Expectations Run High That The Donald Will Return For Another Season On NBC

By WALT BELCHER

Published: Jul 16, 2007

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - NBC apparently has kissed and made up with Donald Trump and is expected to announce today that "The Apprentice" will be renewed for a seventh season.

Trump's reality show was not on the lineup in May, when NBC revealed its 2007-08 programs. Trump snorted and fussed in his usual blustery manner. He said he was tired of doing it anyway.

He and NBC apparently both had a change of heart. NBC's new entertainment president, Ben Silverman, plans to give "The Apprentice" another shot though this past season's ratings dipped considerably.

This is the second series brought back from the presumed dead. ABC also belatedly renewed "According to Jim."

The Trump announcement is coming this morning, when NBC presents its new and returning series to visiting TV critics, myself included. We are hunkered down at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for two weeks of "gee, aren't our shows great" presentations from the networks.

Trump should be here, and I'm predicting he'll be wearing a bright pink tie.

NBC also renewed Trump's "Miss Universe Pageant" through 2010 and may add Trump's daughter, Ivanka, to the cast of "Saturday Night Live."

Not! I'm just kidding about Ivanka.

The cast of "Saturday Night Live" already has 11 players for the 2007-08 season, and we will be schmoozing with them tonight.

There may be some big announcement today about "SNL," such as the latest desperate plan to get people younger than 40 to watch. "SNL," once the hip, cutting-edge show that was the voice of baby boomers when they were in their 20s, has become passe for the 18-to-34 crowd.

The median age of "SNL" viewers is 45, hardly a wild and crazy group.

If cast member Darrell Hammond shows up tonight, I'll try to catch up with him. He turns 52 this year and has been with "SNL" since 1995.

The University of Florida grad is the longest-employed cast member in the show's history and may hold down the job until he becomes a senior citizen.

NEW STUFF: NBC executives will be showing off their new series to us this week. High on the network's list are "Journeyman" and "Bionic Woman."

"Journeyman" is about a newspaper reporter (Kevin McKidd) who can travel back and forth in time.

On the upside, he can help people in distress and get some real scoops. On the downside, he hooks up with a seductive girlfriend from his past (Moon Bloodgood), which causes problems for his current marriage (the equally attractive Gretchen Egolf).

Check out preview clips of "Journeyman" on Yahoo! TV and NBC.com.

"Bionic Woman" stars Michelle Ryan as Jamie Sommers in a retelling of the 1970s series that starred Lindsay Wagner.

Wagner, 58, is no longer bionic. She has become the spokeswoman for an orthopedic mattress company (another sign of the pending end of the boomer reign).

Clips of the new bionic woman can be found at NBC.com.

Also, NBC will bring out the cast of "Friday Night Lights" on Tuesday to give the under-viewed freshman drama another push. Go Panthers!

If you have a question for Hammond, or any of the cast members or producers of "Friday Night Lights," "Bionic Woman," "Journeyman" or any NBC series, e-mail me at wbelcher@tampatrib.com(see my blog Walt TV on TBO.com).

Coming up later this week, I'll be talking with the stars of "Jericho," Tiki Barber, Keith Olbermann, James Woods, the cast of "How I Met Your Mother," the cast of "Bones," Gordon Ramsey and executives from NBC, CBS, The CW and Fox.

IRISH ZESTA: Today I will ask NBC about the effort to save the canceled Irish mob drama, "The Donnellys." Die-hard fans sent NBC 300 pounds of Zesta crackers as a statement of loyalty. The Zesta resembles a cracker on the sign of the Donnelly family bar. CBS gave "Jericho" a second chance after fans mailed in 3,000 pounds of peanuts (suggesting it's "nuts" to cancel the show).