ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how The Apprentice cuts and folds London to create a new mediated space of television entertainment, one that draws upon and seeks to reinforce the city’s reputation as a global economic powerhouse. In an interlude between boardroom scenes, the losing team in each episode is sent to discuss the reasons for their failure before facing the final judgement. The rudimentary co-sleeping arrangements of the luxury houses and the blue-collar ‘caffs’ of the pre-dismissal scene establish a tension between the exclusivity of the boardroom and what lies beyond it. To fully understand the implications of the cutting and folding of London in this high-profile television programme, a deeper appreciation of the relationship between Sugar’s cultural and economic capital and the built environment of London is needed. The British version of The Apprentice is one of two dozen licensed versions of a successful television formula.
