The Apprentice (U.S. TV Series)

The Apprentice (U.S. TV Series)

The Apprentice is an American reality game show hosted by real estate magnate, businessman and television personality Donald Trump. The show is broadcasted on NBC and created by English television producer Mark Burnett. The series is the U.S. version and the original in what is a television show franchise known as The Apprentice. Billed as "The Ultimate Job Interview", the U.S. version stars sixteen to eighteen business people competing in an elimination competition. The prize is a one-year, $250,000 starting contract to run one of Trump's companies. Each episode typically ends with Trump eliminating one of the contestants with the words, "You're fired" (which has become a locution of the program and Trump).

The show first aired in January 2004 and has run for 12 seasons thus far, counting the seasons of its sequel TV series, Celebrity Apprentice. The sequel program consists of seasons 7 onward with the exception of season 10, which reverted back to The Apprentice. Thusly, The Apprentice in and of itself consists of 7 seasons (seasons 1-6; season 10). However, The Apprentice is not seen as having completed its run, but rather continued on through the follow-up series. Celebrity Apprentice entered its 6th season (13th season overall) March 2013.