo S in a drag race, if it weren't for this episode.

FJ Cruiser: I'm not sure about the Australian market, but the FJ has been around for quite some time in the USA. Assuming it's the same over there, a review of this car would be somewhat pointless unless it was being used as a comparison for some new vehicle in the class. As such, they should have spent the time introducing the cute-surfer-chick, the world record, and perhaps adding some excitement or drama to the event.


Still, aside from the fact that they managed to ruin every segment, the hosts' interactions were more natural and entertaining this time, and there were some bright spots in cool camera footage. I also didn't have to hear the Grumpy Fat Guy calling people a "Pretzel" every two minutes. And he was a lot less grumpy.

Based on just Top Gear Australia episodes, I'd give this one a solid 7. That would be considerably lower compared to all iterations of Top Gear, though.
 
Last edited:
I gave it a six, which is very generous, I think. It all felt a bit slapped together at the very last minute. There was nothing really bad about the individual segments, but they could use a lot of polish and be joined together much more smoothly.
 
Super Lawnmowers: After crashing, shouldn't you get off the throttle? You know, so as not to destroy the set? It was like watching a 6-year-old be destructive to get attention because he can't think of anything cute or funny to do.

As a person that works in the entertainment field i was cringing at that truss being moved, how far they pushed thelights out of place and whatever speakers were involved. they completely destroyed a good week (or more) woth of engineering and design. Oh well, its was fun i guess! You see that the people working on that set didnt wait to fix it so its safe to say that wasnt supposed to happen. Sometime you just have to punch the talent in the face no matter who they are. They often disregard all the work that goes into making them look and sound good. This was a prime example. no love lost here though.
 
Decent episode but I think they are trying too hard. That said it was a very watchable episode, though I skipped the guest.
 
I rated it an 8 (as compared to other TGAus episodes). I didn't see anything that bothered me, but nothing that really wowed me either, except for the Volvo test. They trotted out the new Volvo (looks great!), a Porsche, the Messerschmidt bubble car, and then the Audi. The debate over speed limits was interesting; here in America its 75mph (120kph), except in certain states where it is effectively unlimited, so this is something topical to pretty much any driver worldwide. Not a bad idea, the debate. Someone (the Spie?) suggested it as an idea for TGUS to do.

All in all, I think it was a pretty good episode, if a little long on the funny ha ha parts. Perhaps a few less of those and more serious car stuff. But the hosts seem to be doing pretty good, and interact well. Here's hoping there will be more than four episodes...
 
FJ Cruiser: I'm not sure about the Australian market, but the FJ has been around for quite some time in the USA. Assuming it's the same over there, a review of this car would be somewhat pointless unless it was being used as a comparison for some new vehicle in the class. As such, they should have spent the time introducing the cute-surfer-chick, the world record, and perhaps adding some excitement or drama to the event.

For an Aussie audience, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who didn't know who the 'surfer chick' was. She was the first surfer to win 6 consecutive world titles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layne_Beachley

I can see how she might be less well known overseas. It would be equivalent to doing a long intro for Kelly Slater on the US version. You just can't afford to do it in 42 minutes. We all know who she is.
 
Loved the chemistry to the hosts had. It's like TGUS without the awful.... I wish they kept Warren around though!
 
Episode 2 of Season 4 is next week 8.30PM to 9.30 PM on Tuesday 6th September...

Channel 9 TV Guide is now saying 9:30PM. FFS!

http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/9tvguide.aspx#tue

9:30 is too late for most kids on a school night, including mine. Delete half the audience.

Fcuk knows who Channel 9 thinks is the viewing audience for this show, obviously not families.

With the stupidest programmers in the world, TGA is starting to cough up blood.
 
Last edited:
Wasn't too bad of an ep I reckon. A few of the things in there were pointless but a couple of good laughs were had. However, I reckon it'll be overshadowed by next week's ep by the looks of things. R8 Spyder and Carbontech Redback for the win.
 
FJ Cruiser: I'm not sure about the Australian market, but the FJ has been around for quite some time in the USA. Assuming it's the same over there, a review of this car would be somewhat pointless unless it was being used as a comparison for some new vehicle in the class. As such, they should have spent the time introducing the cute-surfer-chick, the world record, and perhaps adding some excitement or drama to the event.
The FJ Cruiser was only released here a few months ago, so it wouldn't have been pointless... if they actually did a review.
 
I actually didn't mind it at all. It was a good filler to watch on a weekend during lunch and they are getting better, it's just the producers seem to want things the Channel 9 way. And that's where everything is going wrong. And if they want to aim at the bogan audience from Western Sydney, then so be it.
They have to remember that not all of us live there.

On the upside, the presenters are getting better, albeit very slowly. 8/10
 
Last weeks episode wasn't that bad for Top Gear Australia although rumour has it that filming for that episode was shot late last year before they went off air. Hopefully this week's episode will be better.
 
Last edited:
Last weeks episode wasn't that bad for Top Gear Australia although rumour has it that filming for that episode was shot late last year before they went off air..

We know that there's a 3x04 somewhere that was shot. However, this wasn't it. 3x04 was meant to be the final episode of the third season, and they wouldn't have had the Hamish and Andy thing for SIABSC occur then. Rumor has it that we may get 3x04 later in the run.
 
I just watched this episode, and I thought it was quite bad. Maybe It's because this was my first TGAUS episode, but it will also be my last. I even liked TGUS 01X01 more...
 
After having finally watched this ep all i can say is that it feel half-arsed.
And the Volvo wasn't a S60 R, it was the S60 t6 R-design...
 
Top