The Apprentice

The Apprentice is a popular Reality TV show which has the acclaimed much recognition because of its appealing real-life oriented contest dubbed as “The Ultimate Job Interview”. The first season aired in the spring of 2004 and is since hosted by Donald Trump. The show is claimed to be a breakout rookie hit of 2003-2004 U.S. television and helped the network close the gap with the dismissal of the two longest-running comedies, Friends and Frasier. The series is still one of the most-watched programs widely popular amongst the 18–49 age demographic of the network audience.

The show allows sixteen to eighteen people known in the business world to become the most successful entrepreneur through an elimination style contest. The winner claims a lucrative package of a one-year starting contract of governing one of Trumps successful companies with the salary of 250,000 US$. The show has been long running for eight seasons and known for its earnest success.

Contestants are carefully selected with known backgrounds in various enterprises and pressed to live in a communal penthouse while observing their acts in a voyeuristic camera handling. All contestants are divided into teams competing for a task assigned each week. For the tasks, each team chooses a representative in the guise of project manager to face each other and upon victory is rewarded amicably. The losing team on the other hand faces the boardroom elimination round. Elimination takes place in two stages:

1. First Stage: This is where all gather and the project manager is asked to point to three team members most responsible for the loss.
2. Second Stage: The project manager and the selected members are considered in a final showdown where one or more are fired/ eliminated because of their credited incompetence.

However over the various seasons many clauses are noted. There are times the project manager does not get to choose since he is considered to be at fault himself, the elimination of any candidate without hearing if there is considerable evidence of incompetence against him, or the elimination of multiple or all the candidates for the same reason as the last.

The final candidates are interviewed by executives of various companies and the reports of the candidates are forwarded to the host. The show progresses till the final two candidates are pitted against each other with different tasks and a team of the previously eliminated contestants. In the end, a final boardroom showdown is undertaken where the testimonials of the team members are considered and on the basis of them, the victor is chosen.

The show has been unpredictable apart from the clauses, all thanks to the genius of the moody host which has never failed to keep the audience on their toes through the many rivets and twists which progresses with the development of events on the show. Since the first season, the show boasts of attracting attention as the “ultimate job interview” in the “ultimate jungle,” with its blend of enterprising surrealistic enchantment to real life situation, often where Trump is seen quoting his favorite catch phrase, “You’re fired!”