The Apprentice Revisited

Since I last mentioned The Apprentice in my blog, I’ve been there, religiously, each week on the sofa watching each episode from behind my fingers. And it gets better and better each week without fail. 

Since at least last week, I’ve been predicting to Martin that the final standoff will be between Paul and Saira, simply because that’s what the producers of the series want to feed us to make "good television". A needle match between the two most opinionated, pig-headed and arrogant participants, who (oh how very convenient) happen to be on opposite sides of the gender divide.

In actual fact, I thought that of the contestants, Miriam, Tim and James have the qualities to reach the final, and I thought that, in an ideal world, it would probably be between Miriam and Tim/James.

But, of course, tonight, Miriam got the shove, thus pushing me towards the view that it’s really nothing to do with the intrinsic qualities of the participants, but purely towards what makes good television. What a world we live in (thanks, Rufus!). A view that was only reinforced by the brilliance of tonight’s episode, set as it was in that hell on earth – TV Shopping.

Yep, tonight the two teams had to pick products and sell them live on TV shopping channels. It was a real eye-opener for me to see behind the scenes and to share in the daily lives of those who are consigned to this particular circle of Hell.

And, of course, the real kicker was that we should never underestimate the depths of bad taste to which the TV buying public can sink. So a piece of way-overpriced foam-rubber (of a particularly bilious yellow) and a particularly naff jacket of synthetic material decorated (if one can use the term) with a "Wolf-Spirit" motif turned out to be the top sellers.

Humans, you gotta love them, if only because they’re my species, but why is it I increasingly feel like a cuckoo in the nest?   

Update: Nancy Banks-Smith, the Guardian’s TV critic, has a typically witty piece on this episode of The Apprentice. Well worth reading.