Is it just me or is it still as crap as the first one? I found it as flat as the first series, and this is only the first 15 minutes!

But I like it when they tried doing the lancer hatchback ad, I thought it was quite funny.

it has to be the slowest race yet. what a waste of a lambo. the wave runner was a laugh.

the dialog is still very scripted and they should just pull the piss out of the cars.

I only caught the last half hour or so, when they were describing the track. I liked the fact that they did that - it shows that they listened to some of teh criticism from last season.

The "challenge" was obviously scripted and it showed - at least the UK version makes you think the challenges are real.

I thought the interview with Mark Skaife was pretty shit:
"How did you think you went?"
"I think blah blah blah"
"So how did you think you went?"
*Puzzled look*

Overall the 20 minutes I saw were OK - much better than last season, but no where near the UK standard (not that it's expected to be as good!).

I found it quite entertaining. Taken on it's own merits (don't compare to the UK show!), it's worth watching. James will fit in well, he's quite amusing. But what's with his Evo launching technique? They can't be THAT bad off the line, can they? Taka will be happy.

Taped it so 'er indoors could watch M/Chef (I like the side benefits - I'm eating very well these days, lol).

Will watch it tonight. Sight unseen, I'd still rather they had a go at improving it instead of just dropping it. Anything is better than the Car Show and I'd rather an extra hour of cars on telly than more yank crime shows, etc...

And it's been said before but worth remembering that the early years of TGUK were pretty creaky...

Better

It was much improved over last years effort.

At least I was able to watch it and there were some laughs in it.
Last season I could not even sit through more than 15 minutes before I was ready to flip to old law and order reruns.
The test track is still lame though even after the walk through.

A little article highlighting some of the changes to this season.

http://au.transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2009/05/12/tga-episode-one/#comment-5748

One word describe's TGA's efforts last night ...


... unoriginal.

Oh der...it's a franchise, not an original format. Too original and people will complain it's not 'Top Gear' enough. Originality within the format will come with experience and confidence...hopefully.

Yes, if it 's going to be all original, they may as well call it something else. Like the Car Show. And employ Glenn Ridge. And we all know how THAT turned out.............

Call it Behind The Wheel and employ James Morrison :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXHiATcoem0&eurl=http://www.finalgear.com/

Oh der...it's a franchise, not an original format. Too original and people will complain it's not 'Top Gear' enough. Originality within the format will come with experience and confidence...hopefully.

Yes, it's a franchise, but they don't have to rub the viewer's faces in it!

It's ridiculous ... why have TGA when TopGear in the UK are far more interesting to watch?

Yes, it's a franchise, but they don't have to rub the viewer's faces in it!

It's ridiculous ... why have TGA when TopGear in the UK are far more interesting to watch?

a) Make it relevant to Aussie audiences
b) SBS produces an Aussie show (they have to produce xx amount of Aussie shows per year) which people will actually watch

It's ridiculous ... why have TGA when TopGear in the UK are far more interesting to watch?



Cost? I wonder what TGUK charge for a season? I read in the news the other week Channel 10 pays $20something K per Simpsons episode.

It is the best show on TV on Monday nights at 7:30PM.
What else is there to say?

2 1/2 Men. Oh that Charlie!!!!

Yes, it's a franchise, but they don't have to rub the viewer's faces in it!

It's ridiculous ... why have TGA when TopGear in the UK are far more interesting to watch?

Well for starters they don't make 36 eps of TGUK per year, so they'll run out of the old series sooner or later. Secondly, it allows us to see cars in our environment and, with time, local presenters who are professional and funny.

As someone posted above, if SBS are going to spend their money on local production, I'd much rather see them try to improve TGA than yet another lefty doco or political program.

I think with time they'll gradually develop a style and tone which locals respond to and represents a departure from slavishly copying the Brit version.

It is the best show on TV on Monday nights at 7:30PM.
What else is there to say?

Agreed. I used to enjoy Australian Story but there's only so many sob stories you can stomach. A show that lost it's way. Forget about the commercial channels in that time slot...

2 1/2 Men. Oh that Charlie!!!!

The scary thing is it's apparently very close to his real life...even down to the weird shorts and bowling shirt look. And I actually want to punch the fat kid in the head.

Stevie owns a 135i. Now he is my hero!

Love that beast... steering so heavy though compare with the 8. The power is just phenomenal.

Better download it somehow and watch it on TV, rather than just youtube.

Cnet is running a poll.
Looks like rubbish wins.

http://www.cnet.com.au/poll-is-top-gear-australia-season-two-any-better-339296377.htm?feed=rss

Looks like Charlie Cox voted 4 times :)

Much Improved.....7.4233333333331115 out of 10...

Watched it last night.

I agree it's an improvement on last year. Morrison is better than Cox by a country mile. The boys still need to learn how to read a teleprompter more naturally and improve their comic timing but they're getting there.

The test track description was a good idea, as was crushing the 'what were they thinking' crap segment. I think the test track would come across better if they improved some of the camera angles (e.g. a cherrypicker on some of the corners would help).

Overall, not the waste of time it was last year and worth catching for a mild chuckle and car perve once a week. Not great but passes the sniff test.

Best part of the show was Skaiffes reaction when they read out his time (test lap). I thought he was going to get up and leave! Good to see he still has that competitive streak...

Best part of the show was Skaiffes reaction when they read out his time (test lap). ..


Yes, his reaction was just a bit over the top! Methinks he takes his car driving a bit too seriously.

No shit. Bet the producers loved his flat change, not.

Get over it Skaifey. You're a has been now... :lol:

TGA suffers when compared to the English version. It is very stilted in its presentation but still entertaining. Unfortunately we don't have a Jeremy Clarkson or a James May (forget the short twerp, he's just annoying) but I think James Morrison will be a good addition in the long run.
At least we have a half-decent Australian car show to watch.

Good summary.

A lot of people forget too that Clarkson didn't pop out of the womb fully formed (perish the thought) as Mr Hilarious - he had a stint on TGUK in it's prior incarnation as a comparative young 'un and has spent the best part of 25-30 years as a car journo. Not the kind of experience you can compete with overnight.

Anyway, no more apologies for the Aussie contingent - they either keep improving or sink...:crying: :sweatdrop :boring:

;)

Cool, we've finally got some more useful smilies in the cheat box. :bowdown:

Better than series 1. Still not great, but watchable. Though, the car vs boat race was a waste of time as it did not show / tell us anything about the car. Also I could have done without the trampoline segment which again could have been over in 30sec and alow more time to something with substance.

I was also dissapointed that they did not take the 135i around their test track at the same time as the EVO. Comparing it to a time on their board, which was probably by a different driver (and probably with slighlty different config of the track considering all the chinaces / tyre walls are movable).

But overal good enough for me to see if the next episode will be watchable.

The course is stupid David. But I cannot see TG UK test driving 135 on their track. I am sure it will be close to their FQ360..

I thought it was much improved compared to the first season. They were certainly more comfortable in front of the camera than last year but still have a way to go... But hey at least there was improvement. As long as that happens there is hope. The early UK Top Gear certainly was not the the show of today!

I thought taka would soil himself watching the 135i following the Evo.

The scary thing is it's apparently very close to his real life...even down to the weird shorts and bowling shirt look. And I actually want to punch the fat kid in the head.

Very true. We had lunch with him on the set a couple years back in LA and in that half hour he hit on 3 women, 2 of which gave him their number. So very smooth and very amusing to watch :bowdown:

But I cannot see TG UK test driving 135 on their track. I am sure it will be close to their FQ360..

Why not? I'm sure it would put in a good time. Get on to them Taka!

Mitsubishi Evo X 1.28.2
Mazda RX-8 1.31.8
BMW 130 1.31.9

The early UK Top Gear certainly was not the the show of today!


Not wrong. That "showroom" segment they used to run about car prices was SO cringey.



We had lunch with him on the set a couple years back in LA

Name dropper. :icon_no2:

Name dropper. :icon_no2:

:naughty::smoker:

Very true. We had lunch with him on the set a couple years back in LA and in that half hour he hit on 3 women, 2 of which gave him their number. So very smooth and very amusing to watch :bowdown:

Yes but is he happy?

Yes but is he happy?

No... Just always tired :)

finally watched first episode of season2.

I found it enjoyable. Jazz fellow needs to chill out a bit.

Tonight dipped back into desperation, I thought. Steve needs some Valium. Some of the segments drag on a bit :eyetwitch

Tonight was the first Australian Top Gear I have seen for this year and I thought it was painfully bad. I love cars and still switched over to watch that new cop show Recruits on channel 10!

Looks like the producers have run out of idea's AGAIN...Already!

Oh snap! They already started the second series?!

Well, I guess I'll be downloading it now... but I hope it wasn't as bad as some of the first season's... (Like the Truck competition crap).

Yeah, last night was a bit dodgey. The home made electric cars was a good idea, but it didn't come off. Reverse racing? Didn't work either.

Didn't mind the charged R8 though.

The 1st 10min of the show was not bad at all (ie. HSV / Walkinshaw), but after that there was nothing of interest ... and very little to do with cars. Preview for next week did not look much better.

I agree, the second episode of season 2 is a downhill compared to first episode. Hope it'll pick up next week...

Caught it late last night. Maybe I was tired but I thought it wasn't too bad.

Warren needs to relax when interviewing the 'star' though. Bit stilted.

I liked some bits and pieces. The difference in lap times after changing the wog wheels on the R8 was interesting.

Actually, some of the segment ideas aren't too bad and there's some originality creeping in. I just don't think the camera and editing work is up to the standard of the UK series to make it more interesting. Hopefully that will improve along with the presenters.

I am going to be pretty brutal here. I watched it the other night and absolutely hated it. The Walkinshaw review was a bore and the presenter lacked enthusiasm. Did anyone else think the supercharger whine sounded fake? I will give it that the comparo between the different wheels/tyres was interesting though.

It was downhill from there. Model T, borefest. Electric cars, borefest. Reversing challenge, borefest. Warren can't interview for shit.

The whole show was poorly edited and badly put together. Did anyone notice a second Stig watching the Model T hot lap in the background?

I have read the arguments about how it's the best motoring show on TV and I agree with them because, well, there's nothing else to compare it to. That Glenn Ridge show is nothing more than a glorified infomercial. TGA is try hard to the extreme, it's boring, the presenters lack charisma and the production is shit (even by SBS standards). As for what's better to watch on a Monday night? I'd rather watch Master Chef.

I would say that I will never watch it again but they are reviewing a Maserati GranTurismo (one of my many dream cars) next week and I want to see it. I am sure they will pot it along in peak hour Friday afternoon traffic though, and talk absolutely generic monotonous shit about it.

Geez Gonz, don't hold back!

A quote from the TGA website:

"Although this is episode two, this was in fact the first shoot for series two. We did this way back in February."

Hopefully that means that will be the worst we see.

don't really know what you guys are quite discussing here, but is there an australian version of Topgear? where is this aired?

don't really know what you guys are quite discussing here, but is there an australian version of Topgear? where is this aired?

Yes, and it's aired in..er.. Australia.

Yes, and it's aired in..er.. Australia.

LOL!!!!

SPHINX144 - here's a promo for the second series

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUjJI85fS4M

oh, cool. I just didn't know there was another top gear. I'm aware of fifth gear, but that's also a British series.

I prefer Fifth Gear actually.. Less stupid challenges and more car focused.

Wow, nobody whinging about last night's episode? It was better then?

Yeah, I was about to make a post.
I have done a 180 on my opinions of TGA based on last night's show - it was actually quite entertaining. I loved the Maserati segment I thought Warren's commentary from the back seat was pretty funny. The ute section was a bit meh and Warren still can't interview to save his life. Anh Do isn't funny. I enjoyed the driving school too, I thought that was a pretty cool segment.

Yeah, I though it was a very good show..this one..

The team were a lot more relaxed and actually funny..

Maserati test was Good.

JM's stunt driving was different and NEW...there is one for TG UK...I don't think they have done that one.

The Ute take was OK..

I though the Doh interview was very good..and funny..

Good show last night...

8.6989998121 out of 10 this time..

Wow, nobody whinging about last night's episode? It was better then?

better no: just didn't bother watching it. watched a little of the maserati and that's it.:lol:

I ended up fast forwarding through the celeb interview because they both bored the shit out of me but the rest was ok. Still only ok though and lots of room for improvement...

Caught up with the last couple of episodes of TGA season 2 - I detect slow but gradual improvement. A long way from good let alone great television but still worth watching if you're a car nut...but damn our celebs are boring!

And did anyone catch the rerun on TGUK with Clarkson's review of the then newish RX8? He really did like it, didn't he?...

And did anyone catch the rerun on TGUK with Clarkson's review of the then newish RX8? He really did like it, didn't he?...

Yes Dave, I caught it Monday night.

Was great to see a high quality broadcast of the 8's review rather than the You-tube one ALL of us have seen, pity we had to wait 5-6 years to see it!.

As pointed out by others, JC's complaint about the Tyres "After he took it out in the wet" being "skittish" was interesting, why did he not complain about it when doing the test as there was lots of vision of him in the wet, or just bad editing and an afterthought..it is a REAR wheel drive car you know and all of them are Skittish in the wet no matter what tyres you have on... if you are planting your foot on the pedal to the metal!

What does Skittish actually mean??

I believe it describes a Kiwi in a kilt ;)

Skittish = twitchy?
I don't find the 8 skittish at all in the wet, unless I try to purposely get it to behave like that... but driven to the conditions in traffic, it behaves perfectly normal.

As for TGA I have said my piece, but after the episode featuring the Maserati, it was all back downhill... downcliff actually. For a race car driver, it really irks me that Steve Pizzati doesn't know what the difference between "fast" and "quick" is.

I believe it describes a Kiwi in a kilt ;)

Hahaha! Boom tish!

For a race car driver, it really irks me that Steve Pizzati doesn't know what the difference between "fast" and "quick" is.

Well I'm not a race car driver and I must be pretty dumb too because I tend to use those words interchangeably (and not just for car stuff).

Care to enlighten the thick heads amongst us?

...it is a REAR wheel drive car you know and all of them are Skittish in the wet no matter what tyres you have on... if you are planting your foot on the pedal to the metal!

Agreed - not hard to make the rear step out if you stand on it in the wet but as Gonz says, driven to the conditions it is perfectly predictable...

Well I'm not a race car driver and I must be pretty dumb too because I tend to use those words interchangeably (and not just for car stuff).

Care to enlighten the thick heads amongst us?

Ah geez! :p

Fast relates to speed, eg "he hit 180km/h down the straight, that's fast".
Quick relates to the time taken from point to point, eg "he clocked 1:10 on our test track, that's quick".

Another example, in drag racing, the ET relates to the quickness, whereas the trap speed relates to the fastness.

If you think about the context, it makes sense - there are differences in their meanings.


I'm nitpicking but that's how race drivers speak and Steve Pizzaboy should know better. To me he just comes across as a bit amatuerish.

That makes sense.

Thanks for the explanation.

:scratchhe Hmmm, I don't think I'm either........

Hmmm...if you're neither quick nor fast, then there's really only one antonym -- slow! I wonder if that proves the logic :suspect:

Good point.

I also wonder at the logic of saying someone is quick but not fast or vice versa...I suppose if they understand what they're talking about that's the main thing.

Poor old Dr Johnson would be having conniptions! ;)