The Apprentice: remember, that's entertainment
Posted 12 April 2007 at 8:42AM by Simon Dickson in Light relief
This week's episode of The Apprentice was a reminder that it isn't a sporting competition, or a management course, or a documentary. It may be Big Brother for a higher-brow audience, but it's equally prepared to manipulate its participants, and the show's eventual outcome. (And if you're planning on watching it later, go and read something else.)
Almost as an aside, we were told that posh Katie would be transferred to the boys' team - but we soon saw why, as romance with Paul began to blossom... surely not a deliberate attempt to develop a sub-plot? With that in mind, the final decision to fire Gerri rather than project-manager-turned-pimp Naomi or mouthy Jadine makes more sense. Forced to choose one of those three, is it too cynical to suggest that the show needed to keep its most attractive woman, and its (joint) biggest character?
But the biggest manipulation of all is the way they keep the single most important information - how the teams are doing - secret, right until the end. It makes it impossible to assess the performance of each team, and the individuals within it. A bit like if Match Of The Day only showed each game's goals in the last five minutes of the show. I mean, it must have been obvious early on that the ladies' team was underperforming - yet the editing seemed to imply they were doing better. (Or was that just me?)
Was Sugar right to fire Gerri? For me, no. Naomi should have taken the blame for a poor choice of activities - and poor job allocation too, if Gerri had failed previously on location. Plus, frankly, resorting to what was basically prostitution should have been unforgivable. But then again, in the boardroom, I might well have taken the opportunity to dismiss Jadine, and do everyone a favour.
Am I being too cynical? Did Gerri deserve it? And are you learning to love Tre? Don't be shy; have your say in the comments.
Tags: Alan Sugar, bbc, The Apprentice
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Comments
2. At April 12, 2007 3:24 PM, John wrote:
I'd have got rid of Naomi for the rather poor management - and surely as Sir Alan started to point out the mistake was choosing to target kids on a school day not the location.
What happened to evaluating the market for an idea before implmenting it?
3. At April 12, 2007 10:14 PM, kim wrote:
you are quite right, Geri was the last person I would expect to get fired. Anyone who knows anything about the Apprentice will know that Sir Alan hates any kind of "sexual" selling, yet he hardly picked up on this. I'm suprised that the he would let the production team have their way, but it certainly seems to be shaping up that way.
Lets hope this excellent show doesn't get ruined.
4. At April 13, 2007 9:12 AM, Jo wrote:
I completely agree - it was disappointing to any find out at the last minute that the girls team were not actually doing as well as the editing suggested, and keeping Jadine in there was purely to keep the ratings up when the bitchiness continues. I also hope that the show is not going to be ruined in a poor attempt to keep ratings high (which may have the opposite effect).
5. At April 13, 2007 11:11 AM, Simon wrote:
How can you blame the editors for trying to inject some excitement and tension into the result. The could also cut the music or fancy camera angles as they change the mood.
And as for who was fired... well may be Geri wasn't the worst on that particular spark but she wasn't doing herself any favours in the board room. Failed to defend herself, thought if she kept her head below the parapet she would be ok, made out she was a slow starter and failed to show any spark at all.
Jadine may be a pain but at times she has shown rare moments of creativity (singing in the coffee selling perhaps)
Naomi was pretty poor as well but at least she gave a reason to stay unlike Geri
6. At April 13, 2007 2:37 PM, george wrote:
i find all the "contestants" a huge laugh, with one-liners like "i'll be a BILLIONAIRE by the time i'm 50" by a fired candidate, who needs harry hill and the like. i'd have fired the lot of them in the first episode.
7. At April 13, 2007 4:19 PM, K Moore wrote:
I thought they were all a shower. They had the night before to prepare so: why didn't the A-Zs and phone directories come out so that plans A, B and C could be made?
OK if they were going to do face painting, they could have looked up (a) playgroups, children's clubs and nursery/childcare service providers, (b) shops and eating places that cater for children etc., ad infinitum. And the guys!! gardening - no clue, singing - what a cheek asking people to pay.
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1. At April 12, 2007 1:16 PM, Vince Bowen wrote: