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Trump Hired for Second Seasonby Lia Haberman
Feb 6, 2004, 1:30 PM PT
Despite the comb-over, Donald Trump has wooed TV audiences and critics alike with his ruthless business-minded reality series, The Apprentice.
NBC is also on board, renewing the Donald's contract for a second season as he searches for yet another junior executive to join his team.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Network chief Jeff Zucker announced the pickup late Thursday and hinted that the Peacock could be in business with Trump and executive producer Mark Burnett for "many years to come."
NBC is taking applications for the next installment on its Website, nbc.com, challenging wannabe moguls to match business wits with the real estate tycoon.
A quick recap for newcomers to the show: 16 ambitious entrepreneurs compete in basic challenges--shilling lemonade, trying to convince people that Planet Hollywood serves decent food, etc.-- for a $250,000-a-year dream job at one of Trump's corporate outlets.
Instead of a tribal council, contestants are called into the boardroom where the weakest link is dismissed by Trump with a curt, "You're fired."
The first season has proven a ratings winner, averaging 19.1 million viewers for the first three episodes, according to Nielsen Media Research. A supersized version that ran Thursday night drew 18 million curious.
In fact, the show's only misstep came after NBC moved the series to Wednesday night opposite Fox's juggernaut American Idol. A massive ratings dip convinced programming execs to return the Apprentice to the Thursday night lineup.
Those scheduling switcheroos served to fuel a feud between Trump and CBS head honcho Les Moonves. The New York-based business titan, still smarting over Moonves' decision to drop the telecast of Trump's Miss Universe Pageant, threw a tantrum when CBS aired one its signature shows, CSI, against The Apprentice premiere.
The Donald later told reporters, "If Les Moonves was a contestant on [The Apprentice], he would have been fired by the third episode."
Moonves chalked the attack up to Trump "having a very bad hair day."
Sniping aside, the show's success has been a triumphant comeback for the businessman who was once on the edge of bankruptcy. Trump has inked a $5 million deal with Random House to publish How to Get Rich in April, timed to coincide with the Apprentice's live season finale.
Plus, Trump, who's been mocked as a symbol of '80s excess, is now being referred to in the press as the "billionaire with bravado," the "mack daddy of Manhattan, the "secret weapon in NBC's programming arsenal" and the " gossamer-haired real estate magnate."
If only he would do something about that hair.
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