ajw, I think the possibility of Trump trying to influence some control over the show depends upon whether or not he is a producer, or if he is only a hired star of the show. I never look at the credits that closely, so I don't know. Or maybe he didn't realize how bad he would look on the show this season until the episodes started to air.

It just started to wonder when I heard about the possibility of Trump being replaced by Martha Stewart. It also brought to mind some snippets of a Trump interview I heard a couple of months ago. (Or maybe I read about it on these boards.) In the interview, DT was asked about the copycat shows premiering this fall, and about the possibility of someone replacing him on TA. I believe his response was something like, "If they were to ever replace me, the show will fail."

I didn't think much of it at the time, but in light of recent reports, it makes me wonder just what is going on with Trump & Burnett. Trump's weekly salary has to be an issue of concern. One of the big benefits of most reality shows is that they cost so much less that scripted shows - no actors to pay, no team of writers, rehearsal time, etc. Most of the production costs seem to be in editing, sets, locations, etc. Trump's salary has to add significant outlay that Burnett and Co. might deem unnecessary.

This is just a guess, but I imagine Martha Stewart would come a lot cheaper, if she did take over TA, since it would help to rehab her image. Also, I think Martha would find a way to make the tasks more closely related to her business, so it wouldn't take as much time away from her concerns to do the show. She could have the contestants do a task in a different department of MSO each week.



It would be a risk, but maybe if Trump was being a big enough pain, and they thought they had Martha Stewart in the wings, they might take that chance on the ratings. As far as Martha being a billionaire, I don't think she is now, although she is still fairly wealthy. But she was definitely one at the height of her success. But I don't think it matters how much money she actually has now. There would be so much drama in seeing behind the scenes of MSO, seeing how Martha may or may not have changed after being incarcerated, and how she goes about restoring her company (maybe to greater success than before.)

I know Mark Burnett visited Martha in jail, and I'll be quite interested in seeing upcoming news reports on this matter.

Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God. Sorry about channeling Ivana but that would be freaking awesome! It would be beyond awesome actually to have a woman replace Trump. Oh please, do it Mr Burnett! I'd forgive any of your sins so far for that. And Martha STewart would be very interesting because she's got an ego approaching the size of Trump's and is a very capable and successful business woman. Let's see apprentice-wanna-bes make the perfect Plum Cake!

Any billionaire will do as long as Mark Burnett is running the show. Rebel Billionaire is a cautionary tale of how boring this concept can be if you don't have a skilled producer masterminding the drama-creation.

That's why I can't figure out the reason Trump is coming off so bad each week. According to the Internet Movie Database (Donald Trump @ IMDB), DT is executive producer of the show. This should give him some leverage over the production team, which makes me wonder (a) was he involved at all during the filming/editing process or did he just assume everything would flow as smoothly as in season 1 no matter what he said or did, as long as the "Trump" brandname was stamped on the show; and (b) whether or not he was involved, has he realized that his image has been harmed due to season 2? If he's only surrounded by "yes-saying" staff, he might not even know this.

ajw, I'm guessing that Trump only became aware of how bad he looks this season when he started getting feedback from outside sources (maybe friends and media articles) once the season was underway. Trump's image was so favorable last season, that it may not have occurred to him that they might show him in a less-than-flattering light, even after his demands for a hefty raise.

I don't know that much about the job of executive producer, but I think the role may vary from show to show. In some cases, I believe it is largely a ceremonial title, or one that only allows profit participation. In other cases, the EP is involved in many areas of the show.



Quidtempusest, this quote made me laugh out loud. Thanks, I needed that. It's okay to channel Ivana if you can make it funny like this.

Sam's Yahoo! commentary.

'Apprentice' Final Four Spot Melts in Ivana's Hands. Zap2it

Ivana go home: Finally, someone too tacky for Trump. Boston Herald.

‘Apprentice’ women keep selling sex. MSNBC. By our Gael. Related POLL.

Gael's brief recap at MSNBC.

Stripped of Ivana. EDMONTON SUN

TRUMP DOWN TO FOUR . NY Post.

Local firm gets prime TV role. Richmond Times-Dispatch. About one of the corporate sponsors for one of the final two tasks. Not really spoilery, but if you're determined to be completely spoiler-free, you may wish to avoid it.

Reality TV reveals real-life leaders' flaws. Globe & Mail.

Unhappy returns for 'Apprentice' loser. Chicago Sun-Times

Thanks for the multitude of links goobaletta. I enjoyed Sam's idea that contestants should have worn candy costumes to sell the bars, but I think he was wrong to equate Ivana's tactics as being the same as Jen and Sandy's. I think Gael hit the marker more, when she pointed out that you see people on the street wearing the same look they had on all the time, and dressing like bright-red twins was rather clever. (And the van was awesome-I'm surprised Apex didn't try that.) And she's right about how Apex made NO effort to find a clever way to drum up business either. Really I think I liked her article about it all the best. Very insightful as to the problems with almost all the female contestants this year too.

I'm disappointed Lester Holt interviewed Ivana on The Today Show this morning. I think he gave her a free pass in a way Katie Couric would not have. He discussed the skirt incident in a fair and nonjudgmental way (what a true journalist is supposed to do) and it was ultimately unsatisfying for me. Like last night, Ivana tried to justify the unjustifiable. I believe Katie would have had a hard time hiding her disgust and Ivana would have melted under Katie's censure. Lester did point out it wasn't her finest moment and she agreed. I had the sincere feeling that she's truly embarrassed by her actions and knows there's no way around how disgusting she was. (However, her man still asked her to marry him.) She blamed her decision to strip on fatigue, something I don't think Katie would have let her get away with. She also said Carolyn blew the incident out of proportion and was harsh on her.

When asked Ivana, unsurprisingly, said she'd like to see Kevin and Kelly duke it out as the final 2 even though she thinks Sandy was good. (Ivana has such a competitive thing with women and it's sad she isn't any good at hiding it, even when she's called on it by Trump himself. Ugh!) It was neat that Lester mentioned her engagemnt at the very end of he interview. She announced Yes, she is planning a summer wedding in the Bahamas and working on other projects...then Lester cut her off and said "Good luck Ivana." and they went to commercial. (I do believe a Katie interview would have allowed Ivana to discuss her "projects" more extensively, so good did come out of the Lester interview after all!)

Thanks for the Today show recap, Slade2. If I knew last nite that my 9 am meeting would be pushed back to this afternoon, I'd have stuck around at home to catch Ivanastripinpublic.



I guess she still doesn't get it, though I'm surprised that she didn't blame her loss on Jen. She probably thinks this, but someone must have told her to cool it with the Jen Jen Jen/Marsha Marsha Marsha cakes because she sounded borderline psychotic.

I can no longer remember if she mentioned Jenn this morning. Anyone else? She mentioned fatigue being a factor in her decision to strip more than once and Lester went with that, asking whether or not she watches herself on TV now and wonders who that person is. Ivana ran with it and said, yes, she doesn't recognize herself. Loads of adrenaline on little sleep and food will do that to you, apparently.

Heh. I totally slept through The Today Show this morning. I'll be watching tomorrow, however, when Bill's supposed to be on with Lester. The View biddies showed the clip of Ivanabeablondewithbigboobies and slammed her pretty hard in their news discussion segment. No clue if she was actually a guest on the show, however. Anyone see her on anything else? And have y'all noticed that Jay Leno hasn't had a single contestant on this season? Nor has Conan. Heh.

The Chocolate War Entertainment Weekly. First sentence:
The Inc.com blog commentary about last night's episode. Second entry on the page.

Trump strips Ivana of The Apprentice title. WCNC. Free registration.

Wes Moss hears 'You're Fired'. The Kennett Paper.

Surely, in the name of everything holy, there must be options besides Martha and Donald. Somebody stop the madness!

Motley Fool's commentary for Episode 13: Trump Lands on Mars.

I actually don't think she did. I remember her saying that she became best buddies with Kevin and that she hopes for a final Kelly vs. Kevin round in the end. She mentioned Sandy in a positive light, but can't recall her mentioning the name Jen.

No way, I want my Plum Cake - with a side of super-sized-ego.

Okay, maybe Leona Helmsley would do as well. And since Trumpy has trademarked the expression "you are fired", perhaps Ms Helmsley could simply drop the firees from the top of the Empire State Building.

Andy's TVGO Insider interview.

What Rochell said in TVGO's Watercooler column about last night's episode:
From TV Gal's end o' sweeps column at Zap2it:
Episode 13: Good Bye Baby, No I Don't Mean Maybe. The Trades

Extravagant sipping; Bar offers trendsetters $300 shots of cognac. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Hotels online magazine. TD/TA relevant paragraph is the third from the bottom. Heh.

I don't like the idea of Martha Stewart or anyone else besides Donald Trump being the billionaire in charge.

Whatever his flaws are, this show works because it is about a job interview competition to work for Donald Trump--all the good and all the bad. Would it work if they brought in Mark Cuban? Richard Branson? Larry Ellison? P. Diddy? Hmmm. You know something, an APPRENTICE-type show with Sean Combs might be interesting. With Martha Stewart? Terrible idea!

I mentioned Martha Stewart because I'd like to see a woman in the 'billionaire' seat. It could be a female CEO or business owner. Having a woman in charge would completely change the dynamic of women vs men that has dominated both seasons so far. And Martha Stewart is as good and successful a businesswoman as Trump.

She'd never do it, but I think Oprah'd be awesome.

There's an article in the new People magazine about Kevin and his brother who survived a bone marrow operation.

Today's LA Times has an interesting piece about product placement in the show.

From the AJC/Hotels magazine:
Hee. I like the AJC. Their writers are snarkier than other newspapers, for the most part.

goobaletta said:
I could definitely get on board with this idea. Martha Stewart would be kinda cool, but Oprah's da bomb! (Come to think of it, a reality show that pitted Martha against Oprah would be the best show on TV. I'm thinking along the lines of Survivor here more than TA, but still. Awesome.)

For anyone who missed the clip show - CNBC is repeating it right now.

If Martha Stewart took over Trump's role, the show would risk losing more viewers than it would gain. Although many people admire her (and there's a few of them in my family), many others (including myself) find her cold and uptight. Trump is an oddball, but he's an entertaining oddball. Martha is just too danged tidy and "perfect," and, well, dull. She doesn't have a weirdo hairstyle that she maintains despite constant mockery, or gaudy taste in decorating apartments, or Trumpicopters, or Yooge Buildings that are the Best Ever Built. Sorry for those of you who love her, but if she took over The Apprentice, my response would be Zzzzzzzz . . . .

Entertainment Weekly should have waited until next week to let us know their odds on the four, not five, finalists. They did have Ivana at 25-1. They give Jen 7-1 and Sandy 15-1, not so great. Kelly, of course is at 2-1.

We shall see.

Martha would be more fun just because of how she treats her underlings. "No more wire spatulas!" Oprah's too nice.

Ivana: Off with my skirt! Trump: Off of my show! Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The lady and the Trump: Axed `Apprentice' contestant Ivana has nothing to hide. Boston Herald.

`Apprentice' uses software at new heights. Chicago Tribune. Free registration. About Bill.

Ivana looks pretty in the Today Show interview. She was dressed well, and her hair was nice. I'm just sayin', because there are some people who think she's fugly who might want to check it out.

I don't care. Technically, Ivana is very attractive and photogenic but her personality will always make her ugly in my book.

ETA: In the EW article, Trump really wasnt complimentary on any of the candidates except Kelly. For Jenn, he said that she took credit for other people's work. Looks like its obvious who the winner is going to be: Kelly.

I have to go read that EW article now, but I remember last season Trump gave the breakdown for a newspaper (I think it was USA Today but I'm not sure) and he gave his highest praise for Amy. And we all know how that turned out. This certainly doesn't seal the deal for Kelly by any measure.

Martha Stewart replacing Trump on the Apprentice. Very interesting. I will take this rumor with a 5 lb bag of salt, but it would be interesting.
I was wondering why Burnett would bother producing a show around Martha Stewart, but the idea that this is a cover for her replacing Trump in season 4 is plausible.
Frankly I cannot imagine season 3 being all that interesting with Trump, let alone a fourth.

From the Boston Herald article:


Yes, the entertainment continues even after her firing. She couldn't worry about covering her butt? We must have all hallucinated those interviews where she complained about everone else and said [sucking on a lemon face] "It will all be the -insert PM name-'s fault if we loose." Right chickee, you're not fooling anyone. Except your fiancee who is inexplicably still going to marry you. And she's unemployed! Heh, I can just see her and Maria battling it out for a marketing position.

Maybe she can be one of those ringers that Girls Gone Wild hires to get the stripping started at parties.

Fascinating op/ed piece from the Philippines in an e-magazine called Sun*Star. For the true TA media junkie. Like, erm, me. Heh. What I find so interesting, btw, are the things the guy chooses to discuss. Somewhat different perspective than most articles I've posted during these two seasons.

T-roy standing behind the about to be crowned Miss World, the now former Miss Peru. Let the bad hair jokes begin. FWIW, this is the only photo I've found so far with Troy from the pageant. I'll keep an eye out. Perhaps he'll add some to his website.

Insurance firm gets fired . . . up. Richmond Times-Dispatch. Another article about that Virginia-based firm involved in one of the final two tasks. Again, not so spoilery unless you're a totally spoiler-free person in which case don't read it.

If only they'd let him wear his cowboy hat . . .

Unfortunately Sam was borrowing it for the week.

Stacie Jones Upchurch, Stacy Rotner and Jennifer Crisafulli of Apprentice 2 and Heidi Bressler of "The Apprentice" at 2004 Nascar Nextel Cup Series Champion's Celebration
12/02/2004

Other Suggestions: Richard Branson (although he has a fear factor type show which bored me to death for the five minutes I saw it), Oprah, Martha Stewart, Larry Ellison (Oracle), Carly Fiorina (HP), Steve Jobs (Apple). I almost said Bill Gates, but, No. I don't see that making good TV.

But the question is who would do it? Oprah and Richard Branson have shows. The others may actually have real jobs that require their presence for more than 20 minute segments. Martha would be an automatic scandal post-prison. That might be fun.

How about Carolyn and George take over entire segments in season three? I'd like to see both of them have the final say in at least one task to see how their decisions differ when they actually call them rather than advise Donald. Carolyn seems to be very strategic with her comments. George, well George. Who doesn't love George? Although Donald never seems to listen to him. Maybe it's a guy thing. (Listen to George, too, Donald!)

From Ivana:


Way to go. Now everyone's worried about you covering your butt.

FINAL FOUR IN THE LINE OF 'FIRED' NY Post

DON'T SKIRT THE GENDER ISSUES IN SALES. NY Post

The New Quiz Show Scandal -- Reality Television. LA Times

Sunday Lunch with ... Bill Rancic. Chicago Sun-Times. A must-read for Bill fans. One of the better interviews with him I've seen.

Quotes from the Sun.Star article...

Heh. I never get tired of sarcasting oohing and aahing.

Coattails: Candy Strippers. Inside Pulse. Not Armand.

Useless Kwame trivia in re: his favorite movie via the Charlotte Observer--

It would be nice if New York Post guy would acknowledge the recap instead of filing it under unnamed "media watchdogs."

If Martha Stewart did replace Trump, where would the candidates live and where would Loser Lodge be?

Trump is featured as one of GQ Magazine's Men of the Year. He is included with Jude Law, James Gandolfini, the men of the O.C and others. In the picture he is behind a counter serving an iced coffee or something and the quote reads

Go here, and click on the men of the year slideshow.

(OT who is Gordon Gekko and what movie is he from?) Thanks Catnip!

He probably just assumed you get all the ideas for your recaps from those weekly media watchdog brainstorming sessions.

Michael Douglas's slimy character from the movie Wall Street. The name is appropriate because the character is very cold-blooded.

Just for the record sinclair you *should* rent Wall Street because Douglass's performance as Gordan is so iconic. Seriously, I've only really enjoyed Douglass's acting in two movies, one was Wonder Boys, (which is another must see, with great performances by Tobey Maguire, Robert Downy Jr, and Frances McDormand as well, and filmed in my hometown Pittsburgh,and truly a lovely film.) and the other time when he was Gecko in Wall Street saying those immortal words "Greed is Good!" Actually I consider comparing the Donald to the Gecko an insult to old Gordon, who while an evil, cold-blooded, greedy, sob was a COMPETANT, evil cold-blooded, greedy, sob who by the way had much better taste in decor. You'd never see the shrewd, conniving, Gecko get sucker punched by the Sorority Chicks from Hell the way Donald was during the Toothpaste task, or for that matter be dumb enough to fire Pamela before say Maria, Stacy, or Ivana. Just MHO. Back to the topic-SHAME on that New York Post guy denying Miss Alli the props she deserves!

Black Enterprise's review of the last task can be found here - blackenterprise.com

Pam really dishes out a lot of dirt during her brief Maxim interview. As she doesn't mention any names, but she does say that.

1.One of the men was telling the other men what it was like to have sex with his wife. The only two married men in the cast were Chris and Wes.

2. One of the women got really drunk and started doing cheers from her cheerleading days.

3. One of the women simulated performing oral sex with an electric toothbrush before the cameras.

4. Several women got really drunk, piled onto eachother and discussed the size of their boyfriends penises. (hence Pam's comment when she took over Apex that she didn't want them talking about boys?)

Stacie J, in her Maxim interview, also alludes to someone "crossing the line" but she won't say who for fear of ruining their marriage. The only married women in the cast were Maria, Jennbot and, I believe, Pam. Pam's bio says she's single but there was an article in one of the tabloids saying she was married but divorced her husband upon returning home from the show. Sandy's bio doesn't whether tell whether she's married or not.

On Launch music (which is associated with/part of Yahoo), if you watch any of the music videos, the video is preceded by a short ad. Tonight I saw two ads featuring Sam Solovey. I can't give a specific link to see the ads, because they're random. I watched the same video again and the same ad didn't replay. The ads are for the Apprentice Yahoo site.

http://launch.yahoo.com/musicvideos/ is the link to the video area.

One ad was called "Fame" and featured Sam sitting in a chair saying, "15 more minutes. Please. Please! PLEASE!" Followed by the crazy Sam-stare into the camera for a few seconds. Much more hilarious than I'm making it sound.

The other was called "Therapy." A photo was flashed of one of the current season's candidates, then Sam made a comment ("this is easy" or "this is hard") and then said "You're fired," accompanied by the cobra-hand, or the head bob, the two-finger point - hysterical. He fired Stacy R, Bradford, Pamela, and I can't recall who else.

Sorry for the information being so nebulous!

Apprentice 101: Ivana's tactics failed to 'M-AZE' Trump. Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Interview With Chris Russo From The Apprentice Season Two Reality Reel