Academic

My confession about "The Celebrity Apprentice"

By Tung Yin

Let me confess that I like "The Celebrity Apprentice."  I like it a lot!  Nothing will ever match the first season, of course (Omarosa!; the Nick and Amy "romance"!; the Bill and Kwame finale), when it was sparkly and new, and every task was original.  But after a while, the novelty wore off and the tasks started to blur together.  I wasn't alone in thinking this, as the ratings dropped off.

But then, NBC -- probably in desperation -- brought it back with a twist: cast teams of celebrities.  This was brilliant!  Seeing celebrities doing the silly tasks has its own kind of perverse reward.  And of course, the celebrities can be cast in part (or even totally) because of their personalities, and more importantly, potential for causing strife.  Bad for their teammates, but enthralling for viewers.  What, why else do you think Omarosa was cast on the first celebrity edition?

The only nagging thing about this celebrity version is that it introduces a kind of moral hazard.  Before, the grand prize was a job with Donald Trump for $250,000 a year.  Therefore, if it came down to firing an enthralling troublemaker versus a boring good worker, Trump would fire the former.  But none of the celebrities is playing for a job with Trump, so he has nothing to lose by keeping the entertaining celebrity.  Indeed, it's his gain, since better ratings mean that his show is more likely to be renewed.

Oh well, I still like it.

Full post as published by The Yin Blog on April 08, 2009 (boomark / email).