Celebrity Apprentice

Falling Ratings

Most people know that Bill Rancic got the job at the end of the show's freshman season. That year, The Apprentice estimated around 21 million viewers. As TV shows age, especially reality shows, it is expected that the number of viewers will drop. For The Apprentice, the number of viewers from season one to season six dropped by an estimated 14 million viewers, proving that people tired of seeing the same thing over and over. With that in mind, it seems that Trump has given the next installment of the show a face-lift. Instead of featuring business men and women from around the country, the show's new contestants are celebrities and its new moniker is, naturally, Celebrity Apprentice.

The premise of the show is the same -- contestants compete in business related tasks to win Trump's favor. This time though, the contestants are celebrities and the prize of the $250,000 a year salaried job is instead a $250,000 gift to charity for the winning celebrity. So who are the celebrities that will be vying for a quarter-of-a-million-dollar charity gift? Some are well known and some, well, not so much.

Celebrity Apprentice: The Contestants

Vincent Pastore

Trace Adkins

There will be a total of 14 contestants on Celebrity Apprentice -- no doubt split into teams of two. Here's the rundown:

• Trace Adkins – The man that introduced the world to "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" will be appearing on the show.
• Gene Simmons – The legendary KISS front man actually has been in the business world for many years. Simmons is no stranger to reality television either -- he and his family are the stars of A&E's Gene Simmons: Family Jewels.
• Marilu Henner – Best known for her role as Elaine O'Connor-Nardo on the 1980's sitcom Taxi, which ran from 1978-1983.
• Lennox Lewis – Will this former boxing heavyweight be as equally formidable in the business arena?
• Stephen Baldwin – This is not the first foray into reality television for the youngest of the Baldwin brothers. Stephen has appeared on Celebrity Mole, Celebrity Mole Yucatan and Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge.

• Vincent Pastore – His real name may not ring a bell, but this Soprano's star had an unfortunate and unforgettable nickname on the HBO mob drama.
• Nely Galan – Galan was the former life-coach on the now extinct makeover series The Swan.
• Nadia Comaneci – This Olympic gymnast is known around the world for being the first person to earn a perfect score of 10 in any Olympic gymnastic event. She was only 14 at the time.
• Tiffany Fallon – Playboy magazine's 2005 "Playmate of the Year" is set to join the cast of Celebrity Apprentice.
• Jennie Finch – Olympic softball player Jennie Finch lead the U.S. Softball team to victory gold in 2004.
• Piers Morgan – This newspaper journalist turned editor of Great Britain's Daily Mirror and News of the World left the printed word for television a few years back and is best know in the States as a judge on America's Got Talent.
• Tito Ortiz – This Ultimate Fighting champion is throwing his gloves into the "Celebrity Apprentice ring.
• Carol Alt – This former model-turned-business woman is often referred to by many as the world's first supermodel. No word on how Janice Dickinson feels about this challenge to her self-proclaimed title as the world's first supermodel.
• Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth – Most everybody wishes they could forget Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, but just like a stubborn weed in your garden, she just won't go away. She has appeared on several reality shows since her stint on the first season of The Apprentice including: The Surreal Life, I Love New York, and Fear Factor.

Good Intentions Don't Guarantee Great Ratings

Carol Alt

Trump has great intentions with this latest celebrity version of The Apprentice, but are good intentions enough to get people interested in the show again? Sure, in the end, someone will be declared the winner and an enormous $250,000 donation will be made to his or her favorite charity, but will the participants take the challenges seriously? Not that these celebrities don't want to help contribute to the greater good of society by donating their time on the show, because they wouldn't be on the show if they didn't care…it's just really hard to believe that their intentions are purely altruistic. After all, publicity is publicity.

At the same time, charities are always in constant need of donations and however they receive those donations--even it is from a reality television show, doesn't really matter because in the end, that quarter-of-a-million dollars will work to benefit many.