The Apprentice is back!!

Hurrah for mid-week reality shows on the BBC! My hubby and I got quite into Masterchef this year, and have been keen followers of Sir Alan's recruitment drives for the past 2 or 3 years, so we're very excited to see The Apprentice back on.

I absolutely love programmes like this, although I avoid "Pop Idol" and "Britain's got talent" like the plague. But give me Maria, Joseph, Nancy, Oliver, and "Strictly" on a Saturday night, and a couple of good quality "change your life" competitions during the week and I'm glued. It's curious why I find some types of programmes of this nature more acceptable than others. It's the public humiliation elements of some of them which I can't stomach, whereas others have a good amount of challenge and honest appraisal which makes compelling viewing. It's fascinating to watch people rise to challenges, and it's quite moving to see how much people's yearning to win affects them.

The thing that keeps me coming back to the The Apprentice though is utter incredulity at how contestants get so confused about the notion of what it takes to be an effective and impactful leader. Why is it that young people go on that programme and think that in order to come across as a strong leader they have to be the absolute personification of arrogance and agression, and completely dismiss everyone else's worth? It baffles me, and I keep watching in the hope that someone will turn up who is business-minded, pragmatic, adaptable, tolerant, curious and open-minded. Sir Alan always talks about COMMON SENSE, and yet the majority of the contestants either fail miserably to demonstrate any, or get caught in the ego race and become more and more cut-throat, belying the leadership potential that they came on with in the first place.

In the meantime, I cannot deny that all the posturing DOES make good telly - even if I do need to have a good pile of cushions next to me to keep lobbing at the set while I watch.