The Apprentice: Martha Stewart Episode 1 Preview: Once Upon a Time

The first episode of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart debuts on Wednesday, but eager viewers can get a few hints as to what’s in store for the candidates in their first challenge.

Stewart will challenge the candidates to rewrite the classic fairy tales “Hansel and Gretel” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” for modern audiences. They’ll work with executives at Random House to rewrite and illustrate the stories. Then, in an even tougher challenge, they’ll have to read their new stories to an audience of first graders.

Although the challenge deals with fairy tales, Stewart takes it very seriously. "Lesson number one, rule number one,” says Stewart, “You have to connect with your customer… Do you connect? Are you able to make an immediate connection with that publication that is going to be lasting, memorable, effective, teach a lesson or a moral? If you don't connect, you are not going to be successful."

It will be interesting to see how the candidates face this challenge. As the mom of a nine-month old, I’ve discovered that there are elements to children’s stories that, if they were on TV, we’d probably never let our kids watch them. Think about “Hansel and Gretel” – do you want your kid to read a story about a witch who lures children to her home with candy and then eats them? Will the candidates be able to make the story modern and relevant, without making it overly politically correct and boring?

From the first moments of the first episode of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, Stewart will be distinguishing her show from that of her counterpart, Donald Trump. Instead of having the opening credits to “Money, Money, Money,” we’ll meet Stewart’s candidates to the strains of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by the Eurythmics, certainly a different message. Stewart also won’t be using Trump’s signature line of “You’re fired.” Stewart claims, "I won't be 'firing' the candidates. I don't like 'firing' people...I've never even said 'You're fired.'"

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. Her favorite disturbing children’s story is Curious George, in which Curious George experiments with ether. Really. She’s not kidding. Betsy can be reached with any comments at betsywasser@gmail.com

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