The Apprentice (oirish version)

R

rmelly

Guest
I'm surprised there has been no mention of The Apprentice which started last night.

Actually I'm not that surprised...there was no warning it was starting this week, I only stumbled across it half way through while switching channels. I saw a TV ad for it over the weekend that said 'Coming Soon' - why not say it was starting yesterday.

I only left it on to see if I recognised any of the contestants...

A few initial observations:
1. The cars used by the teams were Renaults - wonder why...
2. They were selling fruit on Moore Street - no surprises there, Bill...
3. The voice over guy may as well have been using the BBC scripts with a find & replace of 'Sir Alan'... e.g. '.....the search has begun.'
4. They have gone for the exact same formula & stereotyping as the BBC - working class dubliner who left school after leaving etc etc etc etc

Why do we have to do carbon copies of the UK on these shows - we're not adding anything so what's the point other than ratings?
 
It's a franchise. I suppose they have to follow a set format, in the way the UK one follows the US one.

TV3 do not have a good reputation for quality programming.

The Irish interest is the only appealing feature and it wasn't enough to attract me to it. Then again, the missus was watching the new series of ANTM, so it was all moot anyway !
 
Why do we have to do carbon copies of the UK on these shows - we're not adding anything so what's the point other than ratings?
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I thought it was quite good because it copied the UK format

I was expecting the Irish version to be along the lines of Celebrity Hotel (or whatever it was called) and was pleasantly surprised. They have fewer contestants so it will be a short series but I'll be tuning in.
 
Yes, why change a winning format?
Didn't get a feel for alot of the contestants, but that will take time.

Was expecting it to be worse, but I'll be watching it again next week.
 
I tought TV3 did a good job.

Far superior to trash like Celebrity Hotel that RTE put out.

I tought that the contestants at an early stage of the competition were strong.

Bill Cullan was Bill Cullan. This was also a positive. He was not mimicing Doland Trump or Alan Sugar.


On the negaive side - taking the bottle of wine from the house was silly. The price of this should have been deducted from their total. If they took tables & chairs - would this have been permitted?

But overall a very good programme. Followed by the excellant Law & Order SVU.
 
Have to say I've heard good feedback about the show from a few people but it's not the sort of thing I would watch - I think shows like this are like marmite, jazz or Jeremy Clarkson - you either love 'em or hate 'em.
 
TarfHead said:
It's a franchise. I suppose they have to follow a set format, in the way the UK one follows the US one.
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UK copying US is one thing, but Ireland copying UK is completely different - we get most of the mainstream UK channels, so we see the UK versions, often twice thanks to TV3's deal with UTV, then the Irish ones on top of that?

Anyone remember Gay Byrne and Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Eamonn Dunphy and The Weakest Link - what was the point? Neither was suitable for the job so ruined it (assuming you liked the shows to start with).

To give him his due, Bill Cullen was better than I expected, so I don't really have an issue with him - it's more the justification for both an Irish and UK version when as I said we get the UK version already, often with an Irish candidate thrown in for good measure.

Re the wine, I'm pretty sure the guys in the UK show tried the same thing but got away with it?

I enjoy the UK version, but laugh at any suggestion of the contestants being 'the best of the best' or 'cream of the crop' etc. But again, as with many reality TV shows it goes back to wanting to see these guys humiliated, whether it is by team mates, their own incompetence or the 'boss'.

Finally - is Fiona Looney really 'brilliant' as per the closing voice over?
 
Caveat said:
Have to say I've heard good feedback about the show from a few people but it's not the sort of thing I would watch - I think shows like this are like marmite, jazz or Jeremy Clarkson - you either love 'em or hate 'em.
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My 'I only left it on to see if I recognised any of the contestants' comment was probably unfair, it was fine for what it was and I will probably watch again but I'll record and fast forward through the chaff as well as the ads obviously.
 
It wasn't too bad. At least not as bad as I was expecting. The contestants didn't appear to be the brightest (apart from the bright orange fake tan on a few of them). I think a few of them may have lied about their ages too. None of them seemed to have jobs that required qualifications.

I think the right bloke was fired at the end though and I'll probably watch again next week.
 
 
TarfHead said:
they're aping the US version and not the UK version ? Based on the little I know of him, I would say Dr. Bill is more akin to The Donald, than to Sir Alan.
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I think you're misinterpreting my point. Doesn't matter which they're copying - my point is we have full access to the UK one (including Irish contestants on it) we don't need an Irish one.
 
rmelly said:
I think you're misinterpreting my point. Doesn't matter which they're copying - my point is we have full access to the UK one (including Irish contestants on it) we don't need an Irish one.
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But what do we need apart from factual reports?

In much the same way why do we have Irish soaps when we already have English soaps?

Its an entertainment show - pure and simple.
 
I missed it. Does anyone know if it will be repeated on RTE ?
 
My guilty pleasure is reality programmes and I think The Apprentice is one of the best ones - it has a winning formula. I like that the Irish version is so closely linked to the original as it means there is less chance that tv3 will mess it up. I thought the lads did make a few mistakes. They walked past two large shopping centres without any one of them thinking that it might be a good idea to sell in them. The lads also didn't use their time well - the team manager said he was worried they would run out of time if they bought more fruit but I reckon they think they had it in the bag and so didn't keep going until the last possible minute. I felt sorry for the guy who was fired - he didn't make mistakes like the team leader and I thought he was being punished for being quite more than anything else.
 
I heard it is due to be repeated on Channel 6 (now taken over by TV3) on Friday night.
 
Anyone see the episode last night? Brenda to win! I liked her reasoning for not putting the words Personal Loan on the card and thought her reaction was very good when the rest of her team put it on regardless of her explicit instruction. She was very professional and not ott at all. When asked by one of the companies why the words were on the card she was able to give a very plausible reason for it without throwing dirty looks at the team! I thought Joanne was very strong up to now but that she fell apart last night - her pitch was cringeworthy.
 
I had to laugh at the show last night - it's turning into one massive advertising fest.

The over use of terms such as exclusive, high end etc was ridiculous - particularly when they were aimed at a subprime lender with what amounts to a credit card. Does anyone understand what they were on about?

Has anyone even heard of the product itself? I'm loathe to name it here.
 
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