The Apprentice

(S06E01) I'm not sure I'm sold on The Apprentice moving to Los Angeles. It sounds stupid, but it boils down to little things for me. Things that feel different that I liked about New York. For instance, remember the way a fired contestant would exit New York? Hop into a cab. It's not the same in Los Angeles. A chauffeured towncar service? It just feels weird to me. That's the best way I can describe it. For most of my thoughts on the premiere and this season in general, check out this Early Look post that I wrote a few weeks ago. However, I've watched the episode again and I've got some fresh thoughts after the jump.

The new season of The Apprentice kicks off on NBC tomorrow at 9:30pm, but if you want a sneak peek at the first episode, you can watch the first twenty-four minutes here, courtesy of Yahoo. This is the sixth season of the reality program, and for a change of pace it takes place in Los Angeles, rather than New York City. I've actually been writing to series co-creator and reality TV god Mark Burnett about creating another version of the show in which individuals match skills and wits in order to become an apprentice to a blacksmith. That's how Paul Revere started out, and he turned out pretty good, didn't he? Have you ever heard "Indian Reservation?" That's a great song. He was a hero of the American Revolution, and a great piano player. That's exactly the kind of person Trump would want you to look up to.

You can also read Jonathan's preview of the first episode.

No sense in explaining the premise of this show; we all know what The Apprentice is. It's all about getting ahead, making your mark, and scooping up all that extra money, money, money. So it only makes sense that the sixth installment of the Mark Burnett produced reality series takes place in Los Angeles, a city obsessed with vanity, appearances, and the almighty buck. However, it seems that Burnett and Trump have finally realized that for The Apprentice to ever stand side by side with Burnett's CBS juggernaut (you've probably heard of it, usually takes place on an island), things needs to change. I'm not so sure the transformations this show has gone through were the right ones though.

If, while tending your garden today, you suddenly trip over a rake, fall into a wormhole in the fabric of space and time and wind up in the Maritime Hotel in New York City on June 16, you should stick around because you can bid on a dinner date with Sean Yazbeck, the latest winner of The Apprentice. Tammy Trenta, also a contestant on The Apprentice, has set up the event and charity auction as a means to raise money for the the Theresa Kathryn Foundation, which supports "women and women-based initiatives around the globe." Tickets are $65 dollars, but you'll have to shell out $150 if you want to hang with the cast of The Apprentice beforehand (I don't think that includes Donald Trump, though). In a related auction, if you see me walking around the streets of Minneapolis today and give me a two quarters I'll buy you a Twinkie from the vending machine. That's just the kind of guy I am.