Trump to Rosie: "You're hired," if you want

By Steve Gorman

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - The new executives running NBC said on Monday they would bring Donald Trump's reality show "The Apprentice" back from near extinction for at least one more run -- this time with celebrities playing for charity.

And in yet another twist to efforts to revive the low-rated "Apprentice" franchise -- and NBC's own sagging fortunes -- they said Trump was inviting his archfoe, actress-comic Rosie O'Donnell, to join the cast of the show's latest edition.

O'Donnell's spokeswoman immediately dismissed the idea.

It was one of several moves announced by newly installed NBC programming chief, Ben Silverman and his partner, Marc Graboff, in a bid to generate some buzz for the beleaguered network less than two months into their tenure as co-chairmen of NBC Entertainment.

NBC, a unit of General Electric Co.-controlled NBC Universal, has been struggling to reverse a three-year ratings slump since the departure of "Friends" and "Frasier" in May 2004. Silverman and Graboff were put in charge in late May as part of a network shake-up.

Besides Trump's renewal deal, they announced that Jerry Seinfeld, star of his own smash hit sitcom during the 1990s, will return to NBC in October to play himself in a rare guest turn on the season premiere of the comedy series "30 Rock."

Seinfeld already had plans to appear in a string of self-produced NBC "minisodes" airing during commercial breaks this fall to promote his work in the upcoming animated film "Bee Movie."

Silverman also outlined a reshuffling of NBC's prime-time fall schedule and some high-profile future projects, including a deal to pair up spoon-bending Israeli psychic Uri Geller and U.S. illusionist Criss Angel for a new reality show called "Phenomenon," billed as a talent search for the "next great mentalist."