New "Celebrity Apprentice" Contestants Announced

Yes, the Donald Trump reality franchise still refuses to die (then again the show airs on NBC, so you can't expect the plug to be pulled any time soon). The network has just announced 16 'celebrities' who will take on the egotistical billionaire come March 1, including Joan and Melissa Rivers, Dennis Rodman, Brian McKnight, Khloe Kardashian and Tom Green.

The show will again begin putting men against the women.

The male team will include: Clint Black, Andrew Dice Clay, Tom Green, Scott Hamilton, Jesse James, Brian McKnight, Dennis Rodman, and Herschel Walker.

The female team will include: Annie Duke, Natalie Gulbis, Claudia Jordan, Khloe Kardashian, Joan Rivers, Melissa Rivers, Brande Roderick and Tionne Watkins.

The show was originally a major ratings success in its first season which aired January-April 2004.

Subsequent cycles paled in comparison, and the show plummeted from 20-30 million viewers to 6-7 million by 2007.

Last winter Trump and producer and reality guru Mark Burnett reinvented the franchise, replacing regular businessmen with mostly has-been and has-never-been celebrities.

The format of the show has also changed, as the contestants now battle to win money for a charity of their choice. Originally, a supposedly lucrative position within the Trump organization was at stake.

Although the show did perk up in the ratings a bit last year, it all happened during the strike, when most of the competition was forced off the air or into repeats. Will this be the final season for Apprentice?