Not exactly a hit with some....

http://www.bhatt.id.au/blog/top-gear-au ... nd-review/
http://blogs.drive.com.au/2008/09/top_g ... _miss.html

They needed better stunts and challenges... the only one that really stands out was the Toorak tractor, whereas the UK version has done "home made" limos, police cars, limos, amphibious cars and a space shuttle.

I really enjoyed it myself. Favourite part was the Smart Hearse, or the Astra Lawn Balls.

The problem with Top Gear Australia from the start was that it was trying to be Top Gear...

Unfortunately, Top Gear is actually about about the love triangle of Jeremy Richard and James... their common interest is in the cars... If anyone has seen the first season of Top Gear they'll know that James wasn't part of the show and there was this guy with info on the used car industry... unfortunately it was boring as hell. It wasn't until James May was selected for the show that the relationship between the three became the show that it is now.

That was what SBS was trying to re-create, and they did pick the right people. Unfortunately they forgot about the content which meant we ended up with a formulaic yet junty show that didn't feel original... because it's already been done...

So there you go people... now let the flaming begin!

From what I heard, even the original is in trouble after Clarkson made a comemnt playing on a lorry driver who murdered prostitutes.

And he made a joke out of it on the next episode. In short, "I don't care". And the show is still going. Because Clarkson is not the sort to be quiet if the BBC canned the show for a comment that wasn't even close to the most offensive thing that has been said on Top Gear, let alone some of the demonstrably shite other programming that the BBC is serving up, these days.

I mean, they make a show called Doctor Who, which, to someone raised on another show called Doctor Who, only good and on a miniscule budget, is an utterly offensive abomination and a slap in the face for all the years I, and people like me, have begged for the show to return. And they're not stopping there.... I heard they have started airing a remake of Terry Nation's "Survivors". God help us all....

Mappy wrote:Clarkson is not the sort to be quiet if the BBC canned the show for a comment that wasn't even close to the most offensive thing that has been said on Top Gear

Sort of like Charlie Cox casually using the word "poofteenth" in a review (something like "it only has a poofteenth more power than the previous model"). They got complaints about that, their response was that poofteenth is a real word, and it became a running gag of sorts (I counted 2 more uses of the word, both followed by giggling from the audience).


Personally I was more amused by the fact that some of the people who said "it will be scheiße, they won't get it anywhere close to the UK formula" before the show aired said "it's scheiße, they've copied the UK formula" after the first episode.

Mappy wrote:they make a show called Doctor Who, which, to someone raised on another show called Doctor Who, only good and on a miniscule budget, is an utterly offensive abomination and a slap in the face for all the years I, and people like me, have begged for the show to return

That's all down to Russel T Davies thinking his executive producing abilities include being able to write. Fortunately he let Stephen Moffatt write a few so it's not all bad. And Moffatt takes over as head honcho in 2010.

The crew for Top Gear Australia should have been me, Ryan and Barron.

hektik street ricer punk vs. Commodore driver vs. Economy car owner

It would be awesome.

edible_hat wrote:

Mappy wrote:they make a show called Doctor Who, which, to someone raised on another show called Doctor Who, only good and on a miniscule budget, is an utterly offensive abomination and a slap in the face for all the years I, and people like me, have begged for the show to return

That's all down to Russel T Davies thinking his executive producing abilities include being able to write. Fortunately he let Stephen Moffatt write a few so it's not all bad. And Moffatt takes over as head honcho in 2010.

It is more than that, though.... I remember interviews with other production team members, talking about Moffatt's scripts as if they were somehow remarkable, when his scripts should have been used as a baseline example for the other writers for what was expected of them.

They were also shown The Talons of Weng-Chiang, from the Philip Hinchclife/Robert Holmes days as Producer/Script Editor (the early Tom Baker years), which were the pinnacle of the original show's history, and they were squeamish about the implied racism because some of the villains were Chinese.... I'm sorry, what part of making aliens invade the Earth (read: the United Kingdom) on a weekly basis is not an analogy to your country being attacked by nasty foreign people?

Russel T Davies was a good writer in the past, but his concept of sci-fi is incredibly banal, and every episode is forced to have a monster of some description by some unspoken decree.... Yes, I'm glad Moffatt is taking over, but I don't see very much changing in the heads of the production crew.

Bazza wrote:The crew for Top Gear Australia should have been me, Ryan and Barron.

hektik street ricer punk vs. Commodore driver vs. Economy car owner

It would be awesome.

Barron likes to drive his 3 cyl Charade like it is a ricer. Which you would be able to get away with if it were something like the Suzuki, VW or Honda 3cyls, which throw out more than their fair share of horses. But the Daihatsu doesn't produce anything close to what it used to produce, and Barron admits the older model that he'd had in the past was better than the one he has, now.

He should trade it in for a Daihatsu Mira then. Those things look like housebricks but they are pretty quick for what they are.

There was a turbo model that lived around Hollywood Plaza while I worked there.

it is awsome

The other day I saw something amusing. Did you know that SAPOL has a Monaro that they use to catch hoons?

This nong in a purple Commodore found out by challenging it to a drag race.

hey were squeamish about the implied racism because some of the villains were Chinese

That happens all the time with feminists. Female villains are sexist because it implies that all women are evil. Female heroes are sexualising and objectifying women. Female minor characters say that the producers don't care enough about women to give them major parts, and no female characters says that the producers don't think women are important enough to mention. And any long, thin thing is really a penis, especially if it's on or near two round things.

*bump*

Let's see if Top Gear Australia does any better with a presenter who's actually presented a car show before...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 77,00.html

Charlie Cox is leaving (citing business commitments in the UK) and being replaced by James Morrison, who used to host Behind The Wheel.

This means there will be two musically inclined presenters, hopefully they'll gang up on Steve Pizzati.

Aw, man! Charlie was my favourite...

This is pretty hilarious considering when Morrison came to do his lap he basically took over the whole show.

Expect less from the UK version in 2009.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/st ... 81,00.html

AH CRAP!

Then again, Clarkson gets a freaking nice paycheck to live every heterosexual guy's dream job.

Well, it's back again...

The episode wasn't too bad. James Morrison doesn't fell quite like a host yet. But then, it's only been his first show. It does feel a bit more "Top Gear"-like. I cheered when they crushed the "What were they thinking?" board. That segment was a craporama and a half!

Give it a few weeks and we'll see if the show works this time!

Electric powered Kingswood station wagon. I don't know if I'm going to be cheering in delight or sending them baby power in the mail.

Bazza wrote:Electric powered Kingswood station wagon.

Strike me pickled grandama!

Best line of the night: "Please tell me this is taking us out to the real boat."