So, what did we all think?
I went into the viewing of tonight’s episode thinking I should probably write a review of it afterwards, but then I thought; I’m not reviewing a bloody a TV show! I think we’ll leave that for the more desperate blogs out there.
That aside though, I am interested to know what you all thought. Jump into the comments and tell us how you felt about Pizzati’s ridiculous exuberance, Warren’s enunciation, or Charlie’s… Charlieness. Was the Moke piece remotely interesting? Was the soft-roader expedition a little underwhelming? Did you cringe at the introduction of the What Were They Thinking board?
In defense of the boys and the production team, they didn’t try to outright emulate the UK boys, and while the first episode may not have been utterly fantastic, there’s certainly more than enough potential for some seriously good viewing here. And let’s be honest; they’re really up against it.
Get in there and give us your thoughts.
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I’ve got an excuse for not watching. I am in the US, get the torrents up damnit!
I don’t mean to bring it down, but god I hope it gets better!
OK the shark was cool, I hadn’t finished watching at the time of my comment. Next week should be better with Ford hopefully downing Holden!!!
Didn’t mind it… you can see that the people who are behind it are a little green, but I don’t see how it can’t get better.
Bring back the original
I dont like people writing it off so early. They need to wait, get feedback from people from this episode and change what they have to, to make it how we want it. Give it a few shows, and i think they will pick up. Clarkson didnt start off perfect either
it was too scripted and the head guy was crap, they need to give warren more air time and i also liked the young guy
I’m Slightly Disappointed… the guys are not relaxed enough and it shows… ok, ok, first episode and all of that, but apart from Steve Pizzati, they sound like they’re trying too hard. If the hosts are reading this, relax and try and sound a bit like Aussies… not “I want to give it a fang” but “I wanna’ give it a fang”! Do you get the difference?
I’ll give it a few weeks and see if they settle in..
It seemed they were trying too hard, especially with the humour. I just hope over the next few episodes they listen to viewer feedback by reading sites (such as TMR) to see what the viewers think.
First episode, it can only get better, right?
Agree Steve Pizzati was the most relaxed and likeable of the trio. Also videography was not on par with UK vesion. Too jerky and nowhere near as beautiful. Bearable start but someone should troutslap Charlie Cox before this gets out of hand.
The footage of the test track was quite disappointing. They captured to slow speed of the corners quite well, however any form of speed or ‘excitment’ seemed to be lacking.
Camera works wasn;t….great
Bit of a yawn for me. Then again, Imma going to give them a second chance and see how it is next week.
I am so disappointed.
It was almost boring, the challenges didn’t have that ’story’ feel to them, just a bunch of attempts to get laughs…that failed.
The test track was the biggest joke. It looked like an ‘L’ shaped bit of airstrip with obstacles - they wouldn’t even let us see it properly.
A dud…?
dude Holden will DESTROY Ford. They don’t stand a chance.
“they didn’t try to outright emulate the UK boys” But the show certainly did, it was like Top Gear with 3 aussie guys swapped in!
Ok so I would give it a 7/10 for the first episode. I felt it started off poor and by halfway in it started to swing a little bit with their personalities starting to flow a little better with each other.
It must be bloody hard to act on camera in front of all those people though, and be natural. When I was filming one of my pieces in the national park reviewing a car last year, a camper van of back-packers turned up and started watching the filming.
I stuffed up within 1 minute, and that was with just a couple of un-washed German back-packers with dodgy looking hair, imagine an entire audience in that top gear hanger looking on!
Ok I digress but I think overall it was a good first episode and hopefully with time they will improve through the series, come on let’s give them some encouragement I say and see how they go.
If it is still cactus by mid series, let’s release dogs!
Well I didn’t have have high hopes for this show…and it didnt disapoint me….
* The race track was crap
* Not enough cameras around the track
* The challenge was a bore…”SOFT-Roaders”…ahh who cares?
* The guys act like their were mates for ages and that they had been doing this for years. Reality - first show guys.
* Their wall…that deserves the attention of “what were they thinking of”
Shame…could have been a great spin off. Instead a knock off. lets hope it gets better.
Given that the series is only 8 episodes long, they don’t have long to get out of cactus territory..
I cringed my way through most of it, and although it’s easy to blame the presenters, the writing is really what let it down- lack lustre, unfunny scripting. And Charlie got annoying by 5 minutes in. I switched over to Foxtel to watch Bullitt instead…now that’s how to film cars!
The track is alright, the camerawork is the real killer. Not enough, and not skilled enough cameramen/directors.
The challenge was confusing, what happened when they put on the snow tyres?
The “What were they thinking” was okay, needs magnetic pieces and not thumb tacks with wonky printout pictures.
Production values were way down from the UK version, but I guess that’s to be expected.
In the end, it’s good to have an aussie car show, with up to date news on new models and decent reviews. We still have Clarkson’s Top Gear to keep us entertained.
I hope it improves. Seemed to me to be scripted, even the chat with Vince Colossimo. The one liners on the challenge even seemed scripted. They should be letting it develop, not appear ready made like its been around forever.
I am not a fan yet.
Yars… there is a long history of failed ‘clone-shows’: Archie Bunker for Alf Garnett, Steve Vizard for David Letterman, ‘The Office’ for ‘The Office’… the universe is littered with such disasters - they are, by definition almost, always disappointing.
But, despite a tad too many ‘let’s cut back to the one-liner’ shots, and some lame first-up action, Top Gear Oz wasn’t as tedious or indigestible as I expected. (To be honest, I was expecting something as appealing as a swig from the spittoon in the Pensioners’ Bar.)
So, I wouldn’t write the blokes off yet. You’ve just got to hope the producers have the wit and wisdom - and prepared to give the latitude - to let Charlie ‘Bad-hair’, the ferrety one, and the one who looks like a failed accountant, to find their point of difference.
Running through the whole of the Clarkson et al format is writing the show into a car-crash… (we’re smarter than that ain’t we SBS?)
The Insider
It was pants. Someone needs to put Charlie out of his misery.
Steve’s got the most potential…
will give it one more shot next week.
Painful. Top Gear Australia tried to pick up where Top Gear UK left off. Somebody forgot to mention that it took years for the UK show to germinate into greatness. TGA just isn’t believable. Not the presenter’s ‘friendships’, not the ’stupid car tricks for stupidity’s sake’, not the track, not the camera work, not even the Stig. And the audience didn’t seem to buy it either. Yeah, the guys did the best they probably could. Yeah, they had big shoes to fill. And yeah, there were over 4,000 applicants so the standard should be high. Why emulate - I’m sure we can make a great Australian car show by modeling the essence of Top Gear, and building on it, not by using a cookie cutter and too much dough ($10 million, was it?).
I agree with Chat. The track camera work sucked. The hosts also seemed to be trying a bit too hard, but its the first episode - give them some time to settle in. It was much, much better than I expected.
Agreed with the previous comments.
- Soft-roaders are a bit… soft… Perhaps something more environmentally unfriendly like Hummer vs Land Rover Sport vs Touraeg V10?
- Camera work needs more work. The Tassie scene with the Carrera S could’ve been longer and more beautiful.
- The blokes need more time to settle into their roles. Maybe they should start calling each other nicknames. ‘Stiggo’ would’ve been good.
- The Moke piece was a bit superfluous. We want to see cars, not David Attenborough.
- Where is the man vs machine challenge? Haha let’s have something Australian… like morning peak hour M5: ShittyRail vs 911 Turbo vs a moped..
- More supercars? Com’on, they revved the Gallardo once and that was it?! Disappointing!
All in all, a lukewarm start. Not enough to upset the Poms.
The Stig was changing gears in the GT-R with a floor-shifter???
It looked like in-car imagery from the M3.
Well, trying to be constuctive instead of just “it’s crap, where’s clarkson”.
The hosts.
Generally ok, of course they are not C/H/M but who cares. The chemistry is getting there, however the short scruffy one should shut up for five minutes, he really does start to grate a little.
The stories.
Soft roaders, ok, but the “challenges” were just two races. Bit more variety needed there.
Lambo. Very nice, but give it to the Stig.
Maybach. Blinked and missed it, what was that about.
Porsche 911. Ok, but its interesting that in the footage, charlie seemed to be driving it so slowly. Is this some PC crap that we’re not allowed to see cars driving a little fast on australian roads?
Moke. Just plain silly. As far as a could see, the shark didn’t even touch it.
Stig’s Lap. Didn’t really get an idea of what the course was like, it looks short, slow, twisty.
Star in a cheap car. It’s a ahem “star” in a cheap car. enough said really. Had to laugh that it was a Proton, probably have the Malaysian embassy issuing a diplomatic protest.
Overall. Not too bad, will watch again. but could have trimmed one story out and fleshed out the others.
Only 8 episodes? budget must be extra tight, then again it’s not the BBC - sure the show wasn’t insanely exciting, but i think the problem (for me anyway) is at the back of my mind, subconsciously, I was comparing them to the UK version, the characters, the program segments and so on.
Sure, the camera work is only 40% of where it should be, not much cinematography really, not enough cameras on the track and the track itself, show us what the track is! and the proton satria, is reasonably priced, but maybe they should’ve got a barina or proton savvy out there, for a bit of a laugh! But I won’t write them off yet, the Ford vs. Hold-em-together will bring in the viewers for sure, because people just can’t get enough of a real motor vehicle (ford)
Hmmm I liked it, it wasn’t a complete copy of the British version but I’m glad they haven’t messed with the formula totally and there’s enough familiar stuff in there for it to sit comfotably with me.
They need to fix up the test track bit, make it a bit more exciting, like the final corner on the original show and fix the camera angles.
The short guy with the checkered shirt - well he was my least favourite - but I think like a sitcom you need time to warm to the characters and for them to find their groove.
The outdoor footage testing cars and the like was very well done, I liked that aspect of the show best.
def willing to give it another go
Utter trash. What were they thinking?
All emphatic. No light and shade.
If we were judging it on its own merits rather than against the original show - and judging it against all that’s come before it from Australian motoring shows - it’s really a pretty good show.
The problem is that they put themselves in the position where they’d be judged against the original Top Gear, and while it was a relatively good idea to cash in on the established TG franchise, it may also prove to be their undoing, simply because people might not be able to look past the fact that it’s a TG clone.
This was even worse than I dared imagine.
Some ‘full of himself’ unknown has-been with a 1960’s hair style and an agitated muppet lookalike as two of the presenters……the cartoonist is definitely up against it working with those two!
Even the first guest was dire!
The producers seem determined to hammer the final nail in the coffin with next weeks episode promising a Ford /Holden programme. Never understood the Australian fixation on a couple of almost identical and totally uninspiring reps cars.
Needless to say I won’t be watching again but so glad SBS aren’t silly enough to stop screening the UK version.
Not bad, cameras were pretty dodgy. Coxy needs to chill out for a bit and Pizatto needs to slow down his speaking a bit.
I liked it, and I see the potential in it… it will get better to watch as we get to know the presenters and the format.
I stopped watching before half the show was up. I thought I was watching a really lame version of the Top Gear UK. What they should have done was take in basic core of the show and do it like an Aussie - not like an Aussie trying to imitate a British Twat.
If and when season two of Top Gear Australia comes around I might have a look, but I won’t be watching any more episodes of this season.
Sorry SBS, nice try, but no cigar.
OMG! What were they thinking? Like the Maybach, Charlie Cox appears overly inflated and boorish, but without the sparkling wit that would make him seem appealing. Warren Brown will improve and the verdict’s still out on Steve.
The only interesting thing you can do with a soft-roader is to launch it down a ski slope, preferably with powerful rockets and Charlie Cox on board, and Vince Colossimo was plain dull. A witless choice of guest for a first episode. Where were Kath and Kim?
Does anybody like it? What an embarassing disaster. It almost makes me cringe to be an aussie. Clarkson will be laughing, but not because anything was actually funny.
In retrospect, I think SBS should shut it down fast and get the pain over and done with early.
I still think back to the shark scene that didnt even begin to look real (and what was the point to it all anyway?) and those three idiots on an icy road without chains - wondering why they had no grip - WTF!!!!?????
I reckon the guys need to relax and become more of themselves, I realise they are doing a franchise thing and sticking close to the rules. Give them time to create their own Identity. Warren was good in that vintage car race doco a year or so ago, so he should return to that sought of persona. I reckon if they are allowed to come back for a second series they’ll start to get it right (read a bit more license) but the next 7 will be telling.
Well, I may try to watch it again next week, still not sure if I can force myself though! What a total and utter disaster! And I have to agree with DavidM, it did make me cringe to be an Aussie. The Moke and the shark - why the hell?? The Stig - oh for goodness sake don’t call him “Stiggo” - that would just be too ‘ockerish’. As for Steve, I just wanted to head-butt him so he would shut the hell up - he may think he’s the little aussie ‘hamster’ - but they are shoes he has no hope of filling. As for the other pair, well, not a lot really to say , more life to be had from the Thunderbirds! Will give it five minutes next week - but once the Ford and Holden crap starts, that will be it - bye bye TGA!
yes I did cringe a number .. a fair nunber of times at the forced humour and what was the point of destroying a minor aussie icon,the Moke but I’ll be watching again. I hope the producers can stray away from the apparently must have humour and cover some serious topics. The Lightburn Zeta was a stationwagon vehicle that looked a bit like the original Colt.The sportscar lookihing thing they put up on the wall was made in very limited numbers.
Hmmmmmmm. Interesting. I have been waiting for this show for a long time and with much trepidation I might add. The general concenus from the above comments doesn’t seem to augur well for these fellows. Here’s what I think:
Not a bad first effort. Obviously everyone will be watching them and comparing them with our UK friends. They haven’t helped themselves by trying to be a carbon copy - i thought they would at least be a little more original. But hey, I’m willing to give them a second chance. You can imagine the pressure they must have been under in shooting the first episode and it shows.
Couple of things; What the hell was the Stig introduction about. I nearly vomited. Please don’t introduce him the way Clarkson does - it just doesn’t work. Please think of a different way Coxy - that was cringe worthy.
The Maybach piece - hello??? WTF was that? I was expecting more from a review on a million dollar car than how the headphones plug in. VERY disappointing.
The test track camera work was terrible - very amateur. Hopefully they will address this.
On a positive note I reckon we give them a chance. The potential is definitely there. They just need to differentiate themselves from the British version enough to make them appeal to Aussies but also stick with the tried and true format of the show. I didn’t mind the Mini Moke piece - I actually had a bit of a chuckle. The other segments were a bit ho-hum but I can see the potential! You can tell they were trying too hard to come across as best mates when obviously they had never met one another before they got the gig. Just relax a bit fellas, don’t try too hard with funnies and it should all come together with a bit of time and experience. Lets hope SBS have the faith in these guys to go past one series.
I hope they do.
LAME LAME LAME.
I watch the real Top Gear for the entertainment. That is something Top Gear Aust is very much lacking.
I hope they dont descend to the depths of Wheels magazine where they dont realize that most people couldnt give a toss about the Holden vs Ford thing.
I just hope SBS hasnt pulled Top Gear UK.
In the softroader story no one actually expressed any opinion on anything so what was the point of that? Which was the best one Why? “I just don’t get soft roaders” was a very dumb comment. You need to involve the audience.
The Maybach story as other have said was disappointing and could have been so good. So its like a S class Mercedes??? and that supposed to help?
The shark cage with a car attached was pointless. I was embarrassed watching it.
The test track I just didn’t get it. Again they could have explained stuff about the track.
Next week Holden versus Ford. I wonder if we will hear an opinion. I doubt it.
I’m one of those girls who isn’t doesn’t understand all that car terminology, but loves watching TGUK - for the laughs, opinions, scenery, adventures and challenges the guys get up to. So, my thoughts 24 after TGA Episode 1:
- Steve is soo CUTE! He can steer my wheels any time.
- Charlie Up Himself needs to calm down and stop waving his arms around, looks like a pompous Brit git. Prob just the way he is from hanging around all those media execs for so many years. He will have to work hard to get Aussies to enjoy his company.
- Warren is good - use his personality and wit more.
- The Moke/Shark story was a great concept but poorly edited and wasted, who cares whether the shark was interested or not, just make it funny anyway, not slide into try hard. Hope to see the Moke again in other adventures (otherwise that is a dreadful waste of a precious Moke).
-The time/track scenes needed an introduction to the course - what does the course look like? Very confusing & disappointing
- Intro to The Stig sucked. Even if you are contractually obliged to call him Stig, please make an effort to make up your own poetic intros, or someone start to call him Stiggo or something
- The Maybach piece was totally wasted - how often do we see inside something like this? Maybe this is an indication that your editing/production needs to improve fast - I assume you had more footage but couldn’t use it for some reason. Shame, this is the cheapest and easiest stuff to produce and impress us with ( we know you prob can’t afford helicopter shots in every major location story)
- Thanks for the Tassie scenery. Just beautiful. Worth more to us in Tassie than all that $$$ wasted on sponsoring Hawthorn FC. Vision is everything. Sell this show to the world and you sell Australia too. Who hasn’t wanted to drive the Swiss Alps or the highlands of Scotland after watching TGUK there?
- The cool locations are a real feature of TGUK so we expect it to be a highlight of this show - I laughed a lot at the sand dunes and snow driving scenes (so pretty) because they were so typical of things any Aussie bloke would enjoy having a go at doing with their mates. This is where we will see these 3 guys bond, so more of this stuff please. Good effort.
- This show is about mates and motoring dreams and adventures. Aussies will put up with Brit characters who have their upperclass idiosyncrasies but don’t expect them to let our own Aussie comperes get away with any pretentiousness or try-hard behaviour.
So calm down everyone and continue to give it your best shot. A lot of us really want you to succeed.
- Did I mention that Steve is HOT!
Needs a bit of polish that will come with time. they went too soft on the softroaders and they need to elevate the viewing angle on the test track so you get some perspective.
Stigo’s doing the power to weight ratio no favours
I feel the same as everyone here…I feel they are trying to hard to emulate UK TG. Using known personality could have been useful. I didn’t mind the challenge, but the rest is a big meh…especially the track..a big disappointment…it could have been good to make original and us a Motokana track. Also is it me or STIG is a bit chubby on the sides?
Ok ….a clear consensus appears to be forming that this was at best something that will have to get better as it warms up and at worst a totally cringeworthy failure that should be canned asap.
Even giving it the benefit of its best review…why on earth would you try to do such a poor imitation of your most successful programme.
Give it up SBS…recognise the difference between success and failure…can the rubbish and keep transmitting the real thing.
And the verdict is…………… SHITHOUSE!
No, no, no, that was a bloody awful poor imitation. It was embarrassing to watch.
Obviously scripted rubbish humour. They tried too hard to replicate the UK version, even down to their height, physical size, looks and personalities (or lack thereof).
- A tall obnoxious git,
- A medium height middle/aspiring to upper class dork
- the little bloke (almost a dead ringer for Hammond without the quick wit) that gets picked on.
The track was a big turd with asphalt layed on top.
Bring back the UK version or get Roy and HG instead! Or I’ll be watching something else.
i love the UKTG, i usually tape it and watch it again which annoy my wife no end. the UK show is more for the humour and the unpredicatability of what they are going to do next rather than the cars and event, even tho i love cars, i can read review from my magazine and TMR. its more of an lighthearted entertainment than car review, and thats the problem with OZTG. it has neither. my wife had to wake me up.
i agree the comment of letting the 3 guys loose rather than a tight script, let them create it. i have high hopes for OZTG, i wish them the best. i’ll have my tape recorder ready if things improved. can anyone tell me if UKTG will still be shown in this country?
I am not surprised by the result.
That boneheaded host, Charlie would not know humour if it reversed up to his worn out old head and back-fired in his face.
Warren Brown is the only one with half a brain.
The content was a cheap immitation of the real thing.
And why the hell would you start with 3 of the most boring vehicles on the road? If defies logic.
An utter disgrace.
Thank god for the real thing.
What somebody said up there. The shark scene was fake.
Lots of stock footage (notice how the light and colour of the water constantly changed?), no scene lasted more than 1 second, throw in some heavy breathing.
A few years back there was an hopelessly faked TV advert for security doors with filmed with sharks (called sharkurity doors!) and shark boffin Valerie Taylor. It looked about as real as that.
And did you all notice how they tried to do a segue to the story? “Here I am fishing. I do a car show. How ’bout I try and make a shark eat a car?” WTF? Why was he even fishing in the first place? It was embarrassing AND fake. It was MIND BOGGLINGLY bad. On about 4 levels. Head scratchingly bad.
One one little thing I thought was funny in the What were they Thinking? segment: When it was the English chap’s turn to step up to the board, the other fella accidentally got in his way and the Englishman was noticeable p*ssed off. Then he pinned his picture on the board cockeyed, he tried to right it, it went back to being cockeyed, so he just held it in place until the segment ended. Hilarious!
Couldn’t they have found some better hosts? Someone at least a little funny? I cringed when one of the numb nuts said grouse. Shot the mongrel dog of a show now. Although I can’t wait to see if Top gear UK take the piss
I have been trawling the web to see what the general consensus was as I only watched the first episode last night (had to record it and get to it later). I was hopefull with all the plug’s that it would have been a bit decent. I was really underwhelmed. You can’t have a clone show and try to come across like you have been doing it for years and have been mates for ages. It seemed like they were acting like it was the first show of the second season and everybody was supposed to have a sense of history with these twats! They couldn’t have been more obvious in going for the same personality types as the UK version. What the hell is going on there! 4000 applications and this is the best they come up with. A bunch of guys that are pale watered down ghosts of their UK counterparts. The whole thing was like a train wreck on slow motion. You know that there is going to be a horrible mess sometime soon but you can’t look away. While it is the first show they shot themselves in the foot by being a bunch of try hards. Who shows footage of future shows in the first episode to flesh things out.
I guess even SBS has joined the ranks of the mentality of “get ratings or you get canned” which is why these guys came across as forced and trying to hard. Even the stories were lame and pointless. Where was the humour and why do we even care as these guys wander around like they have turned up and nobody gave them the script. And what was the bloody point of the moke story. There is 5-10 minutes of my life that I will never get back.
The sad thing is that my other half likes TG UK because the guys are cool and the cars are great and she was saying “this is crap … turn it off”. I will watch the next episode but these clowns are on borrowed time.
A very disappointing start to Top Gear Australia.
Out of four thousand candidates, they’ve chosen these?
Charlie Cox has all the charisma and personality of a walnut.
Terrible presentation skills.
For a so called motoring commentator he is pathetic.
The over the top ocker-speak of Steve Pizzati is just plain embarrasing.
Of the three Warren Brown is the best (of the worst?) but in his segment on the Maybach.. after enthusing about all the buttons in the back seat , he shows us some headphones (plug- in no less!) and then bails out of the story moments later, leaving us unaware of what all the other back seat features might be!
Warren you can get rear seat headphones in a Holden..and they’re ” wireless.”
The piss weak track at some local airport was awful…very few corners to demonstrate anything, and it was all over in a nanosecond.
Good grief guys..lift your game or bring back Jeremy C !!!
Dear God what were they trying to do. We love top gear (UK) absolutely love it, fans for years. Please!!!!!!!
The second episode of top gear Australia gave us hope. (Don’t let us down!!!!).
“What were they thinking” of trying to impose the personalities of the UK guys on these four, (please the Stig is not the Stig his weight/build IS NOT THE STIG let them be who they are.)
The track - what can we say? Think about camera locations and please get some excitement going - Patrick says it’s “like a wet fart.”
How can you make a 911 look boring? Just ask Top Gear Australia.
What the hell were they thinking, its a car show made for the aussies, so why the hell are they using a malaysian proton, sponsorship, bloody hell….