The great illusion of "The Apprentice"

Recollect Donald Trump’s trademark phrase, “You’re fired!” How satisfying was it to hear those words spoken inside an apparent corporate boardroom, targeted at a scheming executive wannabe—rather than some blameless working person whose only mistake had been to need a job in the throes of a financial upheaval?

The Apprentice offered a promise not only of enrichment, but of justice, at a time when Americans craved that fantasy even more than usual.

It attached that promise not to a fictional character, but to an apparent real-life billionaire, who seemed to own real buildings with his own actual name on them, all over the world. This was no case of “I’m not a businessman, but I play one on TV.” Apprentice viewers had every reason to accept Trump as NBC and Mark Burnett featured him: a businessman who cared about the team, who upheld standards, who rewarded and punished as his subordinates deserved.