The reality TV business makeover show’s version of sitcom clip shows are update episodes that check back in on the businesses. But they tend to be, at best, padded with recaps, offering nothing of any real substance. At worst, they’re embarrassing.
The Profit is not the kind of makeover show where some yelling, new furniture, and paint constitute change for a business. However, its first attempt at an update episode last season had similar problems, primarily that it was mostly recaps about what Marcus Lemonis did with the businesses when he first invested.
Yes, it’s necessary to remind us of what we saw, but we also already saw the episode, so there’s no reason to rewatch it in fragments.
Something new for The Profit season 3
The Profit‘s third season, which debuts tonight, will again include an “After the Deal” special that follows up on several businesses featured on previous seasons. But it will also follow up on previous businesses in a new type of episode: two full-length episodes will each return to a business previously featured on the show. CNBC promises “viewers will see everything that’s happened at these companies since The Profit first visited” and “they’ll get an unvarnished look at Lemonis’s process — and a no-holds-barred exploration of how real business is done.”
Those two businesses are Courage. b and The Simple Greek, which was known as My Big Fat Greek Gyro. Season three’s 12 episodes will consist of those two episodes, the “After the Deal” episode, and nine new small businesses.
Without having seen either of those two new episodes yet, the format strikes me as the kind of thing that I’d like to see even more of. That each episode doesn’t follow the same predictable narrative arc is one of the many things I like about The Profit. Still, many episodes ended on abrupt, unsatisfying notes, so continuing those stories next season is something I welcome, to see what their day-to-day reality is like. (That’s what I wanted from Beyond the Tank, but the Shark Tank spin-off has yet to really deliver.)
Honestly, by this point in The Profit’s life, with so many businesses introduced already, I’d like to see even more of those, to see what the day-to-day reality is like. There also has to be a tipping point for how many new businesses Marcus can handle since he is so hands-on. Sure, some percentage of new episodes end in failed deals/drama, but I’d prefer fewer of those and more ongoing stories about the people, processes, and products.
discuss this story