Top Gear Australia

[Looper]

Top Gear Australia started tonite.

The first spin-off franchise from the Clarkson and Co. show in the UK.

Curious affair. They have an identical set to the UK set with the hangar and same decor. They have a Stig. They have a Star in a bog-standard car (you would expect Vince Collosimo to be a cool customer but he seemed a bit nervous).

They had challenges, road tests, stunts, track tests, porsche 911, merc Maybach. There is no Cool Wall but instead a What Were They Thinking wall.

The main anchor is pretty good and holds the show together. The Hamster countertrpart is quite good. Not sure about the moustachioed village people guy.

It was all pretty good fun although a bit self-conscious at times of being in the shadow of the real show with the UK personalities being so well established. The pace was possibly even better than TG since they crammed lots of good short stuff into the hour without letting any boring stuff drag too long which sometimes happens on TG with the challenges.

Next week should be good. Ford versus Holden. The classic Aussie muscle car showdown. US franchise to follow soon.

[ChiangMai noon]

can download this and all things aussie at diwana.org

[peterpan]

its coming down the pipe now, be finished at 7 am, kids will have to walk to school.

[peterpan]

Bit of a disappointment for me, The Jeremy replacement is OK but the little guy that tries to impersonate the Hamster, no way! tries too hard, it all seems a bit contrived.
UK TG gives the impression a lot of it is spontaneous.

The OZ version is a pale imitation of it and without the humour.

I hope it improves, as it is now its hardly worth watching.

[Marmite the Dog]

^ Agreed. I watched about half of it before turning it off.

[mrsquirrel]

^^ And could they sound any more Australian, what did they do? Dig around retired racing drivers looking for the person with the strongest accent possible?

It's got potential, but they are going to have take the piss out of Abbos or something like that to get it going.

[Looper]

Tonites Ford vs. Holden showdown was bit of a cop-out as they declared no winner. Didn't want to risk losing half the audience I guess.

The feature on the Ford GT was good (I think Jeremy Clarskon actually owned one of those). I like how they actually fire the cars up in the hangar to burst the audience's eardrums. That Ford makes a gorgeous racket.

I think the show itself is likely to only ever appeal to the local audience. To anyone else it is going to look like an ocker 'tribute band' parody. I still think its quite good fun on balance and once it gets over its self-concious phase it will find a rythm.

Just watched episode 6 of TG11 (with the spitfires landing in Belgium to settle differences with the German (non-franchised) Top Gear wannabes).

Top stuff!

[JoGeAr]

Aussie Top Gear slumps in ratings

14:21 AEST Tue Oct 7 2008
ago



Top Gear Australia has had a massive slump in ratings.
By Katherine Field, National Entertainment Writer


Aussie 'Top Gear' leaves the garage






The second episode of motoring TV show Top Gear Australia has slumped in the ratings.
Producers had hoped to crack the one million viewer mark on Monday night, but instead only 674,000 tuned in, down more than 250,000 viewers from its premiere the week before.
Top Gear Australia finished last in its timeslot behind Border Security, The 7.30 Report and Australian Idol. It was the 26th most watched show of the night.
Did you watch the show? Tell us what you thought of it.
Hosted by Charlie Cox, Warren Brown and Steve Pizzati, Monday night's episode on SBS featured a Ford and Holden stand-off and guest appearance from actor Steve Bisley.
The best audiences were in Melbourne followed by Sydney.
There has been mixed opinions about Top Gear Australia, which is the first version outside the UK.
The SBS version has a distinct Australian flavour compared to the British version fronted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
SBS director of television Matt Campbell admitted he was disappointed but said it was not "a disaster", and there were many examples of TV shows that went down and up again.
"No one ever wants to see their second episode go backwards but I'm still confident about the series," Campbell told AAP.
"We have to bed it in, it's one of those things."
SBS were still also confident about a second series, he said.
Monday night also saw the debut of SBS's six-part new comedy Bogan Pride, which attracted 376,000 viewers.
Australian police drama City Homicide was the most popular program on Monday night, followed by The Force and Border Security - all on the Seven Network.
Ten's Australian Idol elimination, which is now only live in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, due to daylight saving, managed to draw in 964,000.

Aussie Top Gear slumps in ratings

[mrsquirrel]

Look at the state of the three presenters though.

They just look haggard and past it already.

[peterpan]

Watched E2, bit of an improvement on E1 but still fails to get my interest, its just not as entertaining as the original. Presenters trying to be funny be failing to pull it off in the Clarkson manner, who can forget his review of Korean cars ?

[Marmite the Dog]

I don't know why they are trying to make a direct copy of TG UK? Surely it would be better to have a bit more originality?

[jandajoy]

I don't know why they are trying to make a direct copy of TG UK? Surely it would be better to have a bit more originality?

Quite right. Bound to fail, given the TG UK formula. Come up with some thing original.

[EmperorTud]

This week: Ford vs Holden; Musclecar Showdown.

Next week: Holden vs Ford; Sedan Showdown.

Week after: Ford vs Holden; V8 Ute Showdown.

Repeat ad infinitum.

[tuferguson]

can download this and all things aussie at diwana.org

do you have to be in oz to register or have certain email accounts? It says "Sorry, you're not qualified to become a member of this site."

[tuferguson]

Just watched episode 6 of TG11 (with the spitfires landing in Belgium to settle differences with the German (non-franchised) Top Gear wannabes).

Top stuff!

Sabine Schmitt


woof and again I say woof!

[Looper]

It says "Sorry, you're not qualified to become a member of this site."

I got that message when I forgot to tick the 'I agree to the rules' checkbox on thebox.biz

tonite:- HSV W427. That is a serious muscle car for (relatively) not much cash. At 500 Hp you are into lamborghini territory even if it does look like an imperial storm trooper on wheels.

[EmperorTud]

You are nowhere near 'Lamborgini territory' with a Holden. Doesn't matter how big or how powerful an engine you stick in it.

Horses for courses though, it's a beast in its own right.

[Marmite the Dog]

So, after they've reviewed that beastie, what's next?

I can't see TGA lasting for more than one series.

[mrsquirrel]

Haven't watched it after the first one.

Couldn't be bothered with it. The presenters voices are like nails on a blackboard.

[AntRobertson]

Just finished watching ep3. It definately seems to be getting better, the presenters seem more relaxed and into it. Still not a patch on the real thing though - anyone know when that's back on?

[EmperorTud]

All the proper drivers went to Fifth Gear after TG got cancelled - Miff Tedium, Jason Plato and Vicki Butler-Henderson.

Clarkson is just a journo, as is the other presenter May and Hammond is a radio and TV presenter.

It's an entertaining programme but Fifth Gear is the enthusiast's choice.

[AntRobertson]

It's an entertaining programme but Fifth Gear is the enthusiast's choice.

Your choice, you mean. You sound just like the Fifth Gear promo that's running at the moment actually.

'Enthusiast's' would probably watch both shows, maybe for different reasons but because they're both about cars nevertheless. And I'd bet on ratings TG makes Fifith Gear seem like Reverse Gear.

[melvbot]

Fifth Gear tends to fail because its got drivers trying to be presenters while Top Gear has the reverse of presenters who like to drive. Having the arse bored off me by Jason Plato and Vikki posh totty wannabe is only balanced out by Tiffs experience with both. Even the name is off the mark nowadays with 6 and 7 gear cars.

Have they got rid of that fat twat with the big hair now?

[EmperorTud]

^ I think he's still on. He tests all the pipe smoker's vehicles; Volvos, Land Rovers and the other oddities no one in their right minds would buy like the Suzuki SX4.

And I'd bet on ratings TG makes Fifith Gear seem like Reverse Gear.

No doubt, but that's no guide for quality or content.

[melvbot]

For me he's the most annoying of the bunch. Fifth Gear is more of a review of the cars but it struggles for an identity.