AIBU in not believing that The Apprentice 4am wake up call telling them to be ready in 30 minutes……

[MrsMagenta]

Is true?

Really!

They all look so immaculate and you’re not telling me that it only take them 30 minutes to achieve this, both sexes!

Lighthearted, no deep and meaningful debate

If anyone has any insider info this would be interesting to add to the thread!

I hope the drivers of the VW minibuses have the meters running. Being ordered to turn up for 4am sharp, ready for a 7am start - they'd be raking it in!

@Ginger1982 I have noticed that too about it being light '30 minutes later'....

I heard an interview with one of the previous contestants who explained that they say "the cars will be there in 30 minutes" which is very much not the same as "you must be ready to get in those cars and drive away in 30 minutes"
That makes sense. They always do the early-morning-call in the pitch dark but then get into the car "30 minutes" later in broad daylight.

I've given up on it. It annoys me these days when it's a 'business partner' rather than an apprentice and they let someone get to nearly the end of the process and then say, "btw your idea is pants and uninvestable". It should be one of the main criteria on which they shortlist, not a surprise at the eleventh hour.

Well the film crew, producers etc have to arrive first and set up to film the "wake up" telephone call. So I'd think a load of people tramping up and down with camera equipment would be a clue to get up!

What I find most enjoyable is the observation and feedback given by Karen and the bloke who won it previously. I can't remember his name and he doesn't say much but by his expressions, he sees what a load of idiots they are. Although Claud is on the mend, I hope he would be one of the people who review the CVs................

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

But it was always like this really, and that’s the whole fun of it! There’s also something weirdly comforting about the fact that you know the women will be wearing the same bodycon dresses in primary colours year after bloody year

High time for Sir Alan to set them the task of coming up with some new business frock designs!

Maybe next year there'll be a contestant whose business proposition is setting up a shop selling body con dresses and sharp suits and the programme will eat itself

Really noticeable this year that the women were ALL wearing basically the same dress in the first episode, apart from the one woman in the headscarf. I'm sure bodycon and stilettos went out of fashion in the noughties?

I'm quite enjoying it this year but agree it has definitely become more pantomime and is obviously pretty much the same every year. I have finally given up on Masterchef for boredom reasons. However if they ever do away with Strictly I will DIE.

@EmmaH2022 Stuart Baggs! Sadly he died 😢

The Apprentice is well past its sell by date, but compulsive viewing. The contestants just spend time covering their backs for when everything goes wrong.

The dresses remind me of the old Simplicity paper dressmaking patterns of years ago. Basically the same dress, but with different fabric/sleeves/neckline.

The women look like clones; bring back Ruth Badger and the one with the beret!

I feel like they've changed the premise to make the tasks virtually impossible and too complicated to achieve in the time available ....and why do they not work as a team for most of it? Half of the team are selling or marketing something they haven't seen/tasted/know anything about!!
It's basically set up for failure to make it more entertaining when things go wrong.

Also it offends me that they use the cars when they're doing a task to move around London when they would be loads quicker on the tube , and they send one car each when there is only a few contestant left which really winds me up about how un-eco it is to take 3 people to the same place in 3 people carriers.

...but its addictictive in a cringe-inducing way.

DH & I always remark on the fact that it’s always broad daylight when the cars leave the house! We both think The Apprentice is daft but watch it anyway! They can’t be expected to learn how to mass cater in 5 minutes, for example, or invent a new drink!

@BrioNotBiro I was thinking about Ruth Badger when I started this thread!

Wonder what she’s doing now?

I do think this should be the last series for a while.

@EmmaH2022

I watched a couple of early seasons, including with the late and hilarious Stuart "the brand" Baggs.

It was fun a couple of seasons but I am surprised the format has lasted so long. Stuff like "it's a pizza that's been segmented" was funny for a while but not 15 years...unless it's anew audience every time.

It is alarmingly similar to workplaces.

Even though its more or less the same every year for some reason I really enjoy watching it.

Why do they all wear scarves after being fired? That’s always annoyed me

@Nicknacky

I read (I think on here) that they film the leaving scenes separately, possibly all at the same time. "The boardroom" is a studio and the leaving scenes are somewhere else so they wear big coats/scarves etc so you can't see if they are actually wearing the same outfit as in the boardroom

It is all staged nonsense, isn't it?

As if the film crew are going to hang around all night so they can have the cameras running at just the right moment when the phone rings at some God-forsaken hour.

@Hillarious

The Apprentice is well past its sell by date, but compulsive viewing. The contestants just spend time covering their backs for when everything goes wrong.

If it's compulsive, it's not past its sell-by date.

Like the posters saying high heels and bright bodycon dresses aren't fashionable. If they're all wearing them, they're fashionable. Wish I looked that good in them.

I miss Shama. She was right to prioritise her health but I liked her.

It's like the Christmas tub of Quality Street - you know you shouldn't but can't help yourself.

I think the tasks this year have been adapted due to Covid. You can't have them accosting random strangers on the street, so everything has had to be organised & scheduled in advance. Hence the fishing trip - how socially distanced can you get ...

[quote Exhausteddog]@Nicknacky

I read (I think on here) that they film the leaving scenes separately, possibly all at the same time. "The boardroom" is a studio and the leaving scenes are somewhere else so they wear big coats/scarves etc so you can't see if they are actually wearing the same outfit as in the boardroom[/quote]
They do film the exit scenes before the firings.

I don't think anyone takes it as a serious show about business, do they? It's a TV game show and that's how it's set up. £100k isn't much for Sugar even if the business does bomb (he's not a partner, he's an investor/shareholder) and he's surely making more than that back by doing the show, both in his fees for being on it and whatever related stuff he also gets.

I never understood why the call receiver tells the others. Surely if it's a competition, you put the phone down quietly, go and get ready and don't tell anyone what's happening

I used to love it, then it became a bit of a guilty sort-of-pleasure but I gave up on it a couple of years ago. Partly because none of the candidates ever seem to have watched/learned from earlier series.

The standard of cooks on amateur Masterchef has soared as the years go by but the people on the Apprentice are as grim and stupid as ever.

Who was the "chickens" woman? Was it the last series?

Of course their non alcoholic drinks taste like wee, they are doing in 4 hours something that usually takes 4 years.

@malmi

One of the guys from the show said in an interview that they would try to find out from the crew what time they were expecting things to start up on the morning, then the girls would set alarms for a good hour beforehand so they could get a head start on the wake-up call.

The girls get up an hour earlier, I’d rather get some sleep and look like a potato

@CovidCurious

I used to love it, then it became a bit of a guilty sort-of-pleasure but I gave up on it a couple of years ago. Partly because none of the candidates ever seem to have watched/learned from earlier series.

The standard of cooks on amateur Masterchef has soared as the years go by but the people on the Apprentice are as grim and stupid as ever.

There's an actual skill on Masterchef and the show largely hinges on people amazing you with how good they are at it. There might be an occasional bomb but it's mostly inspirational. It's also judged solely on outcome like any other baking competition.

The Apprentice doesn't rest on an impressive skill in the same way. It's basically creative tasks set round a business theme each week and the results are judged in a way that's engineered to cause infighting and backstabbing. That's one reason why it's so much fun, but it's not a straightforward test of skill like Bake Off.