The Apprentice 1 is the first season of The Apprentice, which aired on NBC in the winter and spring of 2004. It is currently available on DVD. It featured 16 candidates. The first season was a ratings smash, ranking at #7 in the average weekly Nielsen Rankings, with an average viewership of 20.7 million viewers each week. The final episode of the season was seen by an estimated 28.05 million viewers and ranked as the #1 show of the week, beating out a new episode of CSI. It was the most popular new show of 2004.
