• by Paul Gough , January 14, 2004

Maybe Donald Trump has some drawing power left after all. Trump, who normally builds big buildings has helped NBC build some big ratings. "The Apprentice," NBC's new reality series starring Trump, made the top 10 in many key rankings for the prime-time week ended Jan. 11, according to estimates released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. "The Apprentice" drew 12.5 million total viewers in its debut Thursday night, sandwiched in between NBC mainstays "Friends" and "ER," which made the top five.

It did even better in its core demographic, adults 18-34, amid some tough competition, including "The Simpsons," divisional football championships, and Fox's reality hit "The Simple Life." It placed fourth among adults 18-34 with 6.17 million viewers, third among women 18-34 with 3.88 million viewers, and sixth among men 18-34. On the strength of "The Apprentice," "ER," and "Friends," NBC just missed winning adults 18-49. Fox squeaked by with a 4.9/13, compared to NBC's 4.8/12 and CBS's 4.8/13.

"The Apprentice" pits 16 contestants, some armed with the traditional tools of the trade and others who have nothing more than a high school diploma and a desire to improve, for the chance to become a $200,000-a-year assistant to the New York real estate mogul. The contestants will do battle in the dog-eat-dog world of New York City business for the honor of being the last person standing. "The Apprentice" comes from "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett.

While the series was originally supposed to move to its 8 p.m. Wednesday slot this week, NBC decided instead to bring it back to Thursday night for its second episode. It will now run between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Thursday, following "Friends" and before "Will & Grace." The first episode will repeat on Wednesday.

NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker said the network was pleased by the performance of "The Apprentice."

"The potency of the 'Friends' lead-in, combined with the dynamic contestants and Donald Trump, demonstrated that this show has major potential, and we want to expose it to even more viewers by airing it again on Thursday," Zucker said.

The second episode--titled "sex, lies and attitude"--involves an ad campaign. Trump sends the contestants to Deutsch Inc., where they are introduced to Donny Deutsch. It's their job to create a 30-second TV commercial and print ad campaign for the Marquis Jet Card, which provides access to the NetJets fleet. The two teams pitch Deutsch and his team. The winning team gets wined and dined aboard the jet and the losing team faces Trump and loses one member.

Deutsch said he was thrilled to appear in "The Apprentice"'s second episode.

"Utilizing all of our resources, each team delivered dynamic integrated campaigns and presentations that were drastically different but equally impressive," Deutsch said in a statement. "I was impressed with the charisma and smarts of the contestants; their tenacity and sheer desire to win was evident, making it an incredibly tense program."