Donald Trump told Forbes.com, "Did you see my ratings?  Looks like I'm in show business, whether I want to be or not."

It's not like he's doing all the work though.  He also pointed out the fact that Celebrity Apprentice has gained fame and notoriety since its introduction.  "A lot of that success is the brand," he admitted.  As an added thought, Trump said: "I could tell you it does well because of me, but that wouldn't be appropriate."

Still, the premiere of the show had a number of highlights that only Celebrity Apprentice can offer.  There were the outbursts of both teams' project managers, especially Cyndi Lauper trash-talking Donald Trump.

Thanks to her antics (really, was anyone else worth watching?), Celebrity Apprentice gained the title of second-highest-rated show for NBC that week.  It falls short of the sitcom The Office, but still hauled in an average of 8.3 million viewers.  We never thought a show with Rod Blagojevich could manage that, but here it is.

It's been quite a successful ride for Donald Trump so far, and the question now is will he continue?  He told Crave Online that he wouldn't mind another season of the show, just as long as they bring the original series back.

"I will be very involved if they bring back regular Apprentice, which a lot of people want that to happen, I'd be very involved in the casting again," he said.

That's not to say he's disappointed with these celebrities though.  Trump certainly admires them for the "level of intensity they feel for their charity," and it was obvious on the premiere.  Even first firing Carol Leifer asked the Donald to donate to her charity so she didn't go home empty-handed.

Read: Carol Leifer First to be Fired

Whether or not The Apprentice returns for another run is up to the producers and Trump, but right now we'd rather just enjoy these celebs fight for their causes.  Besides, it's been fun so far and there's more to come.




Source: Forbes.com, Crave Online
(Image Courtesy of NBC)