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| The Apprentice | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
| No. of contestants | 16 |
| Winner | Bill Rancic |
| Runner-up | Kwame Jackson |
| No. of episodes | 15 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | January 8 – April 15, 2004 |
| Additional information | |
| Filming dates | September 2003 – October 2003, April 15, 2004 |
| Season chronology | |
The first season of The Apprentice aired on NBC in the winter and spring of 2004. It featured 16 candidates.[1]
This season had high ratings, ranking at No. 7 in the average weekly Nielsen Rankings, with an average viewership of 20.7 million viewers each week.[2] The final episode of the season was seen by an estimated 28.05 million viewers[3] and ranked as the No. 1 show of the week, beating out a new episode of CSI. It was the most popular new show of 2004.[4]
Summary
Season one had real estate magnate Donald Trump as the show's executive producer and host.
The season started with 16 contestants, eight men and eight women from around the United States. Each had been successful in various enterprises, including real estate, restaurant management, political consulting, and sales. During the show, the contestants lived communally in a suite at Trump Tower in Manhattan, located on the fourth floor. Elimination took the form of one contestant being "fired" by Trump at the conclusion of each week's episode. Filming the entire season took three months.
The contestants were originally divided into two "corporations" by gender. The men chose to name their company "Versacorp", and the women chose to name their company "Protégé Corporation".[5]
Each week, Trump assigned the teams a task. Each team selected a "project manager" to lead them in the week's assigned task. The winning team received a reward, while the losing team faced a boardroom showdown with Trump and two of his associates in order to determine which team member would be fired.[5]
Elimination proceeded in two stages. In the first stage, Trump confronted the losing team and required the week's project manager to select two additional team members which the project manager believed were most responsible for the loss.
The rest of the team was dismissed (allowed to go back up to the suite, because they were safe to stay for the next round), and the project manager and the two other selected members faced a final confrontation several minutes later in which Trump fired one of the three. Trump is now well known for his catchphrase "You're fired!", and he sought to trademark the phrase in 2004.[6] George Ross and Carolyn Kepcher, executive vice presidents for the Trump Organization, observed the teams during each task, and advised Trump on who needed to be fired each episode during boardroom sessions.[7]
Candidates
Both teams, or "corporations", were divided by their gender.
| Candidate | Background | Original team | Age | Hometown | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Rancic | Cigar business owner | Versacorp | 32 | Chicago, Illinois | Hired by Trump (4–15–2004) |
| Kwame Jackson | Investment manager | Versacorp | 29 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Fired in the season finale (4–15–2004) |
| Amelia "Amy" Henry | Account manager | Protégé | 30 | Austin, Texas | Fired in week 13 (4–1–2004) |
| Nick Warnock | Copier salesman | Versacorp | 27 | Los Angeles, California | Fired in week 13 (4–1–2004) |
| Troy McClain | Mortgage broker | Versacorp | 32 | Boise, Idaho | Fired in week 12 (3–25–2004) |
| Katrina Campins | Real estate agent | Protégé | 24 | Coral Gables, Florida | Fired in week 11 (3–18–2004) |
| Heidi Bressler | Senior account executive | Protégé | 30 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Fired in week 10 (3–11–2004) |
| Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth | Political consultant | Protégé | 29 | Youngstown, Ohio | Fired in week 9 (3–4–2004) |
| Ereka Vetrini | Marketing manager | Protégé | 27 | New York, New York | Fired in week 8 (2–26–2004) |
| Tammy Lee | Stockbroker | Protégé | 36 | Seattle, Washington | Fired in week 7 (2–19–2004) |
| Jessie Conners | Marketing firm owner | Protégé | 21 | New Richmond, Wisconsin | Fired in week 6 (2–12–2004) |
| Kristi Frank | Restaurant owner | Protégé | 30 | Bel Air, California | Fired in week 5 (2–5–2004) |
| Bowie Hogg | Account executive | Versacorp | 25 | Arlington, Texas | Fired in week 4 (1–29–2004) |
| Sam Solovey | Business director | Versacorp | 27 | Chevy Chase, Maryland | Fired in week 3 (1–22–2004) |
| Jason Curis | Real estate manager | Versacorp | 24 | Detroit, Michigan | Fired in week 2 (1–15–2004) |
| David Gould | Venture capitalist | Versacorp | 31 | New York, New York | Fired in week 1 (1–8–2004) |
Weekly results
| Candidate | Original team | Week 5 team | Week 7 team | Week 9 team | Week 11 team | Final week team | Application result | Record as project manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Rancic | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Protégé | Versacorp | Hired by Trump | 2–0 (win in weeks 6 & 10) |
| Kwame Jackson | Versacorp | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Fired in the season finale | 1–2 (win in week 11, loss in weeks 4 & 9) |
| Amelia "Amy" Henry | Protégé | Versacorp | Protégé | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Fired in week 13 | 1–1 (win in week 2, loss in week 11) |
| Nick Warnock | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Fired in week 13 | 3–0 (win in weeks 5, 9 & 12) |
| Troy McClain | Versacorp | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Fired in week 12 | 1–3 (win in week 7, loss in weeks 1, 10 & 12) |
| Katrina Campins | Protégé | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Versacorp | Fired in week 11 | 1–1 (win in week 4, loss in week 7) |
| Heidi Bressler | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Fired in week 10 | 1–0 (win in week 8) | |
| Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Protégé | Fired in week 9 | 0–1 (loss in week 6) | |
| Ereka Vetrini | Protégé | Versacorp | Versacorp | Fired in week 8 | 1–1 (win in week 1, loss in week 8) | |||
| Tammy Lee | Protégé | Versacorp | Versacorp | Fired in week 7 | ||||
| Jessie Conners | Protégé | Protégé | Fired in week 6 | 1–0 (win in week 3) | ||||
| Kristi Frank | Protégé | Protégé | Fired in week 5 | 0–1 (loss in week 5) | ||||
| Bowie Hogg | Versacorp | Fired in week 4 | ||||||
| Sam Solovey | Versacorp | Fired in week 3 | 0–1 (loss in week 3) | |||||
| Jason Curis | Versacorp | Fired in week 2 | 0–1 (loss in week 2) | |||||
| David Gould | Versacorp | Fired in week 1 | ||||||