I want to love The Chaser. When they are on the money, they deliver with big laughs and satirical bite. Unfortunately, there is a regular laziness to their work which seems to strike when they get content, or at least deep into a season of shows.

Currently, just weeks in to the current season of The Chasers War On Everything, they are experiencing one of their lulls. I have no doubt that they’ll shake out of it as the Federal Election looms closer and they shift from The Chasers War on Everything to the 2007 series of The Chaser Decides. The Chaser lads are always at their strongest when savaging the nations political heavies.

Despite what I perceive to be a lull in quality, the ratings for the Chasers WOE have never been higher. There’s constant talk of the comedy teams future career, possibly in commercial television. Though, after losing Kath and Kim to Channel Seven recently, I suspect the ABC will be treating the Chaser very well.

Something that has struck me as of this morning is the role that Chris Taylor seems to be carving for himself at the ABC. Taylor, initially a TV reporter for the ABC News in Melbourne, has increasingly become a regular go-to guy for a variety of ABC content. It was while watching Taylors appearance on the Talking Cartoons segment on The Insiders today that I realised just how much potential Taylor has for a long-term career at the ABC long after The Chaser winds up. Often Taylor can be heard on Local ABC stations spruiking the Chaser, on youth network Triple J as a fill-in host and as a guest, and is occasionally seen making appearances like the one on The Insiders and the annual My Favourite… program (though he was sorely missed on 06′s program).

It’s really only a handful of appearances here and there, but when taken in the context of the other Chaser side-projects, such as the Triple M program, it strikes me as interesting the way in which Taylor has positioned himself as a regular ABC talking head. Should commercial interests snare the other members of the Chaser in the years to come, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Taylor stay long-term at the ABC in a similar fashion to DAAS’ Richard Fidler. Fidler has dabbled with commercial interests, such as his program for thecomedychannel Mouthing Off, but has been an ABC mainstay with programs like Race Around The World, Vulture, and his current gig on ABC Local in Brisbane.

When put in the right context, it’s easy to consider the notion that Taylor is an ABC lifer. I can think of a worse fate than constant employment.