The USS Quad Damage

"Good Game":http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/ started off being one of the worse shows on TV. It probably stayed this way for a few seasons, after which they got rid of that damn monkey and the show started getting good. "Top Gear Australia":http://www.sbs.com.au/topgearaustralia/ is now on the air, and it has that monkey stench. A lot of people were really disappointed from the first episode. I must say the second fared much better in my view, but I missed the first half of it. Some people say it's the fact that the BBC have a lot more money. Others say it's way too similar to Top Gear, with the same characters. All we know is it's called... wait hang on I'm losing my train of thought. It's true, the BBC do have more money. It allows them to put on more spectacular shows, as opposed to the "dip a guy in water; attract sharks" thing which TGA has had to do. However, I don't know if that adds an awful lot to the show. I liked the expensive bits, but the cheaper things were also fairly fun. A stronger point is that the characters are the same. Warren is James, complete with being directionally challenged, and the most eloquent of the bunch. Steve is Richard, complete with the driving skills and stupid smile. Charlie is Clarkson. Actually, I think this isn't too bad, and in fact I think Warren and Steve actually pull off James and Richard. Charlie just can't pull of Clarkson. He's loud and obnoxious, but he just doesn't have the je ne sais quois. Still, I think they'll learn, and they'll probably become more themselves than emulating the people on TGUK. Both points are valid, I think it's just the fact that the group can't ad-lib well enough just yet, and the whole thing actually seems scripted, even though Clarkson's bunch seem to pull off the whole script thing rather well. I also think the show's probably got broader appeal. Whilst Aussie car culture is tautological to us, it's likely fascinating to people in other countries. We'll have a lot more challenges with Utes, we'll have different cars, and so on. This won't really seem all that grand to us, but imagine UK viewers seeing it. They'll be thinking "that's a distinctly Australian show, that is. More tea Cedric?". fn1. I know I'm writing like 12 posts in as many minutes, but bear with me. Looking at this historically, If I mix up types of posts I end up reading bits of a good post and I'm thinking "What the fuck is the rest of this drivel. It belongs in a whole 'nother post". I'm doing the "whole 'nother post" here.