Lord Sugar is back. On 21st March, The Apprentice is hitting our television screens once again. If you share the same sentiment as my Dad by thinking the show is a clever way for Alan to raise his profile and make more money, you would be right.
Despite this, I have been a fan of it since the very beginning, when the applicants all actually wanted to work for Sir Alan and had a genuine passion for business. Remember the original apprentice winner, Tim? He was the nice guy who came out of the intense questioning and scrutiny in the final interviews to beat horrendously annoying Saira. (She went on to present a kids' programme called 'The Boss' which was awful anyway, and not helped by her embarrassingly bad interactions with the kids involved) He was the first and last winner I thought was deserving of the job. From then on, each series had your token wanker, tough-childhood-self-made success, public school boy, wannabe television personality and then the arrogant, delusional one. (Step forward Stuart Baggs - The Brand. 'I'm not a one trick pony, I'm not a ten trick pony, I've got a whole field of ponies.' The less said about Baggs, the better.)
Throughout the years, there's been many candidates of note, like Katie Hopkins, boardroom bitch of the third series, notably remembered for her eclipse-inducing nose, who then went on to star in a scandalous spread in the tabloids after being photographed having sex in a country field. Sounds like the perfect sweetener for Sugar's business dealings.
And before that, there was my personal favourite, Ruth Badger, or 'The Badger' to her fans. An excellent saleswoman who held her own in the boardroom, she was beaten by an 'I've had a shit life and look where I am now' routine from Michelle Dewberry (who, subsequently, left her job at Amstrad after only a few months.. Poor choice there Alan).
But the best bit about the Apprentice nowadays is not the brutal actions of those in a highly-stressful and highly-critical environment, but the half hour show on BBC2, hosted now by the amazing Dara O'Briain, who tears apart these egos in front of a studio audience and a panel of 'experts'. There's nothing like a bit of poetic justice. Now, not only is their cruel and cringe-worthy behaviour inflicted on the viewing public, but it is forced upon the perpetrator, who then is put in the awkward position of justifying why you 'never say never in the biscuit world'... Now that takes the... ahem, moving on.
Next Wednesday is the night where it starts all over again and I cannot wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment