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?

Rosie O'Donnell: "It Was the Split-Screen"

MAY 29, 2007: Rosie O'Donnell explained in a video entry on her blog this weekend the reason she decided to cut her stay on ABC's "The View" three weeks short was "the split-screen." That and last Wednesday's winner of the "Bill O'Reilly Award" for the most irritating TV personality, co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Speaking of Billo, the spirit of his silly news channel was alive and kicking when the producers of "The View" stooped to "split-screen" tactics, a decision that apparently sent the controversial host packing.

In one of his rare moments of lucidity, The Donald actually sided with O'Donnell (before unleashing a farewell swing at her later on MSNBC) calling Hasselbeck one of "the dumbest people on television" and branding anyone who supports continuing American presence in Iraq "an imbecile."

Year-to-year ratings for the ABC talker, which is expected to address O'Donell's departure on tomorrow morning's show, are 18% up among women 18-49, capping off a successful season of bitchslapping, catfighting, obnoxiousness and combovers.

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Trump to NBC: "You Can't Fire Me, I Quit!"

MAY 19, 2007: All these months as I watched the sixth cycle of Donald Trump's reality show "The Apprentice" sinking in the ratings I would envision a post that read: "NBC to Trump: You're Fired!" Alas, no such luck - the catfighting billionaire says he has just quit.

The corporate-themed competition, which aired in dozens of countries around the world, featured young, aggressive entrepreneurs in a weekly game of elimination as they competed for a real-life job in Trump's business empire.

An instant hit in its inaugural 2004 season, "The Apprentice" pulled in an average of 21 million viewers throughout its four-month run with the first season finale bringing as many as 28 million viewers.

But the series dropped steadily in the ratings in successive cycles, losing nearly two-thirds of its original audience by the time it wrapped up its sixth installment last month.

The series was criticized by some viewers for losing credibility and basically turning into a one-hour infomercial filled with product placement for Trump's real estate and golf courses, as well as sponsors of the show.

Earlier this week, when NBC announced its new schedule at the Upfronts in New York it failed to include "The Apprentice" saying they have yet to make a decision about the show's fate.

Donald Trump however won't be waiting for NBC to do what he had been doing to dozens of power-hungry entrepreneurs.

Late Friday night, the Trump organization released a statement that ends any doubt "The Apprentice" would get a last-minute reprieve.

"It looks like viewers will have to wait to see what Mr. Trump plans for the future," the statement said.

"But if Mr. Trump's past TV success is any indication of the future, then one can anticipate that millions of 'Apprentice' fans will be migrating to his new television venture."

Earlier this week, there was a rumor that series creator Mark Burnett and Donald Trump were shopping the series around Hollywood looking for a new network.

Now it appears if Donald Trump does go back to weekly television, his format will have to undergo a significant makeover.

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Donald Trump Vs. Dr.McDreamy

First NBC announced the premiere of "The Celebrity Apprentice" on January 3, then ABC said they would air the last new episode of "Grey's Anatomy" in the same timeslot, then NBC moved "The Apprentice" to January 10, then ABC responded by also moving "Grey's Anatomy" to January 10, and now NBC says they are moving "The Apprentice" back to January 3. I say Donald Trump is afraid of Dr. McDreamy!

With 13 days left till the first of the two aforementioned time slots, it will be fun to watch if the networks continue to play the game of rescheduling. ABC has only one episode of "Grey's Anatomy" left in the can, but they sure want to use it to damage NBC as much as possible. Of course, the true test is coming January 31, when TV's sexiest duo Fox and Lilly return in an all-new season of "LOST."

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C-List "Apprentice" Replaces "The Office"?

As Tripp Darling would say, 'Who are these people?" Fourteen "celebrities" including a couple of media whores will battle it out over a $250,000 prize bonus to donate to charity on the 7th cycle of NBC's Donald Trump reality show "The Apprentice." The fading series appears to be taking over the plum Thursday at 9 timeslot from the critically-acclaimed comedy "The Office."

The show will premiere on Thursday, January 3 at 9/8c. According to The Futon Critic the remaining 13 episodes will also air in the timeslot, although NBC has yet to confirm that. With a job with the Trump organization no longer at stake, will the viewers tune in?

"The Apprentice" originally aired on Thursdays at 9 in early 2004 with season 1 finale pulling in 28.1 million viewers. The 6th cycle of the franchise which aired last spring averaged 7.49 million viewers, ranking 102nd on the final Nielsen chart for the 2006/2007 season.

Can the strike-induced lack of original scripted programming along with 14 C-list celebrities help rejuvenate the tired series?

Although I personally enjoyed the first couple of seasons of "The Apprentice," I have since lost interest in the series as it gradually deteriorated over the past couple of years. And pulling out the celebrity card most certainly turns the show into an utter parody of its former self.

Trump is of course still tossing around superlatives: "This will be the most exciting season of 'The Apprentice' yet - maybe even better than Season One. Our fourteen celebrity contestants are incredible individually, and as a group they will make 'The Celebrity Apprentice' one of the hottest shows on television. I promise you a fantastic new season!"

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NBC Announces Celebrity Apprentice

NBC may be more desperate than we had thought. Refusing to go back to the original concept that made their artificially resurrected reality franchise a hit back in 2004, the network just announced the seventh cycle of Donald Trump's "Apprentice" will pull the old D-list celebrity card.

The question is - how hard will NBC have to work to find fading celebrities willing to put up with Trump's aggressive putdowns and crass boardroom manner? The fact that Peacock has opted to pull yet another stunt to keep the dying series alive should lower the bar on viewer expectations.

Silverman has of course wasted no time to tout the new cycle as "the highest-profile competition in the groundbreaking series' run" and "the most explosive version of 'The Apprentice' that anyone has seen."

The participating celebrities will be announced at a later date, although Silverman has already said Trump asked him to extend the invite to Rosie O'Donnell. Apparently he was serious about that.

Trump's children return as his boardroom advisors. No word on where the new season takes place, although I suspect the production returns to New York. Also, the celebrities will be playing for charities.

The show will return at a midseason point, but Silverman would not elaborate on a more specific premiere date.

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NBC Renews "The Apprentice"

You didn't seriously think he would just go away, did you?

While NBC's former prexy Kevin Reilly, who supported the renewal of his darling Texas-based drama "Friday Night Lights" but wasn't too sure about a new season of Donald Trump's "Apprentice," negotiates his new job with FOX, his successor Ben Silverman has made a decision that NBC go into business with The Donald again.

After Reilly presented NBC's new fall schedule at the Upfronts in May, the media was confused as to the fate of the 6-cycle old reality contest because it was ominously missing from the new grid. Reilly informed the reporters NBC would make a decision about the renewal of "The Apprentice" by June 1, but Trump's over-inflated ego was faster.

Days before NBC's deadline, the controversial billionaire announced that "NBC wanted to do another season of 'The Apprentice,' but [he] didn't have time to do it." There were rumors Trump would partner with the new FOX Business Channel on a new reality venture.

Now, TV Guide reports NBC's Silverman has made a decision to renew "The Apprentice," but it is not clear whether only for a 7th season with an option to do an 8th season, or if the show will immediately get a green light for 2 more seasons. In any event, the announcement in expected to be made by July 16 at the Television Critics Association press tour.



As someone who has actually enjoyed the show in the first couple of cycles, I certainly hope Trump and the show creator Mark Burnett will come to their senses and nix all changes that had been made to the original formula.

That means - ditch those ridiculous tents, the winning Project Manager does not go into the boardroom, Trump's kids do not get to assist daddy dearest and the production goes back to New York. Oh, and pretty please - give the teams more compelling business tasks and make sure the show does not ridicule itself by turning into one giant infomercial for "The Apprentice" sponsors.

Trump's British counterpart Sir Alan Sugar, who has recently concluded a very successful third cycle of the UK version of the show on BBC, has criticized the original series for "trying to make changes for the sake of it, which backfired."

But when has Donald Trump listened to anyone else but his own ego?

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Trump Has No Time To Do "The Apprentice"

This guy sure knows how to crack us up. As I wrote on Saturday Donald Trump has quit "The Apprentice." Now the power-hungry billionaire with falic-shaped ego the size of Trump Tower explains NBC wants to continue, but he has "no time to do it."

Trump, who is rumored to be in talks with Rupert Murdoch's Fox Business Channel to develop a new format said in an interview to TV Guide Online this morning:

"It has been such a success and they [NBC] wanted to do another, but I just don’t have the time. I just can’t do another one."

NBC omitted "The Apprentice" from their fall 2007 schedule saying they have yet to make a decision about the show's fate.

"Three networks want me to do a certain show that I may do," he says, "We will announce something over the next couple of weeks. And if it happens, it is something that will be very big."

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Stefani Schaeffer Is The 6th Apprentice

32-year old defense attorney Stefani Schaeffer from Los Angeles, CA, has become the 6th apprentice to Donald Trump in last night's live conclusion of the reality show's lowest rated season.

Unlike the previous five top-2 battles, the 6th live finale from the Hollywood Bowl last night featured the top 4 contestants, two of which had been fired before the runner up web entrepreneur James Sun tried to persuade Trump to hire him instead.

Stefani had already been accused of being under the radar all season long, so Sun argued she was more of a behind-the-scenes player, not a leader. Trump however wasn't convinced.

Schaeffer had the choice of working on Trump's new resort development in the Caribbean or a condo project in Atlanta. She choose the Caribbean.

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VIDEO: There He Goes Again!

Oh I get it now! He's not serious. He's just poking fun at himself. Wait. Donald Trump doesn't know how to poke fun at himself. Does he now? He's just doing that to piss people off. Then again he might be delusional after all.

On Sunday night, on an all new "Apprentice" on NBC, Donald Trump was preparing his squad of obedient wannabee execs for a marketing showdown tied to Universal Studios and Theme Park.

Meeting his program's participants at Hollywood's Grumman's Chinese Theatre, the real estate mogul said he was a bigger star than anybody and... yes, he called "The Apprentice" the #1 show on television.

Meanwhile, Mediaweek reports that for the week ending March 25, 2007, cycle 6 of The Apprentice ranked #46, drawing less than seven thousand total viewers. Among viewers 18-49, The Apprentice 6 ranked #37, with a 2.7/7.

Oh, no! Are his lawyers going to threaten me with a lawsuit? OK, I'm about to do that comb-over thing now.

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TV Ratings: Cowell, "Trace" Power CBS

CBS was the network to beat on Sunday night scoring 13,71 million viewers across its 4-hour prime time, including a Simon Cowell "60 Minutes" interview which pulled in almost 15 million viewers, as did an all new "Without a Trace". Donald Trump attacked President Bush, but there was no impact on the ratings of "The Apprentice".

The exact figures for last night's CBS programming are not available due to a late start of the line-up following an NCAA live telecast overrun.

Other networks aired mostly repeats, apart from a great deal of NBC's reality line-up.

The line-up however scored dismal numbers for the Peacock network, including Grease (6,59 million) and the fading Apprentice (7,23 million.)

Apparently not even calling President Bush "The Worst President in the History of the USA" sparks up the ratings.

Elsewhere, a repeat of NBC's "Deal Or No Deal" managed to beat a repeat of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" (the outstanding "Bang" episode, 7,36 million).

In case you have missed this video, here is Donald Trump attacking President Bush in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Perhaps The Donald is not as ridiculous as I had thought he was.

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Rosie Trumps Donald

First he attacked Rosie, then he wouldn't shut up, then he went after Meredith Vieira, Barbara Walters and even Conan O'Brian, and now that his inept promotional efforts clearly backfired as "The Apprentice" hit all-time low, he still claims his show was "#1 in all of television from 10:30-11:00".

No wonder Barbara Walters called him a "poor, pathetic man" this morning.

As we have already seen earlier this week, the 6th season premiere of "The Apprentice" was crushed by "Desperate Housewives" and "Cold Case" on Sunday night, even finishing behind a "Family Guy" rerun.

More painfully, the show lost a considerable portion of its lead-in, a never-before seen reality show with Broadway wannabes competing to be in the next production of "Grease".

Donald Trump has, of course, always been somewhat of a campy and over-the-top figure who lacked class, but those are the qualities that, when shown to a moderate extent, ultimately made him a suitable reality television star. However, that was back in 2004.

Three years on, "The Apprentice" has turned into a tired and aging product-placement vehicle that may have finally jumped the shark.

Ironically, it may not necessarily have been the desperate on-screen ratings-grabbing twist with tents that put the final nail in its coffin, but rather the over-inflated ego and the barbaric manner of the man whom decent people will no longer be able to take seriously.

The Apprentice Hits Season-Low

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VIDEO: Trump Attacks O'Donnell

Donald Trump calls Rosie O'Donnell a fat, ugly, disgusting slob and a loser.

Donald Trump Stoops Again

Donald Trump has once again verbally attacked a woman two weeks before the premiere of a new season of his ratings-challenged reality contest "The Apprentice".

Earlier this year when the fifth season of "The Apprentice" was about to premiere, the infamous entrepreneur lashed out at his former friend and accomplice Martha Stewart for driving the ratings of his series down with her lackluster version of the program.

The PR stunt was observed with little interest as the NBC network moved the once red-hot series away from its premium Must-See TV line-up on Thursday nights to Mondays.

When "The Apprentice" premiered in early 2004 it attracted well over 20 million viewers who tuned in on weekly basis to see Trump say "You're Fired!" to yet another one of his servile contestants.

The routine quickly grew tired as NBC shelled out two cycles of "The Apprentice" the following season and lost the powerful blockbuster "Friends" which had successfully anchored Thursday nights.

By early 2006 only about half the audience that had once watched "The Apprentice" regularly remained loyal to the show. Desperate to see the ratings perk up, Trump attacked Martha Stewart.

Now the billionaire has done it again. On yesterday's Access Hollywood, the man with the ego bigger than any one of his self-titled towers attacked Rosie O'Donnell for her commentary of the Miss USA controversy.

In the raw footage that you can see by following the link HERE, Donald Trump calls Rosie O'Donnell a loser, says her talk show did poorly, her magazine was a total failure, she herself is a failure as people can not stand watching her, she is a very unattractive woman both on the outside as well as inside, she would say anything that comes to her unattractive mouth, she is not smart, and he is looking forward to suing her, and he will send one of his friends to pick up her girlfriend and he thinks it will be very easy.

Caught in between the fire, the executive producers of "The View," Bill Geddie and Barbara Walters weighed in on the verbal fracas releasing the following diplomatic statement:

"Both Rosie and Donald are high-spirited, opinionated people. Donald has been a friend of "The View" for many years and Rosie, of course, is our enormously popular moderator. We cherish them both and hope the New Year brings calm and peace."

In his tirade, Donald Trump said the ratings for the daytime talk show "The View" went down since Rosie O'Donnell joined the program. The businessman known for his erroneous ratings analysis who had called his series "The Apprentice" the biggest hit on network television on numerous occasions, was wrong once again - the ratings of "The View" actually went significantly up since the Star Jones/Rosie O'Donnell switch.

The reality show returns on Sunday January 7 at 9:30pm and will now go head-to-head with "Desperate Housewives" on ABC.

Donald Trump To Battle "Desperate Housewives"

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