Don’t fire The Apprentice just yet.

@HarryMaxwell from Young Apprentice here – your resident Unreality TV squatter, sorry columnist….

Last week I went to the BAFTAs and got chatting to Kate Ford who plays Tracy Barlow in Corrie. In between my interpretive-round-the-BAFTA-dancing to the Coronation Street theme tune (joke), I learned thst Kate is a closet Apprentice superfan. However like many people I’m speaking to, she feels the latest series lacks summat-summat.

Is it Lord Sugar? Is it the candidates? Or has it just been going too long? She asked.

Well let me tell you something, The Apprentice as a format is still very much alive and kicking. This series has dipped though, and here’s my verdict on why:

1. The edit – who are the candidates?
Having a sense of rapport with the candidates matters. Last year by episode 3/4 we knew all about Susan Ma’s skin care business, Tom Pellerau’s magic nailfile, Melody Hossaini’s whatever-it-was and Leon Doyle’s food website. But this year we have no idea what the candidates are all about. They’ve tried to make it more about their performance on the show, like it used to be when the prize was a job. But its backfired like pow pow pow. We can’t pick favourites to win as we have no idea if Lord Sugar will like their business idea or not. Its like oh, Nick Holzherr has got through, but we don’t really know what his business idea and hence a chance of winning so don’t really care.

2. Where’s the bladdy money?
The Apprentice is about being the best, so we like it when people do something spectacular as its intriguing. But I must say, none of the candidates have delivered a moment of WOW thus far. Where’s the selling the ugly plant for a triple profit margin, coming up with brands like Smoochies or shifting a job lot of CCTV bird houses? (And I didn’t even win!)

3. What happened to the LOL-factor?
Everyone likes to get the sniggers on, especially when its at other people, and that’s why The Apprentice is so great. But this series has almost been like just watching people in the office, we need a bit of cringe! Where’s the token deluded first-to-go candidate that thinks their Richard Branson and gets shouty in the boardroom? Absent. Or Melody Hossaini and Tom Pellerau acting a scene of hubby and wifey mid-ASDA pitch leading us to anticipate Nick Hewer’s eyebrow lifts? Gone. The funniest thing this series was Jane McEvoy saying “a million units”. Hilarious.

So that’s my take on things. This series hasn’t been the best, its not funny and we have no interest in the candidates were watching. BUT I am still watching and do think the format is still very much hired.

These things can easily be tweaked to produce the best ever series yet next year. The new task of negotiating on behalf of a daily deals website was one of the best yet in my mind.

I think we as viewers like that – knowing the winning team was down to joe public like us actually buying the “toot”.

Oh and btw Lord Sugar is still the bomb. He is the perfect fit for the series – harsh, fair and quite funny. To continue my BAFTA name dropping, I spoke to him for about 2 minutes, and it made my night.

Anyway what do you think of the latest series? Comment below or tweet me @HarryMaxwell.