TELEVISION On 'Apprentice 2,' The Donald gets ready to fire away

Trump's employees Carolyn Kepcher and George Ross will be back.
By JOANNE WEINTRAUB
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
Forget the bedroom, the emergency room and the squad room: Fall TV's most breathlessly awaited action will take place in a certain boardroom.
High above Manhattan, a man with a legendary business career and an equally famous hairstyle will sit at a long, gleaming table.
Seventeen times over the next few months, he will snarl "You're fired!" at a succession of would-be prot & eacute;g & eacute;s. The 18th aspirant will get the key to the executive john in the mogul's business empire.
Yes, Donald Trump and "The Apprentice" are back -- now with 18 players instead of 16, the better to draw out the Nielsen-friendly proceedings.
What stays the same
The two-team structure will remain, as will the weekly sales competitions and watchful Trump lieutenants Carolyn Kepcher and George Ross. This week's 90-minute premiere will be followed by hour-long episodes at 9 p.m. each Thursday.
NBC is celebrating the show with a lavish new Web site, www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice_2/, where you can read up on the contestants, ogle the refurbished players' suite and -- speaking of sales -- find links to more than 50 "vendors" who have graciously furnished the program with goods.
The site also has a "Where Are They Now?" page featuring interviews with 10 of last season's players, from winner Bill Rancic to such all-but-forgotten names as Jason Curis and Bowie Hogg.
Asked what advice they have for this fall's hopefuls, the 10 offer up such tips as be yourself, have fun and watch your back.
Not exactly MBA-level material.
Some things to learn
But, if you think back to last season, the unsuccessful contenders really do have something to teach. After a little soul-searching, here are the lessons some them might pass along to their successors.
SAM SOLOVEY: Not every original idea is a great idea.
Or even a good idea. Desperate to ace the lemonade competition, Sam came up with the frankly loony plan of trying to peddle the stuff to incredulous New Yorkers for $1,000 a cup. Despite his pitch about supporting brilliant young entrepreneurs, or more likely because of it, Sam's reward was zero sales and the Big Bye-Bye from Trump.
JESSIE CONNERS: Grow a backbone.
The youngest of the group at just 21, this self-made businesswoman from New Richmond, Wis., appears to have toughened up since her wishy-washy performance got her canned in the spring.
The evidence? On the "Apprentice" Web site, when asked to describe Trump in three words, Jessie -- unlike her former cast mates, who reply with the gushy likes of "Sexy ... creative ... brilliant!" -- responds with a tart "Smoke and mirrors." You go, girl!
TROY MCCLAIN: Flattery won't get you everywhere.
Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and full of scrappy self-confidence, Troy never tired of talking about his humble roots and his admiration for Trump's street smarts.
But the folksy Idaho boy went too far when he told The Donald that, where most of the others went to business school, his education came entirely from Trump's book "The Art of the Deal." Moments later Troy was out on his Boise butt.
Omarosa's lesson
OMAROSA MANIGAULT-STALLWORTH: Get over yourself.
If you're going to be a raging egomaniac, it helps to have the r & eacute;sum & eacute; of, say, Trump. Or half of Trump's net worth. Or one-quarter of Trump's business acumen. Or even an office in Trump Tower.
But Omarosa had none of these, just an unshakable belief in her own (undemonstrated) powers and an ability to irritate others rivaling that of a swarm of mosquitoes. Not a good combination.
KWAME JACKSON: Nice guys finish second.
Kwame seemed to have it all: the Harvard MBA, the Wall Street r & eacute;sum & eacute;, the killer smile, the gentlemanly bearing. In fact, he was a gent right up through the finale, when Bill, who was more willing to take the gloves off, shoved Kwame clear out of the top spot. Niceness, in Trump's world, ranks somewhere between good handwriting and the ability to speak Klingon.