Karren Brady - so disappointing!

[mumyes]

Just watching her doing the interviews on The Apprentice. What a total caricature!!

[mumyes]

@fgdk

This is the first series I haven't watched, I managed 2 episodes but I was so sick of seeing what I can only describe as blown up sex dolls talking utter shit, the show is an embarrassment and in particular makes a mockery of women in business. Although the men don't come off well either. Yes it's a tv show, but it wasn't always like this, Ruth Badger would have to have her arse pumped into her lips and pink stiletto heels go near the building if she entered today. It looks SO dated. And km going to bet their business plans were all shit?

Here here!!

[IglesiasPiggl]

I agree that the whole show is very dated - the tasks, the attire utterly inappropriate to what they're doing, Alan and Karren, and don't get me started on them not embracing technology - who the flaming hell doesn't use the internet for research and directions?

[tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz]

It makes me sad that young women feel the need to dress like that and have all sorts done to their appearance.

I wonder though if people would be as judgemental if their business plans were impeccable and the Next Big Thing. Tear their apparent lack of skills apart but how they look is in some ways irrelevant.

Often makes me think of Elle Woods

[Marcipex]

We thought all of the candidates were absolutely useless tbh.
Forgot to include staffing costs in a business plan ffs.
Also, one in particular looks like a blowup doll. Why on earth.

[JessesMum777888]

She’s a horrible woman.
I don’t care how successful she is , money can’t buy class.

[tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz]

For me my discomfort comes from two things -

Their crappy business plans are known before filming so to rip them to shreds just for entertainment seems pointless, and

When you can see that the person you are interviewing is on the verge of tears you don't stick the boot in. That's just a bit twattish. Especially for Baroness to do having (quite rightly at the time) spoken out against trolling her own daughter received.

It's a shame as it used to be a cracker of a programme but it's going down the Love Island route these days

[ursulaness]

Blossomtoes
They weren’t chosen for their business plans, they were chosen to make good TV, it’s a reality show.

No, I don't think it does make good tv. You can't get invested in something if you know from the get go that they are all twats

I agree that it's not good TV @zer

An overhaul is needed as the whole thing is looking dated now, including Alan Sugar.

Some of those business plans were an embarrassment. Just awful.

[ursulaness]

This has come up on the other thread. They should also weed out in the application stage the people who are just there to build their online profiles.

[lieselotte]

@ssd

Karen brady looking down on the candidates whilst her own daughter gets her kit off for a living

She's not responsible for what her daughter does for a living. Her daughter is a grown adult.

However, goodness knows why she bothers with the Apprentice. Awful programme.

[nuttynet]

The way the tasks are run; the contestants, the way businesses plans are handling just makes me think that it's all a major set up

They've been set up to fail son we can all have a good old laugh at their expense

Karen brady should walk away from the silly freak show. She's degrading herself and by being associated with this silly game (freak) show

[SweetSakura]

@nuttynet

The way the tasks are run; the contestants, the way businesses plans are handling just makes me think that it's all a major set up

They've been set up to fail son we can all have a good old laugh at their expense

Karen brady should walk away from the silly freak show. She's degrading herself and by being associated with this silly game (freak) show

Exactly. I mean if it was remotely meant to be taken seriously then candidates who didn't understand the difference between profit and turnover wouldn't even make it through the candidate selection phase.

[nuttynet]

I'm sure they did answer back. Tjey definitely would have

It's not live tv

[nuttynet]

Thing is though

Nobody has ever addressed Lord Sugaaaaarrrrr (used to be Suralllen ) as Alan or A and that's never ever caused commentary


Pretty sure they would have been corrected if they addressed his lordship by his first name

[nuttynet]

@SweetSakura

Exactly. They have been chosen because of their ignorance. Not in spite of

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

I genuinely think that, if they found 18 intelligent, wise, grounded, business-minded people with solid, realistic, fully-costed business plans who should be the perfect candidates for what the show is supposed to be about, they would reject them from the outset as unsuitable - and, to be fair, a lot of the viewership would quickly turn off as well.

Also, I realise that they're set up to fail in the tasks, but why does nobody ever question what they're being given to do at the start? Or do they and that bit gets ignored and edited out? A basic of any kind of business is deliverability, and if you're given grossly unrealistic goals and timescales, it's the mark of a good businessperson/employee in this context to throw that back to the proposer - and ask them to prioritise as to how they want the (inadequate) time/money/resource budget that they've chosen to allocate to be spent. I'm sure Alan wouldn't take kindly to this, but if he were really looking for a business partner and not hosting a gameshow, he would acknowledge that as a key strength.

[Zer]

I genuinely think that, if they found 18 intelligent, wise, grounded, business-minded people with solid, realistic, fully-costed business plans who should be the perfect candidates for what the show is supposed to be about, they would reject them from the outset as unsuitable - and, to be fair, a lot of the viewership would quickly turn off as well

The original shows were more like this. The American ones with Martha Stewart were good too (not so much the Donald Trump ones 😁)

[SweetSakura]

@nuttynet

@SweetSakura

Exactly. They have been chosen because of their ignorance. Not in spite of

Yes. And then puffed up and encouraged to make fools of themselves

[category12]

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

I genuinely think that, if they found 18 intelligent, wise, grounded, business-minded people with solid, realistic, fully-costed business plans who should be the perfect candidates for what the show is supposed to be about, they would reject them from the outset as unsuitable - and, to be fair, a lot of the viewership would quickly turn off as well.

Also, I realise that they're set up to fail in the tasks, but why does nobody ever question what they're being given to do at the start? Or do they and that bit gets ignored and edited out? A basic of any kind of business is deliverability, and if you're given grossly unrealistic goals and timescales, it's the mark of a good businessperson/employee in this context to throw that back to the proposer - and ask them to prioritise as to how they want the (inadequate) time/money/resource budget that they've chosen to allocate to be spent. I'm sure Alan wouldn't take kindly to this, but if he were really looking for a business partner and not hosting a gameshow, he would acknowledge that as a key strength.

Yes, I think it's just done as stupid and cheap tv as they can get it - actually giving them worthwhile tasks that proved something about their abilities would take time. Far cheaper and flashier to set pointless "jeopardy" deadlines and meaningless tasks.

[Sweetandsaltycaroline]

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

I genuinely think that, if they found 18 intelligent, wise, grounded, business-minded people with solid, realistic, fully-costed business plans who should be the perfect candidates for what the show is supposed to be about, they would reject them from the outset as unsuitable - and, to be fair, a lot of the viewership would quickly turn off as well.

Also, I realise that they're set up to fail in the tasks, but why does nobody ever question what they're being given to do at the start? Or do they and that bit gets ignored and edited out? A basic of any kind of business is deliverability, and if you're given grossly unrealistic goals and timescales, it's the mark of a good businessperson/employee in this context to throw that back to the proposer - and ask them to prioritise as to how they want the (inadequate) time/money/resource budget that they've chosen to allocate to be spent. I'm sure Alan wouldn't take kindly to this, but if he were really looking for a business partner and not hosting a gameshow, he would acknowledge that as a key strength.

Agree. Although I think if you got 2 teams (or radically - if they started with 3 teams as usually in the first couple of weeks you get people who are quiet/shouted down and are fairly anonymous ) that were actually really good it might be entertaining to see how well they did, rather than see who is the most cringey/least worst. In Dragons Den its always good when all the dragons want to invest, and its successful rather than those whose idea falls flat.

im part of a micro business. Sometimes our client asks for things that aren't practical eg they say on Friday they want 7 orders ready on Monday, when 1 thing on the list is at least 2 full days work for one person. The obvious solution is to negotiate which are the most important. They would rather wait til Wednesday to have something completed to a high standard , than (apprentice style) we deliver something unfinished, unworkable and practically useless on Monday!

[abandonhope]

Pretty sure they would have been corrected if they addressed his lordship by his first name

Indeed, but he's never called Alan by the candidates.
Karren and Tim are always called by their first names throughout the entire 'process', as were Margaret and Nick.
If Baroness Brady was more appropriate for the interview she could have said so without nastiness.

[nuttynet]

And it would have been more gracious to have let it slide

Classless

[Blossomtoes]

Indeed. And rude and arrogant.

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

If Baroness Brady was more appropriate for the interview she could have said so without nastiness.

Yes, "Baroness Brady, please - this is a formal interview" or similar. The "My FRIENDS call me Karren" was pure unnecessary nastiness when tacked on the end. Obviously, we know the candidates aren't her friends, but that was so very PA.

[WarningToTheCurious]

I think it would have been interesting to see more of the interviews - I’m sure they were carefully edited to give a particular impression.

Some of the business plans were clearly awful - and there’s no excuse for 30 SPaG mistakes on the first few pages (as Mike Souter pointed out). I wouldn’t want to invest £250k in someone with such little attention to detail / inability to carry out basic checks.

[ReneBumsWombats]

She doesn't give a monkeys about being called Baroness, it was just for show.