This season has been missing the awesome alot. A crop of candidates that are the lesser of incompetent morons and vindictive douches. But, much like the one great shot that keeps you coming back to the golf course time after time, the scene where Sean puts the earpieces into his ear to avoid the harping harpies whining about how much Sean owes Allie an apology. BWAH! Most. Awesome. Apprentice. Opening. Ever.

On to the rest of the show....selling Outback steaks at a football game? Seriously? This is what passes for an executive interview? Let's just have them set up lemonade stands. I seriously don't get how this relates AT ALL to anything Donald Trump does. Then again, if I look at the relationship between The Apprentice and being an Executive like Jacob does, the relationship between being American Idol and being a pop star, it all makes alot of sense.

The performances again... nothing too spectacular, reminded me alot actually of the Lamborghini task last year. Football, steak, cheerleaders. "This is a guy's task" I knew that they had lost as soon as I heard these words come out of Michael's mouth. I was not surprised that the girls won, but I did not expect that there would be a $1000 difference. That was a total ass kicking.

Bad decision in the boardroom. Michael wasn't great, but he shouldn't have gone this time. Trump was pissed about the cheerleader thing, but in the end, they didn't share the cheerleaders and that issue had NOTHING to do with why GR got crushed. Lee should have been fired. I am totally over Lee and his "I know the college market" and "college students are cheap." Loved Carolyn's "That sounded desperate" after Lee made his little speech.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the idiot who inserted the "Get Rich with Trump" promo that told us to stick around to see if Trump agreed with the audience that Allie should be fired loooong after we knew that Allie was on the winning team and that she wasn't going to be fired. Morons.

Idiotic. Cheerleaders = tangential.

That eating contest was a flagrant abuse of tv HoYay... then i wonder if it would be called "HoNo".

Either way, I'm never eating steak again.

Why is it that every single episode I feel like I am watching a Sociology Lecture on Gender Issues and Sexual Stereotypes? This is so freaking tiring. The cheerleader thing, the frats, the “We men! We have penis! We are good with meat and football!” Just make it stop, please. I do not need to hear about it or anything like it anymore. (The same for race and sexuality, but we didn’t go near that this episode at least.)

They're just... not even trying with the task design. Even the candidates laughed because they knew that the task was a farce.

Lee is so damned dodgy and stupid and please make him stop being on television, ever. His speechifying before the recess and the deferring to Sean about taking Michael down, he is such a fucking worm.

Boo, fairness! Who wants fairness? This is cheerleaders! Can’t give away cheerleaders! Firing offence! Forget how much the others suck! Forget the bad managing! Forget the Jim Carrey-esque frenetic dancing of Sean and his uselessness! You gave up young, nubile women! For shame!

I love Carolyn and I love her criticisms, but she and I are not talking tonight because I blame her for Lee still being there.

Two minor gross-out things: did the girls wash their feet? I don’t think they did. They threw the grape-paste out afterwards, I’m sure.

And also, I think Trump was checking out the cheerleaders. It was so repulsive, because you just know he is scoping out future wives.

frats, cheerleaders, meat, and the money pit. Painful to watch.

This was all set to be one of my favorite episodes ever... right up until Lee didn't get fired.

I was really enjoying the editing for a change, because I was actually unsure of the winner until the boardroom (gasp). It's a shame it had to get so infuriatingly irrelevant in that final board room.

Just when I thought it would be impossible to include any more cross-promotional/product placement/Trump ass-kissing, we get what might be the first, authentic "Blipvert" on network television. (The GE "Singin' in the Rain" spot) 20 Minutes in the Future indeed, Max Headroom.

Screw you Trump and screw you Zik-Zak.

Funniest line of the night from Michael: "This is what real men do".

What the hell was up with the online voting against Allie? What did she do wrong?

Lee and Sean are the skeeziest guys together with their matching greasy hair and pandering smiles. There's something about them together that just bugs.

Michael would never have won the competition so I'm not really bothered by his firing (over cheerleaders). I liked that I got to see his playful side though at the event. For a while there, I considered that he might not be a robot. So that was cool.

Roxanne and Allie are bitches but Allie is good at what she does. The girl's whiny and annoying but she knows what she wants and she's tough. And I have to admit that I loved that the women won the task. The guys were all so confident that they won and it was hilarious when they realized that they didn't.

And if I have to hear Roxanne use the term "girl power" one more time, I will have to slap a bitch. She's been watching too many Spice Girls videos or something.

Tough call on who should have gotten fired, but I think we're looking more than a bit at past performance. Lee has past wins and Sean's approval, while Michael had one win which got taken away from him by the women. This one really came down to luck if you look at the tape--the women got one customer who asked for delivery and ran with it, while the guys never got the suggestion. And they have some claim that if Michael had mentioned that they were selling steak at some point, they might have won. I'm happy with the firing, particularly after Michael was about to give up the cheerleaders. That being said, I really wanted the harpies to lose this week. They irk me so much...

I'm saying a big old WORD to everything Michael said in the cab. Too bad he had to go after such a miniscule, unimportant phone call.

Ooooh….shirtless Michael answering the phone. How we shall miss thee. <sigh>

Though…the hell? Everyone agreed that they didn’t lose because of the cheerleaders, and yet he gets fired for just asking the question? Because he decided to sooth the coach’s guilty soul by simply agreeing to ask the question? I agree with Michael in that it’s surprising that the phone call was considered the fire able offense here. Yoiks.

And Roxanne, honey? You are damned lucky you have Allie on your team - she won this task for you by creating the delivery service. For how much you fucked up on this task (missing the pep rally, being late to secure the cheerleaders, simply driving past as the men were out creating buzz on fraternity row) you should have been the one going home tonight, toots.

So big D has to give away cash now to increase ratings? Hmmm, wonder what Martha thinks of this. Probably that "it just doesn't fit in". I love that the chicks slammed the dudes (tm Jonathon) on this round. This show has just become, whilst I still watch, somewhat greasy.

So Lee, the Teflon Apprentice, survives again.

America voted. They want Allie fired. Never mind that Allie was on THE WINNING TEAM, fire her anyway.

I have mixed feelings about Michael's firing. His taxi speech did kinda hit the mark, about being fired for something that was NOT the cause of the loss. I have to give him some credit for recognizing that.

I swear I thought Sean was going to have a seizure during his interviews.

Props to Synergy. The bulk sales and delivery idea was one savvy way to bring in the bucks in a pinch. Not sure if I would have thought of that, but then again, perhaps that's why I'm not on the show? Naaaaa.... that couldn't be it.

I'm so happy the girls won. We're guys, its football, its steak, of course we'll win.

I told Mr Lessa right before the tailgates started that I bet Gold Rush was in trouble because they'd get alot of the college and college age guys and girls to grab money, oogle cheerleaders and stuff free steak in the eating contest but may have trouble getting them to buy. Where as Synergy would get more alumni, people with money who want to enjoy some food and their friends company before the game starts. Delivering the food was fabulous, got all those people who had meat and chips but were tempted by hot chowder and blooming onions!

A decent reward. I would have enjoyed it, not as great as diamonds, but better then a helicopter ride at night around New York.

Ugh, is there a box for "all mangled and killed" this season? How has Tammy become my favorite? Along with Sean?

Allie and Roxanne were incredibly ugly at the beginning. Allie should have been fired two weeks ago, and Sean was right about that, and now she and Roxanne want him to apologize for saying so. Not on the grounds that he was wrong, but on the grounds that he went against their obnoxious, self-righteous little clique. Argh. I used to like Allie and Roxanne, but that was disgusting.

As much as I don't like Lee, I have to agree that Michael's cheerleader ploy was fireworthy.

Man, could I go for a bloomin' onion.

Great. It's back to battle of the sexes. I just love the "We're men, hear us roar!" from Gold Rush and "Girl power! Girl power!" from Synergy. Not.

The task just blew. Frankly, no one impressed me. I'm glad that Lee finally lost, but honestly, I wasn't impressed with Roxanne. I felt like it was Allie that guided them to the win. This is the second time, I felt underwelmed by Roxanne. Too bad, because she's probably going to win.

I actually felt a bit sorry for Michael. I can see him getting fired for not selling, but Trump fires him mainly because of offering to send one or two cheeleaders to Synergy? Sheesh, Trump. It's not like he was sending customers to them.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I still can't see why Allie/Roxanne detest Sean like they do. I'm slowly starting to dislike both of them.

I don't understand -- were they paying the cheerleaders? Because if not, the guys DEFINITELY had to be nice to the cheerleaders, or they could have walked away to the women's team for no reason at all.

They must have been paying them, right? Because otherwise, everyone in that boardroom was being ridiculous.

I'm no fan of Michael's but it was pitiful watching him using "fairness" as a rationale to Donald Trump.

The right person was fired tonight and for all the right reasons. Lee again swung for the fences and was kicking Roxanne's ass until she got bailed out by Allie. Michael was being a huge wanker and no way Trump was going to let a guy like that 'run' one of his companies. The negotiation example in the BR sealed his fate.

Trump has lost his mind. There was no reason that Michael should have been fired. Lee deserved it entirely. He's deaf: Michael provided a completely reasonable (albeit slightly made up) justification for the idea of giving up a cheerleader, and Trump misses it entirely. Go away.

Allie + Roxanne v Sean was idiotic. So he doesn't want to apologize and he wants to stand behind his actions. Horrible, isn't it? But Sean could have fixed it all in advance last week.

I cannot stand anyone. I'm cheering for Tammy since a) she's not Sean, b) she's not Michael, c) she's not Allie or Roxanne, and d) I picked her in the fantasy game.

Trump should be banned from seeing cheerleaders. "Once you get a cheerleader, you never let her go." Shut. Up. In fact, he should live in a society with no attractive women. He'd die in two seconds.

Trumps whole BR rant about the cheerleaders being GR's "prime asset"... the fuck? If they were so "prime," why did GR get beaten to a bloody pulp? Not that I really like Michael or anything (though I thought his whole we are men, we know football speech was hilarious- I mean, Michael probably spends A LOT more time on his hair etc. than I do, and I'm a girl), but GR had the same problem as the quad-firing team did during last year's baseball task: they got caught up in the "event" part and forgot about the "sell" part of the task. And for that? Lee should have been fired. But because Trump makes up the firing criteria every week, he is still here, bugging me.

Word to all the Tammy love. 2 weeks ago, I had no idea who she was; now, she is my favorite (if only by being the least evil).

"Infuriatingly irrelevant" -- couldn't agree more, TheWildBoo. I can't believe Michael made no attempt to steer them back to the issue of why they lost the task. If anything, having all those cheerleaders was distracting, the way the batting cage was distracting in the Dick's Sporting Goods task.

....so.....tired .... of the "man's task" thing.

ETA: exactly, Rowr17.

I'm surprised at myself for being surprised that the guy who gets fired wasn't the reason why the team lost the task. I should know better by now.

And the Rutgers football program?? Not so hot, Mr. Trump.

BOGUS. B.O.G.U.S.
Carolyn was RIDICULOUS. She berated Michael not only over a doofus point (because compromise "never" occurs in the Business Universe, oh, no), but also over a sales element that was a LOSER for Michael's team! SO WHAT if the other team had gotten some cheerleaders? Maybe that deal would have REDUCED their sales!
BOGUS.
I hate Lee and his wacked mandible.

ETA: "Best winery on LONG ISLAND." BWAHAHAHAHA!!

I completely disagree with the firing of Michael. I don't think I have seen a more absurd firing in all the episodes of The Apprentice. Michael was not offering the other team some cheerleaders out of goodwill and fairness(if he had than of course he should have been fired). He was doing so in order to be nice to someone(the cheerleading coach) who the team would need to be on good terms with in order to succeed. He explained it well in the boardroom but Trump and Coroline did not respond directly to what he said(which should indicate that he was right). I'm sure Trump knows that when you negotiate you have to show that you are fair and sometimes even rescind things you had earlier agreed to. Otherwise you could come across as a bully and cause the other person to decide not to work with you or not do it well. That was certainly a possibility in this case.

Can someone please give me the synopsis of the cabterview? I missed it when I stepped out to bring my chairs in off the back porch.

I'd vote for Roxanne's line:

"Watching the cheerleaders slip through our fingers just stinks."

Hmmm...

Maybe that should be the TWoP tagline for this episode.

I was at this homecoming event, and I was also surprised by the outcome. I thought the Blue Lot guys would be the Yellow Lot girls. Blue Lot has a TON more people because this is where the college student/young alumni were (Like me). The Yellow lot didn't have as much action, and the Yellow lot is made up with more well-heeled, loder alumni. I guess I (And the ScarletNation.com message board) was wrong.

But I was giddy to see what was essentially a 60-minute infomercial for Rutgers Unversity and Rutgers football.

Oh, it was a great game too. Rutgers won, clinching a bowl bid with the victory for the first time in 27 years, and I got to storm the field with all the other students. GO RUTGERS!

Word. For the first half hour all we saw were blank stares and her mouth agape at how they were getting beaten at.every.turn.

While they were quite cute and peppy I don't think cheerleaders were the deciding factor in making the event a success. They were very cute and peppy, but fully clothed (bundled up in fact). It's not like we're talking about the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders or the Laker Girls (someone who could autograph their centerfold for you - heh).

I wasn't really sure if the everything is five dollars was such a good idea, because it might work for steak, but I don't think it would have worked for cheaper items. Then again, Synergy DID deliver and lots of people are willing to pay more for delivery. I do think that if they lost, I'm sure the price point would have been called into questions.

I was glad to see Micheal go. He's far worse than Lee and Sean.

Per earlier discussions of this season's episodes: I'm thinking TA has an agreement with Kinko's and is requiring the teams to make flyers.

"Damn, it sucks I got fired over the tiniest thing ever."

Re: Being "nice" in a "negotiation"--

At that point, it wasn't negotiating anymore. As soon as the coach called GR back and agreed to do the event, the negotiation was over and a contract was made. You don't renegotiate contracts to be nice to the other party without a very good reason, and you never renegotiate a contract to be nice to a 3rd party enemy. Michael's mistake was inexcusable.

Gold Rush lost for 2 reasons, and I'm not sure how much each mattered:
1. They didn't have a delivery service (which Allie only came up with at the last minute at a customer's request), and
2. Michael wasn't mentioning the food on the microphone.

I have a hard time blaming Lee for #1 when really, no one thought of it, and #2 is Michael's fault. Right firing.

Around this time in the interview process when it's (forgive me) 'Down to the wire' DT tends to start clearing the dead weight and puts a little less weight on each individual task. Point being Lee has been a better performer during the hiring process than Michael and I think that's why he was spared.

A salient reason why Lee probably make it to the finals is because he is the last remaining member of the original GR team. If 2 original members from Synergy make it to the Final 2, GR will be completely shut out from coming back to help and it would be really strange watching Synergy basically go against itself in the finale.

The Michael fire was right. He was ready to cave to the cheerleading coach at the first suggestion of compromise. Didn't even try to hang tough. Clearly, the coach was fine with fulfilling the original agreement, because that's what she did. Only compromise after it appears you might be losing the deal. Who cares if you get everything you want, but she's a little miffed. You're not going to be a repeat player with the Rutgers Cheer Squad, so who cares about goodwill.

Basically, this was a Bradford-type fire. Your bad decision didn't lose the task, but if that's the type of decision you make, you're never going to win.

BTW, am I the only one concerned that Roxanne is playing the Felisha to Allie's Alla lately?

Unfair for Michael, sure, but of course this is not about who wins the most, but who exhibits qualities that Trump wants in an acolyte. "Fairness" is obviously not on the list. As a team player, Michael is not so bad, but as an interviewee, he had the big red target on his shirt. Carolyn wasn't wrong.



The fermentation process kills germs, of course, which is how this method survived all those years. But yes, I expect this is a tourist stunt and the grapes are thrown out. I think the whole reward was a very common winery package "experience." A fun one, though, and yet another chance for the show to enjoy girl-style HoYay with the single-tub clinch. Because not not only are girls stoopid, they're also scary sensualists. Eating food! Drinking wine! Must be witches.

This was a good episode.

It was hard for me to see who'd win this at first. I thought Roxanne did a superb job as Project Manager. She knew what the focus of the task was -- selling food -- and went for it. Great Plan B she had when Synergy's cheerleader deal went bust. And she SLAUGHTERED Gold Rush! Selling $1,000 more than the amount they sold? Outstanding! Well done, Roxanne, for getting your second Project Manager win!

I thought Lee did a decent job as Project Manager. He led the team well and kept the energy up. But he's now 2-1 as Project Manager, so that may not bode well for him. Sean did well, too, on his new team. But Michael? Ugh. While I usually support "good faith" gestures, that was stupid to lend Synergy -- the other team -- half the cheerleaders they got. And he lost focus of the task and stayed on that microphone for too long.

The boardroom, I thought, could've gone in the way of Lee or Michael getting fired. I think Michael deserved to get fired, but I think Lee would've deserved it more. But man! Lee got me close to getting off his train with that really pathetic move of desperation on the way out of the boardroom!

Next week is the final five. I think Allie will go then, if Synergy loses and she's Project Manager (which she very well may be). If Gold Rush loses, then it's gotta be Sean.

I am sorry, but Michael deserved another chance. I am angry that Lee is still there when it was clear from JUMP that he was the one who organized a spectacle that did not focus on the sale of FOOD. The other team had the right idea by minimizing the marketing to just spreading the word and then focusing exclusively on the food. It was Lee's decision to hold a spectacle, not Michael.

Also, I agree with everyone who said that Roxanne was quite lucky this task to have Allie.

Oh yeah, did anyone immediately think of Randal and MegaphoneGate '05 with CheerleaderGate '06?

Like that would have worked on DT. What was it from last week: Charmaine's not negative, she's attractive. Ya, the fairness arguement would have worked there, Michael.

I was so hoping for a Synergy loss. I wanted to see them implode. But no, I get to see the creation of Coven Cabernet. I'm sure it would taste like sour grapes..yawn.

Good call on the earplugs, Sean. I wish I had a set when Allie and Roxanne were harping on him.

Michael sounded like he was backpedaling more than selling. He deserved to be fired. Guy gives bad boardroom.

I would agree with that if the portion of the contract was significant. In reality, Gold Rush had the entire cheerleading team and sending one or two over them to synergy was not going to make very much difference. Michael should get credit for making sure it was only one or two. When you negotiate and have a contract with someone else and they perceive you as arrogant or a bully they could be so annoyed that they don't do the job as well as they otherwise would have. Whether the team should have allowed the cheerleaders to go to the other team is debatable. I think they should have but even if I am wrong it still seems a pretty rationale reason to do it and I do not see how Trump and Caroline would think that doing so is such as horrible decision as to be the reason Michael was fired. I cannot imagine you can succeed in business without making sure that you are looked at as fair and understanding by the other party in negotiations.

But what did Lee DO, on the day of the game? He assigned Michael to lead the games, and then later declares that Michael ALSO should have been the primary salesman!
Did Lee think of having only ONE megaphone?
For that matter, how did Sean help sell, ON GAME DAY?

Trump's comments were, as usual, contemptible. But principled Carolyn seems to be fine with them.

Yes. I think Roxanne made a lot of the decisions on her own. Allie sold well, yes, but Roxanne thought of the service after finding out from Allie they were allowed to do that. So I think they won because of all three women.

Word. As far is this task is concerned, Michael didn't really screw up by trying to hand over some of the cheerleaders. However, if applied to real-life business situations, Michael royally fucked up and that's what got him the ax.

Allie and Roxanne were absolutely ridiculous in their whining about Sean. Can they not grasp the concept that he is NOT going to apologize because he was giving his honest opinion? An opinion that I happened to agree with wholeheartedly. Allie should have been gone after the Ellis Island fiasco.

He's disgusting because he's not willing to play your game and lie to you and kiss your ass(es) to your satisfaction so you can feel superior once again? I say, thank you, Sean.

It may not be rational, but I dislike Allie as much as just about any previous contestant. Right up there with Omarosa, Stacy R, and Toral.

Sidenote - As was pointed out above by JJRRutgers, I really do wonder how much the 'make up' of the two tailgate locations (more 'poor' college students in one vs. older alumni in the other) contributed to Synergy's win?

Given that the reward was to have their own wine created, I would buy the wine that were originally stomped by Roxanne, Tammy, and Allie than if they were stomped by the GR guys.

In this case, small intangibles integral inTrump's corporation trumped (pun unintended) task performance. Thus, I think firing Michael was a good decision. If Trump is looking for a negotiator, the fact that Michael was willing to give up the competitive edge they have already attained isn't the sign of a good negotiator.

While I'm glad that Michael was fired, I was so hoping that Trump would fire Lee as well. Michael's a lame candidate and Lee's riding the fence. Neither one of them has what it takes to be a leader.

I read the board before I watched the episode, so I was looking for this. Tammy is shown selling delivery service to a group of what appear to be alumni before Allie is shown selling to the baseball team. Then, there is an interview with Roxanne where she claims to have come up with the idea for the delivery service.

So, yes, Allie may have been the one to sell to the baseball team, but there is no evidence that Allie is responsible for the winning idea.

(although that "apologize" shit in the beginning. Bad move, Rox)

edited because [u][/u] doesn't work.

Lee probably should have gotten the ziggy, but Michael was also pretty clueless. Well, all three of those guys were clueless.

Though Smed wants steak...