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Lord Sugar's Future in The Apprentice |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 4,765
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Lord Sugar's Future in The Apprentice
Am I right in thinking that, during series 9, Lord Sugar said in an interview that the next series, i.e. series 10, would be his last?
I haven't seen or heard any mention of this during the current series so am wondering whether he's changed his mind? Or, will he be making a shock announcement this Sunday? Perhaps Claude could take over! |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,018
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Quote:
Am I right in thinking that, during series 9, Lord Sugar said in an interview that the next series, i.e. series 10, would be his last?
I haven't seen or heard any mention of this during the current series so am wondering whether he's changed his mind? Or, will he be making a shock announcement this Sunday? Perhaps Claude could take over! |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 4,765
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OK, that's fine.
The BBC may-well have already commissioned the next series, but it doesn't have to be with Lord Sugar at the helm, does it?! |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: South Wales
Posts: 5,866
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Trouble is Claudes not a businessman and doesn't have the backing of a team or the money to invest.
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#5 |
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Join Date: Dec 2014
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Could imagine Duncan Bannatyne doing it. He loves TV exposure and has the necessary 'Don't mess with me' attitude.
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#6 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: South Wales
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^^ Peter Jones would be good, but he's already done something along those lines. The trouble with Duncan is, does he have a large enough team of experts behind him.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Sep 2010
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Quote:
Could imagine Duncan Bannatyne doing it. He loves TV exposure and has the necessary 'Don't mess with me' attitude.
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#8 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
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Bannatyne's currently going through some fraud-related enquiries - one of his close financial directors is accused of all sorts and been arrested.
I doubt you'll see him considered for a new show on the beeb.... |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,750
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As much as i don't always like Sugar very much, i have to say the apprentice would be really weird without him.
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#10 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 160
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Quote:
As much as i don't always like Sugar very much, i have to say the apprentice would be really weird without him.
Not a big fan of Sugar either, I think there are other interesting entrepeneurs/business made out there that are quite interesting, but for The Apprentice I think Sugar makes good TV. Every season he comes up with some one-liners that crack me up. I also think his personality fits very well with TV. In this case, 'Sugar, you are hired' However in case for a replacement, I'd love to see Gordon Ramsay. |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 13,451
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If Sugar doesn't have enough space in his existing companies to give the winner a job than I'd rather he went and the show returned to the old format with someone else in charge, the results last night showed how much of a joke the new format is.
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#12 |
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: pembrokeshire
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I said a couple of series ago that I hate this business plan format, it makes all the previous rounds pointless as it's irrelevant how good you are if your business plan is not workable for Alan sugar. If he could not carry on with giving jobs they should have replaced him with someone who could. The show is not all about him.
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#13 |
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,018
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Quote:
If Sugar doesn't have enough space in his existing companies to give the winner a job than I'd rather he went and the show returned to the old format with someone else in charge, the results last night showed how much of a joke the new format is.
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#14 |
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: London
Posts: 14,737
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Quote:
I said a couple of series ago that I hate this business plan format, it makes all the previous rounds pointless as it's irrelevant how good you are if your business plan is not workable for Alan sugar. If he could not carry on with giving jobs they should have replaced him with someone who could. The show is not all about him.
The business plans were poor this year. When selecting future candidates perhaps they should be looking for people who are already running small businesses and want to expand/develop rather than people who are working as accountants or lawyers who may be good in their fields but have no real idea of how to run a business by themselves. |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
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In what sense is the new format a joke?
Maybe I'm taking it too seriously as I know at the end of the day it is a television show made purely for entertainment, but the show always presented itself as a semi-serious business show and that worked with the original format: the process as a whole worked and made sense, if we didn't agree with winners or certain firings then that could just be thought of as a mistake on Lord Sugar's behalf, but the worst thing is that Roisin actually did deserve to be fired last night and that just shows how flawed the concept is. I can't comment on Series 8 as I've never watched that till the end but I think the flaws in the new concept are more obvious this year than in previous years as last year the final 2 made sense both in terms of task performance and business plan and in Series 7 the fact that the interviews were in the final episode kind of made it feel more satisfactory as candidates like Helen who were the strongest task performers but didn't have the best business plans were still able to make it right to the end (Although I wouldn't suggest bringing the interviews back for the final task, I just found that resulted in a completely dull and anti climatic final.) I really think something needs to be done about the format as it just doesn't work. |
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#16 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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They either need to go back to it being a search for an Apprentice or change the name and the whole format. Not sure how it would work though as it would just be an episode of Dragon's Den where they come to pitch and he picks someone.
Like some have said, it wouldn't be the same without Sugar. He has to stay. |
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#17 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
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Yeah, the show is slightly hamstrung by the odd title since the whole premise of the show changed. "The Apprentice" simply doesn't make sense any more.
A re-branding of the show was required and let's be realistic - Alan Sugar isn't going to do this forever. At some point he'll move on anyway. The BBC must already be musing over this. I know they're already arranging next season, but I do think it's time for an alternative take on the 'reality business show' concept. Perhaps do away with Dragon's Den and incorporate elements of both shows together for a new one? I don't know. There's no reason for them to just flog it to death in its current guise, they don't have to chase ratings. |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Sussex by the Sea
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Quote:
I think the fact that someone like Roisin got fired before someone like Daniel illustrates it perfectly. There's absolutely no correspondence between the first 10 weeks and the final 2 weeks anymore, the performance of the candidates and the events over the first 10 weeks were barely even mentioned last night. I get that the candidates' performance in the competition as a whole is not relevant to the final prize which is why it wasn't considered, and that Roisin should have been kept in with an extremely flawed business plan despite being the best performer throughout by miles in my opinion, but that's exactly the problem. What's the point in even having the tasks if they have no baring on the final result? Surely it would make more sense to go straight to the business plans/interviews and fire the candidates based on them? I know that wouldn't make as good television, but it really doesn't feel like the show has any credibility when it's made out that these tasks are of prime importance and the candidates go out of their way to perform in them as the best they can, only for them to completely dismissed when it comes to the final stages resulting in a completely random and unsatisfactory final 2. As a viewer, I feel cheated that I've been watching the shows for 10 weeks and have invested in particular contestants, only for them to be dismissed for reasons surrounding something I was not even made aware of.
Maybe I'm taking it too seriously as I know at the end of the day it is a television show made purely for entertainment, but the show always presented itself as a semi-serious business show and that worked with the original format: the process as a whole worked and made sense, if we didn't agree with winners or certain firings then that could just be thought of as a mistake on Lord Sugar's behalf, but the worst thing is that Roisin actually did deserve to be fired last night and that just shows how flawed the concept is. I can't comment on Series 8 as I've never watched that till the end but I think the flaws in the new concept are more obvious this year than in previous years as last year the final 2 made sense both in terms of task performance and business plan and in Series 7 the fact that the interviews were in the final episode kind of made it feel more satisfactory as candidates like Helen who were the strongest task performers but didn't have the best business plans were still able to make it right to the end (Although I wouldn't suggest bringing the interviews back for the final task, I just found that resulted in a completely dull and anti climatic final.) I really think something needs to be done about the format as it just doesn't work. 1. Roisin's flawed business plan wasn't known about till it was submitted in full detail. All anyone knew before the semi final was she was planning a health food business. Her lack of business acumen in the flawed plan shows she was unsuitable for the job prize too. 2. The tasks do matter. They help Sugar and Co get an idea how everyone works under pressure, what their pros and cons are. 3. Performance on the tasks came up in the final three boardroom. There was mention of their relative ranking and Daniel raised the relative sales figures (not that that helped him). Clearly Sugar isn't going to forget everything that happened before. It all counts towards his decision who to invest in. 4. The business prize is potentially worth much more. The job previously offered was as a business development manager, managing a new product. He's now looking for someone with an entrepreneurial streak to invest in. But you need the same skill set the job needed too. 5. Going straight to business plans would turn it into a completely different programme and a much less interesting one at that. Why ruin a good, entertaining TV format, over contentious credibility issues? I don't agree that the credibility of the show has suffered, but even if it had does it matter that much? The only thing this affects is peoples' perception of who is doing well and who isn't. It adds an unknown factor in terms of how good the BP will be. Just enjoy the show and let it unfold. |
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,605
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I don't understand the anti Sugar feelings on here
![]() Imo, he's as good as he's always been in the role! |
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Sussex by the Sea
Posts: 19,193
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Quote:
Yeah, the show is slightly hamstrung by the odd title since the whole premise of the show changed. "The Apprentice" simply doesn't make sense any more.
A re-branding of the show was required and let's be realistic - Alan Sugar isn't going to do this forever. At some point he'll move on anyway. The BBC must already be musing over this. I know they're already arranging next season, but I do think it's time for an alternative take on the 'reality business show' concept. Perhaps do away with Dragon's Den and incorporate elements of both shows together for a new one? I don't know. There's no reason for them to just flog it to death in its current guise, they don't have to chase ratings. Sugar is 67. That's not a great age these days and he looks fit and healthy. The show doesn't put much of a demand on him apart from his time, and he has more of that now as he isn't actively involved in running the businesses he owns. If he wanted to he could carry on for years. A replacement that could match his larger than life character would be hard to find. I think Duncan Banatyne would be a good choice but he's not much younger. They would need someone like that, with a media profile already plus the feisty and outspoken attitude. |
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#21 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Fife
Posts: 13,810
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Richard Branson would be a great high-profile entrepreneur to take the lead role if it went back to 'the apprentice' rather than 'the business partner'.
Although I always think of Branson as a nice down to earth guy, so I can't imagine him being a dick to people in the boardroom the same way Lord Sugar does. Therefore this post is completely pointless lol |
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#22 |
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,488
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Richard Branson would be a great high-profile entrepreneur to take the lead role if it went back to 'the apprentice' rather than 'the business partner'.
Although I always think of Branson as a nice down to earth guy, so I can't imagine him being a dick to people in the boardroom the same way Lord Sugar does. Therefore this post is completely pointless lol ![]() You know Branson had already done similar concept but hell lot better as the setting was on Nectar Island, show called The Rebel Billionaire, I was glad I got to watch that, it was soooo long ago don't even think it was show on mainstream channels. |
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#23 |
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,479
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The tasks do matter. They help Sugar and Co get an idea how everyone works under pressure, what their pros and cons are.
At the risk of getting into conspiracy theory territory (i.e. does LS fire people early because he knows their business plans are rubbish?), the question to ask is "Could any of the earlier-fired candidates have had a fantastic business plan?" If so, then the show becomes more of a survival test, to simply stay in long enough to get to the stage when LS starts seriously considering the BPs in his decision-making process... or maybe that's what it is already! |
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#24 |
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 2,345
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Quote:
Richard Branson would be a great high-profile entrepreneur to take the lead role if it went back to 'the apprentice' rather than 'the business partner'.
Although I always think of Branson as a nice down to earth guy, so I can't imagine him being a dick to people in the boardroom the same way Lord Sugar does. Therefore this post is completely pointless lol Just goes to show that how a person appears in the media isn't necessarily how they are in real life. |
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#25 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: South Wales
Posts: 5,866
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^^ TBF a lot of successful businessmen are like that, "my way or the high way", thats probably why their successful, they don't spend days in committees discussing the colour red to be used on the uniforms.
Sugars the same, got to be, how else would Amstrad come up with some of the crap they produced. |
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