Andy DehnartThe Celebrity Apprentice is not on NBC’s 2013-2014 schedule, but it is not officially cancelled, as NBC says it still needs time to decide whether or not to renew it. Along with Hannibal, the outstanding Thursday-night drama, the network said in a press release that its decision about renewing the show is “still to be made in the next few weeks.”
On its spring schedule, which normally includes Apprentice, NBC has scheduled two new dramas on Sunday nights. They will be preceded by a new reality series called American Dream Builders, the Nate Berkus-hosted show that sounds a lot like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
That’s not a good sign for Donald Trump, Mark Burnett, and company. The show is once again winning its timeslot, but started off with shitty ratings earlier this spring.
Worse, it’s creatively empty. The all-star concept did not work well for the celebrity edition, and Donald Trump’s increasingly nutty behavior hasn’t won him fans and has alienated some viewers.
As to NBC’s other reality TV, well, there’s not much: just The Voice, which will be on twice next year but have a slightly different schedule in the fall (8-10 Mondays, 9-10 Tuesdays) and spring (8-10 Mondays, 8-9 Tuesdays), and The Biggest Loser, which will only air in the fall on Tuesdays from 8 to 9, a new timeslot. The Sing-Off has been renewed but doesn’t yet have a timeslot (i.e. it’ll probably take a new and then cancelled show’s timeslot). Food Fighters, a competition between pro and amateur chefs, also doesn’t yet have a timeslot.
Update, 6:46 p.m. ET: Donald Trump just tweeted, in all caps,
“I AM PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT CELEBRITY APPRENTICE HAS BEEN RENEWED FOR ANOTHER SEASON BY NBC. SEE YOU AT THE NBC UPFRONTS TOMORROW.”