"The Apprentice: LA" -- Is it just me, or it just MEAN?

[IdaBriggs]

I'm not enjoying it. I loved the first season (although I think Amy should have won), but after that, its pretty much gone down hill. This season seems to be the worst.

First problem: Carolyn is gone, and instead we have "Ivanka." Nothing personal, but Carolyn was a BUSINESS WOMAN whose opinion seemed to have some weight based on "real world" experience. Ivanka brings a snotty attitude, and her "experience" seems to be "born rich." Her comments seem to have no credibility (except her personal opinion), and are extremely rude and insulting. First episode she told a man who went to law school that "his personality just wouldn't fit around here" as opposed to firing the guy who was actually responsible for the mistakes that were made; while this week her father made a nasty comment to the guy who SHOULD have been fired last week that he would be gone soon.

Second problem: There is no respect for the candidates, half of whom are living in tents. :wtf: Supposedly these people are all successful in their own right, so why hasn't one of them thumbed his/her nose at the producers, and put some hotel charges on a credit card? If the show can't afford decent accommodations, provide your own -- and if you want some respect from your team, maybe for them as well.

SPOILER ALERT: The guy who got fired in the second episode deserved it, but there was no acknowledgment of his accomplishments. (They were selling bathing suits, and the "men's line" only sold $350, while the "women's line" sold nearly $20K -- and the "losers" lost by not much money.) Granted, the "men's line" was REALLY unsuccessful and he missed the market share of "non-built men" but still, I found Ivanka's comments more offensive than the "failure."

Call me old fashioned, but when I go on a job interview, I'm also checking out the company I'm going to be working for; I'm not convinced the "perks" of the job Trump is offering are worth the ass kissing that has to happen to get there. It appears that "common decency" and respect for others is gone from this show, and frankly, I'm disappointed. When the "winners' prize" is hanging out at the Playboy Bunny mansion with Hugh Hefner, I'm thinking the people in charge of this production have kind of lost their minds -- I certainly wouldn't want my family to see me in a situation like that, especially on national television.

Then again, I'm a business woman, and a successful one at that, so I'm free to indulge in crazy things like "not choosing to socialize with pornographers" if I don't want to. While I respect the rights of those who WANT to do such things, requiring someone to do so as part of a job interview process in a "reward" setting is just something I find ... distasteful.

P.S. I once got paid to look at porn for a database I was developing, which I found vastly amusing. My point is more about being "forced" to do it by a boss on national television; its just not a position I think "job applicants" should be put into.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. It's just a bit more demeaning than most job interviews

Most interviews seem to eventually shift from "specific skills and history", to some set of canned, moronic, open-ended questions culled from a book about "human resources".

Q: What was your worst experience with a customer and how did you handle it?

Charm School Book: Give an answer such that your weakness is a strength and the result is a win-win.

A possible wrong Answer: The customer complained about the product. I cut off the customer's head and placed it on a pole for a week outside his headquarters. His replacement was much more cooperative.


Oh, yeah, the TV show. It got mean and trite after the first season. I "tasked" my Tivo to do other things. I don't think I'd go far in the Trump organization.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

2. I thought Bill Rancic (THe first winner) was supposed to be taking Carolyn's spot...

this season. What happened to that? I hate Trump's kids. They are just spoiled.
Duckie

[peekaloo]

3. didn't he quit the Chump, er, Trump organization?

so much for an Apprentice.

[Kajsa]

4. You nailed it, peekaloo!

Trump is a chump and his "organization" has more to do
with butt kissing and taking his verbal garbage than anything else.

"Professional"?- they don't know the meaning of the word!

Check out section 2 in the definition from
Miriam-Webster Online.

professional

Main Entry: 1pro·fes·sion·al
Pronunciation: pr&-'fesh-n&l, -'fe-sh&-n&l
Function: adjective
1 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession b : engaged in one of the learned professions c (1) : characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace.

Do you see that going on there?
No!!

The show is mean, the kid is a brat, and the whole production
is as tacky and tasteless as Donald Trump!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. I just heard he'd been working for the guy since he won...

And how he's engaged to some babe from the E! Network?
Duckie

[peekaloo]

7. He's been hypnotized by the HAIR!

Sorry, I had read an article where he said he would quit after one year to start his own company but it looks like he reconsidered and is still with the Chicago project.

:hi:

[L A Woman]

6. i was planning to watch that show....

until the whole Rosie thing, and then I thought to myself, "why would i waste my time watching this idiot's show?"

sounds like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree (re Ivanka)!!!

[philosophie_en_rose]

8. Ugh. I caught the end of it last night.

Trump is a damned homophobic asshat. His judgments are not based on business, but rather by his personal biases.

Carolyn and George had a sense of "mentoring" about them. Their harsh comments weren't personal. It was business.

Trump and his daughter are crude. And the perpetual project manager idea is stupid.

[bullwinkle428]

9. The "tents" thing is just total shark-jumpage - it was ridiculous

how little of the actual task was shown, to give us an idea of why the teams performed as they did. I was looking at some stuff on another site which mentioned a number of cut scenes including one in which the winning team actually met with the swimsuit designer to get some professional opinion on marketplace demands. The losing team did not do this, leading to their overall cluelessness surrounding their designs. Of course, if they showed this, they couldn't show all of that compellingly "in-tents" footage... :eyes:

I totally agree about the loss of George and Carolyn this season, and don't even get me started on Trump's homophobia - the guy really has no clue how he comes off.

[seaglass]

10. All I can say is that I'm so happy the 2nd season of Rome started.

It's easier for me to avoid watching this crap.

I saw the 1st episode and prefer Carolyn over Ivanka. I know Ivanka is well-educated and probably smart but I think she has an unbecoming mean streak.

Of course people can get a job working for Trump in ways other than through The Apprentice so I can't say I feel much sympathy for people who want to get their job by being on a TV show. The main point of The Apprentice is entertainment and money-making for Trump after all, I would hope the job applicants are smart enough to know that.

[Deja Q]

11. The media now reflects what our societal leaders must want.

:shrug:

[KurtNYC]

12. "Reality TV" is an Orwellian term

There is very little that is real about it. Initially I thought Trump was kind of a mixed bag: every once in a while he would dispense a nice boiled down bit of business knowledge (eg. "before you start any business know EXACTLY who your customer is"), but brought his own issues in also: a horrible sense of style, an old-school raw chauvanism, and extended lapses in tact.

I cut back watching the show a couple seasons back. The competition is very artificial. They get these tasks and just run around immediately when they should spend 10 minutes on the phone or the internet doing some quick research or lining up vendors, to make sure they maximize the rest of their time. In severval epsiodes they have been called upon to create some kind of advertising piece or POP display and they should go look up the last two things that client did/bought advertising wise rather than just do what THEY like. But if there wasn't a train wreck in every show they wouldn't have a show I suppose. They keep the trouble makers and toss the blander people.

I also think it sets a bad example for people who are managers and supervisors. The format of the show basically says 'if your people can't guess what you want then fire them.' In the real world that is a very expensive way to run your HR. As for making the prize a trip to the Playboy mansion ...that is what good gender discrimination lawsuits are made of. Unreal.

[Deja Q]

14. He's an insane freak with a gaudy toupee.

[cwydro]

13. Yeah,

I think the tent thing is way out of line. (And I like camping, lol)

These folks must have no self-respect.

[Midlodemocrat]

15. I think all reality shows are mean.

With the possible exception of SuperNanny. She seems to be very kind in the way she responds to even the worst parents around.

The rest of them are just flat out mean. American Idol, Trump, I can't watch any of them. I have enough mean in my day to day life without dealing with that shit.

[alarimer]

17. I can't stand them either

My Mom watches all of them so I watched a few, including SuperNanny, which was not as bad as the others. But I can't stand the Apprentice or Idol. It much be cheaper to produce than regular TV. I hate those stupid new game shows too. Of course I guess "Press Your Luck" was not exactly rocket science either!

[Little Wing]

16. You'd have to be a shallow bastard to want to star in these shows in the first place

[ForrestGump]

18. They're all mean,

these 'reality' shows of late. That's my impression from my limited exposure to them, anyway, and from all I've heard.

I'd say it's very American, to want to see people humiliated and basically ripped new ones before a TV camera...but then I recall those wacky Japanese televised humiliationfests and realize it's probably just The Human Condition. The Industrialized Human Condition, at least...

Score one for non-human animals.

[Jimbo S]

19. I still watch but

stopped paying attention to the boardroom long ago. I enjoy watching the entrepreneurship. They don't have Donald's tidbits of business wisdom anymore, I miss that.

I find the boardroom quite unprofessional. Did Trump come right out and ask that guy if he was gay? Not sure, I was reading the paper.

Anyhow, I see inconsistencies in his line of questioning. One week he'll rip a PM "why did you bring back one person instead of two? That's stupid!". Next week "Why did you bring two people back? That person shouldn't be here. That's stupid!". Maybe it's a mind game to see how people react under pressure. Either way, I would be disappointed to encounter that atmosphere at an interview.

[jcrew2001]

20. trump sucks

But I try to watch it for the business tasks and try to not pay attention to Trump or the contestents whining.

Again, minorities are the first to go - i don't know if its casting, or trump's decision, or editing, but why are the minorities always the first to go.

Sure it seems the first 2 had major flaws, but wtf?

Kerry was the gay black guy and he def messed up with his decision to go with the skimpy suit. He def had blinders on and didn't have a "sales goal" in mind.

Also, the other tall white guy is also gay, i think he mentioned it when he was commenting on Kerry's "Flaming suit"

Interesting that trump had at least 2 gay people on this season, but that's LA, everyone is gay until proven otherwise.

My prediction is that Trump will choose a Girl, probably Heidi as the apprentice because he's only selected 1 girl apprentice so far.

I read that season 2 and 3 winners don't work for trump anymore, Kelly was good, but not telegenic enough to stay on for trump's sales, etc. Kendra was okay, but young and didn't offer enough to stay on. Randall and Sean are both proven vets. Rancic had it all, the looks and the leadership to be the apprentice.

In fact, I think Season 1 had the best cast members. Most were well qualified and handled themselves extremely well. Kwame will be a success. Troy was very capable, as was Nick and Amy.