CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL CAST LIST FOR CELEBRITY APPRENTICE

I'm a Donald Trump apologist.  Let's get that out of the way.  I know there are a lot of you out there who actively despise the man as a symbol of American greed, a real-life Scrooge McDuck, someone who has shamelessly turned his family name into a brand.  That is all valid.  But, to his credit, the man is larger than life.  His antics on The Apprentice have always been a little ridiculous, and although The Apprentice was supposed to be about Trump hiring a great employee to help out his company, it was clear to anyone watching that The Donald always had ulterior motives.  He was selling the Trump product through the guise of a job search.  Which was fine, because The Apprentice was a fun show and the contestants, for the most part, really wanted a job in the Trump organization.  The celebrity edition changes everything.

Yesterday, with the announcement that Trump and NBC are bringing The Apprentice back next season for a celebrity edition, the shroud of legitimacy is now gone.  It is now a completely shameless enterprise (rather than a mostly shameless one), meant only to pump more Trump into the American psyche, to drum up publicity for whatever new hotel or apartment building or golf course the Trump Man wants to sell to the masses. 

Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

I may not like shameless self-promotion, but I do like Donald Trump.  And since I like Donald Trump, the prospect of the man letting loose with a celebrity edition of his show, knowing full well that the winner isn't going to be a permanent employee of the Trump organization, is exciting.  How completely ridiculous and over-the-top can Donald be without the hindrance of having to pretend that the show isn't totally about him?  This is the beauty of the The Apprentice: Celebrity Edition concept.  No matter which celebrities are recruited to appear on the show, Trump will still be the most famous person on his show.  He and his larger-than-life persona will be the star, which is something that can only make for great TV.

Anyway, the question that has been most queried since yesterday's announcement has been, “What kind of celebrities will Trump get?”  I don't think there is an answer, unfortunately.  They'll almost certainly be of the B-List variety, probably a lot of ex-reality stars and sports icons and washed-up actors.  Think Dancing with the Stars caliber celebrities.  On the other hand, Trump may search for lower level celebrities whose careers have had something to do with corporate America, whether it be fictional or not (perhaps a cast member from The Office).  Regardless, whoever ends up cast on the show, I'll be watching.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL CAST LIST FOR CELEBRITY APPRENTICE


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)