The Empty Weblog

Sadly im not a very good writer, if I were id have written this article last year:

Currently sweeping all before it, Sir Alan Sugar and his minions in The Apprentice are storming the ratings (a high of 7.4 million viewers!). The move to BBC1 has made the show a phenomenon, but at what price?

This fourth series crushed ITV1’s much-hyped Rock Rivals into the ground however, as a long-time fan, I can’t help feeling that The Apprentice’s glory days may be already behind it. I hate to say it, but the show is increasingly looking like a victim of its own success and there’s only one way to go from here…Part of the problem stems from this year’s crop of hapless hopefuls; they couldn’t organise a booze-up in a brewery and that impacts on the show’s raison d’être. All of a sudden, Sir Alan’s criticism of the calibre of contestants in series two (The Badger! Smarmy Syed! Nutty Jo!) seems wildly premature. If the likes of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, Kevin Shaw and Ian Stringer represent the cream of British business acumen, it’s no wonder the economy is going downhill faster than Wesley Snipes’ career.

Fortuitously, Sir Alan fears: “a slide into a kind of ‘Big Brother on wheels’.” Hate to be the one to tell ya mate, we’re already there. Talk about déjà vu: a house full of shallow, selfish, vindictive, bullying, fame-hungry individuals, desperately showing off for the cameras, lying and cheating to avoid eviction. Moans about ‘useless’ protagonists from fans who’ve been there since the beginning, tasks written off as boring and unadventurous by Apprentice anoraks, suspicions that ‘big characters’ are being kept in to keep those ratings climbing…don’t be surprised if the next boardroom confrontation is with Davina McCall.

It’s hard not to get misty-eyed reminiscing over the early innocent, less cynical years on BBC2: Paul Torrisi and Saira Khan at loggerheads, Rachel Groves’ cringe-inducing ‘dance’, The Badger in full sales flow, Nargis Ara’s ’six million cats’ pitch and the rude telling off she gave the buyer when he interrupted her speech…happy days. It may seem ridiculous to label this show past its peak as it continues to pull in massive audiences, but seasoned telly addicts will know exactly what I’m talking about. Oh well; it was absolutely fabulous while it lasted. See why the following shows have made our gallery of the TV shows that lost it. The reasons may surprise you…

I can’t agree more! Maybe Sir Alan can take me in and teach me a few things since i’ll be running my own business really soon.