I watched The Apprentice last night. In previous years I have been excited and interested to see what went on and have enjoyed the variety of tasks. Last year Margaret and Nick seemed to come into their own more and became interesting in their own right. Have I seen too many of them now? Or does the formula need revising in its fifth series? I was only mildly interested – and I even watched the follow up programme with the fired Apprentice.
Many of the tasks are simply about being a street trader so I made a special note to look at one where they had to create a brand for a breakfast cereal. I was left wanting to know more about the task and less about the arguments between them. I suppose the real problem is that the show is more soap opera than business, and for us to engage with the characters we have to know them better. Perhaps the show will be more satisfying when there are fewer contestants and we can get to know and like or dislike them more.
The highlight of the Apprentice viewing for me was the conversation with Mary Portas, the ad man, and Jenny Eclair in the follow up show. There was fun and a look at the real issues behind what it takes to do the task. The interesting part was that Alan Sugar thought pantsman was simply dreadful (pants), but by the time Jenny Eclair had finisihed with the idea it seemed the audience also thought it was great! The real issue seemed to be that Kimberley took someone who had performed into the boardroom at the end, and should have taken someone who did not contribute. The audience did agree that she should have been fired, even though the panel did not.
8.1 million viewers watched the opening programme in this series – a record – I wonder what has happened to the viewing figures now… must check.