If Donald Trump and Mark Burnett's aim in putting together the fourth 'Celebrity Apprentice' cast was to up the show's profile, then they've done a great job of it.

The cast is such a big ball of crazy that NBC's promos -- and Trump himself in interviews -- have been promoting that fact, emphasizing the screaming matches with Patsy Cline's classic song 'Crazy' as the soundtrack.

But from the first minute of the premiere, the nuttiness factor was amped up a few notches, and not just because Gary Busey talked in a language only Charlie Sheen could understand. By the end of the first task, the entire men's team -- Backbone -- already hated Richard Hatch, who was the project manager. And on the women's side, Lisa Rinna was already at odds with Star Jones, who was the project manager for the team, who called themselves ASAP.

As screwy as things got in the first week, things are only going to get worse, and there are a few glaring clues that this is going to be a heck of a ride:

NeNe Leakes is a tough chick. First she ended the season of 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' with a big blowout with cast mate Kim Zolciak. Then she had a falling out with fellow 'Celebrity Apprentice' contestant Star Jones. Leakes appeared on Friday's 'The Talk' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS) and the ladies asked what was going on between Jones and Leakes.

"Star's not nice," came the quick reply. "I believe ... that anybody who has ever worked with her would side with me," Leakes said. "She's not a nice person. She's a witch ... with a 'b' in front."

Though the roster for the next 'Celebrity Apprentice' was leaked in October, Donald Trump made the official announcement on 'Late Night' (weeknights, 12:37AM ET on NBC).

He brought along 8x10s of each cast member, and Jimmy Fallon unveiled them one by one: LaToya Jackson, Gary Busey, Star Jones, Atlanta's 'Real' Housewife Nene Leakes, baseball's José Canseco, Lisa Rinna, former teen idol David Cassidy, supermodel Niki Taylor, 'Survivor' Season 1 nudist/winner Richard Hatch, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, Meat Loaf, Mark McGrath, Playboy Playmate Hope Dworaczyk, Lil Jon, Dionne Warwick and country music's John Rich.

What are your thoughts on these 16 celebs battling it out for charity? Who's the biggest surprise, and who do you think will win?

In this first promo for the upcoming season of 'Celebrity Apprentice,' this year's gang of unlikely star contestants tell a dude in a suit (what, The Donald was busy?) why they're qualified to be the next champion.

Let's just say their answers probably wouldn't get them a business-related job anywhere else other than an NBC reality show -- LaToya Jackson's "I'm an entrepreneur, and a Jackson" and Nene Leakes' "When I walk into a room, I own it" aren't actual things you can put on your resume. Jose Canseco's menacing bat swing and Gary Busey's terrifying gaze might get me to think twice, though.

When the new season of 'Celebrity Apprentice' starts up, expect to see many familiar TV faces. According to Entertainment Weekly, La Toya Jackson, Star Jones and Mark McGrath will be part of the cast vying for cash for their respective charities.

Jackson, sister of pop stars Michael and Janet, is no stranger to reality TV. She appeared in CBS's 'Armed & Famous' while training to become a reserve police officer and was a housemate on the UK's 'Celebrity Big Brother.'

McGrath, the lead singer of Sugar Ray, co-hosted 'Extra,' appeared on 'American Idol' and judged 'Girlicious,' and is currently the host of 'Don't Forget the Lyrics.'

Jones, most famous for her stint on 'The View,' was last seen on an episode of 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'

How sharp is your view?

After nearly 12 years on the air, 'The View' has become one of daytime television's lightning rod shows, spawning feuds (both on-air and off), controversy and enough revolving hosts to rival 'Saturday Night Live.'

But how well do you really know the ladies of 'The View'?

Take our quiz to test your knowledge on some of the show's hottest topics.

ABC in turning things around on The View -- at least for one day. In what a cynic might call a stunt, The View is going to broadcast one show from the next two weeks from backstage. Essentially, what they're doing, is a rerun, but in a way you never saw the show.

On Friday, May 30, the experimental episode will show how The View is made, by lifting the curtain so you can see how the magic happens. They've chosen to show the upside down, backstage View on that Friday - and don't worry about marking it in your calendar. You can expect plenty of reminders from Barbara Walters (if she's there), Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd. With all that behind the scenes footage, only half of the show as seen originally -- from the camera's point of view -- will be seen.

I think we can totally forget about Star Jones and Barbara Walters exchanging Christmas gifts this year.

The former View host/Court TV host is quite angry at Walters for various things that Walters says in her new memoir, Audition. Among the many reveals in the book is the fact that Walters had an affair with a married Senator back in the 80s. This doesn't please Jones at all, and she's also upset at Walters' version of the events that led to Jones being axed from The View. Walters reveals that they all knew that Jones lost a lot of weight by having gastric bypass surgery and that the other hosts were ticked that they had to lie about how Jones lost the weight on the air.

It's the law of television: when one talk show comes to life, one must die.

Star Jones has lost her Court TV (sorry, TruTv) show, The Star Jones Show. The program only lasted about six months, but the powers that be have decided that because the network has changed its brand and focus (from legal/court shows to shows about car chases and lifeguards), the show no longer fits in. A note from TruTV VP Marc Juris says that Jones will stay with the network as a contributor, which sounds similar to Mario Batali's role at Food Network: his show ended but you'll see him on Iron Chef America once in a great while.

Mark your calendars kids, or not, Meredith Vieira is heading back to The View, for one day anyway, on October 8th. She'll be there to promote her Who Wants To Be A Millionaire game show and a DVD game that is coming out based on the show. I always seem to forget that she even does that because, man, I just don't get the attraction to Millionaire. It's just so dang slow. How that show made it while Beat The Geeks disappeared just boggles me.

Anyway, I suspect it will be all warm and fuzzy with a lot of palms getting sore as the whole group pats each other on the back for all the wonderfulness they are all putting out in the world, or something like that. An entirely different vibe than what we would get if this headline was Rosie returning to the view. Or even Star Jones, for that matter.

• At 8, preseason football. FOX has the Vikings vs. the Jets while ABC in Boston has the Patriots vs. the Titans (everyone else will see Set For Life).
• The CW has a new Friday Night Smackdown! at 8.
• ESPN has coverage of the Little League World Series at 8, while ESPN2 has coverage of the Western & Southern Financial tennis tournament.
• Noggin has a new South of Nowhere at 8.
• Also at 8: Sci-Fi has a new Doctor Who, followed by new episodes of Flash Gordon and Painkiller Jane.
• At 9, Star Jones is the guest on CNN's Larry King Live.
• Discovery has a new Survivorman at 9.
• USA has a new Monk at 9, then a new Psych.
• At 10, E! has a new episode of The Soup.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Star Jones has finally admitted that she lost a bunch of weight thanks to gastric bypass surgery that she had in 2003. There's a shocker. The former co-host of The View admits to the surgery in an article she wrote for the upcoming September issue of Glamour magazine.

Jones lost 160 pounds over three years. She says she didn't announce she had gastric bypass surgery because she felt ashamed that she couldn't lose the weight on her own. I can understand that, but she went as far as to lie about it and give people false hope that they, too, could control their problem with over-eating. I'm surprised she's not writing a book about it to make money off her weight loss. Does anybody else think she's just a bad person?

So, there. The world's biggest mystery is solved.

Welcome to TV Squad Lists, a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

Well, unless you've been residing beneath a naturally occurring aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids (in other words, living under a rock) you probably know that Rosie O'Donnell is leaving ABC's The View after a very boring, non-controversial year. Naturally, the producers will need to fill that empty chair with someone that may or may not be as, er, enthusiastic as Rosie was. So, please indulge me as I present my five suggestions on who should replace Rosie on The View.

Star Jones -- Sure, why the hell not? Really, this could be some good television. Star would come back, Barbara, Joy and Elisabeth would fawn all over her saying that they were wrong to let her go, and everyone would be the best of buds. But, that's not the good television. That would come about 10 minutes later when all of the sweetness wore off and Star began to tell her 'friends' off on how badly they treated her. I'm sure there would be plenty 'I told you so's' sprinkled throughout that first day she's back at work. The tension would be so great it would probably pulse out of your television. Now, THAT's good television!

Interesting post by Tom O'Neil over at his LA Times blog. O'Neil is the guy you see on many of the awards shows, especially the Emmys, giving his analysis and predictions. He worked with Joan and Melissa quite a bit, and knows why they were let go by the TV Guide Channel. And it didn't have anything to do with money.

The reason? Entourage (and not the HBO show). I guess the two women have too many people around them and it got to be more of a hassle than it was worth to the network.

O'Neil also says that Joan and Melissa are a lot nicer and more generous than they've been made out to be. He also reveals that several producers at the TV Guide Channel wish they had been kept on (the same with E! execs, because Star Jones drove them nuts on the red carpet). I'm sure we'll be seeing the two women again with another deal soon.

Here's something from the "I'd take that job as only a last resort" category: Star Jones is looking for an executive producer for her Court TV show.

While the position has all of the usual requirements for an executive producer gig, including the management of talent and staff, several years experience, and a big list of contacts, it also says that whoever gets the job will have to "oversee administrative functions like human resource issues, deal with Turner's legal department when necessary, and supervise budget allocations." Wow, doesn't that sound like fun?

But you're going to be working with Star Jones, which basically means puppies and rainbows all day, so if you want to apply for the job click on the link above.

[via Gawker]