The Apprentice
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The Apprentice is a reality game show that originated in America on NBC. The show is hosted by a well-known business person (Donald Trump in the U.S.) and the final prize is to be given a role in one of the businesses his company owns.
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Premise
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, these contestants live in a communal house, allowing their relationships to build. They are placed into teams, being assigned a task and selecting a project manager to lead them in each week's assigned task. The winning team receives a reward, while the losing team faces a boardroom showdown in order to determine which team member should be fired (eliminated from the show).
Elimination proceeds in two stages. In the first stage, the losing team are confronted and the week's project manager is asked to select two or three additional team members which they believe were most responsible for the loss. The rest of the team is dismissed, and the project manager and the other selected members face a final confrontation several minutes later in which one of the three is fired.
American version
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 Real Estate/Entertainment Magnate 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 1-year contract and a starting yearly salary of $250,000 USD. Trump is now well known for his catch phrase "You're Fired!".
The contestants live communally in a suite at Trump Tower in Manhattan and the boardroom showdown is 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).
The show's theme song is For the Love of Money by The O'Jays.
Seasons
- Season one (winter and spring 2004)
- Season two (autumn 2004 and winter 2004)
- Season three (January 20-May 19, 2005)
- Season four (filming and tentatively scheduled for autumn 2005)
- Season five (applications in progress)
Brazilian version
O Aprendiz, a Brazilian version of The Apprentice hosted by marketing business man Roberto Justus, premiered on November 4, 2004. People+Arts (a cable channel that broadcasts The Apprentice in Latin America) and Rede Record (a Brazilian open network) teamed up with Fremantle Media to create the show. The show is aired twice a week with new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. People+Arts shows the episode 8:00pm while Rede Record shows it with a two-hour delay. The last episode aired on December 23, 2004 on a live show, with parts recorded earlier (the last task and a part of the board room). Justus' catchphrase is "Você está demitido" ("you're fired").
The final two were Denis and Vivianne. On the last task both of them had to organize two charity auctions. Vivianne did an amazing job, getting 45% more money than Denis. Another point that was brought up on the board room was that when asked by Roberto Justus himself to change the day of the auction, while Vivianne accept the idea right away, Denis did not.
By the end of the show, Justus decided Vivianne should be The Apprentice, and just like the american version, when he told her he hired her the whole stage opened showing a live audience and all the others candidate's as well as Vivianne's family run to hug her and gave her a tee shirt with the saying "I'm hired".
Justus then told Vivianne she wouldn't leave in a taxi like the ones who lost the show, but she would leave driving her new Class A Mercedes Benz. He also showed her in which of his entreprises she would work on her new R$250,000 yearly job.
For the grand finale, Justus told everybody that the production of O Aprendiz 2 had started.
Other countries
Colombia
Hosted By Jean-Claude Bessudo, a french-born tourism entrepreneur. The show first aired in May 2005 on Canal Caracol. The Spanish version is called El Aprendiz (Literal translation from the original show's name).
Denmark
Hosted by Klaus Riskaer Pedersen in the Danish version. Pedersen's catchphrase is "Du er fyret" ("you're fired").
Finland
Television mogul Jari Sarasvuo hosted the Finnish version, called Diili. The Finnish catchprase is "Olet vapautettu", or "You're free to leave".
Germany
In the fall of 2004, German TV station RTL aired an adaption of The Apprentice on German television called Big Boss. The show was hosted by former soccer manager Reiner Calmund and only scored fair to poor ratings. The catchphrase was "Sie haben frei", or "you are excused".
Greece
Publich tycoon Petros Kostopoulos hosts the Greek version, where the catchphrase is "Eliges", which is slang for "you're out".
Indonesia
Media mogul Peter Gontha is the host. The show, first Apprentice spinoff in Asia, hasn't started yet.
Norway
Hairdressing mogul Inger Ellen Nicolaisen host the Norwegian version. The catchphrase is "Du har sparken" ("you're fired").
Pan Arab
Real estate tycoon Mohamed Ali Allabar hosts the Arabic version from Dubai. The show hasn't started yet.
South Africa
The South African version is hosted by Tokyo Sexwale.
Switzerland
Swiss publishing mogul Jürg Marquard hosts the show, which first aired in April 2005 on SF1. The show is titled Traum Job (Dream Job), and the catchphrase is "Sie sind duss" ("You are out").
Turkey
Türkiye hosted by one of the most succesful business man of Turkey "Tuncay Özilhan" the CEO of Anadolu Group. A "must" reality show. The show is titled Cırak (The Apprentice), and the catchphrase is "Seninle calısmak istemiyorum !" ("I do not want to work with you").
United Kingdom
Sir Alan Sugar, founder of electronics company Amstrad, hosts the show 'The Apprentice' in the United Kingdom – he ranks 25 on The Sunday Times list of richest people in London. His catchphrase is also "You're fired". The show aired on BBC2 with the final episode shown on 4 May 2005. It was won by Tim Campbell, a former transport manager for the London Underground who received a position at Amstrad with a £100,000 salary. Saira Khan was the runner-up. [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4513233.stm)
A second series is currently being planned.
The Netherlands
High-profile barrister Bram Moszkowicz recruited a high-paid position ("the new Moszkowicz") in his law firm in AVRO's show De Nieuwe Moszkowicz. The show focused much on the character of Moszkowicz, a flamboyant man known for defending a number of very unpopular figures, most notably Desi Bouterse.
Spin offs
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
On February 2, 2005, NBC announced it will broadcast the first spin-off from The Apprentice to be called The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. The show will be hosted by Martha Stewart, who was the first woman in the world to become a self-made billionaire. It will keep the general format of the original series; the show will be tailored to fit Stewart's personality. Donald Trump will be one of the executive producers of the show whose castings are scheduled for 27 cities all across the United States.
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
- The Assistant, with Andy Dick, an MTV-produced parody.
See Also
External links
- NBC.com: The Apprentice season 1 (http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice/), season 2 (http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice_2/), season 3 (http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice_3/) (official websites)
- O Aprendiz (http://www.rederecord.com.br/frameset.asp?prog=programas/oaprendiz) - The Brazilian version of The Apprentice (Portuguese language)de:The Apprentice