My view on the Apprentice show – US and UK version

I started watching The Apprentice show a few years ago when it had newly started. At that time I had a faint idea of what it was and didn’t really follow it. However as I kept on reading news and reviews about it, I thought I should try watching it again and maybe this time I will get what is the big deal about. My initial exposure was to the US version but later on tried the UK version as well due to suggestions by my British friend who thought UK was better than US version (I didn't truly believe him though).

But after watching almost all the series of both the US and UK versions until the latest episodes of the newest seasons, these are my thoughts about them.

US Version – 

                     1) There is a lot of money that is given to the contestants to execute the task.

                     2) Most of the tasks seem to be PR acts for the companies for which the contestants seem to work for.

                     3) There is a lot of focus on happenings which are not really concerned with the business task.

                     4) Donald Trump seems to make personal comments on people’s looks and that doesn’t seem to be much in good taste.

                     5) Donald Trump always speaks in superlatives about the task, the company, the products while describing them the tasks.

                     6) The music used on the show doesn’t really add much to the show.

                     7) When Donald Trump fires a candidate, many a times it seems sudden, as in there is a conversation or debate happening and suddenly we hear the dreadful words “You’re fired”.

                     8) I loved the first celebrity apprentice season.

                     9) Ivanka Trump is a really attractive woman (I had to add that).

UK Version – 

                      1) The tasks are well set and truly do seem to test the contestants adaptability – like starting with the initial episode where they have to buy and sell stuff with minimal amount.

                      2) I like two of their tasks especially – one when they have to buy stuff by negotiating the prices and the second one where the task is set in foreign land with generally minimal English usage.

                      3) I love all the British accents.

                      4) Lord Sugar is really witty and knows how to dissect the contestant’s views, opinions, defences and offences.

                      5) The focus of the show is truly on the tasks and the activities, one of the brilliant pieces of editing done by them was when two contestants had a fight, they showed a bit in the beginning                               and then covered with brilliant music highlighting the feud but sparing us the embarrassment of bad language and ill tempers.

                      6) The music used on the show is phenomenal.

                      7) Lord Sugar, before firing a contestant, does a good assessment of them and gives their strengths and weaknesses which is nice and educative.

                      8) I have rarely seen contestants raising their voices in the boardroom, seems a lot more professional than the some of the episodes from the US version.

                      9) The interview round seems to be rather harsh on candidates and I would dread to attend such interviews as shown on the show.

However I have to admit both shows work and entertain in their own way and if anything they give us a glimpse of the work ethics and the way to get things done in these two countries.