Apprentice IRL v Apprentice UK

daithiblue

My tuppence:

• Apprentice IRL is 30 minutes too long, and suffers badly as a result - knock 30 minutes of waffle off it and you would have a much better programme.
• Design a poster, design an advert, design a calendar... product placement on IRL programme has got to ridiculous levels - we hear more about "the embodiment of brand values" than we do about the endorsement of common sense business values.
• If the IRL and UK apprentices are representative of the future generation of business minds in their respective countries, then I am moving to the UK. Tomorrow.

AnnyHallsal

UK definitely for me.

I like Sugar's style more. Cullen's only really interested in one thing I think - someone who can sell, and he's so abrasive I find myself actively disliking him.

I love Nick Hewer. Margaret was great too.

The BBC's advertising rules keep things slightly more task-orientated also.

Gunsfortoys

Sugar = entrepreneurial genius with legitimite advisors, career spanning over 40 years in multi-tech company and various investments. Straight talker and intelligent business man.

Cullen = Owns a couple of car dealerships. Gives **** advice. Advisors consist of cronys.

The U.K version has no advertising, not even in the main show.

The Irish version is 30 minutes longer due to advertising.

The U.K version has the contestants doing real life style challenges involving tough decisions.

The Irish version has challenges of pitching to Bills cronys.

Hogzy

Folks this is a TV show designed to entertain. If you think business in the real world is like what you see on TV3 then you need to take your head out of the sand.

And the Irish Apprentice is a load of sh^te compared to the UK version!!!

Butterfly25

I wish they'd extend the UK version and shorten the IRL version!

livinginkorea

I have never started watching the Apprentice until this year. Watched the Trump one when it started but lost interest in that. I am watching the IRL one now and have to say the ads are annoying, eventhough I am not watching the ads (download) the narrator is constantly reminding us of what is happening in the episode so you can pretty much guess how often the ads are.

Cullen does seem one dimension but the bitach in the house if the one who lived in England for years. Hehe.

Haven't watched the ENG one but assume that it would be better since they surely have millions more than TV3 to produce it.

Keano

Had only watched a few episodes of the UK version but now watching it every episode of current series.

Bill is just a walking clíche at this stage, "if you were on crutches you might have to run with me" was another line he used this week. Sugar never comes out with this sort of crap.

Storm 10

Agree with everything said about the Irish v UK versions of the show, Bill comes across as being very aggressive even in his looks when he is talking to them , Alan Sugar is much more calmer and looks at whats happening in a completely different way, I never heard Sugar raise his voice like Bill does. The other half was shocked at his remark about crutches on Monday he showed no concern for an injured person.

Heroditas

Storm 10 wrote: »

he showed no concern for an injured person.

The guy had a stiff neck, he was hardly a quadriplegic.

What's even more disturbing was he was in the Greek army. Did he complain every time they went on a march or did drill practice? Pretty pathetic behaviour shown by him IMO. :rolleyes:

AnnyHallsal

Heroditas wrote: »

The guy had a stiff neck, he was hardly a quadriplegic.

What's even more disturbing was he was in the Greek army. Did he complain every time they went on a march or did drill practice? Pretty pathetic behaviour shown by him IMO. :rolleyes:

One of the all too few comic moments in the IRL version this year has to have been when Panos confessed his phobia of jigsaws, and Bill asked him if it was all power tools or just the Jigsaw :pac:

Jaysus, you could be bleeding to death and Bill'd tell you to cop on. Proper old school.

I love the way Sugar trots out his silly puns and sad little jokes.

Flimbos

I'm just getting into to this year's UK Apprentice and enjoying it. Our TV3 version is good entertainment... but let's face it, what Bill wants is the best salesperson - last year, Steve won purely based on his huge win in the sales task towards the end of the series.

Mr E

Nobody has mentioned the music yet. They may have Dance of the Knights in common for the intro, but the UK music is much much better during the main show (and especially the boardroom).

bigboy123

Flimbos wrote: »

I'm just getting into to this year's UK Apprentice and enjoying it. Our TV3 version is good entertainment... but let's face it, what Bill wants is the best salesperson - last year, Steve won purely based on his huge win in the sales task towards the end of the series.

Totally agree with this. This year bill has refused to fire Ciara twice when she was clearly the weakest team member, the reason for this is she sold a few powertools (less than ciaran). He says he wants an all rounder but it is blatantly obvious that he only wants a salesperson.

Also the product placement in the Irish apprentice is crazy and cringeworthy. Is the Irish programme entertainment or an hour and a half long ad for a perticular company, eg. Lucozade.

dastardly00

If there was a poll........... it'd be a landslide victory for the UK Apprentice!
Far better than the Irish version. And the women are better looking too! :pac:

neris

can we not get a poll going for this??

Laois_Man

I don't accept this notion that product placement has any effect on the enjoyment of the Irish version. It's just trying to pick fault. WTF difference does it make to the viewer whether someone is trying to sell brandless sausages or Galtee sausages? None!

And besides, it's not as if the UK verson doesn't have to do it. How many times were Debenhams, B&Q and a couple of others metioned on the UK version last night? And the products they were trying to sell to these retailers - with the contestants telling us over and over again the great advantages of them - is also product placement!

As for the bit about Cullen being only interested in a salesperson. Eh, both shows have both teams every week trying to SELL something! Both shows decide their winning team every week as the team who SELL the most! Even when it comes dowm to the final boardroom battle, Sugar and Cullen BOTH use the SALES figures of each individual contestant as their ammo!

Having said that, I do think Sugar is better than Cullen!

But you do have to realise that BBC is an organization with a turnover of hundreds of millions that will pump loads of money into The Apprentice as it is one of their headline shows. TV3 who don't even get a share of the TV license revenue, simply cannot make the show without the financial backing of Lucozade, Ford, Cadburys etc etc.

And neither show are what they pretend to be. Do you seriously believe that neither Cullen or Sugar has decided before the first episode who the end winner is going to be - or at least, have it down to 2 or 3 possibilities? Of course they have! Do you seriously believe that either Cullen or Sugar have any interest in who can come up with the best formula for making a saussage, or formulating a diet menu or who can take the best 'fun' picture of a Ford Fiesta?

whydoibother?

I have two issues with the Irish apprentice. The first is that I don't think it is a genuine competition. People are not necessarioy fired in reverse order of merit. Some people who are terrible but make good viewing due to their extreme incompetence get to hang around a little longer than those who are less bad but boring.

This, I believe, is the source of my second problem. The quality of candidates on the Irish apprentice seems a little lower than the UK one. I believe that this is because top Irish people have the sense not to go in for a competition where not everything will be based on merit.

Handsome Bob

I have no time for Bill Cullen, an egotistical individual who abuses everyone, including the "waster" younger generation.

Sugar on the other hand is much more cooler, gives genuine advice, and is way more entertaining than Cullen without having to be theatrical in anyway (unlike Cullen).

UK version for me.

cremeegg

the quailty of eye candy is vastly superior on UK version;)

average_runner

The quality of the candiates on the Irish one is better than the English.

Irish ones not the brightest but the english are just poor thick.

sham69

UK one for me aswell.
The Irish one, looks cheap, is cheap in every way.
Cullen?? He got lucky.
He wouldnt survive in business if he was starting up now.
I like sugar, firm but fair.
He has done it all , not always with success eg. Spurs and Sinclair but he has tried his hand at most things and succeeded.
I like Karen Brady and nick is quite cool aswell
A winner on every level.
I appreciate the TV3 production is on a much smaller budget but I just can't take to it.

iMax

The original (Donald Trump version) is better than both, but I can't watch the Irish one anymore. Everyone in it annoys me. UK is far superior

Speak Now

average_runner wrote: »

The quality of the candiates on the Irish one is better than the English.

Irish ones not the brightest but the english are just poor thick.

:D:D

Butterfly25

average_runner wrote: »

The quality of the candiates on the Irish one is better than the English.

Irish ones not the brightest but the english are just poor thick.

+1. The amout of waffle in the UK one is ridiculous! Delighted that Melissa one was fired last night...she really doesn't know when to shut up! Next to be fired will be Stuart hopefully...the amount of BS this guy comes out with! :eek:

On another point, I prefer Sugars aides to Cullens aides.

JimboJones74

Alan Sugar comes across more reasonable that Bill. Irish show is a bit long, In the boardroom the UK contestants seem to be a more agressive

BrianJD

The main reason i stopped watching the Irish version yet continue to watch the British one is because of the huge difference in tasks.

I reckon 4/5 tasks in the Irish one are marketing. Also, doing a Ford Fiesta task every year (mm, who has a Ford garage) is really treating the viewing public as idiots.

At least in the British one tasks are different.

Oh and there's also fit wimmins in the BBC version.:cool:

Handsome Bob

BrianJD wrote: »

Oh and there's also fit wimmins in the BBC version.:cool:

I find your one from the Irish one with the strange accent maddingly attractive. :pac:

murphym7

The BBC production is much much better, more money abviously. Sugar rocks, a real cool customer who would buy and sell poor Billa.

I do think though that the quality of candidate in the Irish is better than the British one, a lot of waffeling from them all. I do really like the funny dude Alex - think he might be the dark horse of the series.

The after show is even better - Anton Savage just annoys me. Every look up and down, move of the head, pause in mid sentance, these are all well rehearsed tricks of the trade - totally unatural.

bigboy123

murphym7 wrote: »

The after show is even better - Anton Savage just annoys me. Every look up and down, move of the head, pause in mid sentance, these are all well rehearsed tricks of the trade - totally unatural.

Ya dara o'brian is funny without trying, unlike savage who tries incredably hard to be funny but still fails.. also the english aftershow shows new clips which wernt in the episode, irish just picks out stuff youve just watched twenty minutes ago. Having said that, last years irish aftershow was brilliant with o connor as presenter, a good mix of humour and sense.

dolittle

rate them as trump, sugar and then cullen
but the common link in all three series is that
no matter how many degrees you have if you have no common sense you are banjoed, mostly sheep and few leaders

laugh

Comedy v Business show.

murpho999

Looks like I'm going to be on my own here, but here goes.

I watch both series and really enjoy both of them but if I had to pick one that I wouldn't miss it would be the Irish one.

Yes, it has product placement, but the only reason the English one doesn't is because it's on BBC. It's not done out of morale goodness. American show was also full of product placement, but I don't think it ruins the show.

The ads on the TV3 one are annoying but I always watch it from a recording and zip through the ads so no major issue there for me.

I would agree that the tasks on BBC are a bit more challenging. This year on the Irish one there has been too many design an ad/poster/calendar which does not show enough of peoples talents.

What really annoys me about the BBC one is all the arse-licking to Alan Sugar. Last year before his promotion it was all 'Good Morning Sir Alan', 'Yes, Sir Alan', 'No, Sir Alan'. Now he has been upgraded and Alan is gone and replaced by a Holy Sugar....'Yes Lord Sugar', 'No Lord Sugar'.....I just couldn't call someone that myself....maybe I'm just too Irish.

Comments about the UK women being better looking is true but surely that should be a criticism as I think that is the main reason they get on the show.

Anyhow, the main reason I do prefer the Irish one is that I've always found the candidates more entertaining and having more cop-on than the British ones (Yes, I know there have been some thickos on the Irish one). The BBC one is full of people saying how brilliant they are and turn out to be rubbish and there is less of that on the Irish one. I feel that this also leads to better battles/discussions in the Board room.(Although last night's UK boardroom with Paloma was brilliant).
I know Bill can be annoying with he comments (Looking for a warrior etc) but I think most of the time he does fire the right person.

Definitely agree though that the 'You're Fired' show is much better on BBC. Done in a proper sized studio and a better presenter, guests and clips. The Wright Venue with 16 people in it just looks very amateurish.

Anyhow, 'I'm wafflin' as Bill would say so I'll bow out of here before I'm fired!

positron

UK version is so much better in every aspect - quality of the production, challenges, camera work, audio, cuts, and most importantly quality of people (both Sugar, business people in general and the contestants).

Irish version is cringe-worthy half the time, barely average the rest! It's a bit sad really!!

AnnyHallsal

The series currently airing in the US is cracking. None of the three suffer fools gladly but if Trump takes a dislike to you you're out the door before you open your mouth.

The US version is product-pimp-tastic too but Trump's much better than Cullen. He has a sense of humour and is after a bit more than a salesperson. I'm fed up of Cullen having a big thick head on him every week and acting like a pis**ed off headmaster.

In the US this year a lot of the candidates are recession victims and introduced to huge business figures - Forbes, Macy's - when they PM winning tasks. We're told what they're up to now when they're kicked off. I really like that spin.

dolphin city

LZ5by5 wrote: »

I have no time for Bill Cullen, an egotistical individual who abuses everyone, including the "waster" younger generation.

Sugar on the other hand is much more cooler, gives genuine advice, and is way more entertaining than Cullen without having to be theatrical in anyway (unlike Cullen).

UK version for me.

completely agree - that cullen individual would sell his granny and not think anything of it - I don't like his attitude to Irish people in general - he thinks he is bigger, better, and nobody had it as bad as him. I don't like that he tells people to work for nothing and to stop whinging. He's very insincere and I would never do business with him.

Alan Sugar seems much more of a genuine article and cullen is just the yellow pack version - i bet he wishes he could be like Sugar.

Keano

dolphin city wrote: »

completely agree - that cullen individual would sell his granny and not think anything of it - I don't like his attitude to Irish people in general - he thinks he is bigger, better, and nobody had it as bad as him. I don't like that he tells people to work for nothing and to stop whinging. He's very insincere and I would never do business with him.

Alan Sugar seems much more of a genuine article and cullen is just the yellow pack version - i bet he wishes he could be like Sugar.

Thought tonight Bill calling Jamie "thick as a plank" was just another reason for me to dislike the man more. You don't talk to a potential employee that way in this day and age :rolleyes:

DaMagooster

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Thought tonight Bill calling Jamie "thick as a plank" was just another reason for me to dislike the man more. You don't talk to a potential employee that way in this day and age :rolleyes:

Ah but he was just "challenging" him ha! Bill uses Bully boy tactics that he would not get away with in the real world. To be fair though Jamie is thick as a plank (you just cant say those things though)

MisterMom

Once I started watching the UK version I couldn't even look at the Irish version anymore.
Cullen thinks he's the best thing since sliced pan when in fact he's just a f****** idiot who hit it lucky!!! Can he say anything else other than "What were you's tinking?"
The UK version is just so interesting and well put together, I wish it was on every night!!!

mewso

UK version for me. Sugar is just a class act. Bill Cullen and the show in general, while being entertaining for the basic setup, remind me of lots of what I hate about Ireland. The pride some Dubliner's take in speaking english badly as if it's a badge of honour is well demonstrated by Bill. The buddyism in who you do business with shows some of what was all wrong during the Celtic Tiger. Some of it is excusable because we are simply a smaller country but people do business in a certain way here and you get the impression it will never change.

panda100

Uk one wins be a mile.
Alasn Sugar is someone I can respect. Bill Cullen is an ejit and represents everything thats wrong with crony Irish capitalism. He contradicts himself constantly with the candidates and is just head wrecking to watch.

Though I do like Jackie Lavin and think she can be quite humorous at times.

orourkeda

Part of the attraction of the apprentice is watching the mistakes.

If it ever happens that there is a really good idea that has the potential to be a real success who gets ownership.

Tracy Lee

cant stand bill cullen. alan sugar is so much better at it. and I understand cadburys is sponsoring it but do we need to hear the word cadburys in every second sentence in the narration?

Elmo

I still feel the other international versions have better production values (That includes countries of a similar size to Ireland). I think that TV3 and ShinAwhil are letting themselves down by some shody production values.

TV3's series seems more about Marketing and Advertising due to the high amount of Product Placement, while the BBC series seems more about selling. Also everything seems laid out for the TV3 contestants while the BBC contestants need to bring everything from start to finish.

I think a better mix of both Marketing and Sales is required for both.

Over all this is a very good format that even bad production values can't ruin. Cring-Worthy TV at its best.

I think for next season Bill should become a Senator, after all Senator Cullen V Lord Sugar

The USA opening squence wins hands down. Money, Money, Money Some people got to have it, do thing do thing bad things with it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9paNJJqMn3c

Jumbo156

The English one is far more superior for a number rof reasons:

Better candidates
Better looking Candidates.
What has Bill Cullen done compared to Alan Sugar, sold a few cars
What has Jackie done, compared to Karen Brady, shagged Bill..
And what is your man Brian doing there, he doesn't even work for Bill anymore.

What really annoys me is that Bill thinks , it's the Bill and Jackie show, rather than the apprentice.

One episode that really annoyed me was when they were selling the gift cards for the clarion. What was wrong with going into Bill's garage trying to sell them. Is his staff only allowed to go to his hotel in their own spare time.

This show is just one big ego trip for Bill, thank god this is the last year of it.
If they do decide to bring it back, wouldn't Michael O'Leary be great as the boss. Now that i would watch!!!!

Elmo

Jumbo156 wrote: »

This show is just one big ego trip for Bill, thank god this is the last year of it.
If they do decide to bring it back, wouldn't Michael O'Leary be great as the boss. Now that i would watch!!!!

Are you sure it will be the last season? I think TV3 would be daft to let it go so soon after only 3 seasons, it is one of their prime programmes.

Michael O'Leary != Ego Trip ????

I think they should try for Denis O'Brien.

Jumbo156

Elmo wrote: »

Are you sure it will be the last season? I think TV3 would be daft to let it go so soon after only 3 seasons, it is one of their prime programmes.

Michael O'Leary != Ego Trip ????

I think they should try for Denis O'Brien.

The product placement rules are to be changed, if not already

http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/bungling-boys-bitching-girls-and-a-blast-from-bill-the-apprentice-is-back-2344785.html

Michael O'Leary = Ego trip
Absolutely but at least he's be funny

Elmo

Jumbo156 wrote: »

The product placement rules are to be changed, if not already

http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/bungling-boys-bitching-girls-and-a-blast-from-bill-the-apprentice-is-back-2344785.html

Michael O'Leary = Ego trip
Absolutely but at least he's be funny

Like the current Product placement rules which put a ban on PP? The producers and TV3 are just trying to bully the BAI and it will prob work. And the **** production values of the show means its realistically cheap to produce. The Sponsorship and the advertising revenue pulls in allot over the 2 hours with 48 ad slots to fill plus all the repeat showings.

Funny how now Mr. Bass has a conflict of interest as a BAI board member and major independent TV producer.

8-10

AnnyHallsal wrote: »

The series currently airing in the US is cracking. None of the three suffer fools gladly but if Trump takes a dislike to you you're out the door before you open your mouth.

The US version is product-pimp-tastic too but Trump's much better than Cullen. He has a sense of humour and is after a bit more than a salesperson. I'm fed up of Cullen having a big thick head on him every week and acting like a pis**ed off headmaster.

In the US this year a lot of the candidates are recession victims and introduced to huge business figures - Forbes, Macy's - when they PM winning tasks. We're told what they're up to now when they're kicked off. I really like that spin.

100% agree, this season has been awesome, I gotta say I didn't care too much for the last few celebrity ones.

Last week's firing of

Stephanie instead of Liza

had me jumping out of my seat! Literally, I was punching the air. Trump did it so quickly that everyone was taken aback. I mean

Liza has no chance of winning and was the obvious one to go but Stephanie is such a Biatch that ...

...it was probably the most satisfying firing I have seen (I have seen every episode of each series UK, Ireland and USA).

In terms of Irish v UK, it's UK hands down. Product placement this year is at ridiculous levels. Fair enough UK is on BBC but the tasks are way better.

Remember series 3 when Sugar gave each team £200 each early on and the team that comes back with the most money in a day wins? You could literally set up any business you wanted as long as you stuck to £200 seed money, that's a great task!

Laois_Man wrote: »

As for the bit about Cullen being only interested in a salesperson. Eh, both shows have both teams every week trying to SELL something! Both shows decide their winning team every week as the team who SELL the most! Even when it comes dowm to the final boardroom battle, Sugar and Cullen BOTH use the SALES figures of each individual contestant as their ammo!

Eh what? NOT true!! In the UK one there's plenty of BUYING tasks, not just selling.

For instance, buy English goods to the value of £XXX. Go over on the ferry to France, sell them to the French. A huge part of the task was the selection of products to BUY before setting up. In the Irish version there's ALWAYS a completed product.

Laois_Man wrote: »

WTF difference does it make to the viewer whether someone is trying to sell brandless sausages or Galtee sausages? None!

Again going back to UK one, a first episode I think, selling sausages on the street, they had to go to the meat market early in the morning and BUY the quantity of meat required to make X number of sausages (% of meat defines gourmet or not and price points), again in the Irish version that buying process is eliminated because the product (you suggest Galtee) is already established. So nothing more than advertising and sales is possible. Add in the fact that the Uk version required them to make the sausages themselves introducing the production of a finished product from raw materials element which requires a lot of organisation and supply chain management skills again impossible if you have the product already. This was also done recently in their bakery task where they had to take orders and bake during the night.

And what about the pure buying tasks? Where Sugar gives a list of 10 items to pick up, the team that completes the task with the least amount of money and maximum amount of discounts (you had to haggle) wins, one season he sent them to Morocco to do it. Pure BUYING task. Name a few of those from the Irish series?

Also other selling tasks are better than the Irish one of "taking a brand and selling it". What about having inventors pitching to you and selecting which of their products you could introduce to the market place? Going to artists to select a painting to sell at auction or in a gallery? Going to clothes shops in London to see what you could sell in Manchester?

Seriously, you really think both shows are just about selling? The Irish one is nothing more than advertising and sales. Which is good, seeing as with shows like The Apprentice on air, there must be a lot of work for advertising and sales people in Ireland to do right now.

Martin567

8-10 wrote: »

Also other selling tasks are better than the Irish one of "taking a brand and selling it". What about having inventors pitching to you and selecting which of their products you could introduce to the market place? Going to artists to select a painting to sell at auction or in a gallery? Going to clothes shops in London to see what you could sell in Manchester?

Seriously, you really think both shows are just about selling? The Irish one is nothing more than advertising and sales. Which is good, seeing as with shows like The Apprentice on air, there must be a lot of work for advertising and sales people in Ireland to do right now.

Surely (highlighted in bold above) is exactly what the Irish Show had in last week's episode. If you don't watch it, you shouldn't comment on the differences. I see little overall differences in the tasks on both shows and I think it is just the ingrained bias of some of the people posting here that would suggest otherwise.

Elmo

Martin567 wrote: »

Surely (highlighted in bold above) is exactly what the Irish Show had in last week's episode. If you don't watch it, you shouldn't comment on the differences. I see little overall differences in the tasks on both shows and I think it is just the ingrained bias of some of the people posting here that would suggest otherwise.

Indeed the Irish show had this, I haven't seen this episode but it seem to concentrate on one Buyer, a chain of Supermarkets. The UK one had them giving over Exclusive rights when they could have possibly done that on the task.

I think their are some set Apprentice tasks that are required.

Taking the 2 advertising tasks on both shows.

UK Teams: - Told to come up with a new brand of cleaning bleach for the market followed by, a radio ad and a TV ad.
Irish Teams: - Given a product by WEEE which was to be displayed on Adshells across the country. Another task had them do a Radio ad and TV for some weight loss company. (Logos and brands already established).

Also I am only getting through the Irish series I have it series linked.

I do think the product placement on the Irish series causes less strong tasks in comparison to other series I have seen.

In relation to Sales on the UK show, often it is the case they are selling more than marketing. So far they have sold Sausages, Clothes, Cakes and their B2B tasks. In relation to Marketing/Product Placement on the Irish show even Adshell were significant sponsors of the show. In last years series they were only allowed buy B&Q products to do up some houses.

8-10

Martin567 wrote: »

Surely (highlighted in bold above) is exactly what the Irish Show had in last week's episode. If you don't watch it, you shouldn't comment on the differences. I see little overall differences in the tasks on both shows and I think it is just the ingrained bias of some of the people posting here that would suggest otherwise.

I do watch it, you obviously didn't read that part of my post. You're right, that was more akin to the UK task but again it was simplified. They had to select a product to go in a single store, SPAR, which their team had already gone into to judge what they already sell. In the UK one, they do the same thing except it's original products that can go in a number of different stores, they will have appointments with 3 different retailers (usually 1 big chain, 1 smaller store like Harrods, and an online store) and sometimes they can take the products and get their own appointments to sell them.

I hold my hands up with that comment, they do do that task in a way, you are right. But I'm still to see consistent tasks with a buying element in the Irish series. Take the US series, PLENTY of product placement, but nowhere near as universal as the Irish one. This season we saw the Popcorn company task and Kim Kardashian task, but then we saw the pedal-cab task with no sponsorship, the office space task, the fashion show etc etc. It doesn't do it every episode so prominently.

I still watch it. It's just not as good. Trump > Sugar >> Bill. And for task variety I gotta say UK > USA > Ireland.

Just my opinion, as I said, based on seeing every episode to date of all 3 versions so please respect that when you quote me. My bias is based on my viewing, not other posters.