The Apprentice
The Apprentice is an American television reality series that aired on NBC. The first season aired during the winter and spring of 2004. The Apprentice is produced by Mark Burnett Productions in association with Trump Productions LLC. Mark Burnett and billionaire Donald Trump are executive producers. Trump is the host. The premise of the show, which bills itself as the "ultimate job interview", is to conduct a job talent search for a person to head one of Trump's companies. The position comes with a salary of $250,000.
Show overview
Each season begins with a group of contestants with backgrounds in various enterprises, including real estate, restaurant management, political consulting, and sales. During the show, the contestants live communally in a suite at Trump Tower in Manhattan. Elimination takes the form of one contestant being "fired" by Trump at the conclusion of each week's episode.
Contestants are placed into teams, and each team chooses a team name. Each week, Trump assigns the teams a task. Each team selects a "project manager" to lead them in the week's assigned task. The winning team receives a reward, while the losing team faces a boardroom showdown with Trump and two of his associates (usually Carolyn Kepcher, 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) in order to determine which team member should be fired.
Elimination proceeds in two stages. In the first stage, Trump confronts the losing team and requires the week's project manager to select two additional team members which the project manager believes were most responsible for the loss.
The rest of the team is dismissed, and the project manager and the two other selected members face a final confrontation several minutes later in which Trump fires one of the three. Trump is now well known for his catch phrase "You're Fired!", which he reportedly will trademark.
The show's theme song is For the Love of Money by The O'Jays.
Seasons
- The Apprentice 1, season one (winter and spring 2004)
- The Apprentice 2, season two (autumn 2004)
Similar programs
- The Rebel Billionaire, with Richard Branson of the Virgin Group
- The Benefactor, with Mark Cuban of the NBA Dallas Mavericks
- My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, a parody and hoax
External links
- NBC.com: The Apprentice (official website)
- The Apprentice Rules (unofficial site with a lot of information)