'The Apprentice' made Trump a reality TV mogul. Now Amazon is putting it back in the spotlight

More than 2 decades ago, Donald Trump’s world amusement “The Apprentice” became a ratings victor and remade his representation arsenic a palmy concern mogul successful a mode that would yet motorboat him successful the nation’s highest office. The amusement is backmost successful the spotlight, aft Amazon connected Monday announced that the archetypal 7 seasons are coming to its Prime Video streaming service.

It’s the latest illustration of Amazon and enforcement president Jeff Bezos’ clasp of the Trump household media projects. Amazon antecedently signed a woody to merchandise a documentary connected First Lady Melania Trump that volition beryllium shown successful theaters and connected its streaming level aboriginal this year.

Amazon donated $1 cardinal to Trump’s inauguration money and Amazon streamed the lawsuit connected Prime Video, an in-kind donation besides worthy $1 million, according to the Associated Press. Bezos and fiancee Lauren Sanchez were guests.

There is immense assemblage involvement successful Trump, with much than 77 cardinal radical having voted for him successful November. Many supporters, including ardent fans, weren’t aged capable to tune into “The Apprentice” erstwhile it aired connected NBC.

Others whitethorn privation the accidental to rewatch it.

“Clearly 1 tin person the mentation that this is Bezos putting retired different spot of Trump propaganda,” said Robert Thompson, prof of tv and manager of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture astatine Syracuse University. “But determination are a batch of reasons for putting the amusement retired there. It stars the astir celebrated idiosyncratic connected satellite Earth.”

Amazon dropped the archetypal play of the bid Monday and volition merchandise a antithetic play each week for U.S. viewers.

“I look guardant to watching this amusement myself,” Trump said successful a statement. “Such large memories, and truthful overmuch fun, but astir importantly, it was a learning acquisition for each of us!”

‘Money, money, money, money’

The archetypal mentation of the world amusement ran for 7 seasons connected NBC from 2004 to 2010 and became an instant sensation.

The archetypal episode, titled “Meet the Billionaire,” featured the funky “For the Love of Money” by the O’Jays, the show’s taxable opus passim its run. “What if … you could person it all?” the bid asked.

The amusement brought a monolithic American TV assemblage to Trump, the high-flying New York existent property mogul who had been struggling with a drawstring of concern bankruptcy filings. On “The Apprentice,” Trump was depicted arsenic a larger-than-life, wildly palmy and decisive boardroom boss, who ad-libbed what would go the show’s catchphrase, “You’re fired.”

When the archetypal conception waned successful popularity, the amusement was revamped arsenic “The Celebrity Apprentice” successful 2008. Trump hosted that mentation too, until NBC chopped ties with him aft helium announced his statesmanlike tally successful 2015.

The amusement was hugely important to NBC and its then-chief, Jeff Zucker, who astatine the clip was looking to measurement up the network’s world tv crippled pursuing the occurrence of “Survivor” connected CBS and “American Idol” connected Fox. NBC besides was hopeless to find a replacement for its sitcom “Friends,” and “The Apprentice” helped plug the gap.

A ratings coup

During its archetypal season, “The Apprentice” drew 20.7 cardinal viewers implicit 8 episodes, which would extremity up being its most-watched season, according to NBC. The amusement helped substance Trump’s obsession with assemblage sizes and ratings.

“It’s each astir 1 thing: ratings,” Trump reportedly told writer Ramin Setoodeh for his publication “Apprentice successful Wonderland,” which was published past year. “If you person ratings, you tin beryllium the meanest, astir horrible idiosyncratic successful the world.”

Eventually, successful aboriginal seasons and “The Celebrity Apprentice,” Trump was joined successful the boardroom by his 3 oldest children — Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric Trump — which helped crook them into media personalities too.

Omarosa Manigault Newman, a arguable first-season contestant, went connected to go a high-profile Trump advisor astatine the White House earlier she was fired. But Trump was ever the star.

Mark Burnett’s ‘urban jungle’

“The Apprentice” was enforcement produced by Trump and world TV impresario Mark Burnett.

Burnett was the bigger prima erstwhile the amusement debuted. The present 64-year-old erstwhile British paratrooper, who erstwhile hawked T-shirts connected Venice Beach, was searching for a follow-up amusement that would beryllium little physically grueling than his CBS hit, “Survivor.”

“The thought for ‘The Apprentice’ came consecutive from my encephalon portion I was successful the Amazon shooting ‘Survivor 6,’” Burnett told The Times successful 2004. “I was sitting determination successful the jungle with each bug, snake and crocodile, reasoning determination had to beryllium a amended mode to marque a living. That’s erstwhile I started thinking: municipality jungle.”

Burnett and Trump’s tv fortunes became intertwined and their relationship grew. When Trump joined Melania Knauss successful 2005, 1 of Burnett’s sons was the ringing bearer. Although “Survivor” has had greater longevity, this programme was the 1 to assistance mint a president.

“‘The Apprentice’ is 1 of the champion shows that I ever produced,” Burnett said successful a statement. “The charismatic onscreen beingness of President Donald J. Trump made it a bona fide hit!”

Trump recognized Burnett’s skills arsenic a producer, and tapped him to assistance program his 2017 inauguration festivities. Over the years, Trump reportedly earned much than $200 cardinal for his relation successful the show.

In December, Trump named Burnett arsenic peculiar envoy to the United Kingdom.

What was the contention surrounding ‘The Apprentice?’

In the contiguous aftermath of the leak of the infamous “Access Hollywood” video, successful which Trump was heard bragging to then-host Billy Bush astir being capable to grope women due to the fact that helium was a TV star, determination was a firestorm implicit what damaging, candid behind-the-scenes footage mightiness beryllium from “The Apprentice.”

After the Bezos-owned Washington Post published the contents of the 2005 audiotape, erstwhile “Apprentice” shaper Bill Pruitt said successful a societal media station that “there are acold worse” Trump comments caught connected tape. Trump critics, including a typical of Democratic campaigner Hillary Clinton, called for the outtakes to beryllium released.

Former employees were reminded that those who violated their nondisclosure agreements would look fiscal penalties.

How did Amazon get the rights to ‘The Apprentice?’

In 2014, Burnett sold portion of his institution to 1 of Hollywood’s archetypal movie studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The pursuing year, helium sold the remainder of his Mark Burnett Productions to MGM successful a $500-million deal.

Amazon acquired MGM 3 years agone successful a $8.5-billion deal, which gave the tech elephantine a catalog of much than 4,000 movie titles, including the James Bond and “Rocky” franchises, positive specified classics arsenic “The Silence of the Lambs” and, of course, “The Apprentice.”

Burnett exited Amazon successful 2022. Prior to Prime Video, seasons of “The Apprentice” appeared connected streaming work Tubi done a woody signed successful 2019. Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp. bought Tubi the adjacent twelvemonth for $440 million.