I must say, I am not a fan of reality TV. Generally speaking, it does nothing but showcase the lowest common denominator in our society, and prevents us from seeing what is really important in our lives. It also prevents us from seeing quality art since it is so much cheaper to produce a reality program (even if it is somewhat scripted) than it is to produce a smart comedy or an exciting drama (like Sarah Connor Chronicles – how did they even get enough money to make 1-1/2 seasons?). Every once in a while, though, something will pique my interest. I really did enjoy Beauty and the Geek, even though they only had one female geek (too little, too late).  But I really get a kick out of Celebrity Apprentice.
I never watched the regular Apprentice shows, probably because I don’t really care for Mr.  Trump. The celebrity version intrigued me at first because it was full of personalities that we all sort know, and I wondered how these people would even be able to work together out of their element. It’s a familiar concept in celebrity reality shows – throw a bunch of strong personalities into confined quarters and let them duke it out. But in this case, they are doing – for the most part – real life work. Their tasks are mostly actual tasks any one of us might have to do in our own lives. Sure, we’re not all business people, but people get paid to do the things happening in these competitions. (Fine, people get paid to ballroom dance, I guess, but it’s a much, much smaller percentage of the population.) It’s fascinating and frustrating to watch how people totally dismiss someone like Tom Green, who is a successful business person by his own right, only because he has an off-kilter way of looking at things. Equally interesting is watching people like Lil Jon and John Rich, neither of whom I had any knowledge or interest in previously, really kick butt and accomplish things together. Most of all, though, I get a kick out of this show because I can put myself into the situation and think, “How would I approach this? What solution would I have?” And the ideas I have could actually be useful to me at some point. When will I ever need to eat a slug?
I have a great idea for an upcoming season of Apprentice, but that’s between me and Mr. Burnett. *wink*