From Nick's column, regarding Maria:
HA! I didn't know he could be so nasty. I think I like him better now. :)

I loved the InsidePulse column too, Nick can chat on these board anytime. I agree with his feelings about all of the contestants, I almost wish he could be in the boardroom with Mr. Trump, Carolyn, and/or George. His snarkiness would be amusing to watch in these circumstances.

I just read this at EW regarding the solution to fixing The Apprentice and had to choke back the vomit.


EDIT: Here's the link, btw

lostcawz, there's a typo in your link, an extra "http".

My favorite quote on Nick's recap is his take on Ivana:



BWAH!!

Sorry 'bout that bad link. It should work now.

I'm in agreement that the cast is the problem (like most of us), but for the love of Phil please do not bring in people like Rupert or to a lesser degree Charla.

From CMO Magazine blog:

From the Entertainment Weekly article:



Yes, folks, remember this life lesson from Mark Burnett: Evil is stronger than good. Fear is stronger than hope. And mercy is for the weak. Brought to you by the fresh minty taste of Crest!

I'm pretty pissed that they didn't have Wes and Maria interview on the Today Show. What's up with that? I would love to hear more of her excuses on why she's so wack.

The lawyers for The Today Show were probably concerned about Maria's strobe-like blinking and the high instance of epileptic seizures that would be induced in the viewing audience, especially in young children.

Poor Wes, being stuck with Blinky McTwitch for his post-boot appearances. He sucked as PM because he didn't try hard enough to rein her in, and now he's in a private circle of hell, of his own making.

and, somewhere, Dante is laughing.

You mean the minty, vanilla taste of Crest. I like chocolate and mint together, but know that a lot of people don't. I think the same holds for vanilla and mint.

Friday's Today show was entirely on an island somewhere and featured a wedding. I know because I FF the whole show looking for the booted Apprentices. I thought they might run it Monday, but no luck.

FWIW, the vanilla mint toothpaste was nasty. I got a free sample from Crest a few weeks ago, and I would never spend money on that crap...even if Mike "Pee-yah-zuh" [/JenC] liked it. *gag*

LOL! Really though as wordslinger's link so amply demonstrates all those people up in arms about the "bad values" promoted by such shows as Desperate Housewives that's "poisoning our culture" are missing the larger point that the worst moral lessons being taught on tv right now are being taught by actual people rather than actors. Seriously, Survivor the show, is living proof that the libertarian theory that in a Darwinian environment with everyone acting in their own best interest, that the fittest will survive, is utter BS. So has Apprentice this season too; both shows prove that what best serves individual interests is not in the best interests of the group as a whole, and that sometimes truly horrible people thrive in so-called "competitive" environments for reasons that are entirely unrelated to their skills at hand. In that sense the lack of anything approaching fairness this season might be a good thing since it teaches people that life is unfair. And back to the topic-having Burnett rave about the Vanilla Mint promotion like that was pretty scary; it suggests we're gonna be stuck with more of this kind of thing in the future rather than interesting challenges like opening up a restaurant, or renovating houses.


Edited to add I'm sorry I got carried away on this post.

Your TV Guide piece is brill, Miss Allie. It includes a photo of Assaroma in full-blown pageant mode (you can see the vaseline shining off those enormous teeth) & Barbara Walters who, despite her carefully cultivated grin, has a snake- up-her-ass expression that clearly reads: "Who is this dreadful creature & why am I forced to pose with her?"

- Bill Rancic

I just wanted to point this out from a Bill article a few pages back. Maybe he's NOT reading the recaps!

Oh. So that's his theory behind the crap casting. But it's helpful to look at TAR 5's Chip and Kim; they played hard and even sneaky sometimes, but they weren't jerks like the current Apprentice crop seems to be. It was fun to watch them win. It won't be very fun to watch the Apprentice 2 jackels win anything.



This is where I think Trump himself has screwed up the season -- his bizarre early firings set the standard by rewarding bad coven-like behavior. Life might be unfair (disease, pestilence, Maria), but people can choose to be fair. Trump instead chose to play up the bitchy drama.

That EW article blames the casting, but I think Trump could've chosen to smack down the poor workers and badmouthers right from the beginning. Then we could've watched these people work their asses off, regardless of their personal feelings for one another, and that tension would've be more fun than the constant open backstabbing.

While I totally agree with EW's assesment of this season, I think the biggest reason for the drop in viewership is the lack of the Friends lead-in. Will & Grace and ER have both dropped significantly. Granted, those shows have also been filled with interchangeable, shrill, annoying characters as well, but the real secret behind The Apprentice's original success was Friends final season ratings.

When TA was originally scheduled for Wednesday the ratings were low which was why they switched it to Thursday. I wish I could remember what the original rating for TA were before it made the move to Thursday.

Dump him, Miss Alli! You can do better.

Nah, that's not it. I heard that Homeland Security was worried about Maria sending encoded messages to Al Qaeda. Blink-blink blii-ii-ii-ii-ii-nk blink = Osama's secret hideout; blink nerk-nerk blink-blink = location of WMDs; nerk-nerk blink, blink-blink nerk, blinkety-blink = Toss a burqa over me! I'm having a seizure!

Melania's working for Levis now. NY Post

Kwame & O merit mentions in Lloyd Grove's Lowdown this morning. NY Daily News. Scroll down.Do NOT miss the last paragraph, but you may wish to put your coffee down first.

PHOTO gallery of O's appearance at the opening of the Coca-Cola Apollo Theater Academy at Harlem's Thurgood Marshall Academy . And really, she looks almost mom-like in the pictures. That's so odd. . .

Maria's TVGO interview. Yay! Even though I'm likely not the only one who emailed it to him, Ausiello asked Maria the question I sent in. A gold star to the person who figures out what question it is.

A couple of questions for/about Wes are covered in the Ask Ausiello column too. Scroll down to the 16th question.

I'm going to take a gamble (hell I really want a gold star) and say

that or the Maxim question. Speaking of just incase some people really wanna go blindthis link to the rest of the Maxim pictures was posted on FT. Some of the quotes are groanworthy.

I love the fact that she thinks Kevin and Raj are equally hot.

***PING!*** sinclair gets the gold star. It was the Maxim question indeed. Your forehead looks so purty now!

I thought she was really a bitch about Andy. He's only going to get cuter as he matures. Like in a decade or so.

The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week. TheStreet.com. Can you imagine? TD is #2. Amusing graphic.

I loved that Ausiello compared Maria's freak-out during Levi's to Stacy's 8-ball incident, which really gets her panties in a twist.

She defends herself by saying that " you only saw a few minutes of [Stacie's freak-out]. That actually went on for 45 minutes." Well, she freaked out for the entire task! Which is worse, Blinky?

I also doubt her contention that she only blinked when she had low blood sugar and "(didn't) have the opportunity to get some apple juice." How does that explain all the blinking when she's talking to people in the suite? Surely she could have just gone over to the fridge.

Thanks for the link to TheStreet goobaletta. Interesting how Trump is trying to declare bankruptcy without admitting they're actually well...bankrupt. Sounds like the whole "failure to take some responsibility" issue that's plague Apprentice this year might have its origins in DT himself.

I should have heeded the warning.

I wonder how Maria's pix are going over at Regent?

Well, Ausiello does ask her about her conservative alma mater and the pictures. Ah, if only I still lived in Hampton Roads.

I also found it interesting she ranked Raj and Kevin so highly. It didn't surprise me where she placed Andy. Hee.

The problem is,Mr. Burnett, is last season the show seemed real. This year the show seems fixed on creating drama whereas last year, the contestants sweating so hard to work for the Donald was drama in and of itself.

Face it, Mr. Burnett, all your characters this year are unlikable. We don't like watching them; we want them gone! Omarosa was a villian but a JR-type villian. You hated her but you liked watching her antics too. None of these guys have this quality. Stacy R, Maria, Ivana,etc; you just want them off the screen. They're not even entertaining villians; they're despicable.

And Stacie J's firing really turned people off! It was so ugly, so uncalled for. The show was so-so at that point but with that incident, he lost major cool points I think.

Because, of course, the two finalists from season one were evil cutthroats who didn't care what anyone thought of them.

Oh, wait. Actually, they were two of the nicest, best-liked contestants of the whole bunch. And four of the top five were all likable people who worked hard and played clean.

What was that again, Mr. Burnett?

Trump Double Dumps another Ill-fitted Pair! Elites TV.

Donald Trump, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Garner Join 140-plus Celebrities Contributing to 'Staplers of the Stars' Online Charity Auction Business Wire. George and Carolyn contributed too.

From the article linked by Goobaletta - Trump Double Dumps Another Ill-Fitted Pair:



Is this writer watching the same show I'm watching? With the exception of Andy's Ferrari-as-wedding-dress pitch in the bridal shop challenge, he's proven himself to have excellent presentation skills. In the extra boardroom clips from Yahoo, Carolyn praised Andy's presentation skills in the NYPD challenge & said she was "floored" when Mosaic chose not to have him participate in the Levi's presentation.

At this point, I have simultaneous bookings on the Sandy and Andy love trains. I'm seriously considering cashing in my ticket on Jenn's train. Everyone else flat out sucks.

Thank god MiniStacy wasn't one of the overexposed. Maria's transvestite hooker look does cause eye damage, but a Stacy-the-Sexy-Twelve-Year-Old layout, would make my brain bleed.

They are all airbrushed within an inch of their lives- I think they just wholesale removed Pamazon's nipples. Jen C either lost some weight, or they Photoshoped it away. Stacie J and Sandy look good- Pam looks amazing (her rack looks new), and Jen C and Maria look redonkulous. Putting the two of them in the same picture only magnifies their awkward fake sexuality.

ITA, AlmondEyes, and to be honest, I thought the "you are the Ferrari of bridal designers" was a great reference. When I watched that scene, I thought the lady was really being a snotty bitch to look offended (maybe it was a NYC thing, I don't know.) Carolyn, I think, was just good-naturedly teasing him about it and maybe because of the woman's reaction.

But, I'd certainly be complimented being compared to a Ferrari....it's sleek, sexy, top of the line in quality & price, a toy of the Very Rich. A snooty, high-end bridal designer would certainly understand the reference and would be totally thrilled to have a prospective client drive up in one. In presentation terms, this would not be an unexpected reference from a guy. Everyone acting like Andy committed a faux pas with that comment was unreasonably critical IMHO.

Unless I'm mistaken, Maxim doesn't pay the women who appear in their magazine.
This was the case earlier this year when the first season women appeared in FHM. They did FHM for nothing after turning down a lot of money to appear in Playboy.

Even if I am wrong, and Maxim did pay them, there is no way the amount ever remotely approached 6 figures. Magazines like Maxim, FHM and Stuff don't need to pay, mainly because they don't do nudity and most of the women do it for the publicity.



Maria may be talentless, obnoxious and just a horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible person, but she is quite attractive. Attractive on just about any scale. She has one of the prettiest faces I have ever seen with cheekbones and eyes to die for, and while she is not voluptuous, she has an incredible body that is fit and pleasing to the eye.
I am sure there are people who don't find her sexy, but I feel safe in saying that those people are in the minority.

Levi's Fit Wheel rolls to 'Apprentice' victory. AZ Republic. Snarky!

Former Apprentice contestant in town. Capital News 9. About Jen C. VIDEO.

A gizmo created to lampoon the seemingly sycophantic behavior of the Trumpettes this season. Chortler. Click the button at the bottom that says: Check It Out. Meh, but a time killer.

RealityShack 11/23/04 Interview With Stacie J. of The Apprentice 2

I'm suprised nobody's posted this link yet. It mentions some interesting information about the casting of the show. It seems they gave applicants all sorts of diagnostic tests as well as background checks. If this is so, they didn't arrive at such a horrid women by accident. They must have purposely sought the women with the highest bitchiness quotient. Hence Jenn C, Maria, Ivana, Pam, Stacy R etc.

Levi's Fit Wheel rolls to 'Apprentice' victory. AZ Republic. Snarky!

This article has a great spoiler for tonite's episode: "A Pepsi bottle should have the word "Pepsi" on it.!

Please don't make pronouncements about who's in the "minority" for not finding people sexy. Speak for yourself, and only for yourself, and things will go much more smoothly. Thanks.

Frabrato, back when Stacie J. was fired there were at least two articles posted that quoted Stacie J's comments in re: the psychological testing and so forth during the casting process. You'd have to go back beaucoups of pages to find them, but they're here somewhere. Also, if you were meaning to post a link, it isn't working.

Liquid Generation has a TA2 Who'd You Rather? game. Click the link, then click the Who'd You Rather icon on the bottom left. Once the games load you're looking for Week 98 on the right side of your screen. A few of the choices are pretty heinous, but will provide you with an amusing way to kill a few minutes today. Oh yeah, the games pop up in a new screen, JIC you have a pop up blocker activated you'll want to hit your control key when you click. But you likely know that already. If you've never been to this site before, don't be surprised if you get addicted.

Ouch Maria is beating Amy 2-to-1 (Well there goes that theory about the Maria Minority). I think Amy is Hot! and Maria is quite simply Not!

What a weird game! And why make me choose between Kevin and Wes? That's like, the toughest one ever! (FWIW, I was disappointed Andy was being soundly beaten. He's adorable!)

Thanks to a heads up from sirhcmeister in Troy's thread, I went scoping around the WWW and found the following at the Miss World pageant site: Squeee!

RealityShack 11/23/04 Interview with Stacie J. of the Apprentice 2

I read this interview a few days ago. In earlier interviews she said Jenn M was the only woman she liked, now it's Pamela.

Dang! My favorite part? Why she tried out for The Apprentice:

Apparently wacked-out hair is both a personal and a professional passion for Stacie J.

My favorite is:
"They can portray you as being 360 degrees different from what you really are." Which would be, you know, the same as you really are.

Debate Champ Gets Soda Jerked on 'The Apprentice' Zap2it.

Sam's commentary is up at Yahoo!

FIZZLE OUT NEW YORK POST

Gael's TA Update at MSNBC.

Young adults feel connection to 'The Apprentice' Des Moines Register.

Gael also has a reality TV show QUIZ up at MSNBC. A couple of TA relevant questions, of course.

Thanks for all the links goobaletta. Since I missed this episode it was a great way to catch up on the show plus Sam's commentary was hilarious as usual. "Pepsi Paws"-it could happen! Though, I must say that article you posted about people using *this* season of The Apprentice as a way of learning business tips was kinda disturbing. All this season is teaching young people is how to backstab your way to being a yes-man for a megalomaniac who keeps declaring bankruptcy. The American Dream!

You're more than welcome, The Other Daughter. Glad to be of help.

Mess in a Bottle. Entertainment Weekly.

Trump Spins Bankruptcy and Teaches Apprentices. Ann Woolner's column at Bloomberg.

Andy was on The Today Show this morning. Interestingly, he said the idea was to create a 20-oz. limited-edition bottle, not something intended for mass production. I couldn't quite tell whether that was Pepsi's stated goal, or one that Mosaic came up with for themselves, but that was part of his reasoning for the globe bottle: something that you might want to proudly display on your desk or somewhere in your office. Uh, OK Andy; sure. Even Katie challenged that idea, and she said she liked the bottle.

He said that both bottles came in at about the same price, but the execs didn't think the globe bottle was edgy enough for the younger demographic. He politely dissed the idea of stuffing movie tickets into the hole in Apex's bottle (not enough room), but did admit that it's a cool bottle.

Next up for Andy: looking for a job; he's "on the open job market."

On the more superficial level, Andy did not look as good as I expected. I can't put my finger on what's different, and it might be more to do with camera angles and lighting, but his eyebrows seemed to jump out from his face (they looked darker or thicker). I think the haircut is shorter, and his face looks a little...puffier? Not nearly Jerry-Lewis-on-steroids, by any means. Maybe he's just paler than he was during the show.

Overall, he certainly didn't embarrass himself, and he had a good sense of perspective. Didn't run others down, and seemed to have gained some good insights from the experience. I wish Katie had asked about the pizza and the money, but it's Katie's interview (which means she has to talk more than the person she's interviewing).