If you were pitching a reality show about family business empires with major succession issues, who would you want attached to the project? Okay, Rupert Murdoch isn’t available, pick again. Then Donald Trump, you say? Bingo! You successfully identified one of the executive producers behind Keep It in the Family, a reality format based on a BBC2 show that Vulture hears is currently being pitched to both broadcast and cable networks by Trump Productions and 44 Blue (Split Ends, Pit Bulls and Parolees). The idea: Patriarchs (and matriarchs) of family enterprises try to convince their heirs — who already have successful independent lives — to return to the fold and take control of the business. While the idea might seem more suited to a niche cable channel (maybe even CNBC, which used to air reruns of The Apprentice), one network wag who’s heard the pitch pointed to CBS’s Undercover Boss as an example of a so-called “small idea†that, thanks to good execution, ended up becoming a major hit.
There’s no word yet on whether The Donald himself would appear on Keep It the Family, though we’re having trouble envisioning a world in which he didn’t show up on camera from time to time. The only obstacle we can see is whether he’ll have the time, what with his growing portfolio of TV projects: NBC is in pre-production on another installment of Celebrity Apprentice and has just started filming a revival of the heretofore dormant Original Recipe version of Apprentice. Trump is also producing Trump’s Fabulous World of Golf for (duh!) the Golf Channel, as well as the new Omarosa dating show Ultimate Merger, which premieres tonight on TV One. Good luck convincing Ivanka or Donald Jr. to take over Omarosa, Inc.