The Apprentice (2005– )

Lord Alan Sugar fires candidates each week after a business task, eventually leaving one winning as 'The Apprentice.'

Stars:

Alan Sugar, Nick Hewer, Mark Halliley

6 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Alan Sugar	...	Himself - The Boss (105 episodes, 2005-2013)
Nick Hewer	...	Himself - Sir Alan's aide (103 episodes, 2005-2013)
Mark Halliley	...	Himself - Narrator (68 episodes, 2005-2013)
Margaret Mountford	...	Herself - Sir Alan's aide (68 episodes, 2005-2011)

Storyline

Sir Alan Sugar - the £700m owner of AMSTRAD, is presented with 14 candidates, he must split the candidates up into two teams each week, and set them a business task. At the end of the each task, Sir Alan will fire one member of the losing team. Until Week 12 when one of the candidates will get a £100,000 with Sir Alan and become 'The Apprentice.'

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Plot Keywords:

non fiction

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Genres:

Game-Show | Reality-TV

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 February 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

Alan Sugar: The Apprentice

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Burnett Productions, TalkBack Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min 59 min (12 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The boardroom is actually on one of the BBC stages.

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Connections

Referenced in Live from Studio Five: Episode #1.45 (2009)

User Reviews

The different tasks keep it fresh while the different characters and conflicts keep it interesting – very easy to see why this has been a winning formula in the US and UK

Fourteen aspiring business people (seven men and seven women) come together to go for one available job working for Sir Alan Sugar for $100,000 a year. However this is no ordinary job interview and instead of being a couple of days long the interview lasts about 12 weeks. Each week the two teams are given a task to carry out, the team that succeeds the most (in terms of sales generally) is rewarded but the team that loses is berated before three are selected for one final discussion before Sugar fires one.

I didn't bother with this show at first just because I'm not a massive fan of reality shows and this one looked like it was based on cruelty and shouting. However I gradually started to watch it and, although I don't worry about missing a show, I do enjoy it as a show. The task structure makes each week different and interesting for different reasons and I was surprised by how engaging each show was. Of course being a harder reality show it is driven forward by a lot of fighting, raised voices and confrontation but it is not forced or cruel for the sake of it – it just happens as a result of the structure and task. The dynamics of the characters are constantly interesting and it is impossible to watch it without getting drawn into the debate and judgement. This is why it works because it engages on this level – you won't like many of the people in the show and you may not like Sugar but it is the dramatic race against time and tensions that make it work.

I'm not totally convinced that the whole business concept rings true because for the type of job they are going for £100,000 a year isn't really that much money, plus their antics are not the sort of thing you expect from people in their earning bracket or areas of responsibilities. Some of them are smart, sharp and controlled but others you just have to wonder why they think anyone would want to give them a lot of responsibility. The tasks do require skills but they normally are more about the ability to work under a great deal of time pressure that makes them hard rather than requiring much more than good common sense. So aside from the link to business skills being a bit questionable this is quite an enjoyable show. It is cruel (Sugar plays the harsh host just like countless others) but mostly it is interesting and engaging to watch the two sides race against the clock (and each other) to complete their task. A winning formal then which, although it is a reality gameshow, stands out as one of the stronger reality gameshows.