It looks like NBC and Mark Burnett are discovering that it's a little more difficult to keep the secrets of a smash-hit reality show under wraps when you're filming on the island of Manhattan as opposed to a remote island halfway around the world.
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According to The New York Post, the program's film crews have been trying to use a cover story that they're working on a "foreign language documentary," but New York residents quickly stopped believing that lame excuse -- a claim that will no doubt become more difficult to believe once Donald Trump associates Carolyn Kepcher and George Ross begin appearing on the filming locations. The early reports also indicate that Apprentice 2 appears to be suffering from "Survivor 2 syndrome" -- in which, based on already successful backgrounds of the contestants, a good chunk of the cast seems to be less interested in the program's $250,000 one year salary and likely more interested in their shot at "fame." The Post reports that the cast includes four Harvard graduates and three folks with degrees from the Wharton School of Finance -- with one of the three also being one of the same folks who graduated from Harvard, where, for good measure, he/she also graduated first in their class (makes it kind of hard to believe such a person would have a difficult time finding an extraordinary job opportunity the normal way, doesn't it?) Additionally, two of the contestants are reported to already be self-made millionaires. Whether this will translate into the types of "primping for the camera" reports that were commonplace during the filming of the initial sequel to Summer 2000's Survivor phenomenon (a sequel which featured struggling actresses and wannabe celebrity chefs such as Jerri Manthey and Keith Famie) is unknown.
In the meantime, Reality TV World users have also been doing some snooping of their own, with one of our members stumbling across the contestants on Tuesday morning as they apparently entered Trump Towers, luggage in hand, for their initial meeting with The Donald. According to "trigirl," the new cast of eighteen includes at least one African-American man, two African-American women (no doubt looking to distance themselves as much as possible from Omarosa... at least we hope!), a Troy look-a-like, an extremely short woman, a blond "Barbie doll", a "Ken" to go with "Barbie," another blond woman sporting a huge engagement ring, and one male contestant who thought it appropriate to bring his guitar with him (perhaps Samsonite makes guitar cases?)
Whether this is the tip of the spoiler iceberg or if Mark Burnett will find a way to keep the secrecy of his new mega-hit intact remains to be seen, however our guess is that unlike in his Survivor locations, the government isn't likely to be shutting down the airspace above Manhattan anytime soon, so whether there will be any mystery left to this fall's Apprentice 2 broadcasts is still to be determined. Although, upon re-examination, perhaps attempting to film a top-secret smash-hit reality show in the "media capital of the world" wasn't the wisest decision the obsessive Burnett has ever made... how's Apprentice 3: Panama sound?
