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Old 22-10-2015, 00:17
george.millman
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Is anyone else sick of this phrase? Lord Sugar says it almost every week in the boardroom.

I remember that back in the early years, Lord Sugar used to be very eloquent, could respond with a quick retort to almost anything. I feel like he's losing it. His age perhaps?
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:19
danielleh
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It's becoming a bit of a pet hate now. Especially when he says something like, "John, you were a terrible project manager, your business plan is flawed and I don't like you. It is for that reason...... I'm struggling. Steve, you're fired".
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:27
davads
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Is anyone else sick of this phrase? Lord Sugar says it almost every week in the boardroom.

I remember that back in the early years, Lord Sugar used to be very eloquent, could respond with a quick retort to almost anything. I feel like he's losing it. His age perhaps?
Nah, it's just the usual contrived Apprentice script, getting more and more contrived. It's like on The X Factor where Simon double and triple bluffs you - "It's not good news...you're going to have to come back and do all of this again"...
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:36
george.millman
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It's becoming a bit of a pet hate now. Especially when he says something like, "John, you were a terrible project manager, your business plan is flawed and I don't like you. It is for that reason...... I'm struggling. Steve, you're fired".
I mean, I don't mind him having a fire-teasing, but it shouldn't be as blatantly obvious as that.

It's one of those things where once you've noticed it, it's going to keep bugging you.
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:40
Heatherbell
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The boardroom should be renamed the bored room . The same old shtick every time , scripted to the max and badly acted out by Sugar .
It's like the producers are taking the piss . "Hell yeah folks , we've found a formula that works and gets decent ratings , lets beat it to death till the viewers scream in agony for mercy " (or turn off) .
It's become like a TOWIE for slightly more intelligent people . I feel dirty watching that mess tonight . (Slight exaggeration there for dramatic effect , but you get the idea .)
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:46
lightdragon
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Is anyone else sick of this phrase? Lord Sugar says it almost every week in the boardroom.

I remember that back in the early years, Lord Sugar used to be very eloquent, could respond with a quick retort to almost anything. I feel like he's losing it. His age perhaps?
Isn't it more of a thing since the switch to business partner? There's no struggle with who would be an employee, but he must know their business idea, so maybe the struggle is how much money he might be potentially throwing away?
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:47
george.millman
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Isn't it more of a thing since the switch to business partner? There's no struggle with who would be an employee, but he must know their business idea, so maybe the struggle is how much money he might be potentially throwing away?
I'm not sure when he started doing it, but it seems to be more a 'who shall I fire?' struggle than a 'who shall I choose?' struggle.
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:48
allafix
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I'm struggling to keep watching. He's struggling ... to think of something else to say having built up a case to fire someone then back away from it. The whole pre-firing summing up is getting very predictable. You know he'll feint to sack each of them once, struggle with himself , and then fire someone. He's suffering from a bad case of "resultus prolongem ad infinitum", the syndrome suffered by all reality TV shows where the producers imagine that prolonging the outcome will build tension.

It's a shame he doesn't struggle to think up all those terrible puns.
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:50
allafix
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Isn't it more of a thing since the switch to business partner? There's no struggle with who would be an employee, but he must know their business idea, so maybe the struggle is how much money he might be potentially throwing away?
No, please, not something else to blame on the change of prize.

I'm pretty sure he only started struggling this series. Maybe it's Claude's fault.
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Old 22-10-2015, 00:54
Cherrybomber
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I mean, I don't mind him having a fire-teasing, but it shouldn't be as blatantly obvious as that.

It's one of those things where once you've noticed it, it's going to keep bugging you.
It's bugging me , he's has said it each week now, and it's something he didn't used to say, so I think he's losing his ability to stay fresh and interesting
This programme is running out of legs
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Old 22-10-2015, 01:03
lightdragon
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No, please, not something else to blame on the change of prize.

I'm pretty sure he only started struggling this series. Maybe it's Claude's fault.
I'm pretty sure Claude has said something along the lines of "I'm struggling to see how your CV/ business idea/ numbers makes sense" in every interview.
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Old 22-10-2015, 01:24
Mrs Spratt
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'And for that reason ... I'm struggling to see why you should stay' is 'You're not fired'.

As far as I remember, it used to be a summary of each person's weak points, then a 'But not even turning up for the task is too casual for me - you're fired'.
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Old 22-10-2015, 01:28
Paace
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Is anyone else sick of this phrase? Lord Sugar says it almost every week in the boardroom.

I remember that back in the early years, Lord Sugar used to be very eloquent, could respond with a quick retort to almost anything. I feel like he's losing it. His age perhaps?
He's now more interested in doing the show's producers bidding, then in finding a so called business partner .
You just know he's been coached by those producers at every stage, how they think it will make exciting tv .
He know longer thinks for himself it's just scripted .

I remember one ex-apprentice saying the board room went on for ages because he was not happy with his lines and they had to do it again and again .
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Old 22-10-2015, 08:21
Tallywacker
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Nah, it's just the usual contrived Apprentice script, getting more and more contrived. It's like on The X Factor where Simon double and triple bluffs you - "It's not good news...you're going to have to come back and do all of this again"...
This.

It's just to build faux tension. It is for that reason........ (the viewer thinks oh they're gone but then boom)...... that I'm struggling to decide....
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Old 22-10-2015, 08:28
george.millman
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This.

It's just to build faux tension. It is for that reason........ (the viewer thinks oh they're gone but then boom)...... that I'm struggling to decide....
The thing is, I wouldn't even mind that. Adding tension doesn't really bother me. What bothers me is that it happens in exactly the same way every week. The viewer doesn't think that they're gone; I've come to expect him to say 'I'm struggling'. That can't be the intention, surely?

He even did the fire-teasing back in Series 1, but it worked, not because people didn't know the format but because it wasn't as blatant or obvious.

In Task 3 he said:

'Adele... you have let me down, Adele. You have let me down. Really, you have let me down, because I put my bet on you. I let you be the task leader this time, and I'm hearing bits and pieces about lack of control in certain areas and disorganisation. I'm very, very disappointed, I've got to tell you. But I'll tell you what disappoints me the most. Lack of respect for the leader, bickering and arguing, wasting time. And on that basis, Miranda, I've got to tell you, you're fired.

It was clear why he'd fired Miranda over Adele, even though many didn't personally agree with it. Doing that would still work today. If there had been a justifiable reason to fire Jenny over Vana, I'd have accepted that. Lord Sugar does not explain it eloquently. Or maybe he does, and the producers think we don't want to see it and cut it out.
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Old 22-10-2015, 08:30
davads
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The thing is, he even did the fire-teasing back in Series 1, but it worked, not because people didn't know the format but because it wasn't as blatant or obvious.

In Task 3 he said:

'Adele... you have let me down, Adele. You have let me down. Really, you have let me down, because I put my bet on you. I let you be the task leader this time, and I'm hearing bits and pieces about lack of control in certain areas and disorganisation. I'm very, very disappointed, I've got to tell you. But I'll tell you what disappoints me the most. Lack of respect for the leader, bickering and arguing, wasting time. And on that basis, Miranda, I've got to tell you, you're fired.

It was clear why he'd fired Miranda over Adele, even though many didn't personally agree with it. Doing that would still work today. If there had been a justifiable reason to fire Jenny over Vana, I'd have accepted that. Lord Sugar does not explain it eloquently. Or maybe he does, and the producers think we don't want to see it and cut it out.
George, have you ever thought of going on Mastermind with The Apprentice as your specialist subject? I salute your encyclopaedic knowledge!
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Old 22-10-2015, 08:48
george.millman
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George, have you ever thought of going on Mastermind with The Apprentice as your specialist subject? I salute your encyclopaedic knowledge!
As a matter of fact, I have thought about it! Do you think I should? I enjoy quiz shows... I was on Fifteen to One recently with Sandi Toksvig, that was fun.

Admittedly I didn't remember that Series 1 quote work for word, I looked it up on YouTube so I could write it down exactly, but I remembered enough of it that I knew exactly what I had to look up.

In all seriousness, if the producers have trained Lord Sugar on what to say, they really haven't trained him very well, have they? If anything, I'd say he needs a bit more training, it's far too obvious as it is. I didn't want Jenny to go, but I was able to predict for most of the boardroom that she was going to. Was just hoping I was wrong, but sadly not.
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Old 22-10-2015, 08:54
Oliver_Tomlinso
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He's also started to sound tired, the first few series he was a lot quicker and harsher...
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Old 22-10-2015, 11:26
Monkseal
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I do wish he'd occasionally just pop off and fire someone without having to sum the whole thing up like it's a Poirot. It's a lot more exciting on the US version (it's about the only thing I prefer) where you genuinely don't know when Trump's going to fire someone because he's so capricious and could just suddenly jab the finger halfway through a random sentence about nothing. I know it's happened a couple of times before (Jenny C, Robert) but both of those were before the "final boardroom".
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Old 22-10-2015, 11:33
The Rhydler
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Yeah, when he says I'm struggling now, its usually to someone he's going to let off the hook
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Old 22-10-2015, 14:19
Iqoniq
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Another is "it's a complete and utter shambles". That seems to come out at least once an episode.
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Old 22-10-2015, 14:31
firefly_irl
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I do wish he'd occasionally just pop off and fire someone without having to sum the whole thing up like it's a Poirot. It's a lot more exciting on the US version (it's about the only thing I prefer) where you genuinely don't know when Trump's going to fire someone because he's so capricious and could just suddenly jab the finger halfway through a random sentence about nothing. I know it's happened a couple of times before (Jenny C, Robert) but both of those were before the "final boardroom".
100% agree, in a Trump boardroom he can randomly just fire anyone, I also don't like the going off to the Café thing, I prefer how on the US version they go straight into deliberation after the task is lost that way nobody can plot who to throw under the bus or what to say. Its off the cuff.

NBC just do a much better job at editing and production than the Beeb.

Like I mean I cannot imagine this happening on the BBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2u8OVK4qD4
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Old 22-10-2015, 19:18
WinterFire
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Is anyone else sick of this phrase? Lord Sugar says it almost every week in the boardroom.

I remember that back in the early years, Lord Sugar used to be very eloquent, could respond with a quick retort to almost anything. I feel like he's losing it. His age perhaps?
Yes, me. Immediately I heard it I thought it was hackneyed.

Sugar is turning into a carrot that sits in the bottom of the fridge, going all soft and black at the end.
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Old 22-10-2015, 19:33
george.millman
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He's also started to sound tired, the first few series he was a lot quicker and harsher...
Yes, that's why I suggested it might be to do with his age.

Although we don't like to stereotype, when The Apprentice started Lord Sugar was 57. He is now 68. It would make sense that his reactions are not as swift or sharp as they once were. He now sounds either unwilling or unable to sum up his thoughts coherently. I do take people's points about how the producers have trained him to add suspense, but to be honest I think if that's the case the producers really haven't done it effectively. Even five years ago, he spoke a lot more clearly than he does now.
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Old 22-10-2015, 19:48
hownwbrowncow
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Yes I agree LS isn't as sharp as he once was. The boardrooms have been a bit flat this year. I do feel he has lost some passion for the show now.
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