‘When did people get so frightened of ideas’: Inside the final days of The Project

4 days ago 8

‘People have gotten scared about expressing themselves,’ says Kate Langbroek as Ten’s panel show prepares to farewell its viewers.

“Is this your first time in the audience?” I ask the man seated next to me as we wait for The Project to begin broadcasting live from Channel Ten’s Melbourne headquarters.

“Actually, it’s my 182nd time,” he replies. “I’ve been coming since 2016.”

Regular guest presenter Kate Langbroek is the first to recognise this Project superfan.

The Project’s hosts Sarah Harris (left), Waleed Aly and Sam Taunton in Ten’s Melbourne studios.

“Hello!” she says warmly. A few minutes later, hosts Waleed Aly, Sarah Harris and Sam Taunton come over to greet him. “I’ll miss you guys,” he tells them.

Earlier this month, Ten announced the axing of its 16-year-old panel show, which airs for the final time on Friday. But the mood on this chilly Tuesday evening is more gleefully anarchic than glum.

This is no surprise to Harris.

The Project’s hosts with executive producer Chris Bendall.

“I had my first axing when I was 19,” she recalls. “It was a show called Local Edition – unkindly called Limited Edition by some – which lasted three months on Channel Seven. We came into work one morning and they said, ‘We’re axing the show. It’s terrible. Now pack up your desk and leave.’ So being able to say a proper goodbye on The Project has been really nice.”

Sitting next to her in Ten’s plush green room is Waleed Aly, who became a permanent host in 2015.

“The conventional wisdom was that the show wouldn’t last six months because on paper, it’s bonkers,” he says. “But what it had was a spirit and an irreverent attitude that felt of this country and of this place. It chimes with the Australian character in so many ways.”

In recent weeks, commentators have suggested the program’s declining ratings – due largely to shifting viewer habits driven by technological change – were a result of it being “too woke”. Such claims were rubbished by Steve Price, who told the Herald Sun that he was both a “conservative old white guy” and The Project’s longest-serving panel member.

“You’re not usually talking about people who’ve spent their time watching the show before forming a view,” Aly says of its more vocal critics, “so then it becomes something independent of what the show actually is – an avatar, basically. Then people react to that avatar, or to headlines about the show, rather than the show itself. But the response [from viewers] has been overwhelmingly lovely.”

Privately, some producers believe the increasingly hostile tenor of public debate – underpinned by an assumption that anyone with an opinion contrary to one’s own is not just misguided but morally deficient – contributed to the cancellation of The Project and ABC’s Q+A. It’s a theme that Langbroek picks up on during Tuesday’s episode.

“It’s very unusual to [broadcast] work live now, and increasingly so as more and more people have gotten scared about expressing themselves,” she says. “When this show is gone, I can’t think of where that will happen … when did people get so frightened of ideas?”

Soon, the conversation shifts to a lighter topic.

Comedian Adam Hills (on screen) bids farewell to The Project.

“There’s a definite ‘school muck-up day’ vibe,” says a techie as he munches on one of the homemade sausage rolls Langbroek brought in for the team. Behind the desk, Langbroek is throwing M&Ms at Taunton’s face during a break. After she lands one in his mouth, Harris crosses off “Kate throws a lolly in Sam’s mouth” from that evening’s Project bingo card, which a producer created to brighten the mood ahead of Friday’s farewell.

“We’ve got a different card for every night,” Harris says, pointing to other items on Tuesday’s list including “Sam’s hair needs fixing” and “Kate references a conspiracy theory”.

“Of course we’re sad that it’s ending,” says executive producer Chris Bendall, who joined The Project more than 13 years ago. “But for any show on television to get a 16-year run, whichever way you look at it, is pretty incredible.”

The Project’s final episode airs 6.30pm Friday on Ten.

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