NBC has confirmed that the finale of Apprentice season three will be just one hour long, down from the three-hour extravaganza that capped season two.

Only three episodes of the current season are left; the interview round, and then the final tasks. Interviewers include the chairman and CEO of Domino's Pizza, the president of US commerce at QVC, the chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, and the chairman and CEO of Burger King.

One of the final tasks will be to co-ordinate The Best Buy Video Game World Championship at Webster Hall; the other will be to run The NYC 2012 Athlete Challenge at Chelsea Piers.

Each finalist will be assigned three employees (contestants who were previously fired) to help them on their final tasks. This marks a change from previous seasons where finalists were able to select their employees from the pool of firees. NBC says both finalists will be "outraged" when they find out who has been assigned to them.