Many believed The Apprentice was a dying breed. It was one of the original network reality shows, taking after the success of Survivor. The first season was seen by over 20 million viewers, and Bill Rancic was crowned the first winner of The Apprentice. The show took over the reigns that were previously occupied by "Must-See TV" giving NBC a whole new type of hit. The second season followed with the same success. The third and fourth seasons were the following years, and while ratings slipped, it remained strong. The move to Monday nights hurt it - airing after Deal or No Deal gave it a strong lead-in, but viewers just weren't interested in The Apprentice anymore.
But just when the show was pronounced dead, NBC executives revived the series with a whole twist - pairing up 16 hard-headed celebrities competing to win hundreds of thousands of dollars for their selected charities, where at the end, one would be declared the "Celebrity Apprentice." Airing during the strike-shortened season, it returned to its roots at Thursdays at 9pm. The premiere was watched by 10 million people, and ratings after that remained in the strong 8 million range. Its closest competition was Lost, the drama that was once also watched by 20 million people. In May, Celebrity Apprentice ended its season being watched by 12 million people, the highest rated finale in 3 seasons, and Piers Morgan was named winner.
And now seeing the revival of this series, NBC was left us with the second edition of Celebrity Apprentice. Now airing on Sundays in a 2-hour block, viewers are left with 16 new celebrities vying to win money for their charities. First off, I have to say that this list of celebrities is pretty great. NBC did a great job in this department. The mistake, though was probably airing it for 2 hours every week. Only 2 episodes have aired so far, but it felt like the show was really dragging. Airing for an hour would have been much better. I guess NBC thought that if it works with "The Biggest Loser," it must also work with Celebrity Apprentice. Anyways, it was obvious Sundays was where this show was going. Since Sunday Night Football and the Superbowl was over, NBC needed something to fill the night besides repeats. And so far, Celebrity Apprentice has been down but not out. It premiered to 9 million viewers, up against tough competition from ABC's Brothers and Sisters and the CBS dramas. Its demo was great, something NBC was probably thrilled about. Ratings for the second episode remained strong, getting about 7.5 million viewers and 3.3 demo. Who knows if the show will slip more after this . . . my guess is it will not, especially since tonight is only an hour.
The season itself? So far so good. I was entertained during the first episode. It was really entertaining. I watched the first season last year, and I thought it was one of the best seasons of the show to date. This season is carrying on that legacy, in my opinion. Entertainment, excitement, awaitment, suspense - it's all there. And Mr. Trump is still the person that holds the show together. Who doesn't love seeing the scenes in the boardroom? It's fun getting to see the teams trash their own members, as well as some of the stupidity by the celebrities themselves. I'm more a fan of the challenges that involve selling something; selling cupcakes (as well as baking them) was one of the best tasks to date, almost as good as having to seel lemonade (which, if you remember, was the very first task ever on The Apprentice). And you knew someone good was going to go home early. Andrew Dice Clay probably didn't deserve to go home, but seeing the way he acted, which was very similar to the stubborness of Gene Simmons from the previous season, you knew he was first.
So, if you're looking for a good 2 hours of fun every week, watch Celebrity Apprentice. Looking at all the dumb and pointless reality shows we have on television, this is still one of the good ones, still up there with the likes of Survivor and American Idol. Honestly, this is probably some of NBC's best. For a struggling network, this show is holding up very, very well.