Joe's TV List Is Crushed by Falling Plaster

#45: The Apprentice
(NBC, 2004-present)

I almost didn't include this in my top 50, simply because it has gotten so silly in recent seasons. Then I looked at what else I was including and realized silliness isn't exactly a deal-breaker for this list. When NBC first started promoting The Apprentice, I thought, great ... a bunch of successful, ambitious, type-A wheeler-dealers running around New York. Sounds, um, charming. But when I realized these people would be set up for mockery on a weekly basis -- by a real-life cartoon character awash in self-importance and tacky gold apartment furnishings, no less -- well, sure, I thought, I'll watch that. Yeah, the show was better with George and Carolyn (although they do defrost George and wheel him out every now and then), but as long as the Donald's self-worship, throwback sexism, and queasy pandering to higher-grade celebs continue unchecked, this will always be worth a watch. A bulky, gaudy, gold watch with zirconia studs.