We name six potential ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ – Donald Trump replacements
Has it been confirmed entirely that Donald Trump is leaving “The Celebrity Apprentice“? Surprisingly, this is a matter that seems to be at least reasonably open to interpretation. We have read stories throughout the day insinuating that NBC’s statement regarding them continuing to work with Mark Burnett on the show as some sort of subversive way of saying that he could return; meanwhile, others (us included) feel like he is a goner.
We do want to get out in front of this story first and foremost by saying that under no circumstances should this franchise end. It is tremendous television, it fared decently in the ratings for NBC, and it also actually seems to do more for relaunching star careers than most other shows. Sure, Piers Morgan and Arsenio Hall’s shows eventually fell apart, but at least they went on to have shows for a time. Meanwhile, it helped to catapult the late Joan Rivers for a while, and John Rich landed a variety of other TV gigs after appearing.
What we wanted to do with this article is come up with a somewhat-serious list of possible replacements (at least four of them are serious, anyway), should NBC opt to bring this show back within the next year or two. We admit that Trump’s job is difficult; he made so many decisions in completely arbitrary fashion (a la eliminating Maria Kanellis over bathroom humor, or Bret Michaels for deciding to be an all-star), and yet did so with the conviction of a man whose life depending on it.
Steve Ballmer – The owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and former Microsoft executive may be the right combination of extremely rich and also extremely over-the-top for this show. Granted, what in the world is the incentive for him to try to go through with doing something like this at this point in his career?
Ivanka Trump – Hey, people have wanted to see her in the role for years. She understands the inherent silliness of the competition, but does still come across as rational and smart. Once again, though, we don’t see her doing business with a network that just cut bait on her father, and he is consequently planning to sue them.
Kevin O’Leary – Hey, Mark Burnett produces both “The Celebrity Apprentice” and “Shark Tank.” It’s probably unlikely thanks to them being rival networks, but could “you’re dead to me” replace “you’re fired” as the slogan? Plus, who doesn’t love Mr. Wonderful? Just don’t mention his “Celebrity Jeopardy!” performance in the boardroom…
Roger Goodell – The kangaroo court that is this show sometimes isn’t that far away from how the NFL doles out suspensions these days. Zing!
Brian Williams – Hey, doesn’t he need a job in NBCUniversal?
Martha Stewart – Call us crazy, but maybe it didn’t work the first time just because you didn’t have celebrities. At this point, we feel like the works mostly because of the format more so than the host. You can keep mostly everything, and then just stick Martha in front of it all.
For more serious coverage of Trump’s departure, you can read his statement on leaving NBC over at the link here. Meanwhile, be sure to sign up if you are so interested in other news on all we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)