TWoP Forums > 4-9: "One Hit Blunder" 2005.11.17

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CaptainSnarky

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:18 pm

Heh, Carolyn's eyes were shooting daggers when smiling after Trump introduced her to Miss Universe.[/quote]

I caught that too! She looked like she was going to KILL! KILL! KILL! when Trumpy was talking. And that death-grin? Frightening!

Brinswan

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:19 pm

I think the losing team's big mistake was picking the wrong type of singer. I mean, he was a good singer and all but I think for a task like that you should try to just make the catchiest song you can find, and a guy who specializes in, well I don't know what that genre's name is, you know, men who sing slow songs, isn't going to cut it.

Also, anyone catch what Clay said to Rebecca at the end? Man, he is sanctimonious.

All in all this episode didn't really do much for me . . . in fact, to me the most exciting part was when Adam mentioned his father coming to this country with nothing in his pocket. I did what Donald Trump suggested, I decided to look at the past, 'cause that's called history, and well I've decided that Adam's dad probably came from Russia but I'm dying to know for sure, hmm, maybe there is info on his thread . . .

ETA: Last name Israelov, parents actually immigrated from Israel. WTF? Obviously a Russian name, but is that name for real? Israelov? Anyways, "My dad came here with nothing" in normal person speech means "He moved here from Israel," good to know.

Bassari99

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:20 pm

found it quite strange that Rebecca and Randall were so hot for Clay.[/quote]
I think they were mostly being diplomatic since they were going to wind up with him anyway. Too bad Clay has such a bad attitude, otherwise I would say Rebecca deserved the boot for this task more than he did. I'm not an expert on alternative rock, but Jide definitely was not it.

Likeability really saved Randal this episode. I think Trump genuinely likes him or Randal might have been a goner for that mistake on the poster board. There's something about Randal that's a little too laid back at times and it might have caught up with him tonight. The thing that Clay had tonight that Rebecca and Randal lacked was a real passion for this project. The Capital Edge team had it, too, which is why they won.

FormerViewer

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:20 pm

My favorite part? The XM exec's obviously retracked voice-over to explain why Excel lost the task. It's not just for Donald anymore!

Akai

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:21 pm

I've decided that Adam's dad probably came from Russia [/quote]

They're Jewish; his father is probably a Holocaust survivor, which means he could have come from practically anywhere in Europe but arrived with nothing.

highlander

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:22 pm

Alla complimented Felisha in her confessional saying Felisha took control of the team in her stint as PM and made it work. CE all worked very well together but I would have liked to see them get a different reward-diamonds, pearls, anything than what they got. Rebecca has to go-she is not that honest. George got it right tonight and Trump ignored him.

thuganomics85

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:21 pm

Woo! Clay is finally gone! Acting like a jerk finally caught up with him. And he couldn't even leave gracefully. I'm glad the little bastard is finally gone.

Uh oh. Randal did make a big mistake. But I'm glad he at least took responsibility. But some of his reactions when Trump toyed with him were hard to watch. But I'm still putting him in the F4. But he will have to step up to make it to the F2.

Rebecca is good in the boardroom. But that's about it. She was annoying tonight. I'm actually glad Randal didn't try to fight with her after her comments in the boardroom. Just win the next task as PM. 3-0 is a lot better then her sad 0-2 record. And it looks like Trump losing his love for her as well.

I did love next week's previews, even though it is probably typical, hyped-up bullshit. The idea of Randal and Rebecca sabatoging Capital Edge cracks me up. And the shots of them smirking and laughing cracked me up.

TiffanyNichelle

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:22 pm

That was just bad. Clay was annoying. Randall really disappointed me and Rebecca just blew it.

stopeslite

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:23 pm

Can anyone explain to me how they knew what to do in the first place? I was expecting a meeting with XM execs to figure out what the audience was. How did they know exactly what XM Cafe was all about? Perhaps it was just boring background gathering deemed not worthy of tv, but it was awfully IMPORTANT to nail the audience.

sesstr

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:24 pm

They're Jewish; his father is probably a Holocaust survivor, which means he could have come from practically anywhere in Europe but arrived with nothing.
[/quote]

But Adam is something like 25 years old. His father is most likely between 45 and 65 years old, which means he was either not yet born or an infant during WWII.

TheWildBoo

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:28 pm

They're Jewish; his father is probably a Holocaust survivor, which means he could have come from practically anywhere in Europe but arrived with nothing.[/quote]

But Adam is something like 25 years old. His father is most likely between 45 and 65 years old, which means he was either not yet born or an infant during WWII.[/quote]

I was thinking the same thing. I think Adam's 22 or 23.

twirlgirl

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:29 pm

My favorite part? The XM exec's obviously retracked voice-over to explain why Excel lost the task. It's not just for Donald anymore![/quote]

I said the same thing while watching!

The only thing I got out of this episode is never, ever listen to XM cafe radio.

n00b

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:32 pm

The way I heard the final exchange, from my ReplayTV to your eyes, leaving out Randal's platitudes:

Rebecca approaches Clay as if to hug goodbye, gently whispers something, I think "Hey."

Clay turns away from her, saying, "No, you changed on me, that's okay." Hugs Randal, keeps talking to her over Randal's arm, "You said somethin' you didn't have to say."

fictionista

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:33 pm

I also didn't get the whole "He's Nigerian" emphasis Rebecca kept trying to sell; the guy left Africa before he was old enough to talk. Heck, my email box has had more contact with Nigeria than he probably has. <G> [/quote]

BWAH!

Man, I was scared for Randal. But, he did screw up pretty badly. He definitely needs to step up. I need to see some fire in him, otherwise I'll be forced to root for Alla, who I don't really like, but who's kicking ass.

Rebecca, well, she did what I would expect a competitor to do. She went for Randal's throat. Now he knows how it is. Maybe it will get him moving. I don't think she'll last past next week though. She's not that honest, and she sucks as pm. She also didn't handle Clay very well, which I fully expected her to be able to do.

Speaking of Clay, that door thing was really shitty. You could tell he totally did it on purpose. Ugh. Good riddance.

Brinswan

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:32 pm

Ok, I think his father left Russia for Israel (in the 70s?) and then moved here. That's my final guess . . . And yeah, unless Adam's dad is old enough to be his grand-dad, he wasn't around for Hitler. Or Stalin really, for that matter. ETA: Sorry, just saw the "Adam" thread already settled all this. So, nevermind.

Anyways, uhh, I sort of feel compelled to admit that maybe Felicia isn't as stupid/nasty as I had previously thought she was. Maybe Kristi just tainted my opinion of her. Sorry, Felicia. And I saw the gleam in her eyes when Donald started talking about a reward. I'm sure she was still thinking about the Michael Kors and how she missed out on it. But alas, just a helicopter ride. . how many helicopter rides does that make this season? Or am I getting TA mixed up with TA:M?

Tandemonium

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:33 pm

How weird...things Rebecca said music-wise made me like her tons more and things Felisha said made me like her tons less...especially when and how she addressed the studio musicians' 'jazziness'. Despite their win, I dug the music when they were just jamming and I didn't hear poorman's!Coldplay a whole lot more than what aired on XM.

Can anyone describe to me what XM Cafe really is, please? I had different ideas as the episode progressed...but my idea has settled on the idea of "alternative rock"...which for purposes of this thread I will differentiate from "alternative," or "indie rock." At other times in the episode I thought maybe it was a chill kind of station, especially after an exec or a caller made a comment about Excel's being "too upbeat." Another time I heard things about "sophisticated listeners and intellectual music," neither of which I got a vibe from the any of the performances (except when the studio musicians were just jamming). Then others were calling the station's format pop rock. I thought that Felisha's band was mos def pop rock, which I see as the same as alternative rock. So what's the station's format? Is there anything on Internet Radio that someone can reference that matches it? Similar, but off-topic: And if anyone knows the station Beat Blender by SomaFM, is there anything like that on XM...cause I've been thinking about getting it, but right now there's no dealmaker.

It must have slipped my mind, but what did Miss Universe have to do with anything?

Good to see Clay gone. I got a short giggle out of him saying "Thank You," after getting fired.

Does anyone else think it's funny that Rebecca is always the one to open the door, hop through, and hold it open for the guys?[/quote]

I laugh every time...and you know what? I think you just helped me figure out why I'm not so critical of her overall. Every time I laugh, it's followed by guilt and so I try to make up for it by conveniently dismissing any faults I might notice her having.

4greyhounds

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:33 pm

They're Jewish; his father is probably a Holocaust survivor, which means he could have come from practically anywhere in Europe but arrived with nothing.

But Adam is something like 25 years old. His father is most likely between 45 and 65 years old, which means he was either not yet born or an infant during WWII.[/quote]
[/quote]

His father is probably from eastern Europe. He looks a lot like my family and we're all eastern European Jews.

Insomniac

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:35 pm

When Clay got the morning call about Miss Universe, I saw visions of crowns in his head. He so wanted to wear one.

I didn't hear an alternative rock song from either team. Both were typical. For my personal taste, Jide was better, but that's inconsequential.

I didn't see this as a huge loss. It was a loss. I thought the marketing aspect Randall develped was great. Something the other team didn't think of doing. He fucked up the station number, but even the exec said it was minor.

I didn't think Rebecca saying Clay is more creative was a betrayal. It might very well be that Clay is. Creativity, in the artistic sense, has nothing to do with being TA. However, stabbing him re: the station error was totally unnecessary.

Rebecca doesn't shine, but she doesn't scream disaster. Her record may be 0-2, but I don't consider this a true loss.

Boring ass episode. Glad Clay is gone. Let's move on.

lauriecake

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:37 pm

Sorry, Felicia. And I saw the gleam in her eyes when Donald started talking about a reward. I'm sure she was still thinking about the Michael Kors and how she missed out on it.[/quote]

That was Alla, actually, who was so disappointed on missing out on the Michael Kors reward.

TiffanyNichelle

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:37 pm

The thing about Rebecca is I totally got where she was coming from in the boardroom. All three of them screwed up. And when there's only three of you left on a team there's no reason to kiss the other members asses in the boardroom.

And she was pretty respectful to Randall, imo. She could have said he screwed up everything and tried to blame the whole thing on him. Except she told the truth. Randall did screw up. And Clay was annoying and hard to work with.

Bassari99

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:37 pm

It must have slipped my mind, but what did Miss Universe have to do with anything? [/quote]
Just another Trump commodity, like all his many real estate holdings on Manhattan isle. When Trump trots out Miss Universe on this show, he's just bragging about what he owns.

Akai

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:38 pm

I didn't hear Alternative Rock from either of them myself. I heard one singer as being like Marc Cohn (the "Walking in Memphis" guy who just got shot and almost died) and the other as being just plain old pop with a very pseudo "world" beat reference thrown in in a very unconvincing way.

Flavialynn

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:43 pm

Can anyone describe to me what XM Cafe really is, please? I had different ideas as the episode progressed...but my idea has settled on the idea of "alternative rock"...which for purposes of this thread I will differentiate from "alternative," or "indie rock."[/quote]

This is from the XM Cafe website. Make of it what you will:

Growing up doesn't mean growing old. But it does increase your enjoyment of more challenging rock artists. If your ear can discern the difference, come to the XM Cafe - where we showcase adult alternative rock in a sophisticated, artist-friendly programming presentation.

At XM Cafe, the music doesn't blare and it doesn't bore. You won't hear wailing guitar solos. . .but you will hear thoughtful musicians doing more than just their hit singles. . .plus the first sounds off albums from artists like the Wallflowers, Dave Matthews Band, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello all in the XM Cafe!
[/quote]

raisinbran

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:42 pm

Did anyone else expect the winning song to start,

"Ladies... if you see us in a club... FREAKING"

No? Just me? OK then...

clack

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:42 pm

'What About Me?' Off the top of my head, Kris Kristofferson wrote and sang a song with that title. Likewise Robert Cray. Dino Valenti when he was with 'the Quicksilver Messenger Service. Richie Havens and Terry Collier covered (seperately) the Valenti song.

Manly men all.

graybrown bird

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:49 pm

I appreciated the seating arrangements in the Trumpcopter: Adam and Felicia furthest from Trump, Alla triumphantly squeezed in next to the Donald, who sat right in front of the window on the "big views" side, probably blocking a lot of the views he was describing.

PinkyTuscadero

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:48 pm

To me, a two-time loss as PM pretty much says it all. I don't know if Trump is keeping Rebecca around because of her injury or what. So far Rebecca has shown nothing in the way of being even moderately competant.

Both times she's has taken zero respobnsibility for her team's loss and sat there and thrown people under the bus. And the thing is, it's not even like she's cut throat about it. I thought JenM from the second season was a shrew in stilettos, but she still had some semblance of...I don't know....something. Rebecca just sits there and agrees with Trump when he says someone screwed up.

Clay, whateve, you were goign to go eventually.

Randal, if using one incorrect number is the worst thing you do this whole time, don't sweat it. Oooohhh...how climactic all their "Randal you dissapoint me's" were. Like they were ever going to fire him.

Adam, you're still a pussy. Felisha you're still invisisble. You two are nothing more than Alla's flying monkeys. Clay was dead on when he said now that he's gone Alla has no one to pick on.

This season is already over in my opinion. Is there really a point to five more episodes?

noisebox

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:51 pm

Well I'm glad that is over and done with. Not only is he pissy, whiny and bitchy Clay is an absolute infant it is so pathetic. The shot where Rebecca was writing up the intro about their artist and the camera shows Clay doing his violin overture... how bloody immature and insulting is that? That is the kind of behaviour you expect from someone who is umm, 12!!! I liked how Rebecca handled it though by challenging Clay to give her ideas (if he is so damn smart). It is so easy to sit back and criticize someone else, not much effort there. He is so negative and energy sucking that I'm surprised noone broke down to beat the snot out of him.

If that is what passes for alternative these days, I'll pass thankuverymuch.

These "rewards" are sucking ostrich eggs. Lack of creativity I think.

LadyBast

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:51 pm

[Please stay on topic.]

Tandemonium

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:53 pm

At XM Cafe, the music doesn't blare and it doesn't bore. You won't hear wailing guitar solos. . .but you will hear thoughtful musicians doing more than just their hit singles. . .plus the first sounds off albums from artists like the Wallflowers, Dave Matthews Band, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello all in the XM Cafe![/quote]

So it is pop/alt rock...those artists' don't "blare and bore," huh? :( But yes, thank you for finding that out. I figured it was probably something like that and not an alternative station (Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Tegan and Sara, R.E.M., etc.)

mumbles

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:57 pm

Maybe people are thinking of this song, from the 80s? For the sake of space I only included the first half.....

SHANNON NOLL LYRICS

What About Me

Well there's a little boy waiting at the counter of the corner shop
He's been waiting down there, waiting half the day, we never ever see him from the top
He gets pushed around, knocked to ground
But he gets to his feet and he says..
What about me,
It isn't fair
I've had enough, now I want my share,
Can't you see, I wanna live
But you just take more than you give...
Well there;s a pretty girl serving at the counter of the corner shop
She been waiting back there, waiting for her dreams, her dreams walk in and out, they never stop
Well she's not too proud, to cry out loud
She runs to the street and she screams
What about me, It isn't fair
I've had enough, now I want my share,
Can't you see, I wanna live
But you just take more than you give...
So take a step back and see the little people
They may be young but they're the ones that make the big people big
So listen, as the whisper
"What about me?"

tjmor

Nov 17, 2005 @ 10:58 pm

This season is already over in my opinion. Is there really a point to five more episodes? [/quote]

Absolutely, YES! I'd like to see CE kick ass again.

rlcarr

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:03 pm

So THAT'S where Lou Brutus ended up.

If any of you are Rhode Islanders or Southern Massachusettsians of a certain age, you may recall Brutus as (IIRC) the evening drive-time jock for 94.1 WHJY-FM out of Providence.

LadyKenobi

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:04 pm

I really liked the CE guy. He had a kind of Harry Connick thing going on, without the suck -my-talented-balls air.

Clay was projecting so hard on that damn song he was his own personal bad PowerPoint presentation. Did anybody else expect him to slip when he was describing the lyrics he wanted when he was all, "Yeah-- we need it to be more like, 'What about WHEN YOU DIDN'T GRANT ME IMMMMUUUUUNNNIITYYYYYYYY....' oh, was that out loud?"

I also love that The Gay Man also automatically has to be The Creative One. However: Clay on the PenisPhone. Hee!

blocked writer

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:07 pm

Rebecca and Randal sealed the fate of their team when they allowed Clay to join them, especially with all the "he's SO creative!!" BS. How could they be that clueless about Clay's behavior on the other team?? [/quote]

But what choice did they have? They had to choose or accept someone, or have someone foisted on them. Trump didn't given them much wiggle room, since he directed all his initail comments to Clay. By the time Trump aksed Randal and Rebecca what they thought, it was pretty much a fait accompli. Their only other alternatives were to try to refuse Clay and ask for someone else, or go two against four. Not good alternatives, IMO. Under the circumstances, I think they did the best they could do by being gracious to Clay. I don't think they were clueless about Clay, especially Randal.

Trump knew that Clay had been an ongoing problem. The only really fair way to even out the teams at this point would have been to draw names out of a hat, and it would be totally the luck of the draw.

I hated this task, and I agree with everyone who said that it has nothing whatsoever to do with his companies. Is this the only way to show that they are creative? This episode makes me sorrier than ever that Matha Stewart isn't coming back for a second season. All her tasks seem closely related to her businesses.

I adore Randal more than ever. He's a stand up guy, he took full responsibility for his mistake. Even the exeuctives said it was a minor error. I'm not saying it wasn't worth mentioning, but Trump had to make it seem like Randal had screwed up almost beyond redemption. I'd like to see Randal win, if he wants to, but I won't be too sad if he doesn't. He's way too good to put up with Trump's shit.

tiggeril

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:11 pm

Rebecca is a lame duck at this point. She just does not have the kind of personnel experience you need at this stage. She also needs to get off this "intellectual" kick of hers. I mean, I know we got it drummed into our heads at U of C, but it's not difficult to shake off. She's still looking at things through a narrow postcollegiate prism and it shows.

I really hope we get some kind of real estate task soon.

PinkyTuscadero

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:10 pm

But what choice did they have? They had to choose or accept someone, or have someone foisted on them. [/quote]

Exactly. Why were they going to choose?: Alla, who can only work with peopel she can boss around and demean, Adam who can't make a decision without looking for a unanimous vote or Felisha who always looks like she's going to break into tears?

The funny thing is...Clay and Alla were exactly alike. Both could only work well if they were amongst people they could force to do what they wanted or whom they could steamroll into getting their way. Alla may be smart, but she doesn't work well with people she can't control.

LadyBast

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:13 pm

The funny thing is...Clay and Alla were exactly alike. Both could only work well if they were amongst people they could force to do what they wanted or whom they could steamroll into getting their way. Alla may be smart, but she doesn't work well with people she can't control.[/quote]

While both may like and want to control people, Alla is actually able to do it while Clay fails miserably when he tries.

AwNutz

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:14 pm

Just wanted to say that Excel's singer reminded me quite a lot of Seal. Same type of tonality and vocal style. CE's singer actually made me think of Edwin McCain. Something about his voice came across that way to me.

YAAAY! Clay is GONE! I liked it when Rebecca called him on just complaining but not offering solutions. She asked him to come up with an alternative when he was playing the air violin, and all he could do is say, "This isn't right." Twit.

seneca724

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:13 pm

Alla worked well with Randal.

gastrolyor

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:17 pm

I found it quite strange that Rebecca and Randall were so hot for Clay. Don't they all live together? Surely the Apprenti have noticed how trouble always followed him! "I thought he was cool ......until I worked with him." Snerk. [/quote]

I think they were trying to motivate him and be diplomatic. Remember Chris' "Can we send her back?" moment with Stephanie in season three? That had to fill her her with hurt and resentment, and hurt andresentment, particularly in Clay, do not motivation make. By telling Clay he was creative and a valuable asset, Rebecca and Randal made it more likely Clay might actually DO something and help out on their team.

Of course, he was -- what was Jacob's turn of phrase? -- "a whining complaining asshole." I give Rebecca credit for trying to use him, and I thought she did clamp down on his whining with her "give me ideas" bit.

tiggeril

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:17 pm

Heh. Yeah, I think the one thing that Rebecca did right tonight was putting Clay in check. Not because it affected the task at all, but because it amused me so much.

lucelu

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:20 pm

Clay was right about one thing, Randall and Rebecca are not creative. I wanted Clay to go but also felt that Rebecca was the reason they lost the task. It was her vision and her decisions. And what a viper! Randall would be smart to watch his back. CE does not have that dynamic (yet)-- they do seem to genuinely like to work together.

Clay's personality is such an antogonistic one. He purposely lashes out at the worst moments for the sole purpose of having the attention shifted to him, even when he has nothing to offer which makes it very awkward.

I also don't see where Rebecca has great presentation skills. I would say her greatest talents lay in the boardroom where Randall is just putty. I wouldn't be surprised to see an Alla/Rebecca head to head.

Felicia and Adam ... It's been fun. Time to go. Actually Felicia was great on this task. She was passionate about it and was pretty astute as to the genre and mood of XM Cafe. I hope they don't let Adam be PM next week.

Oh, I totally expected Trump to claim ownership of the SoL. I was surprised Alla didn't say anything about immigrating to the US. It appeared she was observing and listening, taking Trump's measure.

Oh, and doesn't the expression on Trump's face after firing someone-- as they are walking out the door make you sure he is thinking about the last time he was regular? ("Did I have a bm today?"). I could totally see that expression on his face in 20 years as he's being fed pureed fruit.

I like both Randall and Alla. I don't know if Randall has the cut-throat boardroom talent though.

pockymonkey

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:26 pm

I am so relieved that Clay is finally gone. What a negative, conceited bastard - people like that just suck all the energy from a room.

I'm confused about why Rebecca kept emphasizing the "intellectual, sophisticated" nature of the station's music. Did this information come from some meeting with XM executives or other research they did but that wasn't shown? It occurs to me that maybe one of the reasons that Excel went with Jide, who clearly was not a great fit for the channel, was that Rebecca seemed really excited by his Nigerian roots and the little world music flavor that it brought (though admittedly, his pedigree as a world musician is pretty weak). Perhaps she thought that a channel that emphasized sophistication might be receptive to something outside of mainstream, US-centric adult contemporary?

Felicia surprised me tonight, and I agree with the poster upthread who noticed that Alla seemed perfectly content this week to let Felicia show her leadership skills without butting in or feeling threatened.

Another point that really struck me: when Randal and Rebecca were digesting their loss, one or both of them made the comment that it was a subjective task. It makes me think they are feeling the same kind of frustration as people on the boards with these "creative" tasks that have absolutely nothing to do with the kind of business tasks that the eventual apprentice will be asked to take on. I can bet that both Rebecca and Randal would be thrilled more tasks based on sales and revenue - something that can be measured in terms of quantifiable numbers. God knows I would vastly prefer it.

Clay was right about one thing, Randall and Rebecca are not creative[/quote]

But creative in what sense? I agree, neither has a good ear for writing a catchy hook. And I wouldn't want them to manage my career if I were a musician. But why would that matter? I don't care if they can write music, or manage a mixing board, or paint, or arrange flowers. Donald Trump is a property developer, dammit. I want to see tasks that challenge the business creativity of these people. And it may turn out to be that neither Rebecca nor Randal excel there either, but I can't judge either way because they really haven't had any tasks this season during which these sorts of skills can even emerge.

JeffersonAero

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:29 pm

This episode irritated me overall, mostly because of how it was judged: the XM execs based their decision mostly on the reaction of the listeners who called in. No scientific sampling of a random cross-section of XM listeners!! Since when do three to four people speak for the entire group?? This is America, dammit, and as long as Donald Trump owns the Statue of Liberty everyone will speak for him/herself!!

Okay, I'm really just pissed because my dream team of Rebecca and Randal didn't vogue their way to victory like I expected. I'm not sure exactly where it went wrong but like somebody else said, how did they necessarily know what to aim for? Did they meet with XM people or read the internet description or just listen to the station? Ugh, bleh, and meh.

I did like Felisha's management of the task, including the recording session where she directed the sound back to where she wanted it. Also loved the team dynamic between Adam, Alla, and Felisha! Too cute when they hugged after winning.

Meh BR but at least Trumpy made the right fire - I believe Clay caused this loss more than anything because of his undermining of Rebecca (props to her for calling him on the violin gag - I always prefer the world's tinest record player, myself) and then deliberately screwing up her presentation! Dude, it doesn't make her look bad, it just makes you look totally unprofessional! Besides, Rebecca was in her intense-est mode and nobody should ever interrupt that. Randal's mistake was certainly not something to be fired over in my mind and even the XM execs said, "A small detail." I love the slogan, "New stars to the power of X" - I don't know if he came up with it or it's just an XM thing, but I thought it was cool and if Trumpy had fired him I would have booked an immediate flight to NY and ripped that dead rabbit fur off his head and made him eat it. I'm definitely interested to see how R&R work together on the next task since Randal was surprised by Rebecca's lack of...I don't know, loyalty or something. You know Randal's the guy that always puts a positive spin on things and he was so surprised when Rebecca said Clay was more creative...I felt bad for him and his spastic forehead.

Clay gets props for thanking Trumpy in the BR but he loses them for showing us again how much he hangs out with preteen girls by refusing to even shake Rebecca's hand because she "changed on me." Passive-aggressivity is never cool in my book.

George rocks! (But not in an alternative rock way.) I wish he was my granddad, except my granddad's dead, so that wouldn't really be cool.

EDIT:

Oh, and doesn't the expression on Trump's face after firing someone-- as they are walking out the door make you sure he is thinking about the last time he was regular? ("Did I have a bm today?").[/quote]
Holy crap, don't say stuff like that when I've got a mouthful of mashed potatoes! I knew there was something odd about his thoughtful expression...<picking bits of potatoes off screen>

SmedIndy

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:29 pm

To my ears, I thought the losing song was better. I hate rigid formats, really - I'd rather have a little free-form adventure in my radio. Alas, I'm an iconoclast.

Clay - see ya JUST JACK! Yikes, could you be more screetchy??

GeorgeOMalley

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:31 pm

While both may like and want to control people, Alla is actually able to do it while Clay fails miserably when he tries. [/quote]

I think the only reason why Alla appears to get less resistance than Clay is because she's always surrounded by weak people. She insulated herself with JenM, Kristi and Felisha immediately. All three were noticeably less competant than she was and Kristi was all talk no action. I don't think Marshawn or Rebecca liked her at all but they've both shown that they don't really fall in line with her my way or the highway leadership style.

Now she's with Adam and Felisha. The one time she PM'd she had Marcus (boob), Felisha (the Marcie to her Peppermint Pattie), Adam (a child) and Clay. Before that she was constantly getting into something with one of the women whether it was deserved or not, and only managed to win once while on the all female team.

Clay was difficult and a dick....but he PM'd his teams to victory twice. It might seem small, but his presentations appeared to be very strong to me so we at least saw that he did have somethign worthwhile to contribute. Still difficult, of course, but it wasn't like he was difficult and useless. Neither is Alla. They both have that sort of leadership style, Alla was just lucky enough to get Felisha as her "yes man" right off the bat so she could have someone on her side anytime she wanted her way.

Ahh Reality

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:36 pm

It's a good thing for Rebecca and Randal that all three members of the team made errors so Trump was able to fire the one he just plain didn't like. Yay!!! I had gotten so sick of Clay's oh poor me attitude.

MFelkins

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:44 pm

I thought Randall made big points when he said that it was my bad and they had nothing to do with it. (The XM station number thing)

Rebecca got the intellectual thing off the XM web site. And now I remember why I got Sirius instead.

I thought the "What About Me" thing should have been called "What About Clay". I have worked on projects where one persons wrong headedness pulls the whole thing off track. I also think Clay was trying his best to sabotage the team.

Just my 2.5 cents

trixedit

Nov 17, 2005 @ 11:44 pm

I hated Clay, but I also hate the fact that the worst thing anyone can say about a man is that he's a "bitch," i.e., "just like a woman." And the best thing you can say about a woman is that she "has balls." Please.

What I don't get about the Apprentice-wannabes is that they seem to think it's all about winning this one "game," the dubious prize of a job with a guy they'll probably never see again after the cameras go away. Do they have no idea that they are being filmed from all angles and (barring totally prejudicial editing) therefore revealed as their TRUE SELVES? If Clay ever crossed my path in any capacity whatsoever, I'd run the other way. What employer will want anything to do with the whiny b-word (BOY) that we saw? Conversely, win or lose, Randall and Alla (at least) have it made.

When Trump accused Rebecca of making a bad presentation, I wanted her to mention Clay's sabotage... not only by opening the door prematurely but by fiddling with some sort of easel in the background while she was talking. Some of the editing seemed rather abrupt, so maybe there wasn't time to show everything.

I do think the final 5 are all decent people. That's a higher percentage than in other seasons, I think.

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