Trump TV

Leave it to Donald Trump to enter the reality-television fray with the dean of the genre, “Survivor” producer Mark Burnett.

The two have joined forces for “The Apprentice,” NBC’s new reality show debuting at 8:30 tonight, the coveted post-“Friends” time slot.

Tonight’s 90-minute premiere follows a group of 16 men and women vying for a place on Mr. Trump’s team. The winner gets a $250,000-a-year job as the mogul’s real estate apprentice. The losers will settle for seeing the Donald’s distinctive hairstyle up close and personal. The show settles into its regular slot, 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, next week.

Mr. Trump, who serves as host and executive producer, says the show will go a long way toward dispelling the notion that reality-show contestants aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer.

“All of these 16 participants are absolutely brilliant young people. We have doctors, Harvard MBAs, the opposite of what reality television has become,” Mr. Trump said in a teleconference to promote the art of his latest deal.

That doesn’t mean the contestants didn’t serve up the kind of “How could they do that?” moments that fuel reality programming.

“They were extraordinary in every way, then I’d see things that were so stupid. You’ll be seeing a lot of that on the show,” Mr. Trump, ever the tease, said.

Mr. Burnett called “The Apprentice” “a 13-week very intensive job interview” with a boss who “doesn’t suffer fools gladly.”

“This is not a game,” Mr. Burnett said.

The contestants embark on a variety of projects to prove their mettle, from putting on an arts exhibition to producing a rock concert in very little time.

At the end of each episode, whoever comes up short has to explain their failures to Mr. Trump. That won’t be pretty.

Mr. Trump said reality-show producers have hounded him for years to star in a show, but they wanted to follow him around with cameras all day, a la “The Osbournes.”

“I’m really busy, and I don’t want to be doing that,” Mr. Trump said.

Besides, he said, the new show gives people a peek at the roughest jungle of them all, the New York business world.

“There’s a great educational component of this show,” he said.

Mr. Burnett said the new show doesn’t mirror the tactics his “Survivor” participants use to win that show’s million-dollar prize.

“Alliances don’t really come into play,” Mr. Burnett said. “You’re dealing with extremely go-getter, smart people.” Stepping over the line would prove counterproductive.

Mr. Trump made sure the contestants didn’t lose sight of the show’s objectives, Mr. Burnett said.

“Mr. Trump is looking for leaders, not followers,” Mr. Burnett said. “Trying to hide is impossible in ’The Apprentice.’”