The Apprentice

January 24, 2004

Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime. The popular saying would be a good way to describe the grand prize for the winner of The Apprentice, NBC’s latest reality-TV show co-produced by the king of gaudiness, New York City’s real estate tycoon Donald Trump.

I have never been a fan of reality TV, or at least the contest kind. I have always found the genre to be nothing more than a glorified soap with the only apparent requirement being, good looking cast members, often shallow and with abrasive personalities. This week however I found myself glued to the television watching The Apprentice, a show in which a group of 16 eager and ambitious contestants compete for one spot to work for Donald Trump for a year as president of one of his companies, an extended job interview if you will.

If you think about it, if properly taken advantage of, a year working under the wing of Donald Trump is much more valuable than a one-time cash reward. Rewards aside, the real appeal of the show is in a way about its connection to the pursuit of a deeply held and cherished American notion; the self-making of one-self.