The Apprentice - The Complete First Season
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Donald Trump, Heidi Bressler, Jason Curis, Jessie Connors, Katrina CampinsBrand: Universal Studios
Producer: Aimee Kramer
Producer: Al Berman
Producer: Alexis Fish
Producer: Anneli Gericke
Producer: Ariana Squar
Producer: Bill Pruitt
Producer: Bruce Kennedy
Writer: Mark Burnett
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 720 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Box set; Color; Dolby; DVD; Full Screen; Subtitled; NTSC
Movie Reviews of The Apprentice - The Complete First Season
Movie Review: Learning about business and having fun
Summary: 5 Stars
The producers of The Apprentice used the same successful formula of reality television well learned by MTV in The Real World. The only thing necessary for a successful reality TV show is a concept that draws people to the first episode and a cast that is sure to develop engaging conflicts. The formula boils down to making sure things will not run smoothly - enough diversity (or token individuals who are not white) to create racial tension, coed interaction to create sexual tension and a few unbalanced people that tick everyone off. The Real World works and has always worked by these rules, and The Apprentice was not ashamed to adopt the same tactic.
The first season definitely had all the elements: Omarosa served double duty as general evil witch and race card, Sam was kept on just long enough to make everyone crazy and Amy was just too cute for the men to not fawn over. The new season is shaping to be no less formulaic, and if the plan does not pan out, ratings are sure to decline. The Omarosa of season two seems to be Stacie J., albeit a version with less method to her madness. This time a new kind of conflict has arisen - that of experience against youth, or as manifest in the first episode, Patricia against Andy.
This is where the game starts to hit closer to home. Season one had Kwame Jackson, an HBS and Goldman Sachs alum who represented the polished educated businessman, almost irreproachable in every way. He made it to the final pair and was the last contestant to be fired. Among the new crop of recruits HBS, HLS and the college are represented. Alum of HBS are business perfect in their pressed shirts, HLSers are talented tightlipped and ruthless (conventionally speaking) and FASers are brilliant, of course.
Andy Litinsky '04 had the good fortune of making it onto the second season of The Apprentice while still a senior, so now the world knows him not only as a recent Harvard graduate, but a brilliant one as well. Despite his gargantuan brain, everyone seems to think he's too young for the apprenticeship, even the Donald himself. His status as the picked on genius baby has helped him win a good portion of camera time, including a long stretch in the boardroom. But isn't that what the benefit of The Apprentice is anyway - nationwide exposure.
Celebrity has an incredible draw as Andy Litinsky and his fellow Apprentice contestants know full well. It didn't take long to realize that the celebrity of the first season's cast would bring them profit in addition to gratification. The degree of profit from the celebrity of those who had ample airtime is such that the actual prize of the Apprenticeship fades in comparison. Already Bill Rancic, the winner of the first season, has released a book of business advice entitled "You're hired!" How to succeed in business and life, has signed on as spokesperson for the financial services company Advanta and has speaking engagements in addition to his appearances on late night television. As for the Apprenticeship he fought so ardently to obtain - supervising the construction of a high-rise in Chicago. By the time the term of his Apprenticeship expires the foundation of the building might be complete, and meanwhile he's learning the ins and outs of construction. So did the Donald need Bill Rancic, or an Apprentice at all? It seems unlikely; what the he needed more was the success and profit this reality venture brought him.
Runner-up Kwame Jackson fared well also. The investment banker has turned real estate developer and has signed his new company Legacy Development LLC on for a 3 billion dollar real estate project near Washington, D.C. Even Ereka Vetrini, the eighth to be fired on season one, now has her own show on the Style Network. The possibilities for the newly minted stars seem limitless.
Is it possible that the millions of people who tried out for season two or the 18 who made it onto the show all adore Donald Trump and have an interest in his line of work (and think his gilded apartment is the best in New York)? The answer is clearly no. The name of the game is fawning over the boss man until you can achieve the same status, and all sorts of professionals are joining in - lawyers and models among others.
It all sounds like recruiting - in the spotlight. Recruiting and the business world also sell a lifestyle, or at least the prospect of one in the future. Just as contestants of The Apprentice flock from every discipline in search of the glamour and riches success in business will bring, seniors this fall will too flock to presentations and interviews enticed by similar (but perhaps more moderate) possibilities. Hopefully this set of aspiring apprentices will not feel the need, as one new Apprentice contestant does, to watch and follow Donald Trump as he eats.
Summary of The Apprentice - The Complete First Season
APPRENTICE:COMPLETE FIRST SEASON - DVD MovieWho'd have predicted The Apprentice would become such a hit? (Donald Trump aside.) And not just any hit, but one of the top-rated programs of the 2004 television season. A number of reality shows had crashed and burned before The Apprentice made its debut. Just as it was starting to seem as if the heyday of the non-scripted program was coming to an end--not counting American Idol--NBC's entrant into an overcrowded field was as an out-of-the-gate, must-see phenomenon.
The concept is simple. Real estate magnate Trump selects 16 players from business applicants across the nation. The grand prize? A $250,000-a-year job running one of his companies. As in producer Mark Burnett's Survivor, the contestants are then sent to an island--the island of Manhattan. In the first episode, they're introduced, then divided into two teams: the men (Versacorp) versus the women (Protégé). From this point on, they will compete in a variety of business-related challenges. The parallels to Survivor are clear, but brains will be more important than brawn--although charisma never hurts. The challenges include selling a product, managing a restaurant, and devising an advertising campaign.
At the end of each episode, the losing team is sent to the boardroom, where they meet with Trump and advisors Carolyn and George. The person considered most responsible for the loss gets to hear the immortal words: "You're fired." Although there can only be one winner, several stars would emerge during the first season: unctuous Sam, plainspoken Nick, sassy Heidi, and abrasive Omarosa. Various celebrities would also make guest appearances, such as Isaac Mizrahi, Regis Philbin, and Jessica Simpson. The success of The Apprentice would inspire a second season, as well as a host of imitators and spoofs, like Billionaire with Richard Branson and The Assistant with Andy Dick. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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