The Apprentice (U.S. Season 5)

The Apprentice (U.S. Season 5)

The Apprentice 5 is the fifth series of The Apprentice, with Donald Trump as the Executive Producer and Host. Applications were available online (as in previous seasons) and filming occurred in the fall of 2005. Sean Yazbeck was named the winner and hired by Donald Trump as the new Apprentice during the season finale. Lee Bienstock, the runner-up to Yazbeck, proved to be very competitive and was hired outside of television a few months later.

This season of the show was the first to not rank in the Top 50 according to Nielsen ratings and the first to garner less than 10 million viewers on average; it ranked #51 with an average of 9.73 million viewers. This was the last season to have George H. Ross and Carolyn Kepcher as main boardroom judges. The show moved to Los Angeles, California the following season and Donald Trump's children became the most prominent judges after him.

The Apprentice 5 on Monday February 27, 2006, right after the new hit game show Deal or No Deal. NBC, facing a ratings slump, opted to put future seasons of the show on Monday nights (as opposed to its past Thursday 9 pm ET slot). The network hoped to build the show's audience by making this move, as the program had witnessed a fairly substantial erosion in ratings since The Apprentice 1. However, the show faced tough competition with the Fox's fifth season of 24. The finale for The Apprentice 5 took place in Los Angeles on June 5, 2006. Season 5's finale was the lowest rated ever, down 23% from season 4 and down 28% from season 3's final episode (in the important 18-49 demographic).

The Apprentice 5 marked the debut of Donald Trump's children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. as boardroom judges when either George or Carolyn were unavailable. Season 1 Apprentice Bill Rancic, not a stranger to the boardroom scene, also filled in for George when George or Donald Jr. were not available. Jack McConnell, the First Minister of Scotland, makes an appearance in one of the episodes.

For the first time in Apprentice history, all episodes of this season (including the Clipshow with never-seen-before footage) could be obtained at iTunes for indefinite viewing after the episode has aired.