NBC has announced a celebrity edition of The Apprentice to air next season. That is not the scary part of this post. The scary part, as James Hibberd reports at TV Week, is that new NBC chief Ben Silverman wants to recruit actors from The Office to compete in the show–thereby not only unnecessarily extending the life of a past-its-prime reality show but, if he’s really lucky, getting viewers to associate its desperation and cheesiness with the network’s best comedy. Melora Hardin, do not call your agent.
The one thing that could make this edition interesting, I suppose, is to cast it with actual celebrity entrepreneurs, i.e., those celebs who one day up and decide to, ahem, “design” a line of clothing or “run” a restaurant as a sideline. But assuming the show is not going to attract J. Lo- or Britney-level celebs–or someone like Paul Newman, who would mop up the floor with all those whippersnappers–I’m guessing we’re looking at a lineup of supporting cast members from Las Vegas, plus Dustin Diamond, whom I pick to win the whole thing even though there isn’t a cast yet.
Where does Celebrity Apprentice fit in the hierarchy of star reality shows anyway? Below Celebrity Fit Club? Above The Surreal Life?
[Update: Oh, that joke headline? Perhaps not so much of a joke.]
