• Sly Stallone & Sugar Ray Leonard outline NBC boxing reality show 'The Contender'

  April 2, 2004
  Is it Rocky? Is it Spartacus? Or is it the beginning of the end for Don King, Bob Arum and the other big-time boxing promoters?

• NBC planning 'Plain Jane' spinoff of 'Average Joe' for fall schedule

  April 2, 2004
  Still giddy over the success that its Average Joe reality show has had in improving the network's Monday nights at 10 PM ratings performance, NBC has announced that it is planning additional installments of the franchise, starting with a gender-reversed Plain Jane edition of the series which will premiere this fall.

• Nationwide auditions for 'The Apprentice 2' draw huge crowds, lots of reporters

  April 1, 2004
  It's official: NBC's The Apprentice is the big TV hit of the year. Proof: the same newspapers that sent reporters out LAST year to cover the auditions for Fox's American Idol sent reporters out THIS year to cover the tryouts for The Apprentice 2, as a new batch of people vied to be fired (or maybe, with luck, even hired) by The Donald.

• Eleventh 'Apprentice' episode sets numerous series ratings records

  March 31, 2004
  Showing no signs of a ratings "hiccup" from the previous week's recap episode, last week's eleventh The Apprentice episode set new series ratings records and scored NBC's highest regular-program rating in the time period since September 2001.

• Donald Trump faces $10K in fines for "You're Fired" banner on Trump Tower

  March 28, 2004
  Donald Trump, the multimillionaire star of NBC's The Apprentice, is continuing his quixotic campaign to gain a trademark on the generic phrase "you're fired." This time, though, even New York City has turned against him.

• Donald Trump tries to gain ownership of 'Apprentice' catchphrase 'You're fired!'

  March 27, 2004
  It was bad enough when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office foolishly permitted Microsoft to trademark the generic computer term "windows," touching off a legal row that rages to this day. But this is worse, if it comes to pass.

• Average Joe: Adam Returns - Episode 2 summary

  March 26, 2004
  "To Twist or Not To Twist," our episode summary for the second episode of NBC's Average Joe: Adam Returns, written by buckeyegirl, is now available.
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  George Foreman join NBC's 'The Contender' team

  March 22, 2004
  NBC has announced that World Heavyweight Champion and Olympic gold medal winner George Foreman will appear on NBC's new upcoming The Contender series, which is set to premiere in January 2005. George joins Contender's ever-growing team of Hollywood heavy hitters which include Mark Burnett, Sylvester Stallone, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Sugar Ray Leonard.

• The Apprentice - Episode 10 summary

  March 19, 2004
  "The Cosmic Cowboy and the Rickety Rickshaw," our episode summary for the tenth episode of NBC's The Apprentice, written by Bebo, is now available.

• NBC's second season of 'The Restaurant' to premiere April 19

  March 18, 2004
  NBC has announced that the second season of celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito's The Restaurant series will premiere on Monday, April 19 at 10 PM ET/PT.

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