Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

At the dawn of reality television, producer Mark Burnett bought the US rights to a Swedish reality show called Expedition Robinson as the inspiration for his first reality show, Survivor. The show catapulted Burnett to a period of fame; his next big idea, “Survivor in the City” (176), became The Apprentice.

Burnett already knew he wanted his next show to star real estate developer Donald Trump, whose ice rink had hosted a previous Survivor finale. Barnett recognized immediately that Trump needed to feel celebrated and important—reasons Keefe cites to explain Trump’s 2015 presidential campaign. Though Trump’s xenophobic comments eventually got The Apprentice cancelled, Burnett remained a loyal ally. Keefe notes caustically, despite Burnett’s roster of successful reality shows, including The Voice, “his chief legacy is to have cast a serially bankrupt carnival barker in the role of a man who might plausibly become the leader of the free world” (177).

Keefe gives the reader an overview of Burnett’s biography: his working-class background in London, years in the army as a Special Forces paratrooper in the British Army, and sudden decision to leave for Los Angeles rather than work in Central America as a “weapons and tactics adviser” (178).