Piers Morgan was goading Alan Sugar as always, on Twitter the other day. On the question of when to call time on his involvement of the show, he seems keen to make it through to 2014 and then bow out :-

https://twitter.com/#!/Lord_Sugar/st...52663533797376

Do we think BBC bosses will grant him this wish? Could the show survive with someone else at the helm? Could it be an excuse to make some major changes to the format?

How about a 'live' boardroom where a viewer vote gets to decide which 2 contestants join the team captain?

it would have to be filmed in real time then and I cant imagine it would work

It would be less polished visually and expensive to arrange, but could be a good draw. Perhaps could be justified for the first episode of a new series.

Good luck getting the fired candidate from 'the boardroom' to outside Viglen in real-time

He was implying he would get that long. I hope it stays on longer as I'm not sure I'd enjoy it with any major changes to the format.

Surely proof that Morgan really is the most annoying man alive. I'm surprised Sugar gives him the time of day.


Last year the apprentice pulled record viewing figures (for itself) at 9 million, we're already at 8 million this year and they're still rooting out the chancers and lightweights. I for one think Lord Sugar will be the one that calls a halt. I doubt a live version would work very well, the show attracts professional individuals who usually have well established jobs. These people won't apply if they had to commit to a very long period of filming it's not like Big Brother the contestants have real lives to lead.

Tasks that involve selling to the public would be impractical once the public knew who there were.

For me it would defeat the object. The PM is supposed to pick the other two boardroom candidates. We judge them by their choices.


Doing it for the first episode would blow the gaff for all the following episodes. It'd also mean there wasn't much time for editing etc, compared to the many months they usually get.

This is a good point. Although do they usually film over several months? I get the impression that they film a task over two days, rest on the 3rd, then film the next task the following day. Therefore 12 tasks could in theory be filmed in around 36 days, whereas the show airs for 3 months. So perhaps enough time for building up momentum on post production? As I understand it, some US dramas are in post up to 10 days (or so) until they air.

But yeah, if ratings are reasonable, The BBC perhaps wouldn't want the risk / expense (esp. with PQF). If the show went out on ITV (say) they could likely justify the possible extra ad revenue by throwing in a 'live' gimmick.

I read that to mean he's going to go on until at least 10 series.

As for a public vote (and no doubt the obligatory long pauses during the results announcements) that would put me off watching it again. I like it because there is no public vote.

Major changes to the format would just hasten it's end. Most people who watch it do so because they like the way it is. Change the format and you risk losing viewers.

If the Apprentice is to continue it really needs a shake up in format - unfortunately the BBC doesn't own the rights to it so there is probably a limit to how much they can change.

Tonight was the first time I haven't bothered with it. Last two weeks I've recorded them and whizzed through the eps. I used to love it but it's so repetitive now and the contestants so alike it feels like I'm watching a repeat.

It's not the format that needs shaking up, it's the editing. It's become far too predictable and formulaic. Whoever looks sure to win loses. Tonight was classic. The reports from the pitches overwhelming showing Ricky's team had got the wine promotion idea better than Tom's website which was all about selling. Both made terrible ads. So clearly the winner was Ricky. Therefore it's obvious Tom's team would actually win.

The problem is overkill, we've had them crammed together because of the 2010 general election that pushed the show back because of Sugar's involvement in the house of Lords and the introduction of Young Apprentice hasn't helped the problem either.

Actually it seemed to me that the boring ad was at least usable, and the comedy ad wasn't. And they highlighted the issue repeatedly, so a naive viewing would have Tom winning.