Thursday, April 15, 2004

IT WAS THE FIRST CHOICE, AFTER ALL: I don't want to spoil the Apprentice finale for those who haven't seen it yet -- but the Comments section is fair game -- but I do want to say this much.

Kudos to Mark Burnett for doing such an awesome job of translating the Survivor formula into this environment, and it really showed in this episode. Complete with the almost-imperceptible fade from the taped boardroom to the live reveal (which originated with Survivor: Africa, I believe), the reunion show and, of course, much Trumpy boasting.

One fair criticism of the show is that despite the diverse backgrounds of the competitors, in the end it was the two candidates who were already the most credentialed and least needing of Trump's help that made it to the end. I think that's due to a flaw in the game -- because you're eliminating the least worthy each week, as opposed to hailing the most worthy, consistent achievement isn't as important as What Have You Done For Me Lately, and what's most important is just not seeming like the Least Sucky Person In The Room when you're in the boardroom. (In particular, I thought Amy got screwed in the end given how well she had performed in individual tasks.)

My solution? Some kind of immunity necklace -- do well one week, and not only are you not in the boardroom that week, but that team's Project Manager can't be eliminated the following week.

Final note: If I were [the candidate who lost], I'd have said, "Mr. Trump, you said you had two openings. You gave the winner his choice. I'd like to be considered for the other job."

Thoughts? The floor is open.

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