Why Season 16 of The Apprentice is the Best Comedy the BBC Have Produced For Years!

The Apprentice started off as a British adaptation of Donald Trump’s show The Apprentice where candidates take part in weekly tasks and the winner gets a job whilst the others get fired week-by-week. In later seasons of the UK show, the prize of a job was scrapped and it was replaced with a £250K investment from Lord Sugar.

I’ve followed the show a lot over the year. My favourite part has always been the interviews where their CVs and business plans get ripped to pieces and the contestants get gruelled. It started off as a show genuinely about business, but I do think it’s gone off a tangent a little bit.

Most of the people who got hired and won a job, wasn’t in the job for very long. Many of them went on to build their own companies. A lot of the businesses Lord Sugar has invested in have survived Lockdown.

So here’s a look into why Series 16 is the one of the best comedies the BBC has made in years.

It’s feels staged

Whilst it is clear that a lot of the candidates are there to better themselves, it’s feels that some seem to be selected by the producers based on their looks and social media presence. I also believe a lot of things in the show are staged for comedic and shocking events. Some of the product logos designed on the tasks this year are shocking to say the least. I noticed that the two teams never went for the same colour.

I don’t know if it’s true, but I have this hunch that if one team go for a certain colour scheme or idea, that the other tem aren’t allowed to either. I also wonder can’t certain things be changed or fixed if something goes wrong. Then I realise that the teams are given a few days to do something that many companies take months or even years to perfect. Now I understand why the pressure is so intense. But the awkward pitches, funny faces and over-the-top confidence is what makes the show so hilarious. I find unintended humour to be the best.

A lot of people have tweeted to Lord Sugar that they could do better. He told them they should apply on next year’s show.

Great Characters

This season has had some really strong characters and its clear that a lot of them seem like close friends. Nick and Akshay’s dynamic was great to see. Even though the tasks weren’t always going well, they looked like they were having a blast with it. They truly were an iconic duo who brought the best out of each other. The more they were in the losing team, the easier it is to root for them because they were the underdogs. Harpreet’s dominerance over Akeem made the two of them look like an old married couple, especially when she demands him to cook rice.

Shocking Logos

This season of the Apprentice shows us how not to start a business. It also teaches the consequences of having a bad logo. Though some of it is going go down in history as some of the most so-bad-it’s-good logos. Like the missing C in the Arctic Circle game.

Many of the contestants seem set up to fail

They‘re all put way out of their comfort zone making new products across different sectors. One task was TV shopping and another was a tour to Wales. One of the latest tasks were to make baby food which did not go well, especially in small teams. There were no orders and it lead to a double firing. Many of the contestants do have a lot of ideas and they do mean well, but the visions clash and thus the execution falls flat.

I admire anyone who signs up to do reality TV. They have more guts than I have. The chance of having your cock-ups broadcasted to the world and recorded forever would be nightmare-inducing for me. They seem to take it in their stride.

So fair play to them.