Trump's reality: 'I'm having fun' :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Trump's reality: 'I'm having fun'

Posted by admin on Monday, April 19, 2004 - 02:59 AM

WEST PALM BEACH -- "You're hired!" Two words Donald Trump has yet to utter on "The Apprentice," NBC's white-hot reality show.
Until now. After a bruising, 13-week job interview, The Donald will finally decide on tonight's live, two-hour finale at the famed Rockefeller Center studios in New York, who'll earn the $250,000-a-year division-president gig at one of his companies. Will it be Kwame Jackson, the smooth-talking Harvard M.B.A. grad? Or Bill Rancic, the people-savvy, entrepreneur-turned-millionaire cigar salesman? And just what division will the winner actually run? "It depends on who that person is going to be," Trump says coyly. "There are certain people that would be better at one thing than another. We're gonna watch the new president very closely. This is not a man who's gonna be running off half-cocked." That answer, of course, leads to a tantalizing follow-up. So, what'll happen to the person who's running that division now? "That's . . . a very good question," says a clearly stumped Trump. "I have already prepared a number of my divisions. . . . These people are total professionals, and they understand." Trump says there's even a "distinct" possibility that the runner-up or some of the other previously fired contestants might still land a job at his company. "But I wouldn't pay 'em as much, because they didn't win," he says matter-of-factly. NBC and Trump are clearly big winners since "The Apprentice" debuted in early January. Not only is it TV's hottest reality show (do you hear many people buzzing about "Survivor: All-Stars"?), it's also one of TV's hottest shows. Period. "The Apprentice" averages 19 million viewers each week. Last week, an astounding 22 million people watched lovebirds Amy Henry and Nick Warnock get the boot, which made "The Apprentice" TV's second most-watched show, behind "American Idol." Other networks are already preparing "Apprentice" knockoffs featuring such charismatic moguls as Virgin Group founder Richard Branson (Fox's "Branson's Big Adventure") and Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban (ABC's "The Benefactor"). And, of course, "Apprentice 2" is already in the works. As of last week, NBC says it received more than 850,000 applications, a substantial jump from the 215,000 people who had applied before. Don't expect many changes in the show's format, though. "We don't want to change much," Trump says, "because it works. The big difference will be the tasks are gonna be (more) amazing." Also look for an impressive lineup of Fortune 500 companies to be featured, including a major player in the airline industry, a well-known computer company and a top pharmaceutical firm. "Convincing companies to trust us (the first time) was pretty tough," says series creator and executive producer Mark Burnett. "Now, companies are very happy to have their campaigns represented as part of the tasks, because they realize this is a real smart show about business." Or as Trump, ever the bigger-than-life salesman, bluntly puts it: "We are now inundated with unbelievable companies who are quite honestly kissing our a-- to get on the show." Ironically, when Burnett pitched "The Apprentice" idea to Trump last year, The Donald's agent hissed it would never work. "My agent told me not to waste my time," Trump recalls. "And now he wants a commission. He calls me every Friday morning to tell me how great the ratings are." In a mere few months, Trump -- who recently hosted "Saturday Night Live" and has been on every television talk show there is -- has become TV's unlikeliest star. "So many people have come up to me and said, 'Your image is so much nicer,' " he says. "I'm saying to myself, all I do is fire people every week, and people think I'm a nice person. Can you imagine how bad my image was before this?" While Trump is clearly enjoying the spotlight, he admits he didn't realize working on a TV show would take up so much of his time. "I didn't agree to do a live show," he points out. "That wasn't in the deal. Mark told me three hours a week, and it's taken a little longer than that. These are the little minor things Mark forgot to tell me. It wasn't exactly what I was looking forward to doing. Honestly, I'm having fun, and it's great to be a big TV star, but what I really like doing is building buildings." Although he's signed on for the next "Apprentice," Trump says it's unlikely he'll star in a third edition. "I have to go on with my life," he says. "I'm not gonna be on the show forever. At some point, I'm gonna go off into the wilderness. . . . I really want somebody else to take over my reins and do a good job with it." Someone who has done a good job of keeping viewers glued to "The Apprentice" has been Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, the bitchy contestant everyone loves to hate. Last week, for instance, Omarosa badly botched her assignment as one of Kwame's employees to manage Jessica Simpson's airport travel arrangements. She even lied about her role in that fiasco to Kwame. Still, Trump remains an Omarosa fan. "She's an amazing woman and very smart," he says. But what about Omarosa's claim that fired contestant Ereka Vetrini called her the N-word? Trump doesn't believe it. And neither does Burnett, who says he has no tape of the alleged incident. "How big would my ratings be if I did have that?" he says. "Do you think, knowing me, I wouldn't have put that on TV? Why wouldn't I? It's an awful thing, but it's real television, so awful things are put on." It certainly hasn't been awful for Trump, starring on his own TV show. Well, he admits there are a few minor drawbacks. "If I do anything slightly off like (the reported financial difficulties with his Atlantic City casinos), it becomes a front-page story," he says. "If I wasn't doing the show, that wouldn't have even been a story. But because of the success, (the press) takes a very small thing and builds it up. If I trip going out of my apartment, it ends up being a front-page story. That's the downside of having a big monster like this, but the upside far outweighs the downside."

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