“The Apprentice”

Tonight at 8:30 on NBC/4

(three stars)

HERE’S something I never knew before: Donald Trump’s home is decorated just like the lobbies of his apartment buildings and casinos.

This revelation was made possible by “The Apprentice,” the new NBC reality show that has 16 business-oriented young people auditioning for a $250,000-a-year job in the Trump Organization.

In tonight’s premiere (its regular time period will be Wednesday nights at 8, starting next week), the eight female contestants get a partial tour of Trump’s marble-and-gilt duplex atop Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.

The “apartment” is said to be 52 rooms, but the girls don’t get any farther than a foyer, dining room and sitting area – none of which look as if they are ever really used by human beings.

The “tour” provides an opportunity for a cameo appearance by Trump’s girlfriend, Melania Knauss, who descends a staircase from a living area that is evidently off-limits to the TV show.

One of the wide-eyed contestants idiotically asks Melania how she keeps such a huge place clean. You hire somebody, the well-mannered Melania answers without a hint of condescension.

The women make up one of two teams formed for “The Apprentice,” with the eight men comprising the other team.

Each week, the teams will face off in some sort of business-like competition. In the premiere, they’re sent out on the streets of New York to sell lemonade.

The team that earns the most money wins. The losers head to the boardroom for a dreaded meeting with Trump, who will then fire one of them. This is how a winner will eventually be determined.

Like other reality shows, “The Apprentice” is a survival game (it’s produced by Mark Burnett, producer of “Survivor”).

While its white-collar urban setting would seem to distinguish it from other reality competitions, it has some characteristics in common with them, including: a group habitat that looks just like others seen on MTV’s “Real World” and other shows; and contestants who are all jerks.

They come across as a bunch of cunning, vindictive schemers – the kind of people who place a higher priority on preserving their own skins than on making money for the organization that employs them.

Trump, on the other hand, comes across as all business. It’s his show and he controls what goes on, except apparently his makeup, which is laid on a tad too thick.

I have no idea who gets fired tonight since the firing was omitted from NBC’s review tape, but I don’t expect this show to be dismissed anytime soon.