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The Apprentice (franchise)

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For other uses, see The Apprentice (disambiguation).
The Apprentice
GenreReality Show
Created byMark Burnett
Production
Executive producersDonald J. Trump, Mark Burnett
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseJanuary 8, 2004 –
Present

The Apprentice is a television franchise that originated in 2004 in the United States. As originally conceived, the show depicted 16 contestants from around the country with various backgrounds competing in an elimination-style competition to become an apprentice to Donald Trump. They would have the opportunity to work for him as the president of one of his companies for at least one year with an annual salary of $250,000. The Apprentice was developed by Mark Burnett, who successfully brought Survivor to the US. Since its premiere, the show has spawned many licensed international versions as well as several imitations. The show popularized the catch phrase, "You're Fired!"

Original series

Main article: The Apprentice (US TV Series)

The Apprentice is a reality television show that originated in the United States on NBC. Billed as "The Ultimate Job Interview," the show depicted a group of 15-18 businessmen and -women competing in an elimination-style competition for a one-year, $250,000 job of running one of host and executive producer Donald Trump's companies.

The first season aired during winter and spring of 2004. The Apprentice is produced by Mark Burnett and real estate magnate Donald Trump, who hosted the show. The premise of the show is to conduct a job talent search for a person to head one of Trump's companies. The position starts with an introductory one-year contract with a starting yearly salary at six figures ($250,000 USD to be exact, roughly about $4807.70 USD per week assuming a 52-week work-year). The show led Trump to become known for his fateful catch phrase, "You're Fired!", coined by Texas architecture student Scott Stewart. The contestants live communally in a suite at Trump Tower in New York City and the boardroom showdown is with Trump and two of his associates (usually Carolyn Kepcher, Former 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). Season 6 saw the show move to Los Angeles. On May 14, 2007 NBC announced the show was not on its fall 2007 schedule, but that a decision to cancel or renew it had not yet been made. On May 19, 2007, Trump announced that he was "moving on from 'The Apprentice'", effectively ending the series. However, on May 22, NBC responded by saying Trump still has a year left on his contract. It was finally officially announced on July 16, 2007 that NBC renewed the show for mid-season as a special Celebrity Edition.

Other English-speaking versions

South Africa

The South African version that aired on SABC3 is hosted by Tokyo Sexwale, a mining magnate. During the live finale September 22, Mr. Sexwale hired the final two -- Zanele Batyashe, 24, and Khomotso Choma, 34, which not only elicited anger from viewers, but also resulted in complaints across the country after the announcement was made. Later, US Series 4 winner Randal Pinkett recommended Trump not do so in the finale (See US Series 4) after he pondered hiring the runner-up, something which may have been inspired by this incident. The catch phrase Tokyo Sexwale used was "You're dismissed!" [1], [2]

United Kingdom

Main article: The Apprentice (UK)

Sir Alan Sugar, founder of electronics company Amstrad, hosts the show The Apprentice in the United Kingdom. He ranks 71st on The Sunday Times Rich List 2006 list of richest people in Great Britain, with an estimated worth of around £830m. His catchphrase is "You're fired". Unlike the US version, the show also has an unseen narrator, Mark Halliley. The show started on 16 February 2005 on BBC Two, with the final episode of the first series shown on 4 May 2005. Tim Campbell, a former transport manager for the London Underground, was ultimately hired on May 4, 2005, and as a result, landed a position at Amstrad with an introductory contract of 1 year with a salary exceeding £100,000. Saira Khan was fired on the season finale[1] but has used the show to help launch a media career, including a regular column on the BBC Apprentice website and presenter of the enterprise show Beat the Boss on CBBC.

Series 2 of The Apprentice UK began on Wednesday 22 February 2006, with the winner being Michelle Dewberry, chosen over Ruth Badger.[2]

Series 3 of The Apprentice UK began on Wednesday 28 March 2007 on mainstream BBC One channel instead of BBC Two because of the high ratings of Series 2. The series has hit a new ratings high for The Apprentice in the UK. The winner of this series was Simon Ambrose who was chosen over Kristina Grimes.[3]

A spin off show The Apprentice, You're Fired presented by Adrian Chiles is shown on BBC Two straight after the BBC One show. The 30 minute programme has a studio audience and interview with the fired apprentice, and Sir Alan usually appears in the final episode of each series.

The RTL Group holds international licence rights for the show worldwide, and the show is produced by RTL's Talkback Thames. The UK opening theme is Dance of the Knights from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, with the Boardroom music provided by UK artist Dru Masters.

The BBC has also screened series 1, 2 and 3 of the US version (as of autumn 2006), the show is being broadcast some considerable time after the original US airing, and in the graveyard slot (11pm onwards).

Non-English language versions

Belgium

In Belgium, VT4 broadcasted 'De Topmanager' on March 1, 2006. Rob Heyvaert from Capco hired Claudia Schiepers from 16 candidates.

Brazil

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 broadcasting 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 November, 2006 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 show is currently in its fourth season, with the name "Aprendiz 4 - O Sócio" (Apprentice 4 - The Partner).

The final two were Denis and Vivianne. On the last task both of them had to organize two charity auctions. Vivianne got 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 U.S. 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 Mercedes-Benz A-Class. He also showed her in which of his enterprises she would work on her new 250,000 Reais (about US$ 100,000 at that time) yearly job.

Due to success of this show, Brazilians producers started a new format: Apprentice - The Partner. The winner of this season will earn 1 million reals (about US$ 500,000) to start a company with Justus. Brazil is the first country to test this "partner-style". On the 28th June final, Roberto Justus had to choose between Mariana Reis and Tiago to be his new partner. Tiago won the last task and will begin a wash dry car business.

China

Has had a version airing on CCTV since 2006. Chinese name "创智赢家".

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). The show's catchphrase is "Estás despedido!" (You're fired!).

Denmark

Hosted by Klaus Riskaer Pedersen in the Danish version. Pedersen's catchphrase is "Du er fyret" ("you're fired"). Louise Holm was hired at the end of the first season.

Estonia

The Estonian version called "Mantlipärija" will be hosted by Armin Karu, the owner of the Olympic Entertainment Group (casinos & hotel chains). It will be shown on TV3 starting at the fall of 2007.

Finland

Former talk show host and current consulting firm owner Jari Sarasvuo hosted the Finnish version on MTV3, called Diili (slang term for "deal"). The Finnish catchphrase is "Olet vapautettu", or "You're free to leave". Olli Rikala was the winner of the first season, although his competitor in the final was also hired, as well three of the other competitors.

Currently there are no plans for a second season.

Germany

In the fall of 2004, German TV station RTL aired an adaptation 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". Carmen Dohmen was hired at the end of the first season and Sandra Trögl wound up getting fired at the end of the first season.

In September 2004 aired an adaptation of The Apprentice on German television called "Hire or Fire", produced and starred by John de Mol, on ProSieben. But the show was cancelled after only one episode due to low ratings.

Greece

Publishing tycoon Petros Kostopoulos hosted the Greek version, where the catchphrase was "Efiges", which is slang for "you're out." Thanos Marinis was hired at the end of the game, while Nikolaos Bartzoulianos lost in the final stage presenting a controversial public speech about "the severeness of being yourself in business". According to the "Boss", Nikolaos Bartzoulianos could be "closer to show-biz than real-biz." Contrary to other nations where the show has been licenced or imitated, the reaction of the Greek television audiences can be considered lukewarm at best and the show didn't catch on, unlike other reality series. It was cancelled after one season and managed only very low ratings.

India

Cyrus Sahukar is the host of the Indian version, called Business Baazigar, which literally translates to Business Tycoon. It was seen on Sunday evenings and early Monday mornings on Zee TV. Irfan is the winner of the first season of Business Baazigar. The phrase 'you are fired' was subtly substituted by handing out air tickets for the candidates who were eliminated.

Indonesia

Media mogul Peter Gontha is the host. The show, the first Apprentice spin-off in Asia, started on October 3, 2005, and aired every Monday on 21.30 Western Indonesian Time (GMT +7) on the television station Indosiar. According to the show's official website, the apprentice winner, a 29-year old male whose name is Fendi Gunawan Liem, will be earning a salary of 600 million Rupiahs, equivalent to about USD 66,000. The catchphrase is "Anda saya pecat", or "you are fired". The direct translation means, "You are fired".

The Netherlands

High-profile barrister Bram Moszkowicz offered a highly 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.

Eventually Nienke Hoogervorst won out.

Norway

Produced for network TVNORGE, this was notable for being the first Apprentice spinoff in Europe. It is also notable for having the first female host-- Hairdressing mogul Inger Ellen Nicolaisen hosted the first season of the Norwegian version. The show is titled Kandidaten (The Candidate), and the catchphrase is "Du har sparken" ("you're fired").

Pan-Arab

Real estate tycoon Mohamed Ali Allabar hosts the Arabic version from Dubai called " el idara jadara". The show hasn't started yet on LBC Lebanon.

Russia

In Russia the show is called "Candidate" (Template:Lang-ru) and is broadcast on the TNT channel. The first season in 2005 was hosted by restaurant tycoon Arkady Novikov, and the winner was hired as the CEO for one of Novikov's companies. The second season in late summer of 2006 was hosted by the mining, banking and property tycoon Vladimir Potanin. As of January 2007, Potanin's personal wealth is estimated to be $14.2 billion (roughly 369 billion rubles) [3], which makes him the richest host of any version of the show so far. The catchphrase is "Вы уволены", or "you are fired".

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 raus" ("You are out"). Martin was ultimately hired at the end of the first season.

Turkey

Turkey's version is hosted by one of that country's most successful businessmen, Tuncay Özilhan the CEO of Anadolu Group. The show is titled Cırak (The Apprentice), and the catchphrase is "Seninle çalışmak istemiyorum!" ("I do not want to work with you"). Ahmet Isik was the winner of the first season.

The Games

Legacy Interactive has created two casual computer game versions of the show. The most popular of these, The Apprentice Los Angeles, was released in April 2007, and appeared in Target stores in May.

Similar programs

References

  1. ^ "Transport manager wins Apprentice". BBC News. 2005-05-04.
  2. ^ "Sir Alan's apprentice... is hired". BBC Breakfast. 2006-05-11.
  3. ^ "Simon named The Apprentice winner". BBC News. 14-06-2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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