'Celebrity Apprentice' Stays on the Job

Zap2It.com | January 29, 2008

'The Celebrity Apprentice'

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NBC orders second season for January '09

For keeping the network's Thursday night afloat during the writers' strike, NBC has rewarded "The Celebrity Apprentice" with another season.

The network says a second season of the show, in which a group of somewhat famous people perform business-related tasks under the eye of Donald Trump, will debut in January 2009. Meanwhile, the current season will come to an end with a live finale on Thursday, March 27.

"We are blown away by the cast's drive, energy, and passion to not only play the game but also to raise a lot of money and awareness for important causes," says Craig Plestis, NBC's head of alternative programming. "There's no other show like it to prove your business brain and we are already getting calls from high-profile celebrities who want to challenge themselves in season two."

The current edition of the show is drawing about 9.3 million viewers per week and a 3.9 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic. Both are improvements over the show's last installment (8.2 million, 3.4 on Sunday nights last year), and the demographic numbers are close to those of the shows it replaced on Thursday nights: "The Office" averaged a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49 over its 12 half-hours in the fall, while "Scrubs" pulled in a 3.3 over seven broadcasts.

The March 27 finale will feature the completion of the show's final task, the announcement of the total amount the 16 participants raised for charity and Trump's "hiring" of the winner -- which will mean a $250,000 check to the charity of the winning player's choice.