the apprentice

[MacGuffin]

NBC 'Hires' Trump for 2nd Season of Reality Show

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Real estate tycoon Donald Trump will be back on NBC with a new group of 16 would-be proteges for a second edition of reality hit "The Apprentice" to debut in the fall, the network said on Thursday.
The show, featuring a group of ambitious, young entrepreneurs vying for a $250,000-a-year dream job as a top executive in Trump's business empire, has proven to be a ratings winner for NBC since its premiere last month.

In its first three Thursday night telecasts, buoyed by a lead-in from NBC powerhouse comedy "Friends," Trump's show has averaged a 9.4 rating among the network's target audience of 18- to 49-year-olds and 19.1 million viewers overall, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Not counting the show's lone Wednesday night outing opposite Fox's hit talent contest "American Idol," "The Apprentice" ranks as the season's No. 3 series in the 18-49 demographic and No. 6 in total viewers. That Wednesday night episode, on Jan. 21, drew a comparatively anemic 6.4 million viewers overall.

"The Apprentice," created by "Survivor" executive producer Mark Burnett, started off pitting two teams of wannabe tycoons divided by gender in a series of projects assigned by Trump to test their salesmanship and street smarts. The losing team is summoned to Trump's board room, and he fires one of its members at the end of each episode.

[cine]

For the love of god...

Trump seeks to trademark 'You're fired!'[/b]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Wendy's asked diners "Where's the beef?", and Nike commanded sports nuts to "Just do it." Now Donald Trump is seeking to trademark another pithy phrase: "You're fired!"

The real-estate mogul and reality TV star has filed a trademark application for the phrase, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site.

Known for his gaudy casinos and unusual mane of copper hair, Trump dismisses underlings on the hit TV show "The Apprentice" with a curt "You're fired."

Trump said he intended to emblazon "You're Fired" on games and casino services, and "You're Fired! Donald J. Trump" on clothing.

Other tyrannical bosses won't have to alter their vocabulary if the application wins approval, a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office official said, as it will only protect those specific uses.

A trademark attorney listed on the application did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The patent office granted 185,000 trademark applications in the last fiscal year. Applications take about a year to process.

Trump might have competition: A search of the PTO's database revealed that three other applications for "You're fired" have been filed.

No applications appear to have been filed for "You're outsourced," however.

The Apprentice runs on the NBC television network.

[Stefen]

I am shocked and awed that trump would even consider that.

[cine]

I am shocked and awed that trump would even consider that.

Why be shocked? It's obviously for marketing purposes.

[©brad]

the you're fired thing is old. like regis w/ all this millionare catch phrases.

i don't know about y'all, but i'm kinda in the mood for a bottle of trump ice.

[Pubrick]

i think the 3rd season ended a few weeks ago over there, but we just saw the finale tonite.

it was so obvious that kendra was gonna win. she's hot, smart, and i kinda spoiled it for myself when i saw the tail end of her appearance on leno last month. i heard tana was insane on conan, so i might download that episode. besides the aftermath, the finale itself was pretty lame. the whole thing coulda been over in 15mins, and at times it seemed like they were striving for that through jarring cuts.

seriously tho, tana "because it was round!" and punching the air like a madwoman. what a loser, literally. well, at least she got booed.

[Kal]

i just met stacie from apprentice 2 last friday in new york... god she is ugly and small