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The Apprentice

Donald Trump had made a name for himself in the financial world, but he became a celebrity of pop culture status when his reality show, The Apprentice, premiered on NBC in 2004.

The premise of the show is that a group of contestants via for a job with Trump. The job starts at one year and has a big six-figure salary ($250,000). Contestants are chosen from different backgrounds in business such as real estate, management, sales, and marketing. All the contestants live in the same suite at Trump Towers in Manhattan while on the show as a way to build relationships between them. Each week, teams choose a project manager and are assigned a task to complete. The winning team receives a reward while the losing team must face Donald Trump in a boardroom with a jury (usually Carolyn Kepcher and George H. Ross, associates of Trump) that will decide which team member failed the team and will leave the show. This is where his famous "You're fired!" catchphrase comes in to play.

The elimination process is actually carried out in two phases. After the lose, the project manager must select up to three team members he or she felt was most responsible for the team's loss. At that point, the team members not chosen are dismissed and the project manager and chosen team members must face Trump and his jury. On occasion, Trump has fired the project manager and the team members brought to the boardroom on the spot.

Executives from various companies interview the final two candidates. The executives then report to Trump, who makes the final call as to who is hired as the new apprentice.

Season 1

The first season of The Apprentice saw the contestants divided up into two corporations. The men named their company "Versacorp" while the women named their company "Protege Corporation".

The final two contestants were Kwame Jackson and Bill Bancic. Kwame was fired for accidentally meeting with contestants of the Miss Universe pagent. He was prohibited from this, as he was to be a judge.

Season 2

Season 2 featured two more contestant than season 1 (18). There was a new rule implemented during this season that required teams to switch members (mixing the sexes). The predominantly male team was called "Mosaic Corporation" while the predominantly female team was "Apex Corporation".

This season came down to a male and female finalist - Kelly Perdew and Jennifer Massey. Kelly won the competition in part due to fights Jennifer had had with other contestants over the course of the season.

Season 3

This season, the contestants consisted of two groups of nine. One group was all college graduates - the book smarts team. The other team had no college degree - the street smarts team. There were five men and four women on the book smarts team while there were four men and five women on the street smarts team. This season saw two women make it to the final two, with Kendra Todd winning over Tana Goertz. Goertz was not chosen for making disparaging remarks to team members. She said that she was naive to think Trump would hire someone with street smarts. Kendra graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics from the University of Florida. Kendra was not only the first female contestant to win, but also the youngest.

Season 4

This season, Trump held auditions for the show and handpicked 17 of the 18 candidates. He also returned to the "battle of the sexes" format with the women naming their team "Capital Edge" and the men naming their team "Excel".

This season, it came down to Rebecca Jarvis and Randal Pinkett, with Trump ultimately hiring Pinkett. He did however; ask Pinkett if he should also hire Jarvis. Pinkett replied it was THE Apprentice and Trump agreed. Pinkett's response caused heated debates over whether Trump had planned to hire both.

Season 5

In season 5, Donald's children Ivanka and Donald Jr. joined him in the boardroom as part of the jury when George and Carolyn were not available. The two finalists were Leo Bienstock and Sean Yazbeck. Yazbeck was hired as the apprentice in part because the audience chose him overwhelmingly in the opinion poll. Sean would oversee the Trump International Hotel and Tower as his apprenticeship.

A spin-off called The Apprentice: Martha Stewart aired in fall of 2005, but after poor ratings, was not renewed.

Season 5 Candidates

Allie: A medial sales manager working for a Fortune 500 company. She has an MBA from Harvard Business and during college was a varsity cheerleader.
Andrea: A self-made millionaire, Andrea is the CEO of five unique and distinctive companies.
Brent: A lawyer, born and raised in Canada but now living in Florida.
Bryce: Co-owner and founder of a high end residential building company.
Charmaine: An area manager for a Fortune 500 company in warranty and risk management consulting.
Dan: An entrepreneur. He is the founder of an active wear clothing line found in boutiques and department stores.
Lee: An analyst for a large international business/consulting firm. Currently resides in New York City.
Lenny: Born in Russia, and served in the Soviet Army for two years. Came to the USA not knowing any English and worked his way to owning his own medical trading company and getting his stockbroker's license.
Leslie: A multi-million dollar realtor in Boca Raton, FL. Was also a Division 1 volleyball player.
Michael: A mergers and acquisitions consultant for a large professional services firm.
Pepi: An attorney and a graduate of Columbia School of Law.
Roxanne: An attorney. Also a Certified Jazzercise instructor who teaches three classes a week.
Sean: Born in England. Now works as Director of Business Development for a recruitment consultancy firm. Lives in Miami.
Stacy: A criminal defense attorney. She is also a legal commentator on CNN and Court TV.
Summer: Owner of a restaurant in Huntington Beach, CA.
Tammy: Vice President of a major Beverly Hills investment firm. Founder of a company that designs briefcases for women.
Tarek: Member of MENSA. He is a Global Product Marketing Manager at a Fortune 500 company.
Theresa: A Psychotherapist who also has a Real Estate license.

Blogged during Season 5 of The Apprentice

Starting Candidates for Season 5
Summer is First to be Fired on the Apprentice
Trump fires Pepe and Stacy
Theresa is Fired
Trump fires Brent
Dan is Fired on the Apprentice
Andrea is fired by Donald Trump
Trump fires Roxanne and Allie
Lee and Seans Final Task on the Apprentice
Sean Yazbeck is Hired

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Posted: 15 Apr 2007
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Posted: 9 Apr 2007
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Posted: 1 Apr 2007
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