Kendra the winner of season 3 usa never faced the boardroom and won 3 times.

Impressive when she was up aganist 17 other people

I think Jim will be kept in to the interview stage because the TV entertainment value of Sugar's rottweilers tearing him to shreds will be too much of a temptation for the producers to miss.

Indeed. Kendra had a good record of decisive inputs throughout and two brilliant wins near enough to the end - one with a dolt for a PM, and one where she more or less did the task on her own and produced an advertising brochure that a car company took up to use. You just don't get that on the UK shows where its often who failed least badly and the last two winners made howlers enroute to the win. . Indeed on the UK show most people don't get enough goes at being PM to shine - Kate and Liz both had that problem, and Tom has a major version of it this series.

i can see that but, if he stays, someone else has to be sacrificed again. Zoe looks like a Clare and Debra like character and those tend to stay too. But he can't have either of them in the last 4 unless he sends one of Tom or Susan or Melody or Helen home - the inventor, the bright young thing, the choice of Global leaders and the competent smart female.

If, as I suspect, he'd pretty much made his decision (probably down to two candidates) before the series started, based on the business plans, he probably wouldn't have a problem with losing one of those four.

It was supposed to be based on which magazine would make them the most money, which in turn is a combination of giving the best return for their clients, and the margin they could charge those clients. Market share is only a part of that. Jim lost the first pitch because he gave them no margin, so they'd make zero money off him.


I genuinely don't think Sugar thinks like that (nor do I think the producers influence him). Sometimes a candidates gets fired just before the interviews even though they'd have made great TV. Syed in series 2, for example. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens to Jim. I doubt he'll survive another boardroom.

Market share is the only part. Perhaps you can tell us what else. True it has to be a market who will read the magazine (take it home) and buy (meaning have money) as well.
Do you really think Jim's magazine was any better than the lads mag. LS couldnt find anything right with it but he could in the lads mag. And he is over 60. The only reason the two agencies offered more was because of market gap. Jim lost the task because the agency wanted to 'ditch' him. Have you ever heard of an agency buying up a whole magazine before even having a 'proper' issue.
I have a feeling that maybe the tasks are somehow geared to what the contestants say their business would be with LS. And LS is trying them out. Or what he would like the business to be.
I agree that LS would prefer to tear someone to pieces himself rather than get others to do it. Tearing someone to pieces is only if you can find he lied somewhere on his CV. I dont think Jim has done that. The real problem here as others have noticed is that the cast the candidates are just 'wrong'. I have seen most series and almost everyone in them was better than anyone here. Maybe it would be a good idea to have someone from a previous series, even if he wont win just to liven them up. And like Nick and Karen to also join them and help them on their tasks.

I just did. If the magazine is poor and doesn't entice people to read it, then it doesn't matter how big the market is, and if the agency doesn't get a discount they can't make any more.


I didn't say that. But the travel article was good, and the lads mag was sleazy.


And because they got a reasonable discount. They could charge their clients list price, or even 10% below, and still make money.


I don't work in that industry. They did expect to get a lot for their money.


I think they are geared more towards start-ups in general, than in previous years. I doubt any candidate has been favoured with tasks specifically aimed at them (although sometimes they get lucky, as with Susan and the beauty task).


I think the tasks are too unrealistic for that. With a possible exception of the final.


My impression is the opposite: these candidates are stronger on average. That's why it's been less entertaining for some. There have been fewer huge cockups. The teams have had close results.

Consider people like Shibby and Melissa on the bread task last year, completely failing to deliver rolls to the hotel. Or the production problems and Simon falling apart on the photo task in year 4, or Jennifer's fiasco in Marrakesh, or Alexa and her 1 chicken per pizza. No-one has been that bad this year. Early boots like Edward and Gavin were nothing special, and Felicity got a lot wrong, but they weren't disasters on the scale we have seen before. Now we have a lot strong candidates left, most of whom are quietly competent in the background. Zoe and Susan are not quiet, but both have real strengths. Even the candidates I now consider weakest, like Natasha and Leon, have a lot going for them (Natasha just won as PM and did a good advert the previous task).

Is Stella last year better than Helen this year? Maybe, but I wouldn't swear to it. Yasmina turned out to be pretty good, although not everyone would agree with that, and we still have some tasks left to see how the likes of Susan and Tom get on. Zoe had a rough task with the rubbish, but she only lost by a few pounds in the end, and even Yasmina made huge mistakes with quantities making soap.

You misunderstand me. I dont mean in a business sense but in an entertainment sense. Shibby was a real comedian. This is TV. People have to watch it as well. They would all be considered wooden even against Stella. I dont remember did the two agencies get a bigger discount from Jim and is that the reason they offered more. I thought it was because of the bigger market gap. They did say this. I consider Zoe's team did a lot better with the rubbish task. They didnt go from door to door which is ridiculous. Stella so far is better than Helen. Till now there have always been 'buddies' two people bonding. Even in the tasks they seemed to do it jointly. Now each does there own thing. I cant see any two having become friends certainly not the girls. Making a mistake even a disaster is not the worst thing. The question is here can you run a company and make a profit in the long run. Everyone makes mistakes and LS doesnt mind as long as you own up to them and not too often. I have continuously written here what I consider their mistakes and so have others and they arent any less than previous series. Why arent they prepared better. They know they need a name why dont have one ready. Why dont they know how to talk to LS. Whatever others say about Jim, apart from being able to sell and deal with people he seems to be blind to everything else. Bringing Susan into the BR. Doesnt he know that LS would never fire her. I cant see he has done a single thing right.

Why? They lost the two contracts and only made it so close by selling those cylinders (for the rest they weren´t that special at all).




Helen and Zoe

That's right. Even though they lost the contracts and were real down on day one. They still managed to claw back. I dont mean they should have won. But that they worked a lot harder.
And in every task the losing team seem to work harder.
Are Helen and Zoe really that close. Just because they both had a go at Susan.

I really don't think you can get any idea of which team is working harder because they can edit the task to make it look as if either team is doing so. Furthermore, I'm certain they do deliberately skew our perception to make us think that one team is working harder - either because (and the context comes with the commentary) they are trying to make us thing that the harder working team is doing more or to make us feel they are desperately trying to rescue a task.

One of the things I found rather silly in previous series is where they showed candidates running along streets to get from one place to the next (usually on buying or selling tasks). I always got the impression they'd been put up to that for the cameras.

I did give an example of how on the second day they managed to catch up. They also had the sense to go to plumbers yards and not just round the streets. And they almost rescued the task. The same with the buying task. They had less time and did a lot better. I can only go by what we are shown and that is how it seems to be. I am quite sure that LS is also looking at it the same way as I am.
I would like to see a task where they can really show their initiative how to get people to spend money. Like the racing one last time, or the one on an ocean liner.
Just giving them products to buy or sell or make isnt enough..

Its difficult to get it right with LS though. I agree there ought to be an obvious list of things not to say (don't mention the 3 degrees) but whats the right thing? He liked Clare and Debra who were outspoken, even after he told boith off in the boardroom, and he took on Lee who did pterodactyl impersonations. He rode with the verbal nonsense Baggs was throwing at him by the ton . The people who could read him and avoid upsetting him best , like kate and Liz, he ends up not picking , because he doesn't like them always saying the right thing, or because he wants something more forceful. If you look at this series, Zoe seems to be doing very well. She's owned up to mistakes, he's believed her when she's claimed credit, she hasn't been labelled as anything negative for mistreating the others and she's even laughed or smiled in the right way at his jokes .

Zoe does seem to have the right idea how to talk to LS. You cant say he didnt pick Kate. He said that they were both equal. Clare and Debra were only outspoken at the beginning. So was Joanna, but they learnt later. With Baggs he was under the impression that he had a solid business in electonics he said himself he made a mistake.
I cant see why it is so difficult to get it right in the boardroom. And if anyone is scared to go in LS notices it. That can only mean that he deserves to be fired. As I wrote the only way to keep out of the BR is never to agree to anything the PM says. So you can never be blamed. Lately though you can also be fired for doing nothing, This hasnt happened before. How many of those fired who were not PM did anything wrong. Glenn did nothing wrong and JIm did nothing right who gets fired!

On ability I would say Melody.

For entertainment it must be Jim. Even 60 seconds of Jim v Claude would be TV Gold.

I dont think you will find Claude here this year.

Does Tom really qualify as one of the strongest candidates if he's been on the losing team every time except once?

I included him because he seems very quick to 'get' the tasks and understand any problems which crop up. And Sugar seems to like him.

I think the major gap with Tom is leadership. We've seen both Susan and Helen PM (and both volunteer to do so, rather than be placed there) and do so well (at least the show would have us believe so), whereas with Tom there hasn't been a squeak. We've not even seen him lead a single negotiation or pitch, let alone a whole team. You have to wonder if Lordalan's going to go into business with someone who has so resolutely kept his head below the parapet in practical terms. He's pretty much the definition, per this show, of a thinker not a doer.

Yes, and it's very odd that he doesn't seem to be aware of the danger in not one volunteering for PM as he's clearly intelligent (and I assume he's watched previous series).

Of course, we're handicapped here because we don't know exactly how the 'prize' works.

If Sugar already has the business in mind he's obviously going to want someone to pick it up and run with it. An 'ideas' man is all but superfluous.

If, on the other hand he's looking at business plans from the candidates and Tom has a really good one, he might well be prepared to go with that. He'd undoubtedly got people who could assist Tom in certain areas whilst he builds up his business expertise.

One thing to remember is that none of the apprentice tasks (by the very nature of the programme) allow candidate to demonstrate the most important abilities in setting up a business: Detailed and meticulous research and planning. It's very easy to imagine someone who could blagg his or her way through all the tasks undertaken and yet be useless when it comes to spending a month or so coming up with a detailed plan or a few days to carefully iron out an unforeseen problem.

This is where people such as Susan who have already established a business have something of a head start. (And it also probably explains why the bagginator was allowed to get as far as he did.)

You're right, It is strange that Tom hasn't put himself forward in any way so far...you'd expect him to have been a sub-team leader or presenter at least once.

The preview at the end of last week's You're Fired didn't raise my hopes for tonight. It is time to see what Tom has been hiding under his bushel...maybe this evening we'll see his light . More probably we'll see he's light...(lousy gag, still doesn't work!).

Hopefully Melody and Leon.