The Daily Star - Stay Tuned
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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, March 4, 2011 2 coverstory Aggressive altruism More stars fi ght for Trump’s respect Actor and rock singer Meat Loaf will compete in the new “Celebrity Apprentice” By Christina Davies TV Media W hen one thinks of fundraising and chari- table pursuits, words like “cutthroat,” “manipula- tive” and “conniving” don’t often come to mind. But that is exactly the kind of unique charm “The Celebrity Appren- tice” brings. Back on NBC for another season, beginning Sunday, March 6, this will be the 11th season of “The Apprentice,” and the fourth celebrity install- ment. But rather than vying for a job with business magnate Donald Trump like the average- Joe contestants do, the celebri- ties in the series get a chance to raise and win money for their chosen charitable organi- zations. Last season, the show raised more than $1.25 million for charity. Last year’s winner, Bret Michaels, chose the Amer- ican Diabetes Association as his charity and managed to win $390,000 for it. As always, there will be quite the variety of stars -- from different fields and in varying stages of career success -- hop- ing to join the ranks of past winners Michaels, Piers Mor- gan and Joan Rivers. The show’s star and executive pro- ducer, Donald Trump, will this year welcome musicians LaToya Jackson and Dionne Warwick, television personality Star Jones, “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member NeNe Leakes, actors Marlee Matlin and Lisa Rinna, model and television host Hope Dworac- zyk, and model Niki Taylor. And that’s just the women. The men competing for the top spot this year are: musi- cian/actor Meat Loaf, actor Gary Busey, former MLB all- star Jose Canseco, actor and ‘70s teen heartthrob David Cassidy, first-ever “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch, musi- cian and television host Mark McGrath, and musicians Lil Jon and John Rich. “The next season of ‘The Ce- lebrity Apprentice’ will be the most exciting yet,” Trump said in a release. “We are thrilled to bring back the celebrity format, with 16 new and unbelievably talented celebrities who will help me make ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ one of the hottest shows on television this spring.” Trump may be right about that. Already, a major clash be- tween two of the show’s fe- male contestants, Jones and Leakes, has gossip columnists and bloggers abuzz. The feud emerged explosively into the public eye after Leakes made an appearance on “The Wendy Williams Show,” telling Wil- liams she “wouldn’t spit on Star if she was on fire.” This led Jones to respond in an inter- view with Life & Style maga- zine, in which she said: “I did ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ to raise money and awareness for a charity [the American Heart As- sociation] that has been instru- mental in my life, not to see it reduced to a cliche where black women attack one an- other for publicity’s sake.” This is not the first time Leakes has stirred up trouble on television. Her modus ope- randi on her claim-to-fame se- ries, “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” is to speak her mind -- and often not quietly or deli- cately. After one particular epi- sode in which the cast got to- gether to hash out some issues, Leakes posted on her blog, “One of the issues that came up was that Kim had said my husband was BROKE! [empha- sis hers] Funny coming from somebody who doesn’t have a job!” That kind of in-your-face comment is part of the reason for the on-again, off-again na- ture of her friendship with fel- low “Housewife” Kim Zolciak, and is surely a large part of the reason viewers tune in to watch the drama unfold sea- son after season in Atlanta. However, not all of the dra- ma is negative on this upcom- ing edition of the series. Ac- cording to the New York Post, NBC’s cameras were rolling when actor Matlin found a life- altering insight about competi- tor Busey. “Jack Jason, my in- terpreter, kept signing that someone kept yelling ‘What?! What?!’ “ the Oscar winner, who is deaf, told the Post. “I asked him who it was and he said [Busey]. It took me five seconds to figure out he must be partially deaf. I’ve seen it too many times not to figure it out just like that.” Sure enough, after a visit to Matlin’s former doctor, Dr. Bill Austin (whose charity, the Star- key Hearing Foundation, was also Matlin’s charity of choice for the show), Austin con- firmed Matlin’s suspicions. Busey told the Post, “[Aus- tin] told me I was only using 40 per cent of my ear canals,” and said that thanks to Mat- lin and Austin, “things are much better now.” It’s not clear if a 1988 motorcycle ac- cident that left Busey’s skull severely fractured was related at all to this diagnosis of hearing loss. Chirstopher’s Coins 2 x 2 hollywoodQ&A By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: The guy who plays Dr. Spaceman on “30 Rock” is familiar, but I keep missing his name in the credits. Who is he? A: Dr. Leo Spaceman (pronounced spa-CHE-min, for those who don’t watch) is played by Chris Parnell, one of the hordes of “Saturday Night Live” alumni who’ve worked on “30 Rock.” Created by former “SNL” star and writer Tina Fey, and sup- posedly about her experiences working on said show, it’s not surprising that she digs into the ranks of the classic sketch- comedy series for help when she needs it. Parnell is probably best remembered for his many celebrity impressions on “SNL,” including George W. Bush and Tom Brokaw. He left the series in 2006, and has been keeping quite busy since. He’s done tons of voice work, including on the pop- ular kids’ series “WordGirl” and the FX grown-up cartoon “Ar- cher.” He also starred last year in the short-lived Comedy Cen- tral original sitcom “Big Lake,” with fellow “SNL” refugee Hor- atio Sanz. Have a question? E-mail us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. Crazy Tom's 2 x 3