MASTER OF REALITY DONALD TRUMP INSISTS THE SUCCESS OF NBC'S 'THE APPRENTICE' IS THE REAL DEAL.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

Donald Trump loves answering questions about ``The Apprentice,'' NBC's hit reality series set in New York's cutthroat business world, but he also likes asking them. He interrupted a recent interview with a query of his own: ``Let me ask you - does the show work without me?''

The answer, of course, is no. The real-estate mogul and his glitzy aura are the show. And it's difficult, if not impossible, to think of another businessman who could carry a series with such virulent backbiting between the contestants.

Precious few are both famous and infamous enough, possess the charisma, the kitsch factor and the credibility, and can actually enhance their reputation by dipping their toe in the murky waters of reality TV, a genre Trump has almost single-handedly made seem classy.

Explain this, albeit more circumspectly, and Trump is satisfied. He adds, jokingly, ``And, I give good location,'' referencing his celebrated skyscraper Trump Tower. The show's home base boasts lovely views of both Central Park and the Hudson River.

That the 57-year-old Trump wants to know what you think is telling, though - for all his legendary braggadocio, he's not above seeking a little validation. What Hollywood star would even consider raising such a question about a role?

As if 20 million weekly viewers isn't proof enough, or the fact that his gruff send-off, ``You're fired!'' (smokinggun.com posted his application for trademarking the words), has become a catch phrase. On Thursday, ``The Apprentice'' reached its highest viewership level to date: 22.7 million.

Now NBC is scheduling 32 hours of the ``The Apprentice'' for next season (64, if it has weekly repeats) - two series of 15 shows each, with the last one of each being a two-hour special. Compare that to the 22 or 23 hours that a dramatic series usually receives in a year, and you realize how much the network has invested in Trump's show.

In making the announcement this week, NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker credited ``The Apprentice'' with strengthening the network's dominance in the viewers ages 18-49 demographic, not to mention single-handedly rescuing the network's Must-See Thursday lineup, which was expected to get trounced by CBS next season. ``It's rewritten the rules of reality programming,'' Zucker enthused. More than 750,000 applications for the next series have already been submitted.

``The Apprentice'' is essentially ``Survivor: Fifth Avenue'' (it was developed by ``Survivor's'' Mark Burnett) and has become the broadcast season's only new sensation by, surprisingly enough, catering to something other than the lowest common denominator.

Jobs assigned to participants - designing an ad campaign for a private jet company, arranging a fund-raiser, launching an art exhibit - actually require brain power. And, since the contestants (the show started with 16), who vie for a lucrative $250,000-per-year position within Trump's dynasty, are already successes in the business world, it's somewhat comforting and highly entertaining to watch them behaving as pettily as the lowliest scrub on a Fox reality show.

Trump's career first struck the public as one of excesses, extravagant tastes and bad-boy behavior, one that sent him spiraling into debt in the early '90s. Published reports stated he went $900 million in the hole, while Trump himself puts the figure at $9.2 billion; he is known to - to put it mildly - exaggerate. But even about his losses?

Whatever the figure, Trump rebounded and today is more successful than ever. In addition to ``The Apprentice'' (and, by the by, owning a sizable chunk of Manhattan), Trump this week released his latest book, ``How to Get Rich: Big Deals From the Star of 'The Apprentice' '' (Random House; $21.95) - one chapter is cheekily titled, ``The Art of the Hair.'' Moreover, he'll host this week's ``Saturday Night Live,'' all while perfecting his art of the deal and monitoring plans for ``The Apprentice's'' two-hour finale, which will reunite participants and air live, coincidentally, on Tax Day, April 15.

Despite this whirlwind of activity, Trump remains detail-oriented: When this interviewer initially missed a connection, it was Trump himself, not an underling or a publicist (per Hollywood convention), who left a phone-mail message. And though he was generous with his time and his assessment of his interviewer - ``a real pro'' - pragmatism and not just false modesty leads us to insist that we remind the readers of Trump's penchant for hyperbole.

Q: I must confess, when I saw the first episode, I thought the lemonade- sales thing was really lame.

A: I wasn't in love with that, either. Since then, the boardroom scenes (where Trump 'fires' contestants) have become longer, which everyone seems to want, and the tasks have gotten shorter, simply a method to get into the boardroom. People are clamoring for the boardroom, so it's been amazing.

Q: It seems like you've grown into the format - in the first episodes, you just kind of scowled at the contestants, while now you have a real give-and-take.

A: It's been interesting. I feel very comfortable. I think I felt comfortable from the beginning, but I feel comfortable, and I guess that shows. I hope it shows.

Q: You've said you're devoting more time to the show than you expected - have you been able to alleviate that problem?

A: I have. The hardest part is having to fly to California to do Jay Leno in terms of time. I love Jay but going to California is tough.

Q: You have a couple of projects out here.

A: That's the good news. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm able to visit those projects and that works out really well. I have a big one in Palos Verdes - a big golf club plus mansions.

(Changing the subject) I don't know if you saw this, but this is amazing - the TV advertising buyers and sellers' strategies and results: (quoting) ``NBC's 'Apprentice' is the trendsetter.'' It's now the No. 1 demographic on television, which is sort of amazing. ``West Wing'' is now No. 2. (In the study Trump cites, the two are tied for upscale viewers, though ``Apprentice'' gets higher ratings overall.)

Q: Your show reaches high-income audiences, which is something most reality TV doesn't.

A: This has changed reality, because this is the only one that's so super-upscale. ``West Wing'' was always No. 1, and now it's ``The Apprentice.'' On top of that it's reality, which is something people always had a problem with, the demographics for reality shows.

Q: Has the show enhanced your reputation in your day job? Are people more anticipatory to deal with you, perhaps, or more tremulous?

A: It's funny; I always thought I was a celebrity, but when you have a smash television show, there is something very big about that. What is funny - a friend of mine said, ``All you do (on the show) is fire people and yet - you're shown to have much more heart than people thought you had.'' It's actually softened my image - that's a little strange.

Q: Some viewers have questioned the mercurial rules, switching team members back and forth. Were those changes going to happen all along, or was the series fluid in terms of what would be most dramatic?

A: That was established. What we didn't know was that the women would do so well at the beginning.

Q: So you kept rules fluid ...

A: ... Depending on what's happening. And one of the things that happened is that the women did fantastically well when they were with other women. When they were with men, they were intimidated or something.

Q: Why do you think that is? Particularly since they had a winning streak.

A: They were different people when they were with the men. And you could say that could be true in life. When they had their own team, they were dominant, but when they were interspersed with the men, the men started dominating them for no reason.

Q: Did you coach them to reassert themselves?

A: I don't coach them. They have to stand on their own.

Q: Unlike other reality programs, there's a sense that ``The Apprentice'' really is based on merit. Losing Sam (Solovney) and Omarosa (Stallworth) for more rational members bolsters the competition but takes away some drama. On balance, does removing the problem children from the group help or hurt the show?

A: It's irrelevant to me, because my job is to pick the best people. It was Omarosa's time to go, and I'm sure you agree with that (laughs). She was good television but it was her time to go. And it was Sam's time to go. We have a lot of interesting characters left, but if I were going purely for entertainment value, I would've left Sam and Omarosa for the finals. But I can't do that. I don't let the entertainment value enter into my decision at all.

Q: When Sam was first introduced (sharing his dream of button-holing Trump in a limo), it looked like this might be the first reality show to inspire a restraining order. And when he was fired, he had a fearsome look on his face.

A: He did - he had a pretty fearsome look. Hopefully it was a look of surprise as opposed to something else. But he was out there. ... He's a great character, and I think he's going to be a successful guy. He's got a lot of energy.

Q: The contestants on this series were all successful to begin with. Would this show work with losers trying to learn how to become a winner?

A: I don't know that that would be the purpose of the show. ... If a man is a certain age, why hasn't he been more successful? You think that the gene pool hasn't been there for him. ... Someone who doesn't have those qualities would get eaten up by the others.

Q: What did you learn about yourself during your financial turnaround in the '90s?

A: A lot of friends of mine went bankrupt, which I never did, and you never heard from them again - they're gone. I fought back, and now my company is many times bigger than it was in the early '90s or '80s. I guess I just learned that I could handle pressure, and some people just can't. I mean, I owed $9.2 billion and I was in deep trouble, and friends of mine who weren't in nearly as much trouble as I was, failed.

(The toughest part was) trying to enjoy what I was doing, because there's nothing positive out of working your way out of a financial depression.

Q: If you get to trademark the phrase ``You're fired,'' will that mean no one will ever lose their job again except your own employees?

A: Only in my imagination.

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

THE APPRENTICE

Where: NBC (Channel 4).

When: 9 p.m. Thursday, repeated the following Wednesday at 9 p.m.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Donald Trump tells U why he's FIRED UP

(2) no caption (Donal Trump)

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com