This is just one "layer" of this particular stack, but if you're looking for real-world-warts-n-all examples of Backbone.js, here's a few examples to scroll through:

http://documentcloud.github.com/backbone/#examples

If you pop open a JS console, many of them have models and controllers that you can poke around with.

Conversely, if you have an example that you think should be on that list, let me know.