| The Apprentice | |
|---|---|
| Format | Reality |
| Created by | Mark Burnett |
| Starring | Donald Trump George H. Ross Ivanka Trump (2006–) Donald Trump, Jr. (2006–) Eric Trump (2010–) Carolyn Kepcher (2004–06) Bill Rancic (2004–09) |
| Theme music composer | Kenneth Gamble Leon Huff Anthony Jackson |
| Opening theme | "For the Love of Money" Performed by The O'Jays |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| No. of episodes | 150 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Mark Burnett Donald Trump |
| Running time | 60 minutes (seasons 1–7,10) 120 minutes (season 8,9,11) |
| Production company(s) | Trump Productions Mark Burnett Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | January 8, 2004 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Apprentice: Martha Stewart Donald J. Trump Presents The Ultimate Merger |
The Apprentice is an American reality television show hosted by real estate magnate, businessman and television personality Donald Trump, created by Mark Burnett and broadcast on NBC. Billed as "The Ultimate Job Interview", the show stars sixteen to eighteen business people competing in an elimination-style competition for a one-year, $250,000 starting contract of running one of business magnate Trump's companies. The show typically ends with Trump eliminating one of the contestants with the words, "You're Fired".
The show first aired in January 2004 and has run for eleven seasons, with the seventh, eighth, ninth, eleventh and twelfth seasons featuring celebrities competing for charity.
Contents |
The Apprentice is a reality television show with each season beginning with a group of contestants vying to earn a place in one of Donald Trump's organizations. The contestants (who are referred to as candidates) come from backgrounds in various enterprises, but typically include backgrounds in real estate, accounting, restaurant management, consulting management, sales, and marketing. During the show, these contestants live in a communal penthouse, allowing their relationships to build. The only exception however, was in the sixth season, when the show moved to Los Angeles; Teams had been separated, with the winning team living in a mansion and the losing team taking up residence in tents located in the mansion's backyard. These candidates are placed into teams, and each week are assigned a task and required to select a project manager for the task. The winning team receives a reward, while the losing team faces a boardroom meeting in order to determine which team member should be fired and eliminated from the show.
Eliminations proceed in two stages. In the first stage, the entire team is confronted with their loss in a boardroom meeting. The project manager is then asked to select up to either one, two, or three of their team members who are believed to belong in the final boardroom meeting. In the second stage, the rest of the team is dismissed, while the project manager and the selected members face a final boardroom showdown where at least one of the candidates is fired and subsequently leaves the show.
Trump reserves the right at times to do the following: not allow the losing project manager to choose who goes into the boardroom for a final hearing, fire any candidate without a final boardroom session if there's enough information to warrant so, and fire multiple people if they are found liable for an unsatisfactory performance. On occasion, candidates will leave on their own free will; while this is usually discouraged, Trump does accept their resignation(s). When the final three or four candidates are left, an interview process typically begins, involving executives from various companies who interview each of the finalists and report their assessments of them to Trump. After which, a firing takes place where one or two people are usually fired.
(With the exception of the sixth season) The final two are then assigned different tasks, along with support teams composed of previously fired candidates. After the tasks are done, a final boardroom occurs, with testimonials from the team members and a last chance for the final two candidates to prove themselves to the target CEO. Finally, Trump hires one of the two candidates to become his Apprentice.
The opening theme music used on the show is "For the Love of Money", a 1973 R&B song by The O'Jays.[1]
The first season aired during the winter and the spring of 2004. The Apprentice is produced and created by Mark Burnett and is hosted by real estate magnate, Donald Trump, who also serves as co-producer of the show. The premise of the show, which bills itself as the "ultimate job interview" in the "ultimate jungle," is to conduct a job talent search for a person to head one of Trump's companies. The position starts with an introductory 1-year contract with a starting yearly salary at six figures ($250,000 USD to be exact, roughly $4807.70 USD per week assuming a 52-week work-year). The show led Trump to become known for his fateful catch phrase, "You're fired!" The contestants live communally in a suite at Trump Tower in Manhattan and the boardroom showdown is with Trump and two of his associates (originally Carolyn Kepcher, Former Chief Operating Officer and General Manager for the Trump National Golf Club, and George H. Ross, Executive Vice President and Senior Counsel, The Trump Organization). Season 6, which was the most unsuccessful, saw the show move to Los Angeles.
In late August 2006, Donald Trump released Carolyn Kepcher from her duties at the Trump organization saying only that he "wishes her the best." No official reason has been given for her being fired from the company, but Kepcher was quoted as saying "After 11 years with the Trump Organization, Donald and I had different visions for my future role in the company." Her future role on The Apprentice has not been confirmed, although Kepcher has appeared on tape for the 6th season one or two times. Ivanka Trump appeared in a similar role on the show as Kepcher's, but was not an official replacement.[2]
Known for his tendency to surround himself with beautiful women, Trump's on-screen (and real-life) assistants have each grown in personal fame. Two assistants appeared jointly for the first five seasons: Rhona Graff and Robin Himmler. In the sixth season, Trump elected to have his newest executive assistant, Andi Rowntree, star in the LA-based show. For the Celebrity Apprentice, Annette Dziamba appeared for the seventh season, and Amanda Miller for the eighth and ninth season.
On May 14, 2007, the series was left off NBC's schedule but NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly said he was still in discussions with Mark Burnett and Trump.[3] However, on May 19, 2007, Trump announced that he was "moving on from The Apprentice to a major new TV venture", effectively ending the series in the United States.[4] But on May 22, 2007, NBC announced The Apprentice might return next season even though Trump had said he quit.[5]
On July 6, 2007, it was announced that The Apprentice had been renewed for a seventh season, with a possibility of an eighth season.[6] In an effort to revitalize interest in the series, the seventh season[7] featured celebrities playing the game to raise money for charities. British tabloid editor Piers Morgan was declared the victor of that season. On January 28, 2008, NBC confirmed that the show's eighth season would feature celebrities playing the game to raise money for charity. That season premiered in January 2009, and resulted in a win for comedian Joan Rivers.[8] The third season of The Celebrity Apprentice aired in the spring of 2010, and was won by musician Brett Michaels.
On March 17, 2010, NBC officially stated that a new season of the original Apprentice would be brought back, with the explanation that regular working people would again attract audiences in light of the damaged U.S. economy. That season premiered September 16, 2010.[9]
The Apprentice also spawned a reality television dating game show. On June 17, 2010, Donald J. Trump Presents The Ultimate Merger premiered on TV One. The series stars Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, a former political consultant who in 2004 appeared on the first season of The Apprentice and once again in 2008 on the first celebrity edition of the show.[10] Each of the twelve contestants vying for the affections of Manigault-Stallworth were selected by Trump himself.[11]
On February 2, 2005, NBC announced that they would broadcast the first spin-off from The Apprentice, called The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. The show, which ran from September 21 to December 21, 2005 was hosted by Martha Stewart, who was the first woman in the world to become a self-made billionaire. It kept the format of the original series but changed a few elements to fit Stewart's personality. Trump was one of the executive producers of the show and castings were held in 27 cities across the United States.
The fourth season of The Apprentice earned less than spectacular ratings, while The Apprentice: Martha Stewart struggled. Trump claimed that there was "confusion" between the two shows. There has also been talk that Trump did not want Stewart to host the spin-off show. NBC announced that it would not bring back the show for a second season, although the network stressed that the show was initially planned to air only for one season. The show averaged between six and seven million viewers. Before the show left, both Donald Trump and Martha Stewart had a fight due to Stewart accusing Trump that he didn't want her to have a successful show, that he might have wanted it jinxed. Trump denied this charge, and both TV stars have not worked together again, and there are no plans for the future.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Apprentice on NBC.
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
| Season | Winner | Winner's Project | Timeslot | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Ranking | Viewers (in millions) |
Finale Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Bill Rancic | Trump Tower Chicago | Thursday 9:00PM | January 8, 2004 | April 15, 2004 | 2003–04 | 7 | 20.7 [12] | 28.1 [13] |
| 2nd | Kelly Perdew | Trump Place | September 9, 2004 | December 16, 2004 | 2004–05 | 11 | 16.1 [14] | 16.9 [15] | |
| 3rd | Kendra Todd | Palm Beach Mansion | January 20, 2005 | May 19, 2005 | 15 | 14.0 [14] | 14.0 [16] | ||
| 4th | Randal Pinkett | Trump Entertainment | September 22, 2005 | December 15, 2005 | 2005–06 | 38 | 11.0 [17] | 12.8[18] | |
| 5th | Sean Yazbeck | Trump Soho | Monday 9:00PM | February 27, 2006 | June 5, 2006 | 51 | 9.7 [17] | 11.3 [19] | |
| 6th | Stefani Schaeffer | Cap Cana | Sunday 10:00PM | January 7, 2007 | April 22, 2007 | 2006–07 | 75 | 7.5[20] | 10.6 |
| 7th | Piers Morgan | N/A | Thursday 9:00PM | January 3, 2008 | March 27, 2008 | 2007–08 | 48 | 11.0[21] | 12.1[22] |
| 8th | Joan Rivers | Sunday 9:00PM | March 1, 2009 | May 10, 2009 | 2008–09 | 52 | 9.0[23] | 8.7[24] | |
| 9th | Bret Michaels | Sunday 9:00PM | March 14, 2010 | May 23, 2010 | 2009–10 | 59 | 7.4[25] | 9.3[26] | |
| 10th | Brandy Kuentzel | Thursday 10:00PM | September 16, 2010 | December 9, 2010 | 2010–11 | 113 | 4.7[27] | 4.5 | |
| 11th | John Rich | Sunday 9:00 PM | March 6, 2011 | May 22, 2011 | 46 | 8.8[27] | 8.3[28] |
The Apprentice was the breakout rookie hit of the 2003–04 U.S. television season and helped NBC at a time when the network's two long-running successful comedies, Friends and Frasier, were ending their series' runs. The Apprentice filled the void on Thursday nights as NBC held on to the tagline Must See TV, even though CBS was quickly becoming the most-watched network on Thursday night.
Although the series is still one of the most-watched programs on NBC in the advertiser-friendly 18–49 age demographic, the franchise's total audience gradually dissolved, starting in late 2004, when it aired its second season that culminated in, what most Apprentice fans deem, an "overextended"[29] 3-hour season finale on December 16, 2004.
The audience numbers (11.25 million viewers)[30] for the June 5, 2006 fifth season finale were not factored in the fifth season average because it aired after the official television season ended.
The audience numbers for the show have still remained on the decline since its first season. Originally, NBC aired the sixth season of The Apprentice, competing against both immensely popular series, Desperate Housewives and Cold Case, just a few weeks before competing against Brothers & Sisters and Cold Case.
Criticism has been leveled at the series for allegedly giving jobs to the season winners that are less than what they are claimed to be on the show. Whereas winners have been named "executive vice presidents", and given the title of "owner's representative," in actuality, they were employed as publicity spokespeople for the Trump organization. Second season winner Kelly Perdew, on his first day working for Trump, was introduced by his boss to Florida developers working on a Trump-branded condo, the Trump Tower, in Tampa, Florida, where he was told that he would help promote sales of the building by appearing at promotional events.[31]
In the wake of Trump's statements about the current president of the United States, Barack Obama, The Apprentice has been criticized for its involvement with Trump. There have been public calls for NBC to fire Trump from his role on The Apprentice-- most notably from sister-network liberal political commentator Lawrence O'Donnell and from the former US Congressman Anthony Weiner. [32]
NBC also reported having been contacted by a number of its sponsors in response to consumer complaints. Industry media has speculated on the extent to which Trump's media comments may have contributed to the decrease in the show's ratings[33], as other Trump-associated businesses have suffered since the start of Trump's political campaign.[34] On April 28, 2011, show sponsor Groupon publicly announced that it would no longer do business with The Apprentice. [6]. One (anonymous) celebrity has even announced an intention to boycott the May 15 taping of the finale, unless forced by contract to appear.[35]
Legacy Interactive created a video game version of The Apprentice for the PC. It features Donald Trump and his advisors, as well as past candidates, and is currently available on Yahoo! Games. The player selects either a male or a female character to play and must control the character through a number of tasks including puzzles. The character must create a billboard; sell ice cream, Italian food, or hamburgers; help create toys, chocolates and lamps; and sell items in different neighborhoods.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||