Rules of 'Apprentice'-ship

NBC has announced that an open casting call for the third season of "The Apprentice" will be held in Seattle next Saturday.

What exactly does it take to get on that hit show and try for a shot at leaping several steps up Donald Trump's corporate ladder? Well, I took a look at the application. It's not unlike many non-reality TV application forms, although a couple of differences pop out:

• In addition to standard questions like what were your last three jobs, it also asks personality-oriented queries like, "tell us an embarrassing story about yourself."
• Unusual job requirements such as: "You must not have appeared as a contestant in more than two (2) television competition reality-based shows within the last five (5) years from the tape date of the episode(s) of the Program in which you may appear. In addition, you may not have appeared as a contestant on more than one (1) television competition reality-based show within the past twelve (12) months from the tape date of the episode(s) of the Program in which you may appear ..."
• A release form granting producers the right to use your likeness in connection with the show "in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, throughout the universe, in perpetuity."

Now that's forward-thinking; most release forms are shortsighted enough to limit the geographic scope to "worldwide."

Incidentally, NBC only pays for economy tickets when contestants need to fly to the final auditions or to take part in the actual show. No private jets unless the cameras are rolling, I guess.