“I love L.A.,” says Donald Trump at the wheel of his white Rolls convertible, momentarily channelling Randy Newman as he cruises sun-drenched, palm-lined boulevards.

It’s a new season of “The Apprentice”, which, in a drive to warm up cooled-off ratings, has ditched Manhattan for Los Angeles to find the best problem-solver, the sharpest negotiator, and, ideally, the sexiest of the 18 guy and gal candidates.

A new gimmick for this, the sixth “Apprentice” outing: Contestants on each week’s winning team get to live in a luxurious mansion beside Trump’s top-of-the-hill mini-castle. Contestants on the losing team? They dwell in tents in the back yard.

As another twist, the winning project manager each week will remain in control until he or she loses a challenge, and will sit in the boardroom to help advise Trump on who should be fired from the opposing team.

Meanwhile, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. are on hand for several episodes as boardroom advisers to their dad.

The candidates’ first group project: Erecting one of the aforementioned tents while clad in their meet-Mr.-Trump business finery.

And for the rival teams’ official first test? What else in this city of highways? Duelling car washes! Who washes out? Find out when “The Apprentice” airs at 10.30 p.m. tomorrow on NBC.

Other shows this week to look out for:

l Eddie Sutton is a dedicated cop, but no less committed as a family man. Can he keep it all in balance when he uproots his wife and three teenage kids from their secure Southern California suburb, for the troubled inner-city neighbourhood where he grew up? That’s the question underlying “Lincoln Heights,” a drama premiering on the ABC Family network Monday at 7 p.m. Granted, there are good things about the Suttons’ new life: instead of the cramped apartment they’d been renting they now will own an abandoned, condemned crack house they intend to renovate. But not all the neighbours are happy to see a cop move into their midst, while the kids will have a hard time adjusting to their hard-knocks school. Eddie has a dream of helping revive his old ‘hood while staking a claim in it for his family. Can he pull it off, or have the Suttons moved into harm’s way? “Lincoln Heights” stars Russell Hornsby as Eddie and Nicki Micheaux as his wife, Jenn.

[bul] An attractive, athletic teen goes undercover in the guise of being overweight, and learns a lesson in tolerance in Lifetime’s movie, “To Be Fat Like Me”. Kaley Cuoco (“Eight Simple Rules...”) plays Aly, a high-school junior who enters a documentary-film contest in hopes of winning the cash prize to pay for college. She arms herself with a fat suit and hidden camera as she attends summer classes at a rival high school where, unknown, she arrives as a 250-pound newcomer. Having anticipated that her radiant personality would win over fellow students, Aly finds her confidence quickly shattered by the epidemic mocking and harassment she encounters. And she begins to recognise her own intolerance for her overweight mother (played by Caroline Rhea). Inspired by the true story of New York teen Ali Schmidt, who underwent a similar transformation for a 2003 TV program on obesity, the film airs on Monday at 10 p.m.

[bul] Can NASA satellite imagery uncover hidden sites of ancient Mayan ruins? Will space elevators (hoisted by a 22,000-mile-long cable) make it possible someday to vacation in orbit? And what’s the word on the so-called Bacteria Whisperer, a researcher who has found a language that nearly all bacteria use to communicate — with huge implications for developing new antibiotics? These reports are part of the January edition of “NOVA scienceNOW.” And as if all that weren’t enough, another report tells how scientists are tapping genetic codes for insight into human ageing, with the possibility of reengineering them to extend the human life span. The one-hour science magazine, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).

[bul] By some measures, it’s the grandest drama ever seen on TV. But, oh, that naughty language and bloody behaviour! Well, eight years to the day after “The Sopranos” premiered on premium channel HBO, basic-cable network A&E is reprising the landmark series — minus some of the more risque moments (as well as that HBO surcharge). Airing two episodes back-to-back each Wednesday at 10 p.m., A&E’s slightly sanitised version may render the f-word as “freakin”’ and cover up the topless dancers at the Bada Bing. But the series’ dramatic power remains intact — and so is the running time; the episodes will run in their original length. For HBO-deprived viewers who have wondered these eight years what all the fuss was about, and for “Sopranos” fans who may have forgotten how it all began, this is your ticket. James Gandolfini stars as New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano; Edie Falco is his wife, Carmela; Lorraine Bracco is Tony’s sexy shrink; and, in these early episodes, Nancy Marchand is electrifying as Tony’s terrible mom. Bada bing, indeed>Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore[AT]ap.org