and i defended that woman last week!
i didn't quite get the flurry of bad reviews for the first episode of martha stewart's apprentice. what were they expecting, some radically redefined show?
i have always found the apprentice entertaining and interesting--aside from the dearth of long-term suspense about the winner each season, because of the exceptionally low-quality casting. (high on entertainment value, very low on leadership talent.)
and the creatives vs. the corporates this was easily the most interesting breakdown yet. hysterical to watch each group struggle without their missing half. sad to see the creatives self-destruct so hopelessly.
i hate to god to admit this, but they're so pitifully outmatched by the corporates. those suits lack just as much, but they were blessed with the part of the brain that says, "No problem, I'll just hire that." they're right. maybe the creatives can hire themselves a leader next time.
(though i do think they've got a few among them, they just have to step up to the role. it will be tough for the best manager to herd those freaks, but all the more a true leader will shine when she emerges.
so martha's apprentice gave us a great concept with expert execution and a few minor twists: her personality and the new matchup. enough. two great hours a week instead of one. they're likely to wear down the brand twice as fast as burnett did with survivor, but i'll enjoy it in the short run.
and then week two, martha had to make a complete ass of herself.
poor woman doesn't even understand her own show.
her first question to the losers was idiotic: Dutch girls, what does that have to do with the brand?
what? their assignment wasn't to build your brand, you didn't set up the criteria as being a long-term play for your company, they were assigned a one-shot stunt to make as much money as possible in one day, with no long-term consequences, because the business had no long term existence.
then she scoffed that the dutch girls were Tacky! no shit. everyone on that team knew they were tacky--short tacky stunts sometimes sell in the short run. that's what donald's apprentice has been all about. they're tacky like him, and they make money in the short run like him.
but she's announcing one criteria at the outset--revenue--judging them on another.
if you want to run an apprentice contest based on longer-term goals like brand building, that's much more interesting, more complex, and a much more realistic assessment of real business sense. but you've got to design a show that actually encourages that. you're working with a completely different concept.
incredible. the woman had the least sense of anyone in the room what her show was about tonight. sad.
and she made a terrible decision on top of all that. chuck obviously had no business on this show, but at least he wasn't ripping it apart like jim. she could dump chuck any time. his passive ineptitude isn't going to drag them down once he's out of the leadership spot. sure it disqualifies him from winning, but they've got more immediate problems on that team.
the guy makes a comically inept Machiavelli who will be lucky to last another week or two, but and they probably all know this and laugh at his long-term chances. but in the short-term, they're terrified of his wrath, and no one is ready to speak or act freely in front of him--except of course dawn, who and they all see where that got her. (not that she was any prize to begin with, but she hasn't deserved his onslaughts.)
that team has got enough trouble working together without that snake terrorizing them. martha gives a big speech about her teams needing to work together, and then rewards that aggressively hostile force.
one blind executive there.
Dutton (Penguin) in 2007. 
