So Rob gained fifteen pounds during his stay at the loser hotel... did he also buy new pants on Mark Burnett's tab? It would be funny if he had to squeeze into the same clothes as he fattened up.

In the Soap Opera Weekly article, Jenn C says, "The whole thing is a kind of debauchery." I wonder what went on at loser hotel.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, NOT THE BABES NY Post. Weekly review.

TD leads of the Bull's Eye column in today's NY Post.

Ad trend: Sponsors buy into reality TV Denver Post. The TA relevant section begins a bit less than halfway down the page.

Winner of NBC’s “The Apprentice,” to speak at Bryant University (in Smithfield, RI) on Oct. 20.

Evidently his book won't include any gyms. "Loser" is right.

ETA: I think that "Loser Hotel" would make a great name for a show, but I don't know if I'd watch it. Probably just a bunch of whining. No wait, that's the Apprentice.

From the NY Post article:



BWAH!

My favorite quote in that article was the one Knid quoted, but this one from Rob is priceless too.



He had what, 7 weeks? And he "tried" to read? "Started" a book. Real intellectual powerhouse there, huh?


ETA that the second part of the quote below is pretty laughable too. No JennC, it's not that people aren't "grasping" it, it's that IT DOESN1T MATTER!!!

I would venture to say that whatever happens there, it's a damn sight more entertaining than this season's actual show. Heh. Watch Trump decide to make Loser Hotel a separate show. Don't laugh--it could happen. He already owns the rights to these people's lives for the whole time.

Gah, Jen C., just shut your cakehole! Oh my GOD she doesn't get it at all, does she? Truly amazing.

You guys are like totally missing JennC's inherit grasp of the English language.



So like what she's saying is we're all so dissing her now, when we were all so her friend before and she just like can't grok the flip-flop. Okay?



[/joke]

Personally, I think staying at Loser Hotel would not be so bad. As Rob says in the article, you get to do it on Burnett's tab. I imagine they spend the first day or two telling anyone who will listen how they were wronged. If anyone is sympathetic, then I bet those two people commiserate and become quite close. Probably more friendships are fostered at this stage than during the actual competition. And another thing: they are much more relaxed after the competition is over for them. They have nothing left to worry about.

Hey I said that earlier. First Trump has The Task, then The Boardroom, next comes Loser Hotel. He can have an entire franchise on The Apprentice, like Dick Wolf with L&O and Jeffrey Katzenberger's CSI. Pretty soon Trump will have his own station like Oprah.

Calgary Sun interview with Pamela. One interesting item she points out: the men were pretty darn cranky with each other too: "I actually saw one guy take another guy down over a tube of toothpaste".

Editing, editing, editing!

Great article, hollydevi. Thanks for sharing!

GAH! I wish Jen C would just learn to keep her mouth shut. She's a idiot.

Bradford has some interesting comments about Stacie J:


Later on he says that Ivanna should have been fired. Too little, too late Baldford.

The interview with Pamela was quite interesting and only confirmed what I'd already suspected about the editing. I'm not at all surprised about the fist fight on the men's team nor am I surprised that the editors cut that out in favor of more air time for the Apexienne's cat fights. Seeing women screeching and fighting makes for better TV. The Extra!Video!Footage reveals some of the cattiness and divisions among the men, but, none of this is actually shown on the program.


I really wish the editors would have hightlighted just how long the Mosaic men had wasted chatting up those models. It also gives context to why the designer was so annoyed. Instead, all we saw was Raj briefly getting his knuckles rapped by The Hair. Contrast this with the smackdown the Apex women received for their 3 hr stint wandering the streets of NY looking for a sign across the street. Editing!

One of the shows that my TiVo randomly recorded is actually something that I found interesting - VH1's Reality Secrets Revealed 2. (Good TiVo, good boy!) Assorama, Heidi and Ereka revealed:

• (I think this was mentioned on this site previously) The boardroom is fake set that's on the same floor as the apartment. The "mirror" on the wall behind where the contestants sit is how the people in the control room see what's going on in the boardroom. Assorama said that the people in the apartment could actually hear what was going on during one of the boardroom sessions because the set doesn't have a ceiling.
• They didn't actually pack anything into the suitcases that they brought to the boardroom.
• For TA1, all of the walks of shame out to the cab were taped when the show first began production so there's even one of Bill. Heidi said that, for almost every female in TA1, there was discontinuity between what they looked like in the boardroom and what they looked like in the walk of shame.
• They showed the casting call for TA3. Initially, applicants were split into groups of 10 and they had about 10 minutes to impress the casting directors. Carolyn was there and DT also popped in. Heidi and Assorama said that they had to go through several interviews with the producers, meet with psychologists, go through an IQ test and physical examination, and answer situational questions like "what if you were with other women and they wanted to make out? would you make out with them?" They also go through an extensive background check but apparently the fact that Kristi Frank was in a softcore porn movie slipped by (Heidi theorized that they might have let it go by because it would be publicity for the show when it got out).
• They mention that the producers influence who stays and who goes. In fact, TA's credits state that "Donald Trump and his advisors discussed possible elimination decisions with the producers and NBC".

The show also talked about other reality shows like Survivor, The Bachelor, Average Joe, The Restaurant, etc. Contestants talked about what it's like to be on the show (no privacy, contestants on Joe Millionaire and Average Joe were deceived into thinking it was a different type of show, how to create "bad footage" that wouldn't be used, etc), editing/schmediting issues, stuff like that.

Looks like Omarosa will be on Court TV show

Interesting, lucinator.


This, however, I would take with a grain of salt considering the source. And I don't recall ever hearing anyone else talk about this. If it is true, then wouldn't the people in the suite have a pretty good idea who is coming back and who's not? Which doesn't seem to be the case. Unless the whole "Aspiring Corporate Weasel Deathwatch" each week is staged.

'Apprentice' 101: Understanding product is a winning strategy. Seattle Post-Intelligencer

TA2 starts in New Zealand tomorrow night.

The Apprentice: The Missing Episode PopPolitics.com. A parody.

Go to NYC, meet The Trumpster. Charlotte Observer. Free registration. I must admit, Trumpy's a PR genius. And it doesn't hurt that many of the ladies in The Loreleis are very attractive.

Oh what a dad TD is...NOT! NY Daily News.

DONALD'S A STAND-UP GUY AT EXPO NY Post

From the NY Daily News Rush & Molloy column:
'New generation' of restaurants cracks the Zagat survey NY Daily News. I posted this so that the folks who weren't familiar with the Zagat Survey® before Episode 4 could get a better idea of what it's about.

***New as of nearly 10 a.m. CDT***

First, I must blow kisses to Mama Tiger who gives me way too much credit for being on top of things. *smooches!*

Okay, that fool at Inside Pulse has a review of Episode 6 up now. Read at your own risk.

Nick's commentary is up as well. Snarky!

Awww...::blushes::

But back to topic: From "that fool" at Inside Pulse's recap, I came across this in the "previously" paragraph:



Uhh...I think I need read no further.

From Calgary Sun's article


Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but doesn't it sound as if they think Carolyn is manish and somehow doesn't qualify as a "business woman"???

I don't think I can respond to this. Way too many curse words...

It sounded like they couldn't hear clearly. She said that she was working out with someone else and one of them said, "Wait a minute, do you hear Trump's voice?" (Either that or she's so delusional that she hears his voice all the time)

Heidi also said something about Trump going through the loft to get into the Boardroom. He had to enter through a fake wall.

Deconstructing the Trumpster: Business lessons learned from episdode six of "The Apprentice" Richmond.com

'Apprentice' Celebrates Lastest Episode.[sic] Associated Press via the Miami Herald. Free registration. All about the viewing party. Kwame was there!

BigLaw Associate Hangs On on "The Apprentice" NYLawyer.com

***New as of 1 p.m. CDT***

Commentary from South Africa where Season 1 is showing. Business Day (Johannesburg) Very much akin to some of the commentaries from B-school types last season.

There was girl who had a beau and Bingo was his name- oh!
WTF... Bingo? Too many punchlines, too little time.

I love that Trump immediately tuned out the interviewer to gawk at his own image (laser-like focus, hee!) on the television.

Silver Angel's Mom, I interpreted that comment to mean that the journalist didn't consider Carolyn a real business woman, not that she didn't consider Carolyn a woman. However, the "virile" comment was a little strange...

I guess my point was that since an author's trade is word usage, I found the word choices to be slightly suspect. I guess I'm just a little protective of my Carolyn. Kinda daughterly.

No, don't get me wrong, I found the comment to be bizarre and mean-spirited too. And I should point out that if the Calgary Sun is anything like the Toronto Sun (and since they're owned by the same company, I imagine they are), then being dissed by the Sun isn't that big a deal, as you can be confident that you are more educated and intelligent than half the staff and all of the general readership. (The Sun papers are very trashy -- Sunshine girls and Sunshine boys in every issue! -- and have the lowest reading levels).

Thanks, hollydevi, for the insight on the Calgary Sun. I was totally surprised & angered at the mean, snippy reference to Carolyn. First off, with the well-documented and not too off the mark references to her looking a lot like Princess Diana, I couldn't imagine anyone calling her "manish". And the nasty remark that she doesn't qualify as a businesswoman when her accomplishments are quite remarkable OUTSIDE this rapidly deteriorating "reality" show...that is really just STOO. PID.

Trump Says 'Apprentice 3' Now Filming From www.abcnew.com Entertainment section.

So if Apprentice 3 is now filming... does that mean Apprentice 2 was filming while the original series was on TV? If so, then how would Bill have been one of the viceroys if he didn't know he won until the original series finale. Sorry if if this has been covered but could someone clear it up for me? Thanks

AFAIK they didn't begin casting for A2 until well after A1 finished and Bill got hired.

Heh? I think poor Billy boy has shown us enough bad hair days with that flock of seagulls look of his.

So when is Apprentice 3 gonna be airing? Will it still be next Fall or are they shooting for 2 seasons in one year? Seems kind of early, doesn't it? Filming will end by like January, maybe December and it won't air until September?

I think they're aiming for January or February.

Which may very well be overkill. Especially after this crop of duds. Have there been any media mentions anywhere of when TA3 is slated for?

Not that I can remember specifically, Mama Tiger. I just have a vague recollection that they were aiming to have TA3 ready in time for February sweeps to start and for it to end in May sweeps. I may have imagined that, but I don't think so. I'll look around. I don't go to other reality oriented sites much, so if anyone who does could have a look around I'll be mighty grateful.

From the abc article. Hee, at least John has a sense of humor about it now.

Article on Darren from Fashion Week Daily

Seen: Trump Loving Himself (Apprentice II and Gen Art Viewing Party) from Fashion Week Daily

According to an August article in the New York Daily News, TA3 will air in January. Same article said that the TA2 finale will be three hours long.

Secrets of the Apprentice article in TV Guide (with Lost characters on the cover)

Very interesting read. Carolyn says she thinks Stacie J was sabotaged, but that overall the decision was fair. They also interview Mark Burnett.

That sounds similar to George's comments about Pamela. He didn't agree with her firing, but, overall, he knew she wasn't who Trump wanted as his Apprentice so que sera sera...

And when you say "they" interview Mark Burnett as well as Carolyn, the "they" is "me." Just FYI.

You thought it was "very interesting"! Yay!

Miss Alli's got a TV Guide article this week?

Grr....Just when I let my TV Guide subscription expire because I have mad HATE for their new format...guess its off to the grocery store!

Don't know if this is the right place, but....HEEE!

The Donald costume

Note that the beanie that's dressed is called "Groom".

Heidi's commentary for Episode 6 is up. Nothing from O. I know y'all are devastated about that.

Cool, Miss Alli! That's your second TA article in TV Guide this season, isn't it? Yay!

Trumpy is featured in Liz Smith's column today. NY Post

I didn't see this posted, so here's the TV Guide Insider interview with John. I'd thought John's raving at Raj about "no one eats today!" was childish and extreme, but he won me over with this:


Also, the restaurant task hadn't been the first time Mosaic wanted to use John's good looks to their advantage:

I was just coming in to post that, archer1267. Good job!

Pam said in at least one of her post-firing interviews that she'd happily work with John again. I'm glad to see it's a mutual respect.

Why is Heidi writing so stiltedly? It doesn't sound like her voice at all!

Aha! I thought that Miss Alli was the writer of that TV Guide article, but wasn't totally sure... the fact that she referred to Carolyn as a viceroy tipped me off. 'Twas a very interesting read indeed.

Looks like it's time for a trip to the store for a TV Guide!

Oooh! Great interview with John. This part was interesting:


I think perhaps Carolyn and Pam were too much alike. Also, not surprised that the men were intimidated by Pamela. *sniff* Makes me miss her even more...


Interesting. I did feel that Kevin dodged blame for the pricing in the Boardrooom. I initially thought he was just playing the game; however, it sounds like he honestly did believe his pricing was correct. If that's the case, he's just wrong, wrong, wrong.

If you go to her website, you'll see she has written a few things and they have a similar tone to what she's writing on the NBC site.

I am a little surprised she's being so diplomatic, but maybe with Nick surprising us all with his hilariously acid pen--and Omarosa being, well, Omarosa--there's a need for less strident commentary.

Sam's recaps are still the best, though.