Back to Back (Side of Television)

The Back Side of Television is, well, back. If you’ve been looking for a chance to laugh at the weird shit Australian television has served up over the last 70-odd years, then this third season is everything you could ask for and more. Best comedy show of the year? Hang on, we haven’t seen the second season of Mother & Son yet.

It’s the “and more” that’s important. When it comes to local TV, who wouldn’t love a smart, funny look at the lowlights of yesteryear? It does seem a bit weird that we haven’t had one of those nostalgia clip shows in a while. Presumably hiring someone to go through the archives costs money whereas reality TV pays for itself. Put another way, The Back Side of Television isn’t exactly a one man operation, but host Mitch McTaggart’s name does show up over and over in the credits.

No, what makes The Back Side of Television more than just a snarky nostalgia-fest – though c’mon, that 70’s science fiction episode of The Evil Touch with the sex robot sells itself – is the way McTaggart has actually put some thought into what he’s talking about. This, you may have gathered over the years, is not par for the course on Australian television.

So while this week’s two-part episode wasn’t exactly wall-to-wall laughs, it was extremely interesting. Okay, some parts were funny too, if often in a “that’s a bit fucked up” way. But as a look at how Australian television worked (and works) hand-in-glove with various police forces – in a very much “you scratch our back with technical help and we’ll scratch yours by helping gloss over your many, many failings” fashion – it exposed how this country’s media really works in a way you’re not going to get from Question Everything.

Look, we’re suckers for this kind of thing. Insider info about Australian television? Count us 100% in. Snarky digs at pretty much everything? You know we love that. Let Loose Live even got a mention in week one. We figured we were the only people left alive who remembered that 2005 shocker.

But McTaggart knows how to sell an insightful look at television to an audience that’s come for wacky clips from yesteryear. (and if the reports of an upcoming expose on Man O Man are correct, that’s what they’ll get). Yes, the depth of research on offer is impressive. Linking various real-life police scandals to TV episodes that tried to whitewash them couldn’t have been easy.* But McTaggart’s skill as a host, and his ability to keep things light until it’s time to drop the hammer, are what makes this great television.

And there’s still two more episodes to go!

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*the more cynical amongst us might suggest that an example of the Victorian Police shooting an unarmed person might not have been all that tricky to dig up