Top Gear Australia television program officially axed

By Tim Beissmann | September 14th, 2011

FIND DEALS

Top Gear Australia has officially been scrapped by Channel Nine midway through the show’s fourth season on the back of dwindling ratings results.

There was confusion at Channel Nine this morning over the status of the show.

An employee in the programming department told CarAdvice the show had not been axed, but would be given a new time slot to help its ratings. The programming worker said they were quite sure Top Gear Australia would continue into a fifth season.

But when speaking with a more senior member of Channel Nine’s publicity department, we received a very different response to the question ‘Has it been axed?’

“It has,” the publicity worker confirmed.

In an official statement, Nine admitted it has decided to “rest” Top Gear Australia.

“The remaining episodes of series two [Nine's second season, the fourth in total] will return to Nine’s schedule later in the year.”

Long-term host Steve Pizzati put the speculation to an end this morning over Twitter:

“It’s true- as of next week, TGA will be on at the special time of not at all. Sorry to the open-minded people that gave it a go AND enjoyed!”

“To all the supporters (esp the ones that came to the studio), to all the manufacturers that gave us cars and to all in production- THANKYOU!”

“We’re told the last three episodes will make an appearance in the summer. Or try Blockbuster Video in the BetaMax section.”

The writing was on the wall for Top Gear Australia, with Pizzati poking fun at the network’s decision to shift the program to a later time slot last week:

“Remember kids, our show is on at 9:30pm tonight because (according to the promo) that’s a SPECIAL time!”

Top Gear Australia became the first spin-off the successful BBC franchise when the first episode aired on SBS in September 2008. The show attracted 933,000 viewers, the most ever for an Australian-produced television program on SBS.

The first series averaged around 650,000 viewers per episode, and that dipped to about 577,000 for the second series.

The show switched to Channel Nine for the third season and launched with a bang. The Ashes special episode, which featured the BBC presenters in a series of challenges against the Australian hosts, pulled a record 1.538 million viewers.

Ratings over the past fortnight have reportedly fallen to around 400,000 viewers, leading to Nine’s decision to pull the plug.

Over four seasons, Top Gear Australia had six different hosts. Pizzati, currently teamed with Shane Jacobson and Ewan Page, was the only one to appear in every episode.

Are you happy or sad to see Top Gear Australia go? Why do you think it failed to attract consistent, strong audiences? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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http://caradvice OSU811

It was a bit lame compared to the UK version, but still an enjoyable watch (at times), and imo its always worth while having as many car shows on TV as possible!!
- paul
  
  sounds like Steve Pizzati has sour grapes get over it you tried and failed it never worked usually turned it off after 5 mins not funny just boring try hards.
- TechEd
  
  Maybe they should do what TG USA has done and given it its own identity. Some of the stuff they have done is an Americanised version of stuff they have done in the UK version, but it works. Their trip in Alaska was excellent.
  
  If channel 9 is going to kill the Oz version off, maybe they should look at the US version and use some of their ideas – oh and loose the ute and the blokiness/yob factor.
  - G
    
    Yeah. That’s what makes it harder to watch. The “yob factor” as you call it. Even though they test cars like the Amarok and R8 Spyder you still get the impression all you’re gonna see is a beat up old falcodore doing a challenge or just some Aussie V8. Needs to stop being so insecure about it’s Aussie identity and just get on with the car related entertainment.
Jake Williams

The Chery part last night was actually enjoyable for a change, though not as enjoyable as the Top Gear UK that followed. It’s a shame though, they were beginning to improve it a little bit. Oh well, I guess that’s what happens when you try to replicate something that cannot be replicated!
Charger

I watched all the Seasons apart from this one as i turned it off after the first 10 mins.

Its a shame its been axed but i do blame CH9 the show was only as good as the writers and budget.
Season 2 was by far the best. People who bag it and compare it to Top gear UK try watching early seasons of UK top gear it was pretty Awful its only because it was given the massive budget that it was able to become a success.

It didnt help that the hosts were chopped and changed and Shane Jacobson was not a great host he was no petrol head!

The US version is much better and way less scripted than even the UK version there hosts have a great chemistry that was never allowed to happen on Aust top gear
- Phil
  
  I’m not sure which one Shane Jacobson is, but whoever that fat guy is, people DO NOT want a FAT person as a TV presenter.
Lucii Pooky

I think people started tuning out because 9 put it on soo late and their were 40 minutes of commercials(the show is 50 mins but on 9 it was 1hr30min)!!!

And the show was boring sometimes!
- CarlMc
  
  I was watching all these commercials last week when Channel 7 kept interrupting my train of thought with bits about dinosaurs, Jurassic Park or something, there was more commercials than movie bits. There wasn’t even time to jump up and go to fridge before the next bit of movie was shown
Gs

No great loss – it was crap
- Barry Miller
  
  They would have had to improve the show for it to be crap.
  - Luke N
    
    Yep, well you could never replicate the original properly and you never ever would of, might of had the ratings in the start but what happened to them shows you about the show…way downhill! Down the gurgler..lol
Mopi

It became a scripted tired comedy show rather than a car show. I want to see cars not 2nd rate egos. Even TG UK is going down the same pathway.
- Luke N
  
  yep and i’d say TG UK has been goin down that road for a good 3-4 seasons now at least, so about when it went worldwide, maybe even season b4 that
Carl

I only ever watched the first few episodes of season 1. It was so tacky and cheesy that I couldn’t bear to watch it anymore. I’m amazed it got this far!
Martin V.

Hahaha! I’m surprised it took this long.

You can’t get three randoms together and expect them to have the same chemistry of the UK hosts that have known each other for years and years. So it all seemed a bit put on, rather than genuine. That’s what I put it down to anyway.
Toxic_horse

Shame. i am so sick of top gear uk.

Was great to have a show that is much more relavent to cars that are available here.

The people who bag OZ Top Gear are the people who watch it for ‘entertainment’ don’t really care about the cars.

The fact that we could watch both had to be a plus. Better than watching repeats of CSI.
Pious

I tuned in to the first one to see the volvo s60 segment, which is a great car (I had one as a loaner). First they called it an s60R which it isnt, it is just an R-design (essentially a trim package), they didnt show the interior, you just got to see an overweight guy drive it, you didnt really get to see the outside much, and there was an absolutely useless session of setting it against sportscars (a 911 then an s4) in drag races it was never going to win which some bright spark must have thought was hilarious but was just puerile. So it was innaccurate, unhelpful, uninformative, and unfunny (and in parts, particularly the unfortunately bulging gut of the driver from the camera angle, unflattering and unpleasant). I would have been livid if I had been Volvo Aust and loaned them the car, an absolute waste of time, turned me off (and I turned it off). Grrrr….Grrrrrrr!
- http://caradvice OSU811
  
  I do totally agree with your assesment on that segment!
  they should of put it against cars in same genre and price bracket!, eg Liberty GT or an equivalent priced Audi or BMW..
- Lox
  
  You actually bought a Volvo?
  - Pious
    
    I bought 6 over the years (though the current one belongs to my missus), what burns me is that the s60 T6 is a great car and huge fun to drive hard, had TGA actually shown what the car does rather than 6 minutes of carrying on like complete twits, you’d understand that and wouldnt be asking the question. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Noel

Well surprise surprise surprise. These guys were trying to be too much like the UK show and they just couldn’t pull it off.
Brayden Cresswell

People who compare it to early seasons of uk top gear you say?

They were horrible but at least the on screen chemistry works for them where the Aus roofers look rather uneasy together it was a hopeless show from the beginning I can easily go back and watch the early seasons of uk topgear can’t say the same about the Aus show.
Ima Hogg

Just as it was starting to get good chan 9 needed to give it more a chance. Im a bit sad now. Top gear Uk is starting to be rubbish and boring. Oh well i might start watching fith gear again on the weekend. Top gear uk is not really about cars any more. Its more about stupidity.
paulb

Hard to compare to the original UK series.Aussie top gear should be given longer,the series was building nicley.
scott

It showed some promise and really wouldn’t have been that hard to fix.

1. Too much fake “yobbo” and “shouty” stuff from the hosts. Tone the voices down a little, speak rather than shout. The UK hosts are big yobs as well, but they manage to carry a little more gravitas in their voices/tone/pitch

2. Let the cars speak a little more. Where are the stories about driving fabulous road cars on some of australia’s fabulous roads? Last night’s 24 hour test of a $10k pile of rubbish might have been good for five minutes of laughs, but I want to see them testing an Audi R8 or the Nissan GTR (cars I aspire to but will never own) over Tasmania’s Sideling Range, or along the Great Ocean Road.

3. The “star in a reasonably priced car” interviews were rubbish. These are interesting people, with interesting things to talk about – let them speak about their life, talents and industry, then get onto cars, and the test lap later in the interview (something that is demonstrated by TG UK every week)

4. Maybe not fixable, but everything just looked cheap. For example – the regular test track, a rural airport surrounded by dry grass, with clouds of dust and harsh lighting and a 20 year old ford ute. It just looks cheap and amateurish. Test somewhere that looks great on television (Ford’s proving grounds?) and with a car that has broad appeal.

Nothing that wasn’t fixable, but after three series I guess people just got sick of waiting.
- IfItAintARotorItAintAMotor
  
  I’d agree with all of this pretty much. The stories were definitely skewed to the silly, rather than the informative and silly. But then I can’t imagine some people in this country being as forgiving of a high speed blast on public roads. The famous TG cross country/continent challenges wouldn’t work as they’d be constantly pulled over. Too many professional complainers with nothing else to do with there time (remember the paint spray BMW Z4 ad that got pulled because people complained?).
  
  Having said that, I would watch the s**t out of a show that had challenges like TGUK through Aus’s more scenic roads!
- Matty B
  
  Channel 9, how do they turn an hour show into an hour and a half. Seriously, there is no way I have ever watched any top gear UK or Australia at it’s time slot. I can completely understand what 100,000′s Australians without someform of TV recorder switch the channel. The biggest problem is they’re making so much money out of Top Gear UK they’ll never offload the rights to anyone else who may have an idea about how to make it work.
  
  The show can work, as 75% of people here stated, it just seems to stiff and scripted. It’s like the presenters were that worried about making it good and having a job they could never relax or develop any sort of chemistry.
  
  I totally agree with the comment about the test track and resonabley priced car, one of the best shots on TV is watching some supercar doing warp speed, or a star on the ragged edge flying through the follow through. Half the track was single car width and littered with witched hats.
  - IfItAintARotorItAintAMotor
    
    It’s a one hour show stretched to an hour and a half. That’s to fit in the ads. SBS didn’t have to, because they don’t (or didn’t?) advertise, neither does the state-run BBC in the UK. The length I don’t have a huge problem with, it was inevitable. But starting it at 930pm is absurd for a show that runs that long…
    - Matty B
      
      They still have ad breaks scheduled in. Foxtel has Ads, Gem has Ads, both channels only screen for just on an hour. Channel will cut a segment half way through to through in 5 minutes of ads.
Pauly

If Channel 9 did auditions for 3 mates, that loved cars and were good on camera, then you could pull off what TG UK has.

Getting 3 guys together, that are not really mates, doesn’t work, and it shows.

Glad it’s gone, here’s hoping Channel 9 go back to the drawing board.
- http://www.iamthestigforealbroimnotjkinglolz.com Stig
  
  You said it all right there. that was the core of the problems.
Dave S

What a waste!

It was one of the few good shows on 9. It was one of the only motoring shows on tv. It was great to see Top Gear with an Australian flavor to it, minus all the annoying British accents (which i can usually put up with).

Channel 9, keep it on Tv and promote it better, regular time slot and more episodes. I do want to watch it. It was great seeing Australian content which was not reality TV.

I guess with out Top Gear gone they can run more episodes of ’2 and a half men’ and ‘the big bang theory’
Max

The Australian version was so borring. I used to record it just so I can fast forward to the car reviews which were ok , but nothing compared to the UK version. They tried so hard to copy the UK humour that it just didnt work here in Australia.
Car Fanatic

Pizatti knows cares but he’s dead boring.
- http://caradvice ROBOT
  
  For once we agree
Car Fanatic

Cars that should have been.
Alexander

Top Gear these days is irrelevant and tired full stop. I watched it last night – it’s laughably bad and totally pointless. I’m glad it’s over!
Fred

Elvis has left the Building…

My life will not change.
davie

Pity its gone.

I watched a few episodes of this season, one was not so good, one was really great.

Ch9′s obsession with excess adds really didn’t help either.
Fred

So who was / is the STIG ??
by_mng

I have always liked TGA, it had good content and kept gettin better (especially this season)… sad to see it go~
martin

Of two minds. It was a horribly derivative programme that copied every aspect of the UK top gear that it could with the execption of the heights of the presenters.

This week we had the excellent comments by Shane about the fitting of childseats in cars and in particular the call to Aus Govt to approve ISO Fix.

Last week however we had the apalling piece of unfunny troll bait that was the cycling rantfest. In all the time in that episode there was only one useful comment (that commuter training is the problem) and that was drowned out by anti-cyclist idiocy.

Speaking as a top gear fan I have to say that there is only one top gear and its not Australian.

Speaking as a cyclist, I hope that Ewen rots in hell like the parasite he is
- Flying High
  
  Everything said about the cyclists in that episode was spot on.
  - Jimmy
    
    I think you’re getting truth and opinion confused, Flying High.
  - Alex
    
    They didn’t show the bit about all the cars lane splitting as they go past the cyclists. It is legal for cyclists to lane split if traffic is not moving.
    
    Why do you think cars should be allowed to use the same lane as cyclists but cyclists cannot use the same lane as the cars?
    
    If you feel that cyclists are holding you up just consider the fact that I as a cyclist have to overtake you as many times as you overtake me. Maybe it is the cars that are holding up the cyclists.
    
    I am glad this show has ended. These buffoons have all of the stupidity of Clarkson with none of the charm. Perhaps if they had just been themselves it would have been a different story.
- The Sgit
  
  Even though Clarkson hates cyclists I still like the buffoon as he doesn’t take himself too seriously. I’ve never watched TGA but the anti-cyclist rant appeared on some cycling websites last week and it was just cynical and nasty, not funny at all. It promoted ignorance and was an opportunity wasted. Clarkson is irreverent, offensive and funny but he does it with a panache that this TGA presenter is totally lacking. Still, the show’s bogan audience would have loved it.
- http://www.facebook.com/priusfreezone Matthew Werner
  
  I did laugh my arse off when he said he was wearing the lycra to “feel sexy”. Honestly, why do you need to wear it when you’re not in a race? It’s like wearing Speedos to the beach for a swim to cool off when you should be wearing boardshorts.
Mike

Personally i think shane was a winner, the other 2 needed to go. Replace them with the likes of Merric Watts and john bowe or Mark Larkham. Someone with legit credentials and decent sence of humour. Too much try hard scripted pommey commedy. The uk version gets away with it because everyone knows they are tools except them, so its funny.

The road test needs to be about the cars with some humour thrown in for entertainment, not the other way around.

Star in a reasonably priced cars should have been in a 6cyl BF-FG/VY-VE sedan or something the majority of people have actually driven, so they relate to it.

Just needed some common sence, instead of trying to replicate something that only realy works because of its chemsitry.
Bangel

Gone and forgotten , watch the first episode , dead boring .
- paulb
  
  Last week Bangel they put the Amorak to the test.You should of watched, was good.
  - davie
    
    The Amorak segment was a real highlight – a good example of TGA getting a segment done right with a good focus on the cars and a little bit of humour thrown in.
    - paulb
      
      Also learnt a lot about the Amorak in that segment.Seen the offroad ability.Was told that its a Golf interior on a 4wd platform.In building Amorak they pulled apart a Hilux and went from there.
      - 3d4
        
        It’s spelled Amarok
      - paulb
        
        No worries 3d4 my Escimo is a bit rusty,lol.
      - Sicherheit
        
        It’s spelled Eskimo
Pete

The problem was everyone compared it to the UK version, and TGA kept trying to emulate the UK version in their stunts etc.
I think there is room for a show like that on OZ TV but it should be unique to Australia. We as Aussies dont like me too shows. The presenters did a fine job in my opinion, but people just couldnt stop comparing them too the UK presenters. I believe if UK TG did not exist we would have lapped up TGA.
We need a stand alone Australian motoring show, and I would be happy to see, Pizzati, Page and Jacobson at the helm, but as an individual, unique show.
Fluffy Dog

A shame, more because of what it could have achieved than what it actually delivered.

It was definitely over scripted – I went to the studio audience in series 1 and off camera, all three guys were witty, dry and clever, making jokes with the audience and baiting / taking the p1ss out of each other. However as soon as the camera got rolling, they were forced to spit out tired old one liners masquerading as humour.

It was also just a bit too bogan, particularly once it got to channel 9. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of V8, meat pies and vernacular, but this punchline became the show. A bit less political correctness and some more clever, topical irreverence might have gone a long way to making it more than just an excuse indulge in bogan cliches – this is one of the key factors behind Top Gear UK’s success and broad appeal.
- davie
  
  I went to a series #3 filming and I agree with you about the presenters off camera – very witty and funny blokes.
  
  The scripting did make things a bit surreal. One minute they are joking around off camera very relaxed and the next minute they are joking around on camera and stiff as a board.
  - AndyGF
    
    Interesting observation there davie… If only they could get their on-camera ‘presence’ right, they would be TRULY fantastic to watch.
    
    The problem with all car shows, is trying to be too much like TG UK without finding their own sense of humour! JC, Capt. Slow and Hamster are really good, but even they go through their ups and downs. For example Season 10 was a highlight for TG IMHO, but season 14 was horrible?
PeterG

Low budget,too scripted, too try hard , and worst of all not funny.
A true car review/comparo show more like 5th Gear would have worked better even like that NZ show.
Yonny

You’d have to blame Channel 9 for the demise of TGA. Honestly, they could not organise a root in a brothel. Does Warwick Fairfax work at Channel 9? Based on their ability to turn a dead cert into a dead duck I wouldn’t be surprised…

The show looked cheap (it was probably made on a very tight budget) and the format was too predictable. I know the show is a clone of the TG UK show and the format is sort of set in stone but surely they could have come up with some points of difference?

The show had legs but Channel 9 crippled it.
vti07

How many seasons have there been? Is this the third season or have I missed one?
Crummydore

If the hosts were able to just be themselves and not try so hard…. honestly it was cringe worthy watching the forced banter.
Last nights show actually wasn’t too bad… but, Shane was talking about the kids seats and I thought that they were actually going to inform us with some actual info, but no, it was just ‘ the seats we currently use are no good, and the ones used OS are better’… no explanation, nothing!! Could they have not gone into that in a little more detail.. a little less time slamming doors on the Cherry perhaps?
I also agree with some of the comments in ref to the track they use for the celeb challenge… no real excitement from such a crap layout and why oh why use the ute?!… wow, just cause its Australian… WTF!!
A whopping great big missed opportunity this show became… I am sad its gone, but it was on too late for my 3 young boys and myself to watch.
Goodbye advertising dollars Channel 9, and RIP TG Australia.
asdf

well may be if they didnt air the show so friggen late we might have watched it!
hehe

Axed? Shouldn’t even have started in the first place
Jason

Bad decision by Channel 9 for axing TGA. Channel 9 are not wanting to cater to the people who might watch these types of shows (Normal 9 content, Gem and GO)
Stop being douche bags and bring it back or sell it to 7 or 10 that already cater to the demographic of the shows fans.
PhantomHamster

Not sure which is more exciting, a silver Camry, a gold Honda CRV or TGA…..
- 3D4
  
  Camry…!
AndyGF

I dont know, Im not saying they were better than UK TG (never), but I enjoyed TGA shows, you gotta watch it with fresh eyes! They were mildly funny, they went to some great locations around Australia and their challenges weren’t bad either?

Lets put it this way;
It was a hell of a lot better than watching all these reality TV shows. If I see another wannabe ‘artist’ become X-voiced or the.one-idol again ill go mad! In fact, I do go mad already, I wont watch any of that rubbish. TGA was good!

Its a sad day for Australian Television…
- Fluffy Dog
  
  100000% agree. It certainly wasn’t an ‘A-Grade’ show but jeez, but surely it beats 90% of the un-reality tv crap that somehow seems to rate better and keeps getting rehashed time after time after time.
Mark

The show should have been allowed to developed its own style instead of being a constant poor carbon copy of TG UK.

Season 2 of TG USA feels very different to the UK version and it works much better because of that
Jonty

Watched the first ten minutes of the first two episodes, that was enough for me. The try hard, loud, over emphasised banter had me chringing and changing channels.

Pity, cause even the wife (who agreed it was just lame) had been keen to give it a watch after watching some TG UK.
James

Show should never have gone to channel 9. They have destroyed the show. Sham on you 9, shame.
DS

It failed because of channel 9! They kept changing the time slot and then skipped episodes to show some our program they thought would pull more ratings. If you don’t know when it will be on tv how can you watch it? SBS showed the episodes at the same time every week
Lachy

Best news I’ve had all day! The Australian version did nothing but bring shame to the Top Gear name. It was too scripted, too lame, too many ads, too bad a time slot, and the presenters kept changing too often.
Dave

I was never a big fan… I hate the way they introduce the Stig the same way as Clarkson, its funny when he does it, anyone else and it’s just a fail… The Jag XF review they did was good though
- Simo
  
  They stopped that this season, I used to hate that too.
Bob

It was total crap anyway, good riddance!
Quokka

I’m a big fan of the original UK Top Gear but this aussie version is crap. It should never have been done. Just a lame,cheesy,unfunny failure. As for the Aussie Stig… how un-original?
Dean

From SBS to CH9 the ingredients that went in to making this australian version of the show was off, way off and out of date. The presenters didn’t gel and came across wooden and trying too hard. Not the natural feel you get with the UK boys. I am yet to see the American version so cannot comment on them.

The script writing and jokes and acting were bad. terrible in fact.

The Set was a replica of the UK and we all knew it was not going to have the budget to rip off the UK version with style so why pretend.

They should have gone for a cousins of Top Gear UK feel, with blokes in a garage or back shed sitting on couches and doing car reviews on cars that the UK guys don’t do with the odd challenge thrown in. that format worked. looking at strange cars like that mighty boy last night and not just hearing it rev.

And because it was always going to be a copy of the UK version they should have gone for a shorter time slot and after the Original had shown. an easy segway would have been to have the UK show finish and the picture pan back out so that the UK show was on a TV that the Aussie guys were watching and then they could have gone straight into the Aussie version. hell they could have run the Aussie version every 2 weeks if it was done like that.

The other mistake was filming in Adelaide.
wrexmaniac

Bring back Torque with Peter Wherrett and be done with it. Or at least air Fifteh Gear instead – I’m sick of the reruns on 7mate.
- Showtime
  
  Mate, check out finalgear.com. Even the TG UK producer (Andy Wilman) posts there.
- Jon
  
  That might be a bit hard, Peter Wherret died in 2009 as a woman.
http://caradvice bill

boring un australian ,Can any one remember the rev head show on a friday night few years back was slightley random bbqs sexy burnouts and real aussies in there own cars it was gr8 just needed some refinement that would blitz a top gear copy.
Cliffo

Fifth gear is the best, just about cars and not all the crap that Top gear go on with!
Commentator

I really think the Australian version should have had more daring challenges like going for a long trip up north with limited rations in three different cars or doing a “how many girls a certain car can pick up challenge”.
Alexander

Another huge peeve of mine is their inaccuracy when string facts about cars, last week Pizatti stated that an Audi R8 had a ‘twin clutch DSG’ gearbox – it has a single clutch R-Tronic (recycled Lambo egear) gearbox. Even if it did has a twin clutch gearbox, Audi calls them ‘S-Tronic’ anyway.

I find their magazine much the same as the show, ridden with huge amounts of ads, reviews that aren’t very factual and full of meaningless banter and full of crap humor. In comparison to other magazines (Wheels, Motor, CAR, Autocar, Evo) it really is just trash.

Top Gear on a whole has become tired, over done and simply bad in general.
- Alexander
  
  *stating facts about cars (iPhone autocorrect)
AJ

Thank god. This show was crap from the beginning and made no attempt to improve. They should have never started this. The hosts were annoying and after watching a few episodes i couldn’t stand them anymore. Good riddance ..it won’t be missed.
Jameson

Just when it was getting it’s Mojo the show get’s canned, shame on you 9
Mick

Top Gear is an entertainment show more than a car show, it has been like that ever since it was revamped in the UK (it was originally a pure car show, but it had dwindling viewers). Jeremy Clarkson who was on the original show rebirthed it into what it is today – successful because its entertainment over just car reviews. Those in the UK wanting to watch a true car show watch Fifth Gear instead. Haven’t heard of it? – its very much not as popular as its car oriented, not entertainment!

Host idea for Top Gear Australia – The Chaser boys. The real trick is to not choke it with ads, and not put it in a timeslot competing with other ‘staple’ programs like NCIS etc. Never underestimate the power of a good timeslot!
Davo

Good riddance, I say. Goddam awful! It was so bogan it made me cringe – utes, Falcadores and more utes. A tip for Channel 9 – we’re not all tradies or boofheads guys.

I’ll stick with Jeremy, Richard and Capt Slow thanks.
victor

A number of contributing factors caused disinterest.
Firstly, the content was not very entertaining.Topgear U.K set a very high standard which the Aussie counterparts could not replicate.This could be attributed to budget constraints and other factors.
Ofcourse the time slot did them no favours either.
It was already agonising enough to watch without the akward timing.Lastly, a departure from the core values of a car show i.e reviews was a cause for concern. We watch car shows to see reviews about CARS!
The hosts were neither funny nor knowledgeable. Such shows require proper petrolheads who actualy know something about cars.
Admitedly, Topgear U.K also presents less car reviews nowadays but they actually have the budget to execute other features/challenges in a more entertaining manner.
To topgear Australia if you ever get a chance to redeem yourself give the people what they want to see.Car reviews guys..
Bob

No loss, the show was crap, as were the hosts and writers!
dust on earth

seriously, it’s dead boring…

not talking about cars at all instead i feel like i am watching 3 monkeys entertaining themselves…

an old garbage ute running on a wasteland (test track)?
oh c’mon!
UMWHAT

Australia should stick to Full Frontal
Anthony

I enjoyed it when they focussed on the cars and not jsut doing stuff… some of which was funny, some of which was stupid. They just didn’t spend enough time telling us about the cars, and testing what the cars could do.
TuffGuy

The Aussie version started off pretty lame and never really got going. I always got the impression they were trying too hard. They would have done well to check out the US version which is actually very good and a lot better than ours. The US version does not try to be a carbon copy of the UK version, they just loosely follow the format but have made it uniquely American.
Robert.B

This show was just a cheap imotation, Even the UK guys are wombats.I ONLY WATCH IT FOR THE CAR NEWS NOT THE HOST.
Andrew M

The showed failed for two reasons, CH9 and not being different enough to TG UK.

Hint to any future TopGear type show producers, dont let CH9 anywhere near them!!
Vdawg

I watched every episode of every season but I still have to say 10 minutes into this season with the S60 segment I knew this show was doomed.

They needed to at least fallback to making the show about the cars in the beginning and let the hosts grow into the role and build rapport.

Comparing the VW Amarok to the Audi R8 or the Volvo to the 911 and ancient little car was just terrible production and writing. Australians just aren’t that low brow anymore.

The problem solving with a V8 segment was a unique idea to the Top Gear format but it never seemed to turn out as they planned, almost as if they didn’t do a practice run off air first.
- DeJaVu
  
  Well said! Agree with everything!
  
  …especially the strange part about making the show about cars, not the hosts.
Altezza

Good riddance. It’s crap anyway.
maple leaf

thank heavens. Both the Top Gear shows were rubbish. Comedy on wheels. their comments were worthless.
DeJaVu

Top Gear Australia… Sort of hints Aussie cars doesn’t it?

I was hoping to see reviews/comparisons involving our own cars – something TGUK couldn’t touch.

Where were our Ford/Holden dedicated reviews? Oh wait, that’s right, you were too busy blindfolding rally drivers for half an hour.
http://caradvice ROBOT

To Yobbo and Blokey for me..

Presenters all worthless in their opinion..who cared.

Stories and ideas..poor.

Top Gear USA is now getting a bit of a good watch after a shaky start.

Top Gear UK..Dying a slow death by a thousand cuts.

Current Fifth Gear series is still the best out there
- Paul
  
  5th gear and that bloke with the hair??? Nu! He’s the Pommy version of Yobbo and Blokey! Can’t sit through an episode purely based on how annoying that “common man’ idiot and his forced slang is!
Nikki

when comparing it to the uk version it was not as good, but when comsideing it a plane tv show, it was quite enjoyable.

im just sad that too many people were comparing it to the original and not just enjoying it for what it was.

havinh said that, it really only became a good show after the second season (ive never seen the first season due to being bored)

there will be many who will not miss it, but i will.
Kieran

I’m sad, but not surprised to see Top Gear Aust axed.

The selected hosts all seemed to want to be Jeremy Clarkson. They needed at least one presenter to take a contrary or really odd viewpoint.

This season was not that good. There was far too much Boganism in the show which came across really badly.

Last week’s appallingly inappropriate piece attacking cyclists showed just how out of touch the producers & writers were.
The reaction to that was probably the nail in the coffin for the show.

I hope someone else produces a good car show in Australia about cars available in Australia. We certainly need one.

Some Derek Fung’s reviews on Cnet are OK. Maybe that’s what the show needed – a geek.
Shak

Its a bit sad considering Top Gear Uk was given a lot longer to form its own identity, whereas this was essentially axed at the drop of a hat…Maybe Channel 9 should have done some more promo and stuck to a consistent time slot because in all honesty i didn’t even know a new season had started until last night.
gordon smith

at least one person on the panel that had been heard of before, one member of the panel with a personality, and perhaps a scriptwriter with some concept of humour, would all have helped
Simon

I think the time has come for both. The UK version is better obviously but I find it impossible to watch. It was interesting but it’s the same old think week after week. They could both go as far as I’m concerned.
save it for the track

It always seemed forced and fake. Very annoying to watch. A pity that it couldn’t develop it’s own style.
diesel

channel 9 has a long history of having limited patience with any of the programs they run. They typically reposition a show after 4 consecutive weeks of ‘poor’ ratings. “IF” you were a new tv show, then you’d pray that either channel 7 or 10, pick you up. They have a far better history of supporting local tv shows than channel 9.
Jacob

All these comments above miss the point that James May and Jeremy Clarkson were motoring journalists before they became Top Gear hosts.

Shane Jacobson is NOT, was NOT a motoring journalist.

There are plenty of funny motoring journalists in Australia.
victor

Its unfair to expect channel 9 to sink with this ship..Channel 9 is after all a profit seeking business not a charity.Pointing fingers at the network is a waste of time, topgear Aussie could not be saved.The audience culdnt relate to it..Hell,lets not be nice about it, it was HORRIBLE..
davey

I’d rather watch the new car video reviews on sites like this one.

TGA format needs quality scripts if it is to work. That Volvo story was a shocker, as was the stupid Laine Beachley story, and depressingly I’ll never get that time back…no further interest from this car nut. Jacobsen and Pizzati ruined my favourite subject I’m afraid.

I don’t tolerate tacky humour…I love good comedy, but cannot stand the stupid contrived stuff shows like TGA dish out. Even TGUK no longer captures my attention.

If someone wants my 60-90 minutes, they need to deserve it. Ch9 has become an irrelevant network for me.
Ryan

Channel Nine has a tendency to ruin things!
http://CarAdvice The Salesman

TGA might have faired better if they followed the format of the UK parent. Paid more attention to their volume, pace and pitch.
(They were always talking over the top of each other)
Steve’s drag racing was the most promising segment so far.
Paul

Only watched 1 episode and it was just stupid!

TG UK has moved away from the whole “Jack Ass” routine as it has zero to do with cars and more to do with grown men acting like they’re still 17 years old.
http://snlflan@live.com.au Steve FLANAGAN

This is the greatest tragedy in modern TV. Well maybe the second greates after all the ‘soft’ crap like 4 weddings et al that we are left with.
Shane and the boys were making improvements all the time and the series this year, I thought was a definate step up for them.
It is expensive to make a show like this and TG UK was pretty crap early on, it is only through persisting and building a relationship with the cast that their show has survived.
Well done to the guys. At least you had a crack at it.
I will miss the show.
Elitist

Australians aren’t funny.
Only Paul Hogan show was funny.
Jason Crouch

Well that’s what happens when you take the worlds most popular show and put it on a commercial network.

It’s OK though Neutral Car Show is still available online.
moonie

I didn’t think it would be possible to make it worse than the Art School effort on SBS, but I was proven wrong – nice one Nine !

—
In the first episode, they had Kingwoods, for crying out loud (no one under 35 remembers them, Nine), and that tool who rents bogs was saying how suited they were to “the outback”. Really ? Amazing that Opel knew that…
Falcodore

If only we could do to the channel 9 programmers what they do to us….bash their heads against a brick wall. Revenge would be sweet!
Dennis Ross

Pizatti was the main reason it was axed. Just no personality
- Jacob
  
  Pizzati was cute and good looking. Top Gear needed him to get female viewers.
tga

about time!!! Yay!
mcl334

who gives a rat’s
and top gear UK crap too ever since it went to nine
Steve

The concept was wrong. Just like Kath n Kim in Usa. Replicating a classic is frought with danger. C9 dumb move.
realcars

Reckon that trying to emulate original had it doomed from the start although personaly I will watch anything about cars.

Remember Torque?
Peter Wherret RIP.
vladimir

TG AUS. R.I.P.
Rob

Damn, I was looking forward to seeing Dick Johnson drive Brocky’s Torana around Mt Panorama. Don’t really care what happens after that.
bigdog

Channel 9 is the reason. Full stop. 10 commercials in one break tends to cause a loss of viewers.

Other belated suggestions, for what it’s worth: I agree the chemistry isn’t there as in the original. Some holden vs ford banter between the presenters would have worked better. Also they need presenters who don’t need to script humour, or if they do, don’t make it so obvious! They also need some more cred, such as an ex pro driver (V8 supercars etc).
Sad to see it go though. Thanks channel 9, another victim of commercial TV.
BobB

The UK version of Top Gear was always going to be a difficult act to follow but the Australian version fell far short mainly due to poor performances from the presenters who seemed incapable of speaking at a normal volume.

The delivery of the presenters of all series appeared forced and terribly unnatural. They shouted their lines with cringe-inducing ockerish.

More class please, in presentation, content and camera work.

For me, a disappointing re-make of the UK series due mainly to the high decibel delivery of the fore-mentioned presenters who left this viewer fatigued and constantly reaching for the volume control.
DaveM

At last, good riddance, purile, boring boganism. It was so horrid I couldn’t be bothered watching an entire episode of the most recent season without totally cringing and wanting to throw the remote at the telly.

Glad it is gone, now to get Topgear UK back where it belongs on SBS. Ch9 are damned hopeless.
John

Australia needs a motoring show of some sort. Something original. I want to see something along the lines of Fifth Gear. No lame arse scripted homour. Natural humour is ok. BUT, I want the show to also include bikes. Every week a story on both, NOT just about Commodores and Harley Davisons either. There are so many models of cars and bikes out there,and no Show, ever shows what is on the entire market,hence why the need for a proper motoring show. Some of the other stations say their going to do that, but always resort to the said models. And not some skirt talking about a car that can get her to the cafe in style,which also seems to be the topic of choice with other net works that have had motoring type shows.
Somebody please do a proper motoring show!!!!!
andrew

Just wasnt funny. Should have had its own identity instead of copying UK so much. I cringed alot & felt embarrassed alot. Stig is an english idea. I think it should have been hosted by one professional journalist & two celebrity car guys like ex sportsmen or tv identities or even a female.
Not all your viewers were rednecks. You need to have more interesting cars & less of that ute.
Billy

I think it failed because:

a) They are merely immitating the UK version, hosts seemed phony (and made Australian’s look like the convict country the UK version portrays us as)

b) the 2 top gear tracks were useless and no one wants to watch a beat up ute do laps

c) Far too many comparisons with Holden and Ford. Yes they run deep in Australia’s Automotive history but the whole reason we switch on the normal TG is to watch exotic cars duel it out, not to see affordable family sedans wallow around on our relatively sub par racing circuits
http://www.caradvice.com.au/138000/top-gear-australia-television-program-officially-axed/ GS

They were getting better, still had a long way to go, but the original UK version took a few years to reach it’s quality

I liked James Morrison on the previous version, he is a genuine car guy
Nada

Everything has an end date, we try daily to prolong that date or shorten it depending on which side of the fence you sit.

They could’ve done more with the show, add some cred with a drivers’ driver like a Lowndes or equivalent… they could’ve thrown in there a Hamish and Andy type duo etc etc, Ch9 let it die.
Max Hush

I have just read all the above comments and it seems in a nut shell:
1. No false humour – unscripted only
2. Better Test track and car (Ford proving ground great idea)
3. Needs to have three real mates hosting (Ok – who?)
4. Drop the yobbo
5. Intergrate adds rather than add breaks
6. You can’t copy UK version – so dont try.
7. It’s an entertainment show with cars

Okay lets come up with some ideas:

Who should host Top Gear Australia version 3?
Craig

I didn’t read this story before. I knew the show was on the edge and Nine promised to run the remaining eps in December, which since this in Jan 1st I guess the lied again.

Over all I liked the show, not as much as the UK original, which has lost it’s way in recent years. And I agree the US version is even better than the local version.

Also noticed the US version started airing on GO! a few weeks back but has disappeared from the line up.
Kiayah

Sad to see it go but ch 9 took it from SBS where it was doing just fine – thought they were onto a winner, changed its 3 hosts, then wonder why when it started to fail?!. I think that Perhaps a) if ch9 could have hosts like (God Bless him ) Peter Brock, Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes - people that really know and like cars and genuinely get on well and naturally get on and have some craic (jokes) etc b) induce some capital as well as stars who want to be on the show c) test some good quality cars primarily for Australian conditions and drivers. Channel 9 producers I hope u read some of these comments as there maybe a rescue package for resurrection of a good show!!…..
Homerecordingingodyssey

The major killer of Top Gear in Australia was channel nines inconsistency of screening, I got used to watching other channels when it wasn’t on. The shear amount of advertising and the haphazard swapping between reruns, new episodes and TG UK, lets not mention the fact that channel nine does not own a ffffing clock and therefor doesn’t know how to start or finish a program on time!

For me, the whole thing died when SBS lost it.
Chim Chim

Top Gear Australia – that crappy TV show that has dragged on for 4 seasons and is dying a slow painful death. Why don’t they just kill it and put it out of it’s misery? You can’t copy the UK series so stop trying!