They just finished their first season of Apprentice in the UK. I caught it on BitTorrent and thought it was very good. :thumbsup:
BTW that link is a bit of a spoiler if you haven't had a chance to watch it yet.
It's hard to say which, if any, series is "better" than the other. There is definitely a different feel to each . IMO the UK version put a bit more forethought into each task, and had more of a subjective component to the evaluation of performance. The UK version seems to fare better in the editing room than the US version - Arguments between teammates, and their aftermath, are left largely intact (including bad language) rather than being overly edited as they are in the US. I thought the long uncut stretches of teammates reflecting, planning, arguing and brainstorming was a significant improvement over the fast-paced, flippant "punchline" style of the US series.
While the US version of the Apprentice is clearly bigger and brassier than the UK version; I felt put off a few times when it seemed to border on gaudiness. By this, I mean to me it seemed that some parts of the US series emphasized the task rather than the finer details of the teams' performance. The US Apprentice seemed to judge performance more strictly than the UK, with the "bottom line" almost always being the overriding objective measure.
Publicly, Sir Allen is clearly more humble than Donald Trump. This is most apparent in the finale, which is done in a "talkshow" format rather than as an expanded boardroom as it is in the US. I thought the US Apprentice finales were more grandstanding and showmanship than constructive criticism on the performance of the contestants.
If you're an Apprentice fan, I can't recommend one series over the other - I say follow them both. Each series is entertaining and educational, both culturally and from a business point-of-view.
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