Trump's show left off newly unveiled NBC lineup

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By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC is close to telling Donald Trump "You're fired," but the network is holding back just in case they could use him at the last minute.

The future of his NBC series "The Apprentice" was cast into extreme doubt on Monday by the network's announcement of a 2007-08 programming lineup that made no mention of Trump or the corporate-themed reality show he hosts.

Such an omission, coming at the outset of the networks' annual "upfront" advertising market, would normally spell doom for a low-rated show like "The Apprentice." But NBC executives refused to absolutely rule out an 11th-hour reprieve for Trump's show.

"The Apprentice," which turned billionaire Trump into a TV star and introduced his catch phrase "You're fired," features a group of young, aggressive entrepreneurs in a weekly game of elimination as they vie for a real-life job in Trump's business empire. But the series has lost nearly two-thirds of its audience since its first and most successful run in the spring of 2004.

Asked whether "Apprentice" was now effectively dead, NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly insisted, "Not yet."

He said NBC would wait until after the other major networks have unveiled their new programming lineups before rendering a final judgment on the fate of Trump's show.

"Donald still wants to do the show. (Executive producer) Mark (Burnett) wants to do the show," Reilly said. "We couldn't find the right spot for it. So we're going to regroup after everybody announces their schedule. We're going to look at everything in context and then make a decision about it."

There was no immediate comment from Trump.

"The Apprentice" achieved hit status during its original incarnation, averaging 20.7 million viewers with help from a huge ratings "lead-in" following the mega-hit comedy "Friends" on the NBC schedule during that show's final season.

But the show has suffered a steady ratings decline since then, hitting an audience low of just 7.5 million viewers for the recently concluded sixth edition set in Los Angeles.

Trump and NBC still have other joint interests, however.

The two announced in March a renewed deal to keep annual broadcasts of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which Trump co-owns, on the General Electric Co.-controlled network through 2010.

"We want to stay in business with Donald in whatever format that will take," Reilly said on Monday. "The guy has a certain magic. We love him."

(Additional reporting by Paul Thomasch from New York)

Star World Entertainment.com

Paris Hilton is sent back to jail

From the BBC News:

Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton has been taken screaming from a Los Angeles court after being told to return to jail to serve out her sentence.

The celebrity heiress was ordered to attend the hearing rather than listen to the proceeding by telephone.

Hilton left jail on Thursday, just three days into a 45-day sentence for violating probation on a driving ban.

Her release from detention, on unspecified medical grounds, had sparked widespread criticism.

Hilton attended court to hear the case for her "reassignment" to house arrest.

She arrived in handcuffs and cried throughout the court session.

The judge said that she would have to serve her full 45-day sentence.

"It's not right!" she shouted in response, before calling out to her mother, who was at the court.

'Severe problems'

Hilton will stay for a few days at a treatment centre at Twin Towers jail in LA for medical and psychiatric examination to determine which jail she will be sent to, sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

LA county sheriff Lee Baca defended his earlier decision to release Hilton on medical grounds, saying "this lady has some severe problems".

He suggested that her problems were psychological.

"I'm just going to keep her in a better facility for her condition, meaning one that has a more intense form of medical support, and will watch her behaviour so there isn't anything that is harmfully done to herself by herself," Mr Baca said.

She had been held at the Century Regional Detention Centre in Lynwood, California, in a special unit for celebrities, public officials, police officers and other high-profile inmates, and has so far served five days of her sentence.

Specific details of her medical problem have been withheld for "privacy reasons".

Star World Entertainment.com