The problem is when there's more than 1 person fired each week. Anything he might've asked probably got cut by the producers to get it down to 30 mins.

I'm sure they spent a good hour at least filming the thing.

Of course they do, and I understand that they have to cut things down, but the problem is what to cut out. If they cut out lots of the discussion about the candidate's performance on tasks to make way for Dara's jokes and the silly skits they have, I find that a bit of a waste of half an hour.

As for the fired candidates, I would actually like them to interview them together rather than one at a time. That way they wouldn't have to rush through the interviews so much. Without meaning any disrespect to Ella Jade with regards to the bereavement in her family, the production team were lucky that she couldn't attend the programme - their interviews would have been incredibly short if they'd had to fit three into half an hour.

I always think if there's more than 1 fired then the show should be extended, 30 minutes isn't long enough when 2 or 3 are fired.

Does anyone know how far ahead of broadcast YF is recorded? Given the size of the audience it's amazing that there aren't more leaks.

Apart from Dara and Hugh Dennis, the comedians on the show this series have been very far removed from the usual white, heterosexual male stereotypes. It's a shame that most of them have also been far removed from actual comedy, but that's down to the programme bookers and the fact that, as mentioned elsewhere, another comedian is not actually needed with Dara there to handle that side of things...

Adrian Chiles was perfect for this. The candidates are comical enough as it is.

I love the show personally and think Dara is an absolutely excellent host.

Pretty much this. I'm honestly perplexed by the criticisms, I personally find it a hell of a lot of fun.

Ok, so maybe the pre-shot skits with the guest comedians aren't terribly good.

It's fun, but wish they attributed more time to interviews, than comical sketch's and joke telling.

I don't even understand why they have to include a so called "comedian" in the panel....what have they got to do with a business show exactly???

And I agree about TAYF this series, it is more of a platform for not funny at all Dara & equally not funny peers to showcase their "funny" side & quite handy I'm sure to be in public consciousness esp if they have a tours, gigs, books, dvds to promote.

Originally it was to lighten the mood as although Adrian Childs could be quite humorous, he wasn't a comedian. The comedian has been surplus to requirements since Dara took over, but even more so since it seems Dara is no longer reining himself in.

Personally I really enjoy YF just as it is. However, what I would like to see is a more serious interview in the main programme with the fired candidate. I accept it would mean either cutting some of the action or extending the programme, but it works in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Big Brother. Then the spin off shows can be light hearted fluff.

You do realise that Sugar will have taken them apart in the boardroom? Who would want to go through it all again in front of an audience? They have waited months to think about where it all went wrong. They've failed, they know it, might just as well have the pee taken out of them by a professional and it's all over and done with. They can leave with a smile on their faces.

Hurrah! It comes to something when the correct spelling takes you by surprise
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It's true, though. These shows need to be light-hearted, and stand-up comedians aren't very good at that. They're good at telling jokes, but that's not the same thing. Bring back Adrian!

I feel You're Fired really went down the toilet in quality this year. I normally enjoy the show and am a fan of Dara but this year many of the guests seemed to be 'on rotation' - I'd quite happily never see Katherine Ryan and Romesh Ranganathan again after this year's YF - they were on far too often and weren't even funny for me to begin with (to be fair Ed Byrne and Josh Widdicombe aside none of the comedians really were).

And while I like some comedy on YF they went too far in that direction and it basically felt at times like the contestants were there as an inconvience to get over just so Dara and co. could tell jokes. I'm not asking for it to be Newsnight but a bit more chat with the contestants would've been nice (especially they all seemed to come across well on YF - even Sarah).

Plus the interviews edition of You're Fired always feels a bit of a mess if you ask me when it's done in half an hour. Not nearly enough time to chat with the candidates and it's funny how someone who gets to the final 5 can often barely get 7 minutes whereas someone say fired in Week 1 gets a full show. I would happily have heard more from Daniel and Roisin then from say someone fired in Week 5. I think they did 45 minutes for that 'interviews' part the previous year and should've done the same this year.

Of course I realise that, but I also think a lot of candidates would really welcome the chance to put their side of events forward, rather than just going over their mistakes in the name of comedy. I do believe there is room for both and much as I enjoy YF I am often left frustrated because there is a lot more I want to know about particular candidates and where they fitted into the process.

It's as if the emphasis of the show has changed; it used to be driven by the candidates experiences of the process, whereas now it's driven by Dara and his jokes based on funny/embarrassing things the candidates did. Which are two very different things.

I find it a bit strange how they chucked out the old intelligent/analysis/mild humour show and replaced it with a completely unsubtle variant of every other BBC comedy panel show. I'm assuming it was a conscious decision by the producers a few years back.

Make it lo-brow to try and get more younger viewers maybe?

I think it's time to axe Dara from the show - not because I think he's no good (he's done it well for most of his time) but because I think the show needs to go in a new direction, and Dara is holding it back. There are many decent presenters out there - I would actually offer the job to one of the former candidates who has gone on to do more presenting roles, because they know how to be entertaining as a presenter, whilst also understanding enough about the process to be able to relate to the candidates. But there are many people who could do it.

Couple more changes I would make:
-Reduce the panel from three to two. They often seem to have a generic comedian who has no purpose there. I don't mind the occasional comedian, but I think we have too many panelists and they detract from the candidate. If they had one person who was related to the task in some way, and someone else who could change each week (sometimes Nick or Karren, sometimes a former candidate, sometimes some TV personality - it could vary.)
-Change some of the features. The skits are unnecessary, most of the time not very funny, and they really went overboard with them this year. They used to quite often go to some sort of event and film members of the public talking about who they'd like to win - I think they still did that a couple of times this series, but not as much as normal. I would like to have a weekly feature, be that one of those or some sort of analysis of the candidates or something else - even the occasional skit may work, so long as it wasn't dreadful like that awful music sketch - but only one thing each week and it should vary, so as not to take away from the interview. I'm not saying remove the comedy altogether - some of it can be very funny, for instance I enjoy the gifts that they give out - but that should be an extra, not the main point of it.
-When there is a double firing, they should interview them together, not one at a time. Doing one and then another means halving the normal amount of time someone usually gets, and even less than that with the amount of joke-telling that goes on. That will always be the way when you have to get through more people, but you'd have more time to focus on each of them if they were both in at once.
-Make sure information given is accurate. There have been times that Dara has said things that I have known to be incorrect - for example, a big thing was made last year about Alex supposedly having been the first Welsh candidate, and in actual fact I believe that Sophie from Series 3 was the first Welsh candidate, and there was a Welsh boy on Junior Apprentice as well. Also he mentioned that Robert was the first person to be fired without having been brought into the final boardroom, and this was also true of Jenny from Series 4. It seems that they're focussing so much on casual viewers who will have no idea whether they are being told the truth that they forget that there are people, such as those on this forum, who actually know all the statistics. It is a sad day when a presenter says something and actually the fans know better, that should never happen.

This is pretty much it. Generally I'd like more interview, less comedy (though not NO comedy - there is a difference), get rid of Dara, have panellists who actually have something interesting to say and focus more on making it relevant to hardcore fans such as us rather than casual viewers who probably don't really care.

It's a problem with a lot of these 'panel' shows these days, it's all about the host showing off and going ten to the dozen, with the 'guests' barely getting a word in.

Dara's leaving the show:

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainme...off/ar-AA80ipa

Excellent news. Perhaps he read this thread!

I hope his replacement is not another performer but rather a proper presenter, or perhaps someone from business.

I saw that in the paper today and was shocked Dara quit. So that's Nick and Dara both leaving. That makes Alan the only truly original member left of The Apprentice.

If Dara wants to concentrate on his comedy and touring then fair enough. I wonder who the BBC will pick though. I wonder if they'll ask Adrian Chiles back or get someone new?

I just hope it's someone with presenting experience and not some comedian who's appeared on You're Fired as a guest.

I wonder if James Max would be interested? He's reinvented himself as a current affairs/phone-in radio presenter here in London and he's pretty good. He should be capable of running the show in an authoritative but humorous way and not try and take it over and detract from the contestants, which was always the problem with Dara.

Perhaps too marmite but Chris Moyles?

Competent presenter, still out of work, gets on well with Sugar, lots of experience interviewing people, loves the show and likes a bit of banter.

I really like Dara as a presenter but maybe it's time to refresh to show and I can't blame him for wanting to get back to touring.

I just hope that he will continue to do some presenting work for the BBC. His Science Club series was excellent.