Trump Towering Over Moonves
Posted on 01/30/2004 6:55:26 AM PST by mgist
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Trump Towering Over Moonves
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Fri Jan 16, 1:20 AM ET
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By Sarah Hall
The Donald is taking on the Les. Moonves, that is.
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Flush from the success of his reality hit, The Apprentice, Trump has been using his renewed celebrity status to make jabs at the CBS boss.
Trump referred to Moonves as "the most highly overrated person in television" at a recent promotional appearance.
"If Les Moonves was a contestant on [Apprentice], he would have been fired by the third episode," Trump told a group of television critics, who reportedly responded with a mixture of amusement and shock.
But don't get the wrong idea. "I want to keep this noncontroversial," the Donald said with a leer.
Um, sure. And that hairstyle is a non-comb-over.
Trump's beef with the Eye network exec supposedly stems from CBS' decision not to renew the Miss Universe (news - web sites) pageant, as well as two other beauty pageants owned by the Manhattan mogul.
Earlier in the week, Trump verbally assailed Moonves on NBC's Access Hollywood, suggesting that the exec be removed from his post.
Choosing to take the road less traveled, aka, the high road, a CBS spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporter, "Donald is always good for a laugh, but we'll pass on responding."
Trump is getting a response from television audiences. The Apprentice debuted last Thursday with a strong viewership--per Nielsen ratings,18.5 million people tuned in to watch the Donald preside over his recruited peons, earning the show eighth place in the top 10 shows of the week.
The show did so well, in fact, that NBC decided it deserved a second week in the trophy Thursday post-Friends slot.
"We couldn't be happier with last night's successful preview of The Apprentice," NBC exec Jeff Zucker said in a press release last Friday. "The potency of the Friends lead-in, combined with the dynamic contestants and we want to expose it to even more viewers by airing it again on Thursday next week."
After episode two, Apprentice will move to its regular Wednesday timeslot.
The show is a sort of Real World meets boardroom boot camp. Sixteen candidates from all walks of life--some with Ivy League MBA degree, some with just a high school diploma--live together and have their lives taped to find out what really happens when highly driven, competitive (read: backstabbing and evil) individuals vie to work for the Donald.
The series is scheduled to run a 15-episode course with one cast member getting canned by the Donald each week. The last minion standing will be gifted a plum six-figure contract at one of Trump's corporate outlets.
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