The Apprentice

:This article refers to the reality series, for the episode of Xiaolin Showdown see The Apprentice (Xiaolin Showdown).

Premise

Each season begins with a group of contestants with backgrounds in various enterprises, typically including real estate, restaurant management, political consulting, and sales. During the show, these contestants live in a communal house, allowing their relationships to build. They are placed into teams, being assigned a task and selecting a project manager to lead them in each week's assigned task. The winning team receives a reward, while the losing team faces a boardroom showdown in order to determine which team member should be fired (eliminated from the show).

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Elimination proceeds in two stages. In the first stage, the losing team are confronted and the week's project manager is asked to select two or three additional team members which they believe were most responsible for the loss. In the second stage, the rest of the team is dismissed, and the project manager and the other selected members face a final confrontation several minutes later in which one of the three is fired.

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