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The other Australian TV show that broke our hearts last night.

 

After last night’s finale of The Bachelor, it’s safe to say emotions were running high among Channel Ten viewers.

But it was a four minute segment of Ten’s other program, Googlebox, that delivered the biggest emotional punch of the evening.

The format of the show is simple: Australian families sit down to watch TV together and other Australian families watch them doing it.

At face value it sounds insane — and it really is — but it’s also great to watch, delivering some A-grade banter and, at times, a candid look at the conversations being had in living rooms around the country.

Last night, the families sat down to watch ABC’s Call Me Dad, a documentary posing the question: “Can violent men change?”

It follows a group of fathers who have perpetrated family violence, or come close to doing so, as they make a concerted effort to change.

It offered an unflinching look at the reality of family violence in Australia. And it  triggered some thoughtful analyses from the families watching.

“You have to pack your bags and run far away from him,” Tracey told her kids.

“I think sometimes it’s not an easy choice for people,” Tom said to his partner Wayne.

But the discussion among the Silberys’ – three generations of Australian women – left the youngest, Isabelle, in tears.

“I’m glad I got out of the situation I was in,” great grandmother Emily said. “If I’d been a young wife with children I would have found it very hard to part with the partner.

“Because I was older, I was in my sixties when I met this person, I realised that life was too short.”

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Emily explained her decision to leave an abusive partner. Source: Channel Ten

Last week a raw moment between Melbourne couple Wayne and Tom drove home the importance of same-sex marriage.

This week the Silbery's gave us a rare glimpse into an intimate conversation between women affected — as so many of us are — by family violence.

They're the kinds of discussions that only happen in the comfort of your living room, but they're important.

Gogglebox delivers nothing like the over-the-top, high budget drama of show's like The Bachelor.

Nor is it akin to a well-researched ABC documentary.

But week-after-week it's delivering real conversations between real Australians and somehow that makes for great TV.

Gogglebox airs Wednesdays at 7.30pm on The LifeStyle Channel, and Thursdays at 9.00pm on Network TEN.