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Can The Apprentice shine in MasterChef’s shadow?

Nine's new Apprentice series is put together by the same companies behind MasterChef Australia.

bourisNine will be hoping to tap into some of TEN’s reality television success as production gets underway on The Apprentice.

The series features Mark Bouris (pictured) as our very own Donald Trump, just without his trademark hairwave.

The series is produced by FremantleMedia Australia, the same company behind MasterChef Australia. Casting has been completed by Kirsty de Vallance at A Cast of Thousands.

De Vallance was also behind Nine and Fremantle’s other project The Farmer Wants a Wife plus World’s Strictest Parents, Project Runway Australia, The Biggest Loser and even some audience participants for Insight ‘s forums on SBS.

Earlier this year she told TV Tonight, “Masterchef will be a really good demographic. It is something we were all aiming for. They didn’t want a whole group of 20 year olds. If you’re casting a lot of young people they haven’t always had the life experience to bring to conversations. It creates a better dynamic.”

Of course the premise for The Apprentice encourages team collusion and degrees of bitchiness, none of which was evident on the TEN hit series.

39 Responses

  1. The appeal of the Apprentice was not just about backstabbing. I found the tasks very interesting and appreciated the skills involved.

    You may have to plan and run an event, organise a team, figure out the best way to sell a product, deal with people, be creative and figure out the best way to accomplish a task.

    I think it can be suitable for these times. If the contestants are genuinely talented and they have interesting tasks.

    Skills like entrepreneuralism, organisation, creativity, customer service, management and strategy is still important in tough economic times. A lot of businesses have to adapt.

  2. Thanks Ben for posting those links!! That made a really interesting read. People need to stop being so cynical about new shows, lighten up. No wonder so many shows fail, you guys seem like the harshest bunch of people to please sometimes! You’re being harsh for the sake of being harsh, we have such little info to judge this on.
    I’m not saying this is a guaranteed success story, but some of you should look back at the links posted by Ben before you place your bets here because some people have come out of the Masterchef phenomenon looking pretty stupid..

  3. I dont think this series will work but as you say Fremantle Media know how to do reality. I will watch the first couple of episodes but I just think this series is 5 years too late!

  4. This will not work. Masterchef seamed like a new idea. Outthere in non-geek Australia they dont know MC was an oversees format. With this however Australia knows and it is old news. It relies on bitchy backstabbing and this is a bad idea. I fugure they have no choice but to air it because of the money already speant but it will fail. The US apprentice was a bad program anyway and people didnt want to watch that here either.

  5. People are so quick to bad mouth and attack Aussie productions….

    Below are links to the TT articles about the launch of M.C also an overseas format that didn’t initially “work” on Aussie free-to-air. Look at comments and see the amount of doubters there! Almost 4 million on sunday night

    Freemantle has shown with Masterchef that our producers can adapt formats and make them work here and improve them.

    Have a bit of faith and support our local industry!

    http://tvtonight.com.au/2008/11/masterchef-to-replace-big-brother.html
    http://tvtonight.com.au/2009/03/ten-launches-masterchef.html

  6. while a lot of people said masterchef wouldn’t work and were proven wrong, it wasn’t absolutely everyone saying it wouldn’t work like this is, some thought it could. plus we hadn’t already seen several seasons of overseas masterchefs already, like we have with this. so don’t go thinking that you should ignore us all 9 and that it will turn out well, 10 have had plenty of other recent sucesses too like merlin and you certainly have not.

  7. James makes a good point…Channel 9 never understood the US or UK versions of The Apprentice, so how can they even consider trying to translate something they clearly don’t ‘get’ into an Aussie version.

    Would love this to work, but it already stinks of fail.

  8. @CrAig:

    No, Nine needs to try something new.

    tHe ApPrEnTiCe may work? Or how about APPRENTICE, the? Or maybe theAPPRENTICE? Or THE apprentice?

    I really reckon this will flop.

  9. Channel Nine just seems lost completeley at the moment with their programming – the American version of this series with Trump died in the arse here several years back , then I recall they tried an ‘english’ version and it lasted 2 minutes here in Australia and was buried in a late night time slot so why oh why would Channel Nine persist with an aussie version.

    Same format – just same annoying people – there maybe a curiousity factor for the first few weeks but this is not big brother or australian idol – most people watching have to think a little when they watch this and follow the complicated scenarios each week and that’s when viewers drift!!

    And another thing…Not only is it again the wrong climate to be showing greedy ‘apprentice types’ who are already in good jobs aiming for more money and executive status but Mark Bouris is hardly Donald Trump and has always comes across as the Mr Nice Guy of the banking world – now he is to be portrayed as Mr Nasty – please this just doesn’t make sense.

    Unfortunately this will again be another HomeMADE – a bomb!!!

  10. Steve, do you mean sophisticated like the way Joan Rivers acted on the latest version of Celebrity Apprentice…. lashing out in defence of her daughter and calling that poker player a piece of s**t and a nazi?

  11. People don’t want to watch mean anymore. 9 should stick to the repeats of Two and half men as it seems to be their only trump card these days………

  12. Yeah I agree with the other posters: this is the wrong show to do at completely the wrong time. What’s wrong with 9? They seem to choose to do pathetic shows and pass on really good ideas!

  13. Camo, I don’t think the Apprentice was ever a bad idea in the states, it will be airing it’s Ninth season in 2010, hardly a flop for NBC mate. Personally I love the show but it’s almost a little too sophisticated for Australian audiences and can’t see it working as well. Also nobody does these shows better than Mark Burnett.

  14. Ratings for the US apprentice declined over here
    Ratings for the UK apprentice never got going over here.
    So why bother with an aussie version

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