The Apprentice
My complaints about reality television (and there are many, and they are loud, and I shall not repeat them here...well, most of them at least...lest I spend a thousand words ranting about Fox and, well, we'll get to that later in the countdown) have always been tempered with the, pun intended, reality check that it IS possible to create a great series within the genre. Most people would pipe in at this point to champion The Amazing Race, easily the most beloved reality series among the genre's most ardent supporters and many TV critics alike, along with the obvious favorite, the father of reality television, Survivor. I say "bloody hell" to this, particularly the overrated Thursday night abomination CBS has inflicted upon us, and speak of the one jewel of reality TV: the first season of ABC's The Mole, where an interesting and, most importantly, non-annoying cast mixed with a smart premise, interesting contests to raise (or fail to raise) the amount the winner would receive, a great "mole" in the form of underrated reality performer Kathryn Price, and hands-down the greatest reality show host in the genre's brief history, then-ABC News anchor ANDERSON COOPER! to deliver nine episodes of quality intrigue and drama. Note I use the term "quality" to describe a reality program. This is not a common occurrence.
Anyway, The Mole became the show I judge all reality programming against, which, with the "quality" of most reality shows, is tantamount to comparing most Little League teams to the 1998 New York Yankees. No show delivered as good of a combination of cool, kitsch and suspense that ABC's 2001 midseason replacement did. The idea that any network could match the program, especially with the hot reality trend being sappy relationship shows and gross-out affairs, was ridiculous. Especially some new NBC show that was, essentially, Donald Trump meets Survivor. Yuck.
Number 7: The ApprenticeAt first, the mere thought that NBC would dare drag the reality monster onto the sacred ground of Thursday Night was chilling. How long would it take for the timeslots once filled by Cheers, The Cosby Show, Hill Street Blues, Mad About You, Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld and ER to be replaced by "Who Wants to Marry My Cow?" Yes, it was Mark Burnett steering this ship, meaning that the program would probably not emulate the more demeaning fare NBC was specializing in at this point (and still do to this day for the most part) like Fear Factor. Still, just because someone is not a dirty, unadulterated sleaze merchant does not put that person in the same category as David E. Kelley. Survivor and The Restaurant, Burnett's other reality fare, were acceptably dull rather than an outright offensive to the idea of television, but they still delivered very little in the way of relevant entertainment. Given that NBC flatly refused to give quality shows such as Scrubs a chance to succeed (what kind of message does it send when you yank a show EVERY sweeps month?) bringing reality to Thursday seemed to be throwing in the towel.
This was no mere reality show, though. This was larger-than-life Donald Trump showing exactly why putting his name on a building forces property value to skyrocket. The combination of the real estate mogul with the King of Reality Television proved to be an amazing combination that, coupled with the well-cast group of players, halfway interesting tasks and photogenic New York locations, elevated The Apprentice well past expectations.
Burnett was smart enough to carry the production values of Survivor over to his new show, which utilized stunning New York cityscapes to give the show the look of a titan. While the locations of Survivor's beaches and tribal councils look no more impressive than a Hollywood backlot, the reality of the streets of New York, aided by sweeping, grandiose camera shots and a John Williams-inspired score brought a feeling of importance to the show. Even the opening title sequence, with its shots of the city and Trump gliding out of his limo, his offhand, disinterested stare as he peered to the right reminding us how we were inferior to him, delivered the message that this show was cool redefined; who were we to dare ignore it?
The cast did not disappoint, either, nor did the makeup of contestants and their subsequent eliminations seem too manipulated to be taken seriously. Sam, the kook that everyone tuned in early on to marvel at, was gone after just three episodes; rather than drawing him out as a novelty, Trump and/or Burnett tossed him before the act got old. Omarosa too only saw duty for half of the show's run, although she returned as part of the final eight that participated in the final projects. Rather, the eliminations went logically, leaving us with the two contestants who were clearly the most qualified and probably the most liked, setting virtually no one up for disappointment (except for the cheesy finale on the SNL set that took "hokey" to a new dimension)
Smartest of all the innovations of The Apprentice was Burnett's isolation of the contestants' fate to the big man himself. Rather than voting by the fellow cast members, by the public, or by decision of one player, it was Trump, both host and producer of the program, who cast off the terminated, avoiding sticky conflicts such as the current debate over American Idol's voting system and heightening the drama, as alliances and backstabbing did very little to effect the outcome: the result was out of the hands of the players.
Whether or not The Apprentice can teach anyone a single lesson in business is irrelevant; the program was good drama, decent comedy at times, and, well, simply cool as hell to watch. Every week it was a hoot and a half to find out exactly what our group of interesting contestants would be forced to do, and then guess how someone, probably Omarosa, would eventually screw it up. The show dragged at points, especially the extended episode midway through the season where we waited about a half-hour waiting for Trump to make his decision. During the high points, though, viewers could enjoy armchair quarterbacking the projects and predicting exactly what Trump would have to say...and who he would fire. It's hard to say whether the magic can be captured and bottled again; this, like the first season of The Mole, was a hard-to-achieve combination of an original idea, cool locations, an awesome host, and, most importantly, a cast with the perfect balance of people we wanted to kill and people we wanted to be. With spoilers being leaked as we speak that describe the second season cast as a group of over-qualified camera hogs, I don't know if the next edition of The Apprentice will find its way onto a list like this one year from now. Then again, no one really expected the first season to be so damn cool, and at this point does anyone really want to bet against the Donald?