Terrible cast of candidates
a couple of really bad ones are expected but this lot would have trouble passing an interview with Poundworld.

downfall has been its gone from showing the true talent that stands out (because there isn't anyone) to just show can shaft who and get away with some flannel in the board room

?

Last year the show went for business competence and it got lambasted for being boring.

The show cannot win. Honestly I just think people are moaning for the sake of it.

The British in a nutshell.

Its business Big Brother now which makes it better in my eyes. People on here feel like Luisa is more suited to something like BB however comparing this year to last, how many names of candidates can you remember.? I can only remember that Scottish woman with the blonde hair that ended up in Nuts magazine

You mean you will be able to remember this lot next year? Well good for you!

All those who think the show is in 'terminal decline':

Come back in 7 weeks, and see that the show will get at least 8 million viewers in the final.

I am willing to bet on that.

I agree, it's pure cheesy nonsense these days. But it's pretty entertaining cheesy nonsense.

The first 3 seasons were genuinely superb TV though. Interesting, concise and far more worthy. But as others say, that's the way these things develop unfortunately.

Totes agree. We are all having little digs, but we all still watch it.

It's a bit like a Z list celeb version where they all have super sized egos etc. When I first started watching it many series ago, it was professional businessmen and women. OK, Katie Hopkins was a witch, but a nice one at that compared to Natalie and Louisa.

Last years series was tedious rubbish!
This years is better, but imho, it's simply not as good as it was when at it's peak.

Every tv show, no matter how great, has to peak at sometime and then go into a natural decline.
Ricky Gervaise only made 2 series of The Office because he knew he'd peaked and had nothing more to say.
It was the same with those who made Fawlty Towers.
You only have to look back at how appalling the final few shows of Fools and Horses were to see how sad it can be for once great shows to carry on past their sell by date.
No true Apprentice fan is on here pleased to see it past it's peak, just so they can come on her and have a moan!

Not enjoying this series as much as the others. I'm hoping its gonna grow on me more in the weeks ahead.

You must be joking - Katie Hopkins was an honours graduate from a school that Luisa and Natalie have barely made top infants in.

Only difference is that Katie could disguise it better. She was far more dangerously manipulative; that's why she was great fun even though I loathed her.

I'd go a step further and say Katie disguised it perfectly, it was only behind the scenes we saw her wish painful death on the rest. If those had been cut out, she would've been viewed as professional by everyone.

Luisa and Uzma arguing with the poor tech guy sitting in between them was uncomfortable to watch. Katie would've shark grinned Luisa telling her to hurry, then later wished her to die in some horrific way privately, and made a comment about the way she dresses or speaks. Then found a way to incriminate them in the BR, without ever having to raise her voice.

I think now it's become more about fighting to show the other as wrong, whereas a lot of past fights were fighting to show you were right.

"Everyone" isn't quite right - both Kristina and Adam at least spotted a few chinks in the professionalism; shagging her colleague and using her favoured status to escape the boardroom when she'd actually been fairly culpable during the task. That said, Kristina and Adam (Adam especially ) were both people she rated as lower than fungi and so couldn't even be bothered putting on an act for them while none of the rest saw through her manipulations at all - it was like watching "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" .

You're also dead right about boardroom behaviour. Katie went for the jugular far more decisively and accurately without ever needing to use more than her natural speaking voice. She'd have annihilated both Luisa and Natalie (babes) without even breaking sweat (but only once they were no longer of use to her in the process) and this is coming from someone who found her quite repulsive. Repulsive she may have been but she was also effective.

Now we just get pantomime villains who "talk the talk" like a champion Roman gladiator auditioning for Big Brother and who "walk the walk" like an octogenarian after a bilateral hip replacement and a bottle of gin.

Every time you talk about Katie Hopkins you make me want to go and find the series where she appeared and watch it.

Sorry, I meant she would've been seen as professional by viewers if her behind the scenes snipes hadn't been shown. Reading back it was unclear.

In regards to Kristina, she saw a chink, but I don't think she felt Katie was unprofessional, in fact the week they went to get items they both sort of admitted they hated each other, but didn't doubt each others capability. That Kristina had to get personal to land any sort of attack, almost proves that. Adam did see her unprofessionalism, because it's unprofessional to treat someone the way she treated him. I think the rest followed her lead as well, others when they were PM treated him like a spare part (especially in the artwork task, when he was told to go back upstairs and make more phone calls, and being called out in the BR by his team when he sold the most, and Katie sold sod all).

series 1 2.55
Series 2 4.43
Series 3 5.62
Series 4 7.29
Series 5 8.37
Series 6 7.87
Series 7 8.8
Series 8 7.35
Series 9 6.95 (Based on two episodes)

Series 7 is so far its peak, Series 8 did quite badly compared to it, and series 9 has naturally had a mediocre start, but the overnights from the last couple of weeks suggest it should do fine, as officials seem to now add 1-1.5m

Karren should be replaced by Katie. She would just beat some sense into the contestants instead of just pouting and glaring in the background.

She really shouldn't. Katie's fame should have begun and ended with series three. She was a very good addition there - efficient, manipulative, articulate, loathsome... No need to give her thirst for publicity any more oxygen. I don't want Mr Sugar's acolytes to be inflicting their views on the hapless wannabes. I want them to go tits up by themselves.

You probably weren't being serious but I really don't want the Sugarfollowers to have any more of an active role than they have now. Likewise, I don't want Ms Hopkins to have any role at all. Ever. Again. Entertaining as she was at the time.

One team is seen selling loads of milk shakes at a large mark up, so there bound to win, arnt they?
No, they lost didnt see that one coming, not much.!!

For me, it loses credibility every time Sugar makes an apparently wrong decision in the boardroom. I'm not sure if he really does fire the unexpected candidate for controversy, or if it's the fault of the editors who don't show a logical path to his reasoning. I now think it's the editing.

But despite that, I watch every year and I will continue watching until it ends. I think another format change would be disastrous. The tasks are repetitive but there are some I look forward to every year, especially next week's one where they have to find X number of items.

People get bored and reality TV shows have a lifespan. I think The Apprentice has a good few more years in it.

But it simply IS just Big Brother with a suit. Thats all it is. It has the same credability as Big Bro as all the candidates, without exception, want a tv career snd not a business future. These are not "great" business minds. They are wanabees.

Im still watching but im struggling badly.

Though I much prefer Trump to the rude "Lord" "Sir" Suger, Trump has turned his gig into a celeb fest.

Yup. Bored after ep 2. Tired, clichéd and repetitive.

I actually like the cast this season.

I watch these trashy reality shows to be entertained.

If I wanted to watch "Business" I'd turn on a finance channel.

You say that like it's an either/or choice. It isn't.
It's perfectly possible to have a fair amount of serious candidates, tip more than a casual nod towards the business side and still make entertaining television.
The first few series showed that.