The celebs endlessly plod through their contrived business projects, with their two-bit gaffes and minor-league bickering, before they traipse into the Donald's boardroom to meet their maker, and the real fun begins.
Joining the above-mentioned octet are David Cassidy, Lil Jon, Mark McGrath, John Rich, Marlee Matlin, Lisa Rinna, Niki Taylor, and Dionne Warwick.
Don't worry if you don't recognize all the names. Nobody can. The cast will be identified on the show. Except for Warwick, you can usually divide the buildup by a factor of 3 or 4.
NBC has a million problems, chief of which is very few popular programs in prime time, leaving time to fill. Nowhere else in the world would Celebrity Apprentice run two hours every week (including more than half an hour of commercials).
Sunday, the celebrities are charged with running pizza shops. Former supermodel Taylor turns out to be a proficient piemaker, Warwick has trouble manning the cash register, and (wouldn't you know it?) former View blabbermouth Jones tries to run everything by herself.
On the male side, Busey, a noted Hollywood lunatic who was Oscar-nominated a million years ago for The Buddy Holly Story, makes such a spectacle of himself that, even with two hours, the show pays attention to only one other aspect of the process.
That would be the consummate personal-control stylings of the first Survivor winner, Richard Hatch, who cuts the diminutive Cassidy from the herd and beats him down psychologically.
Will it pay off, or will Hatch be the first to hear the celebrated Trump line "You're fired"?
If you tuned in a little before 10:30, you could catch all the boardroom action, including a striking outburst ('roid rage?) by hulking former major leaguer Canseco, and find out.
That just might be the best way to watch Celebrity Apprentice 4 every week.
Contact television critic Jonathan Storm at 215-854-5618 or jstorm@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/
jonathanstorm.
