The Apprentice

Quite Bluebelle!

Do take into account that this is a TV production and the production team has deliberately chosen characters that will conflict, exactly as they would in Big Brother. The carrot is a chance to go into business with Lord Sugar and of course the chance to be a TV celebrity, in the real world only one or two of the contestants would rate an interview for a top job

Diana54 that’s very true, but they seem to have little basic general knowledge.
It could all be an act, but I doubt it.

I didn't see the end - who went?

The loud mouthed one Kitty, I didn’t get as far as names

Of course Diana54 I totally understand it’s a pantomime, a production to ‘entertain’, but my point is you are what you are and I really doubt those young people are acting , that is their personalities, The men only won through sheer good luck I m sure they are not trying to lose these tasks on purpose, but it’s frightening how disjointed, unable to work with others and not an ounce of basic common sense they all seem to have I think a primary school child would have more ability

I think you'll need to be a bit more specific, Bluebelle!!!

It wasn't the 'lippy' one, or was it?

Why am I bothered?

I used to always watch this but now its dated and formulaic so not for me.

I watched it, open-mouthed at their arrogance and ignorance. Malta - south of Spain! I ask you! Those squawking girls were awful. Wonder how they feel when they see themselves on screen. Some of them are already in management positions and I can't imagine what recruitment procedures got them there!

Have to say I was very amused when they measured and bought the octopus

It’s gone the way of X Factor sadly. Candidates seem to be chosen on the basis of whether or not they will make ‘good tv’ rather than intelligence. There used to be the odd one or two quirky ones but now they all seem to be. If the next programme is the same it’s another programme I will be switching off. Thank goodness for Netflix and Amazon Prime.

They all look the same too. All the girls made up like they've been lacquered and squeezed into tiny dresses and the men well manicured and coiffed.
I wish they had some older candidates. They're often the most interesting.

I think it's past its sell by date!

They are all dreadful aren't they, but I think he fired the right one - the girl with the most awful voice and accent.

I do wonder if Alan Sugar's two assistants tip him off early on as to which ones they are certain he wouldn't be able to work with.

Despite all this, I have this awful compulsion to watch!

Love watching Claude and Karen' expressions as they observe the candates making a complete cock-up of their assignments.
The girls last night were like a bunch of screeching banshees.

I stopped watching this after the first couple of series. Like so many other originally fairly good programmes, after a couple of years all you get is "wannabes", self-publicising themselves.

Surely anyone who is serious about their work would run a mile from subjecting themselves to it.

I agree, sparkley that is what they sounded like. At least the fellows were not shouting and interrupting each other every minute.

Alan Sugar I think will be hard pushed this year to find one, girl or boy with a personality he could work with, never mind if they can produce any work.

I would think that most of the business plans will be creative having seen that motley selection of idiots last night.

I was appalled that these young, arrogant, egotistical people really do rate themselves so highly. Have parents given their kids this blinkered self belief and confidence? They don't question themselves and they know so little. Their general knowledge is absolutely appalling. It is frightening that some of them have responsible positions.

Their loudness and repetition of "Let's do this guys" when they had no plan or sense made me watch open mouthed.

The women teetering about in heels and sprayed on dresses looked ridiculous and every wannabe hipster male, groomed to within an inch of his life seemed to think they were the bees knees.

Style over substance most definitely.

The programme IS about wackiness and loudness now and being a personality, rather than business acumen and problem solving.

Most disappointing though is the way Alan Sugar just doesn't do Alan Sugar any longer. He used to lambast the candidates in a direct and angry fashion because they were so breath-takingly stupid. He let rip and so he should have done.

Now the producers have him calmly deliver his verdict without any explosions. He was the star. Karen tends to be boring (and wears too much rouge) and Claude too is the nice, mkII version.

If these captains of industry, once plain-speaking, brash and importantly, truthful, endorse this rubbish and the vacuous, egotistical candidates, they might as well wrap up this series now before they recruit another bunch of complete airheads/egos for 2019.

Well said Day6, I was watching it and reading at the same time, speechless
The thing is they are not children, most of them already have careers.
It is the plasticity of them all, even Mattel could not dream them up.

And as for taking a tape measure to the tentacles of an octopus (they stretched out) in the fishmongers.....

Sugar should have taken them to the cleaners and fired them there and then. Four/five young unthinking men thought this was what was needed. It is beyond belief.

It is the plasticity of them all, even Mattel could not dream them up.

Great phrase felice and so apt.

I think her name was Sarah Kitty yes she was lippy in all senses, I think something had gone wrong poor woman

In Rhod Gilbert's show (the Apprentice, You're Fired) on BBC2 after the main event, Sarah was as brash as ever and had the most annoying laugh which she deployed frequently and irrelevantly. If she hadn't been fired this time, it wouldn't have taken long thereafter!

I've never watched it. The trailers were always enough to put me off. I can't stand this fashion for rudeness, brashness, and the "me, me, me and stuff anyone else" mentality. To me, that's not entertainment, just unpleasant. So, it's the "off" button for me, every time.

I had no idea what an octopus was going to be, but I was damned sure it wasn't going to be a real one!