April 24, 2008
We all know and understand that Donald Trump is a little bit crazy. He's a larger than life personality, an egotist, someone who can make outlandish and contradictory statements on national television with a straight face. That is why we like the guy. It's easier to put up with someone's more dubious qualities if that person is entertaining in the process. However, this latest piece of news regarding The Apprentice is an example of Donald Trump, perhaps, going too far. Various sources are reporting that The Apprentice is considering casting O.J. Simpson on the next edition of The Celebrity Apprentice. Some sources are reporting that O.J. Simpson is the one openly campaigning for a spot on the series. Other sources claim that NBC does not have any intention of casting The Juice on The Apprentice. What should one believe?
April 18, 2008
This is not a piece of news I ever expected to see. At this week's upfronts for the Lifetime Network (yes, Lifetime has upfronts – I'm as surprised as you) the big hullabaloo surrounded Project Runway's move from Bravo to the women's network Lifetime. However, had Project Runway not made that move, the biggest news would have regarded Lifetime's newest soap opera, entitled Trump Tower. Just because you may not believe me if I simply wrote it, here is the synopsis of Trump Tower from Lifetime president Susan Daniels: "Think Desperate Housewives in Trump Tower with the Donald narrating, and you get the idea of what we're after."
April 11, 2008
Trace Adkins has an incredible speaking voice. It's part of his charm. No matter how great you think Trace Adkins' personality is, the voice helps more than you might think. On The Celebrity Apprentice, Trace was constantly praised for his personality and his good ideas. He rarely spoke, but when he did, people listened. The voice mattered. However, despite his success as a personality on The Apprentice, does this translate into acting? I can only think of one person who has made an acting career mostly because of their voice, and that person's name is Sam Elliott. I like Trace, but he lacks the charisma and general badassery of Mr. Elliott. Then again, Trace is a smart dude, and maybe the acting will work out for him. We will soon find out. Trace recently filmed an episode of The Young and the Restless, and will appear in two upcoming feature films.
April 3, 2008
The Celebrity Apprentice ended its surprisingly successful season with a two-hour final that garnered huge ratings. The Donald Trump led series had its highest rated finale since the fourth season of The Apprentice and twice the total viewers as the last season's finale for The Apprentice: Los Angeles. This stunning rebirth of the franchise is great news for Trump and NBC, which now has a seemingly reliable reality franchise to fall back on once a year. In his NBC upfront presentation yesterday, NBC head Ben Silverman spoke about how they resisted the temptation to air two Celebrity Apprentice editions next season (one in Fall and one in the Spring) after seeing the ratings for the finale. Probably a good decision, but it brings up an interesting question: Does The Celebrity Apprentice have staying power? And, how much of its success had to do with the writers' strike?
March 28, 2008
The Celebrity Apprentice has come and gone, but before we lay it to waste and wait for The Celebrity Apprentice 2, we thought we'd discuss this past season with a few former Apprentice contestants. Yes, our Celebrity Apprentice Round Table is indeed back after a mini-hiatus. Joining us today for the discussion were Lee Bienstock, Carey Sherrell and Jenn Hoffman. The discussion ranged from the production of last night's episode, the merits of the charity aspect of the show, and the decline in true competition this season. Listen to the full mp3 audio of our discussion below.
March 28, 2008
The Celebrity Apprentice ended its season last night, and the results were a pleasant surprise. Not just last night, I suppose, but the entire season. My expectations were considerably low coming into the season. My affection for the original Apprentice format was mostly due to the dominant persona of Donald Trump and his willingness to tear apart wide-eyed contestants. On the network reality television landscape, The Apprentice was the rare show where one man wielded all of the power. Trump acts as the judge, jury and executioner. Every other reality competition series employs at least some aspect of democracy in its eliminations. On The Apprentice, Donald Trump often fires people arbitrarily and it makes great television. My worry coming into The Celebrity Apprentice was that having people of high regard and some semblance of fame involved would soften The Donald, not allowing him to ruthlessly execute his will at every board room. While this turned out to be somewhat true, it didn't end up standing in the way of my my enjoyment. This is because The Celebrity Apprentice was a completely different series compared to the previous incarnations.
March 27, 2008
The live two-hour finale of The Celebrity Apprentice went by smoothly tonight, and the main reason is that they didn't spend too much time in the live studio. Most of the episode was like any other Apprentice episode, and focused mainly on the taped final task. The competition between Trace Adkins and Piers Morgan went as expected – Piers made the most money (by a long shot) and Trace came out looking like the nice, tactful guy he is. People like Trace and Piers gets things done. Who did Donald Trump choose, then, as the first Celebrity Apprentice?
March 25, 2008
The Apprentice: Celebrity Edition finale (coming Thursday) is not just merely a battle between a reality TV show host and a country music singer. No, it is a battle of ideals, of world views, between good and evil, between the Old World and the New World, between rural and urban, between facial hair and non, between sarcasm and blunt truth. Trace Adkins, country music star, versus Piers Morgan, reality TV host. One British, one American, one arrogant and crass, the other modest and kind. You can understand why Donald Trump wanted these two men to duke it out on the season finale of The Celebrity Apprentice. While Carol Alt or Stephen Baldwin would have been worthy entries, they stood for nothing, they represented nothing. With Trace Adkins and Piers Morgan, an epic struggle is upon us.