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LOS ANGELES - Maybe Donald Trump and The Apprentice can't get fired.
Just when it seemed that Trump's reality show would never return to NBC, the network's new head of prime-time entertainment is thinking about bringing the real estate tycoon back after all.
The network has asked the executive producer of the show, reality TV veteran Mark Burnett, for a one-week extension of NBC's option to renew the series, an NBC spokeswoman told Reuters.
The future of Trump's low-rated corporate reality show was cast into serious doubt earlier this month when The Apprentice was left off the new prime-time schedule unveiled by NBC Network executives refused then to rule out the possibility the programme might return.
But Trump himself declared that he had decided he was "moving on from The Apprentice to a major new TV venture."
NBC's move to reconsider marks one of the first decisions by the network's new chief programmer, Ben Silverman, who was named earlier this week with Marc Graboff as a co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and NBC Universal Television Studio.
Silverman replaces Kevin Reilly, who stepped down after three years on the job in a shake-up announced on Tuesday by the beleaguered General Electric Co-controlled company.
"It's true. Ben is just getting in and getting up to speed, and he did ask for an extension on the (Apprentice) option for a week," spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said.
That option was due to expire on Friday, after which producers are free to shop the series to another network.
Trump, an executive producer of the show with Burnett, comes with the deal, meaning he would be obligated to return with The Apprentice if NBC exercises its option.
In a separate interview with Reuters earlier in the day, Burnett indicated he favoured sticking with NBC, which he said could bring The Apprentice back on air by January.
"We've been a good partner with NBC and made them a lot of money," Burnett said. "So when the old regime that we had problems with was gone, then Donald and I decided to try again with the new regime. So Apprentice fans, all is not lost."
There was no immediate comment from Trump.
The Apprentice, which turned Trump into a television star and popularised his catch phrase, "You're fired," features young, aggressive entrepreneurs in a game of elimination as they competed for a real-life job in Trump's business empire.
The show debuted as a hit in 2004, but it sank steadily in the ratings in successive years, losing nearly two-thirds of its original audience by the time it ended its sixth installment last month.
- REUTERS
