I think one of the issues is that if they made full use of the range of motion, it would require much more maintenance. Equally, Thorpe would likely prefer to use it for a shock factor rather than immerse you into it and stuff.
As for The Apprentice episode, it really shows how the GP thinks. One group just chucking the most inversions and fastest accelerating coaster and whatever else sticks at the wall. The other group going for a backwards gimmick (I guess the idea was a backwards dive machine but the video seemed completely different lol). Big fat USPs to draw people in. But also a focus on storytelling and theming.
Obviously it's a very contrived environment, but it does give a rather sad look at what 'ordinary' people jump to when given a blank slate. However, I did like the fact that many felt a 15 inversion, 0-120mph in 1.5sec coaster was a bit sickly...