While we generally loathe celebrity-flavored reality shows — prolonged exposure to desperate fame whores tends to make us break out in hives — there’s something about Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice franchise that appeals to us. We think it has a lot to do with the way that this program gets cast: Rather than recruiting a bunch of celebrities who think the universe revolves around them, (nearly) everyone who appears on this show does so with the understanding that the universe revolves around Donald Trump and his progeny. The manner in which the cast members revere (and fear!) Trump has made for an interesting dynamic in each of the show’s first two seasons, and now NBC has released the names of the C-Listers who will be appearing on the latest installment of the program.
Leading the pack is disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who was thisclose to appearing on NBC’s ill-fated I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here reboot before discovering that he couldn’t leave the country without risking arrest. However, since this program taped right here in New York City, Blago will be able to pad his pocketbook with some of the Peacock’s money after all. Other celebs who are lined up include Sharon Osbourne (she must’ve had an appearance written into her America’s Got Talent contract), Bret Michaels (hopefully sans wig!), Cyndi Lauper, Holly Robinson Peete, Selita Ebanks, Maria Kanellis, Carol Leifer, Summer Sanders, Darryl Strawberry (!), Goldberg, Michael Johnson, Sinbad, and Curtis Stone. We’ll gladly admit that we have never heard of a few of those people, but don’t worry, America: Another one of the great things about this program is that Trump always kicks the least famous celebrities off the show first, regardless of how well they perform their tasks.
NBC announces new ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ lineup [USA Today]