Long but good read on the apartment renting episode..



http://www.themorningnews.org/archiv...apprentice.php




The show finally began. As the date for our own episode drew close, we got to know D, our new upstairs neighbor. We really liked her. She was mature and friendly, a Columbia Journalism School graduate and newspaper reporter. She gave us a key to her apartment because she often lost her own; we gave her a key to ours so she could look after our mail when we went away, something we would never have done with M. We talked about her experience on the show. It turned out that she had actually rented the apartment before it was renovated. She had looked at a few places in the neighborhood, picked the apartment upstairs from us, and made arrangements to move in before learning that it had been pulled off the market for the show. She went ballistic. The landlord told her not to worry, she could still have the apartment at the agreed-upon rent but would have to participate in the episode in order to get it. During the filming, she went through the motions and rented the apartment at a price higher than the one she would actually be paying. The negotiation was a sham.

Were we surprised? A little. But had we expected documentary realism? To me, reality TV always seemed just a shade above pro wrestling. The body slams look painful but you suspect they are artfully set up. But to know, to actually know, that reality TV and reality were different… D just wanted the whole thing to go away and the story to never get out. It seemed a rare and noble reluctance for a journalist but, then again, maybe she had signed some non-disclosure thingy – now that was reality.

Hmmm... I do really enjoy the show, but I have had the sense a few times that some of the outcomes of the tasks were staged. I wonder if the contestants knew about it? I've never really had that sense with other shows like Survivor. They may manipulate how the game is played, hoping to get certain outcomes, but I have never once thought that they rigged the outcome of an event.

Brian

Here's the deal with the apartment rental...the producers didn't know that the woman had a pre-arranged deal with the landlords. In other words, it wasn't "fixed."

Would the woman have signed the lease if she didnt already have a lower lease?

What if the other team signed a lease for 10 Billion dollars a month, knowing that the "real" lease, was much cheaper? The situation may not have been planned by all involved, but it was pretty bogus.

But my point is that the producers didn't know about the deal, so the charges that the show is "rigged" because of this are B.S.

Shit happens, especially when you bring in real world variables.

I would like to take this time to apologize for threadcrapping earlier. I dislike this show and the whole reality TV thing with a passion, but I had no right to come in here with people who do like it and say it sucked. Please forgive little ol me! :)