It’s definite – Channel Nine has announced its intentions to bring Top Gear Australia back to our TV screens.
With the original Top Gear being one of its ratings winners when it was launched back in February, Nine is planning to cash in on its success. A spokesperson for Nine told media publication Campaign Brief, “We’re confident 2010 will be our strongest ratings year in the last decade.”
Six episodes are said to be planned, but as yet no details have been released on who the hosts will be, nor have any dates been set. Recent speculation even saw Shane Warne’s name rise to the surface.
So, with six episodes to win the public over, what does Nine have to do with Top Gear Australia to make it a success?
Don’t bother…..Top Gear can not be successfully duplicated.
exactly that was the problem with the first attempt. Same set same theme song same set up. Innovation is needed
The thing is the show is licensed as a package. Therefore the format, set, logo, theme etc. are all controlled by the BBC and defined by the contract.
The problem was they tried to copy the hosts and their chemistry as well – that’s where they mainly failed.
The show itself is cringeworthy. The presenters have no chemistry, the challenges are pretty lame, as is the camera work which makes the Uk version so good. Channel 9 is trying to flog a dead horse.
I think you miss the meaning of what franchising is?……..Simply it means duplication. With a twist of aussie flavour. And lets all face it if Jeremy Clarkson wasnt hosting a car show, he would be just another wingeing pom to all of us.
What’s the bet Eddie will be hosting?
lol I was thinking the exact same thing
Sam Newman!… I think he might be suitable. A d*ckhead who’s rude, amazingly offensive and lame at the same time but who cares we can laugh at him. I reckon Sam Newman to bring stupidity and road rage to the show.
I bloody hope not!
they already ruined the winter olympics by commentating on stuff they know nothing about, why not kill off more shows
Can the entire idea? Without the chemestry of the original 3 the show isnt really top gear
But, BUT there is a but here.
How about some informative reviews? SBS’s Top Gear Australia was plagued with fluff reviews that appealed neither to the automotive enthusiast nor the entertainment seeking majority. Top Gear became famous because it tested cars that we wanted to read about.
How about some $10,000 cheap car challenges or something like that? Australia has a massive selection of high performance cheap cars they could buy and abuse.
Also, when you review a car, i atleast expect the core specifications, and some mention about the dynamics and performance, ie in numbers not abstract terms.
Ultimately SBS Top Gear never really told us enough about cars for me as a gearhead to bother watching, and also was never funny and entertaining enough for everyone else
And if i hear another forced kangaroo reference or Vegemite joke im going to switch the tv set off.
As someone said below thats what Fith Gear is for really.
I would love an Australian version of that.
I think Top Gear has more and more moved towards stunts, pranks and high speed fun.
Which is fine but I have more and mroe found myself watchng Fith Gear if I want genuine reviews.
Please no! it didnt work last time… just leave it be.
The reason Topgear is so popular is it has a huge budget, great production team and 3 very talented hosts that work well together in a way that appeals to a huge audience of both sexes.
If the last effort of Topgear Australia was anything to go by lets hope they fix the “bogan” factor as well as the “try hard” comedy
send it back!
(click to show comment)
Before they bring Top Gear Australia back Ch9 needs to make sure they show the complete episode of each Top Gear. Ch9 have been cuting approx 20mins out of each episode of Top Gear UK meaning we only get to see part of the show. Move Top Gear to a 90 minute time slot showing the entire episode & when they have done that right then bring back Top Gear Australia..
Hear Hear! For Gods sake Ch9 stop butchering TV genius. Leave the show intact!
They’re just showing the standard international version, it only goes for the full hour in the UK.
Don’t forget D that the 1 hour on the BBC involves NO commercial breaks. Add in a standard amount of ad breaks over an hour period and that means a show runs for around 40min for an average commercial TV station. To me it still seems Channel 9 cuts the international version as it is even more disjointed than it ever was on SBS. It makes sense as the SBS, whilst it still has commercials, doesn’t have as many and they aren’t as long.
The international one goes for about 52 minutes- about 8 minutes shorter than the original. This is why Top Gear runs for 70 minutes on 9 rather than 60 minutes like it did on SBS.
Last Tuesday’s show had 50, yes, 50, Channel 9 promotions and advertisements. Almost 20 minutes worth. So, how much are we losing? The content seemed fairly limited and must have been cut. Onya Channel 9 treat your customers with contempt, wring every last dollar out of the show’s appeal and in the end totally stuff it. Will be hard pressed to sit through your commercial with a bit of Top Gear again.
if you wanna watch full episodes of top gear go to streetfire.net or tvshack
too much ads comparing the SBS time and where the bloody hell is the subtitle gone!!!!Chxxx9
(click to show comment)
That’s what Fifth Gear was for
Who wants to watch a show about econoboxes? If you want to know about cars that you drive to work, then read websites like this or newspapers and magazines. TopGear is the only show that we can see a McLaren, Lambo Murcilago, Ferrari 599GTB, R8 and DBS racing against each other on the same race track in all their aural glory with explosions, jets flying around and space shuttles crashing . Its entertainment not an infomercial.
I vote for Sam Newman as our Clarkson!!
I can see it now. Top Gear ‘Street Talk’ at Summernats… LOL!
First of all thers nothing wrong with the fromat. If we change it then its not top gear. Its the hosts. When Top gear started, the hosts were not some famous blokes, just regualr joe blows off the street. Get some proper hosts who can work well together. They need to be real and not scripted.
There was a funny story going around a year or two ago, when Top Gear was up for an Emmy Award for Best Factual non-scripted Series and Clarkson replied with “Thank you, but we won’t be able to attend because we are too busy scripting the next episode”
My point is all great TV shows are scripted, but the trick is, to make it look like it’s ad lib.
Also, why is Channel 9 changing the music in the top gear clips? Can they not get licensing rights? Alot of our UK episodes have different music to the original versions. It doesn’t feel right.
That’s exactly the reason Tom. They don’t want to get charged for APRA fees every time they play some music.
So Shane Warne is 1 of them who is the other 2?
Eric Bana, now he is an interesting dude with a passion.
Perhaps they are better off not naming it under the Top gear franchise, and creating their own mould.
It will always look worse when its directly compared to an original.
Everyone always like an original, because its what they know and expect. Even if Top Gear Australia was actually a better produced program, people would still prefer the familarity of the originals success.
Oh yeah on Warnie….
Have you heard him commentate the cricket in his new gig??
Makes you laugh at how unprofessional he sounds, but on the other hand thats prob what they need…..a really laid back dude
I have heard Warne is a definite, I guess time will tell.
Not with those eyebrows…hello sailor
hahaaha…they just can’t let it go can they! losers :|
Give it up Channel Nine! It won’t work!
They wouldn’t have the budget and he probably wouldn’t do it anyway but I reckon Rob Sitch would be a good host for this show.
He’s a car nut, he’s funny and he can drive, as seen by his celebrity race results in the past.
don’t put warney on as host. also call it something else, no point emulating
Rob Sitch… Theres an idea.. someone who is actually funny?
Biggest thing I would like to see is genuine car geeks, people who actually hot off each other and exhibit personality.
The Three Brit hosts each get along, take the p*ss out of each other, have genuine opinions on what is good and what isn’t, disagree, and importantly know geeky gratuitous facts about the cars, not just that its better, or worse, or faster or more powerful, but geeky stuff, points that make each one different from the other. Try the Bmer efficient dynamic stuff, or even the GM/honda cylinder deactivation… does it DO anything to improve the driving experience… These themes are geeky underlaid by a rev-head pulse..
Competitions! not armoured Combi vans, hows about “will a crappy 60/70/80′s (Camira anyone?) 4cyl even make it to Birdsville? Kosciusko? Lake Eyre? Read sights to see, highlights of Oz combined with failure, recovery, shenanigans instead of “wow this new porsche is lovely driving through an anonymous and isolated forrest in Tassie.” Try testing French, Italian, German cars, small ones, diesel ones, (gawd even electric ones). Aussie conditions/roads. Economy tests? corners? exciting And small? Its not ALL about local content. Its about desire too isnt it? Which car sells most, is it worthy? Will they survive crap aussie roads? This would be factual, could be fun! Be harsh, be opinionated!
Do MORE reality.
The hosts to date appear forced because they are. The content appears flat because it is. Why do the producers (or whoever) look for ‘names’ to attract audiences instead of Making some… Warnie might be rowdy, controversial, but (prove me wrong!) isnt he just a loud, rude, obnoxious twat? Is he smart or knowledgeable? will ANYbody value his opinion or just write him off as being an idiot?
There are some awesome motoring geeks and writers in this country, as there are talented funny people. Did any of the TG brits have racing credibility before they started? Who cared? It should be about geeks having fun as mates and taking the piss…. To avoid another tortured ‘season’ why not look outside the box?
Theres my rant
Great points Bender! Personally I think they should’nt bother because the last 2 efforts were dismal. Somehow the 2nd offering was even worse with James than that Charlie fella. However seeing they are going too bother doing a 3rd instalment I think they should take on board some of the above points. In reality pigs might fly!
The show will continue to come across as a poor cousin to Top Gear- don’t do it ,it is embarrassing.If Nine were smart they would try a format like Fifth gear ie no challenges but more shoot outs by one driver of 2 or more cars.Forget the celebrity driver thing we do not have enough.
If they kind of wanna replicate the awesomeness TGUK then they need to have 3 hosts who have 3 hosts who have excellent chemistry through how they communicate and their humour and more importantly mannerisms. But then again the show needs its own identity so its should find its own feet.
How many times do I have to say this-
Aussies aren’t funny.
Aussies don’t know anything about good cars.
Noone cares about OZ TG especially when they keep showing Ford vs Holden some reason paddock bashing in outback or doing burn out test….Manufacturers wont lend em cars cause they will keep saying an HSV Senator is somehow better than this M5…
The Australian show CAN work, but not with the current hosts and budget. And Channel Nine, what works best about Top Gear on SBS is the lack of the “EAB” (Epic Ad Breaks) you have introduced to our Top Gear viewing pleasure. There has to be a better way to make a return on your investment other than destroying the flow of the show with ad’s.
Find hosts that simply don’t have to try to be both informative and amusing, there needs to be some genuine larrakin ability and the hosts need to drive the direction of the show.
Car reviews are good, but when squeezed into 45mins of airtime it doesn’t allow much time for a quality review. And we don’t want to see luxo Euro cars in every episode, give it more of a local flavour because I would rather see Clarkson, May and Hammond review the Ugly, the rather Ugly and the Ferrari’s out of Europe. I’d like to see the Australian show concentrate on motor vehicles from the Australian / Oceania region, we have a terrific automotive history and it is something we should champion in a show like this.
Review old cars, Camira, Taurus, FT50, Walkinshaw (if anyone will let you drive theirs!!!), VR HSV GTS-R, AU Falcon Wagon, Urvan, Laser the Amazer and other cars that made this country great!
Would you watch an episode of Aussie Top Gear that was billed as running “The Great Camira Challenge” that went for 90 mins (incl. ads)? I sure as hell would.
How about an epic Melbourne – Sydney – Melbourne run by SIDI Commodore (claims it can do MEL-SYD on a tank), Camry Hybrid and a VW Jetta (Diesel) and have some fun on the way back to Melbourne.
Our show should be about Holden and Ford, but it shouldn’t be rammed down our throats. It should be about Hyundai (who were number 3 in Australia last month ahead of Ford), Mazda (who’s Mazda 3 has outsold Corolla YTD) and every other manufacturer that imports to this country. It should be about Great Wall, Skoda and SsangYong.
Speaking of SsangYong, would someone (ANYONE!) please do a comprehensive review of the SsangYong Chairman……. perhaps the finest old fashioned Benz ever to have been sold in this country!!!!!
PS: The Great Camira Challenge is copyright, to me, and if Ch9 wish to use it they must purchase the concept, from me, for cash, for lots of cash, and I must get to enhance and drive one of the Camira’s!!!!!!!
why bother, cant we produce a car show from our own imagination without copying overseas productions, i cringed every time i watched this show (both times).
The only decent australian car show in memory was “the C word” on Channel 31, it was funny, irreverant and most importantly entertaining. This was in large part due to the host who i now think is at channel 9 on another car show (but has probably been sanitised to within in inch of his life). If channel 9 want to make this show entertaining (and therefore rate well) they need entertaining people, not cardboard cutouts of what they think we want. I suggest they may already have one presenter in their midst without knowing it
Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall would provide great chemistry on camera. They can drive, have been in front of a camera before and are highly opinionated – and highly likely to disagree.
Their views would be respected and they are polished enough to appeal to guys and girls. No dirty bogans…
Merrick Watts? I know he’s not everyone’s favourite but he is silly, amusing and a massive car lover.
But Mark Skaife is awkward and completely one sided thanks to his contract with a manufacturer. Russel would be a better choice however he is also contracted to a manufacturer so is bound by his contract to speak well of that manufacturer. Not very well balanced or entertaining at all. It would end up being a Holden ad all the way through!
I do think Merrick and Rosso could be a bit of a laugh… no idea if they could drive though! And maybe throw in a petrol head too. Ah, I don’t know who would be best, in this age of contracts and personal sponsorship, it would be pointless trying to find a driver or ex driver in V8SC’s to be involved, and those of the Aussie comedians or personalities also have the same issue.
And I think there in lies the problem. I don’t think any of us know what we want apart from Jeremy, Richard and James… and Stig.
Oh god no the UK version is the best but the Aussie version is a failure.
The original Aust based show was woeful. The Warren dude (moustache) was great and he’s been in some other great shows but the other two were total crap. 9 used to have a show called the car show which was quite edgy at the start with a blond bloke called Dieter (he migrated from Ch 31 in Melb a community base station) – the car show was dumbed down and blanded out with duds like Glen Ridge, the weather guy from the Ch 9 morning show (Altogether Now – remember the Micheal J Fox clone) and a totally clueless 20 something female bimbo who was only there for the way she filled out a pair of tight jeans – with the Dieter dude, Warren (the mo) and Warney – it could work. The first few ep should feature mechanical engineers totally mythbusting some of the absolute porkies pedalled by the TAC in VIC. PLease – you telling me a car will pull up 15 metres shorter @ 60 k’s as opposed to 65 – thats BS man.