TV Finally Emerges From The Silly Season

It has been a welcome return from the agenda-setting Lateline (though, like all serious current affairs shows, it has been absorbed by the AWB scandal since its return this Monday - not without reason, of course). This Sunday sees the return of what could be fairly described as the pollie watcher's cult favourite, Insiders. Apparently, Barrie Cassidy's been a busy boy - not only is Insiders being expanded to one hour (at the expense of Alan Kohler's Inside Business - a shame, though the show sometimes struggled to fill its 45 minute timeslot) - but it is being joined, to my great surprise, by a new show, Offsiders, which sounds for all the world like an Insiders for sports nuts, and is hosted by none other than - Barrie Cassidy! To quote the Crocodile Hunter - by crikey! Shall we see Bazza and Piers dressing up as sheilas and demanding that the biffo be brought back into the foota? Methinks not. The likes of Peter Fitzsimons and Roy Masters (who will also be on the show) have taught us that sports commentary can be done intelligently and with a bit of humour. If anyone can manage it, this sounds like the crew to pull it off, so it should be an intriguing experiment (and if you snickered at the phrase `pull it off' - straight back to The Footy Show for you).

Also returning next Monday is the latest incarnation of Media Watch, featuring the debut for former host of ABC 702's Sunday Profiles series, Monica Attard. It will be interesting to see how Attard approaches the sometimes rocky post of Ombudsman-in-Chief of Australian Media (I've said it many times - listen to a talkback host put their foot in it and they won't say `Bugger - hope nobody reports me to the ACMA', they say `Bugger - hope this doesn't end up on Media Watch'). Sunday Profiles netted some gems of the shark-disguised-as-angelfish genre of interviewing - Barnaby Joyce's revelation (hastily rescinded) that he did not condone abortion in any circumstances, including when the mother's life was threatened, is a good recent example that springs to mind.

Looking forward to it.