Ha! My girl Omarosa gets to stay another week. I love her, she's so unapologetic for her asanine behaviour. Although trying to quote Eleanor Roosevelt was a bit much for a boardroom of all places.

So Jennie's gone? Damn, I was hoping for a Carol ouster. Ah, well, there's always their next loss.

I am so tired of the men. If Stephen doesn't get his douchebag personality off my screen soon, I may have to resort to violence.

I knew the women would lose when I saw the show laying the groundwork for the Jennie firing.

The women are right: They are severely overmatched in terms of star power, and with the format of a lot of the tasks, that puts them at a severe disadvantage.

I was pulling for them this week.

I knew Jennie was gone when the ladies team lost... she just didn't care (don't blame her, really). Almost the entire ladies team bugs me, except, ironically enough, Omarosa. She understands what Trump is looking for -- and I think it was an advantage for her to be on before. She knows when to step up, shut up and when to defend herself.

The men team needs to be separated soon, though.

The women play every task like a straight business task. The guys seem to realize they need to go over the top on everything.

Damn, if you know Richard Branson, why didn't you sell him a $50,000 hot dog? He wouldn't even blink.

Nely has been reminding me of someone, but I couldn't figure out who. So finally, tonight, when she squealed, I thought, oh Gawd, make her a blonde, and have her say "Kootchy, kootchy, I like-a you pipple a lot!", and she's Charo.

I just love that country music singer. I want to hang out with him.

I'd run away screaming from the rest.

Trace is my new favorite

I knew Jennie was gone from the beginning because they showed way too much of her, more than they have all season.

Does Nely think she's really that good and likable? Gene didn't bring me in the boardroom. Ummm...I think she missed the reality train.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Sir Richard Branson have a Apprentice-type show around S1 or S2? I had to laugh when SRB's name was dropped, Trump didn't swoop in and say that, "He's a good friend of mine." I guess you can't compete and be Trump's good friend at the same time.

The one thing the men's team has going for it is their egos can get into a fight, but they can easily put it behind them and have a good laugh about it after. Baldwin and Piers proved that tonight.

ETA: Stacey Lou, thank you. I, too, was trying to place who Nely reminded of. Charo fits perfectly. A-kootchy, kootchy, kootchy to ya!

Marilu + Broadway = SHOULD have been a slam dunk. However, I was surprised she gave up "Chicago." At least Jennie's exit was mercifully brief. She was in over her head in this and I think she would have been sunk if she was the PM.

Meanwhile...Niles! (I heart David Hyde Pierce.) And though I have never seen Spamalot, I may have to as I really, really, want to get a stuffed killer bunny.

I was going to post that last week and forgot to. That's exactly who she reminds me of.
After Piers made the call to Richard Branson, I expected him to say "Bring on the sexy stews!"

As a huge DHP fan, I think even I would have had a difficult time picking him out of the crowd. I know that he can be shy, but Marilu really should have asked him to at least take off the ballcap and try to mingle and make his presence known. Unfortunately the deeper pockets on the men's side won out yet again. For once I would like to see a task that did not involve cashing in favors from wealthy friends and contacts. Would it be too much to ask to see these people actually rely on business skills?

One thing I couldn't figure out was why Nely sent the two girls out with the $10k to get a cashier's check to buy the tickets? Why the hell didn't she just take the damn cash? She obviously had it, because she handed the wadded up bills to the girls and they ran off to get the check. If she had kept the cash, they'd have won - hands down. If it was a matter of proof for taxes, I suspect they could have easily gotten a receipt as proof. No check copy necessary. That woman just grates.

I've had it with these motherf**king celebrities on this motherf**king show.

Question: what do you suppose the average age of the women was this season compared to the men? I'm just sayin'. But it wouldn't be very Trumplike to cast experienced, successful older women instead of basing the casting of females on relative hotness.

When Carol Alt is the voice of reason, you know there's something very wrong with this show. I liked Marilu before this, but deciding that Nely, the idiot, and Omarosa, the even bigger and bitchier idiot, were essential to her team, has made me dislike her as much as Nely and Omarosa. Which is, like, a lot of dislike. She could've used Carol and Jennie better, but nooooo... She decided to waste them and depend on the meanies who don't play well with others.

Meanwhile... Spring's Awakening, Marilu? Really? The show du jour for starving students who got tired of Rent ten years ago? I don't think Curtains is any big draw at the moment, either, although I'm not sure anything outside Wicked is. Plus with tourists who don't speak English, Phantom and that kind of thing are always a sure thing.

Not that it really matters what show is a draw and what isn't when you make $33,000 total and win and $20,000 of that is from one person. Asking people how they lost is as ridiculous as the idea that Omarosa is a celebrity when it all comes down to which person's pocket celeb will come across with the biggest check. I guess Billy only gets to use Alex once, and Piers can only use Branson once, so now they'll have to depend on their actual skills. Or not. Maybe some of their more silents members will pony up with THEIR celebs.

But, anyway, I agree with Carol Alt. The men are acting like a team and the women are acting like Carol and Jennie and the Wicked Stepsisters who are only out to make sure THEY get to see Prince Charming first. When Prince Charming is Donald Trump, that's just sad.

I still have no idea who Nely is, except a latina.

well, tonight completes the elimination of the last of the low-hanging fruit.

Trump's really going to have to kiss-ass on the firings from here on out.

AwNutz - I ran it back and looked, but Charo handed her "Latina" friends what appeared to be a phone. As much as I can't stand Charo, that would have been ultra assy to send away 10K in cash in favor of a cashier's check.

Arlykeeno - Marilu was right that "Spring Awakening" is the biggest "hit out of the eight shows that were available. "Drowsy Chaperone" would be the least popular out of the eight (Drowsy closed Dec. 30). Spamalot, Hairspray, and Curtains all gross more per week than SA, but out of the eight shows they were given, I would have picked it too. Has a lot to do with number of seats, average ticket price, etc.

Sorry to see Jennie "fired" but now she can go home and wash the Omarosa stink off. I wish that Piers had had the savvy enough to say to Omarosa's "clown" comment, "Interesting that you think that a costume for Spamalot is a clown outfit, when the very celebrity that you had at your booth wore virtually the very same "clown" outfit during his run with Spamalot. I wonder how David Hyde Pierce would feel about that?"

The problem with Omarosa is she plays apprentice as an individual game, which it ultimately is, but it's a team game until you get to the end. So she sees her teammates as her competitors and tries to take advantage of weakness but ultimately it hurts the team.

I understand why Nely was out of the booth given her contacts were coming, but really it should have been Omarosa and Nely taking the money in the booth and Carol and Jennie out there. Omarosa wouldn't accept a marginalised role. How useful she was out there i have no idea. Probably not a lot.

I think Marilu backed Nely, because Nely Saved Marilu during the pedigree challenge.

Didn't the guys have a volunteer in the booth taking the money? The women should have done that.

I actually think Marilu made some very smart choices in terms of the shows she went after. The Apprenti were only given eight musicals to choose from, so shows like Wicked or Phantom which were not part of the publicity stunt by NBC were off limits. The choices were: Avenue Q, Curtains, Spring Awakening, Hairspray, Spamalot, Chicago, Rent, and Drowsy Chaperone. Assuming the show was taped in the summer / fall of 2007, Spring Awakening was not a bad choice. It had just won the Tony for Best New Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Hairspray was also a good choice as it was riding the wave of the movie release from the summer. Since she had a contact in David Hyde Pierce, she should have nabbed Spamalot in addition to Curtains as David Hyde Pierce was also in the original cast of Spamalot. I agree with Vince McMahon (*shudders*). His (DHP's) celebrity could've been used more effectively if she'd asked him to show up in costume and sign ticket stubs or polaroid photos. There are people who wait outside stage doors to get autographs and photos with broadway performers.


I'm not. In terms of the Broadway show, ticket sales correspond to who's in the cast at the time. It's become a revolving door of performers. If you have big names playing Roxie/Velma and Billy, ticket sales go up. I was actually surprised that Vinny didn't play up the fact that he was going to be in the show. Same, when Bob Saget (who closed Drowsy Chaperone) went to visit the guys.

One final nitpick, Piers Morgan was not dressed as King Arthur. He was wearing the costume of Sir Robin, ironically the role David Hyde Pierce created.

Vincent? Oh Vincent? A word please? Yes, over here. Ah-hah, you. No, just leave your George Burns glasses on the table and step over here for a minute.

YOU'RE NOT IN THE FUCKING MOB!!!!!!!!!

Please stop acting like you are. For fuck's sake, I'm glad you weren't cast in Star Trek.

Even the editors are phoning it in. Granted they wanted Jennie's firing to have actual task precedence. But to have Assarosa mouth it as if on cue when Assarosa clearly wants Carol gone because Carol is the only one who has no trouble calling her out as a fool with his disjointed and silly debating "skills" in the BR.

I really wish Baldwin hadn't practiced that silly laugh and thought his mole persona was witty and amusing. There is a reason why the Celebrity editions that starred him and Bernson didn't keep the franchise alive. the funny thing is his real laugh is actually rather contagious. His squint eyed Muttley routine however wears thin. As thin as all the posturing he and Piers perform each task prep. Gawd that was tiring tonight watching Baldwin preen and pose and pontificate and make not a damn bit of sense. Had each of the guys pulled out a big sale like Piers they would have had over sixty thousand.

And how pathetic sad and downright embarassing is it to watch them hand out $20,000.00 to the charities like it is some kind of golden ticket. I know I should be happy that it is an amount that they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. But still. Branson delivered half that this task alone. Our local Chruch Council at Christmas raised more than $300,000.00 for the local Hospice organization. And that was just one of many charities that pulled through what was a really difficult giving period considering the economy and the increased competition for charitable dollars these past few months.

And when a challenge that is about selling tickets for broadway nets more than three times the amount that NBC and the various Fortune 500 sponsors deliver? I can't help but be a little ill considering what Trump, Burnett and now NBC are making off even this loser of a season.

Latest weecap.

The women seem to have a defeated look on their faces. I have to say when your team uses more contacts, more star power ( I'd take pierce over piers any day of the week), has the better plays and still finds a way to lose I would have to say that team sucks time for a reshuffling. Firing someone because they are too nice and might not help the team in the future is bullcrap, if that is valid reasoning than Trump should have used it last week. The ladies made Vincent look like a clown during the negotiations. Piers did it all this week. He got a contact sold the tickets and even got into a contact. I LMAO at the fact that Piers was calling those who didnt buy tickets heartless bastards. In between Piers calling Branson and Piers bragging about having the number one show, you know Trump has to be hating him right about now.

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that. Carol did a good job of just ignoring Omarosa and continuing to speak, though.

The negotiation scene was pretty amusing, too. Vinny tells the women to "pick two shows," so they did, and then he takes it back. Idiot. And albertj had it right on the money, because Vinny clearly seems to think that a few episodes of acting like a mob guy makes him a mob guy. Vinny's explanation of the charity he was going to give the money to was touching, though. It made me like him for an entire minute.

I felt sorry for David Hyde Pierce. Vince McMahon was a bit of a jerk to him, I thought.

The funniest part of the show was mentioned in the weecap, though.

Nope, I don't think that was it, either.

Someone upthread mentioned that Nely reminded them of Charo, but all I could think of with the whining and "we need moneyyyyyyyy" in that nasal tone was Fran Drescher in the Nanny. I seriously was about to turn this off. Has there ever been a bunch of more annoying people in one show?
I cannot stand the women's team. Yes, Jenny was way too nice. Yes, it's good that she's not a nasty bitch. But, didn't this show mention what they would be doing before they signed up? It's ridiculous how the dominant bitches (yes, they are that to me, especially Assarosa) relegate Jenny and Carol and Nadia and the Playboy woman before into supportive roles then use that to impale them.
At this point, I can't stomach Assarosa (ok, I never could), Nely (please someone shut her up!) and Marilu (who is always reiterating how wonderful she is at things but really isn't). Nely also kept screeching how she was a "star"! In what galaxy?

Yeah, Jenny, I would be happy to go!
Also, I saw that Gene is guest-starring on some show (can't remember what now), so he was probably thrilled to get out too.

Carol should step up next week and take over but I suspect that it will be a re-mix of teams. Don't know that I care to watch though.

The men's team does have charisma and they do function as a team which is the primary reason they keep winning. I do like Trace and Lennox. Piers did well this week and I laughed at how easily he and Stephen resolved their spat. Stephen, I still don't care for. Vinny is amusing to me. I liked his charity speech.

Trump and Ivanka bore me to tears. I can't believe Marilu thought Vince McM. was cute. Huh?
Also, why was David Hyde Pierce (adorable) just standing there in a sweatshirt and baseball cap. Great usage of him, Marilu.

If Nely screeches anymore, I'm out.

I'm really enjoying this season. This just cracks me up. Watching the boys watching the girls in the boardroom each week is one of the funniest parts. They should have incorporated that into the regular apprentice a long time ago.

Was DHP on Cheers and Taxi? I never noticed him. Maybe Marilu was thinking about his frequent appearances on Evening Shade instead. (And will Marilu give Burt a call? What about Tony Danza, Danny and Rhea (speaking of a Cheers and Taxi connection), etc.?)

I'm sorry. I don't care that her father is a pompous ass. When Ivanka walked out in the beginning in that black dress. . .wow. What is her relationship status again?

Good news, folks! Omarosa is no longer the most annoying person on her team. Yes, I actually dislike somone even more then her, and that would be Nely. Seriously, that voice and that laugh was killing me. And she actually thought Gene respected her and sacrificed himself for her? Ha! What an idiot.

Count me as someone who is starting to warm up to Trace. He and Lennox are probably the only two I can tolerate, without feeling guilty. But man, Piers and Stephen are hilarious to watch, in a trainwreck sort of way. Watching those two fight was like watching monkeys play dodgeball.

Wow... Big Pussy went after Omarosa, and she didn't seem to have anything, to respond back with. Didn't see that coming. And seeing Vince McMahon all normal and not in his "WWE character" was odd as well.

Farewell, Jenny. She joins Tiffany Fallon as another nice, hot woman biting the dust, so the crazies can continue to rule the roost.

I was surprised Marilu didn't push that harder, but it would have exposed this crock of a show for the lie that it is.

The heavy hand of the producers was all over this ep:

I wonder how much Dump had to pay Branson for the celebrity impression of his voice (electronically modified to sound more "real" and two women dressed in Virgin uniforms. Branson is a successful businessman -- he doesn't need to bother with this show. And the idea that the Batshit Crazy Billionaire (as he was dubbed during his reaity show) would do a favor for an asshole like Piers os laughable.

Oh, and Vinny just "happens" to have a Spamalot costume that fits Piers. Riiiiiight.

And Nely had to send out to get a cashier's check because otherwise the women would have won. Held up by traffic -- pure BS. They were held up by TPTB.

I'm done with this stupid piece of misogyny. I'll "watch" it in the recaps.

This episode did what I thought could never be done, I agreeed with Vince Macmahn. Omarossa mocked Hydra for having Pierce walk around in the King Auther outfit, yet they have the star of one of the shows their selling tickets for just stand in the background? Nely wanted to rely on her "Latina connections" for this win, but you have one of the stars of one of the shows you're selling tickets for! Not only that he was on a long running award winning tv show! I don't think the rules state that you can't have him sell tickets too. I don't think the women were outmatched in this task, they just didn't follow through with the use of DHP.

That brings me to something that really bugged me about this episode. Nely thought her blackberry was filled with more contacts than Gene because she's Spanish? On one hand I kind of understand that mindset because she would have people that speak both languages (maybe not actuallypeople that speak both, but I hope that you know what I meant). On the other, what the hell does that mean?

Don't you mean "Lennox Lewis?"

It's almost like they don't see him as a person, because every time they refer to him, or drag him out as a prop on a task they say "Lennox Lewis should do this/that/the other." Everyone else is Stephen or Gene or Piers or Tito.

I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the boardroom...but if Omarosa, Marilu and Nely work so well together - and Carol and Jenni are such dead weight...why can't the women win? They basically say that Carol and Jenni do nothing - so they're not keeping them from getting things accomplished. I wanted one of them to say.."wait, who would sit back and do the background stuff if we're not here?"

Do the women have a hat fetish? Run Jennie/Jenny Run far far away from the evil ogre and ogresses.

A friend bought one for me a few years ago - they look completely innocent with their mouths closed, but open it and there are razor-like teeth.



I thought the same thing. It was nice to see someone being respectful about their child's step-parent. Very gracious. And I didn't get a 'BS' vibe that he was just being nice because the guy had died - it seemed like he really liked the man and respected his place in his child's life.

I also like the way Tito very gently hugged Elizabeth - the little girl with the brittle bones, who came to accept the check for St. Jude's. I love seeing big guys interact with little kids. *awww*



That's what bugs about this particular edition of the show. It's not about business savy, it's about getting their rich friends to pony up some money. Where's the skill in that? And if that's all it's going to take each task, then the location, marketing and, in this case, the popularity of a show doesn't even come into play. It would be far more interesting to watch them having to rely on their ability to sell a product/idea based on their actual salesmanship. Yes, use their own celebrity by all means - but not resort to paging through their contact list.



True. The guys smack each other around and get over it, while the women's team seem to hang onto the bitterness and resentment from week-to-week. But Carol's right - Omarosa is a 'cancer' who's systematically eliminating her competion (which is kind of the point of the show.)




He's guest-starring on "Ugly Betty". Tonight's episode, as a matter of fact.

I've never watched Apprentice before this particular celebrity addition....are the mentors supposed to help them, those eyes and ears people...
Would David Hyde Pierce been allowed to help them by telling them what might work better? I've seen people get more revved up for a garage sale...he just stood there. It may have been editing but the guys seem to have a lot more energy.

Trump clearly likes Omarosa, I mean those comments and he never really mentioned anything about her. That struck me as odd. I'm thinking he should just hire Omarosa outside of the game and be done with it. She is fun to watch I have to say. I also really enjoy Stephen Baldwin he is so out there and never apologizes for it at all.

Im finding this show fun.

Okay this show is brutal but since nothing else is on I'm sucked into watching. One thing that pissed me off was how they kept saying Jennie wasn't the competitor they were expecting and Vince said at the end she is just an individual competitor. No she is a team player and any team she ever played on works together and competes together - they don't throw each other under the bus for their own gain and you don't win gold medals if you are doing that. She was doing the tasks the others were too worthy to do just to make sure the team would function. I think if she was ever made leader you would have seen it but I think once she met the overbearing yahoos Omarosa and Nely she realized this team was going to be a dud and the sooner she was off it the better.

Yeah. Pancreatic cancer is a fucking bitch. The diagnosis is practically always a death sentence. I don't know if one charity can be more or less worthy than another, but that's certainly a righteous cause.

-----------------

For the first time during this Boardroom it became so clear that Omorosa is like a child trying to play amongst adults. She's thinks she's "all that", but they treat her like she's just an annoying buzzing in their ears. I think Carol's comment about Omorosa being a cancer was just a realization that Trump wants her around and if these women are going to stick it out, they're going to have to make it tougher for Trump to keep giving Omorosa a pass.

I was dumbfounded when the women declared in the BR: our team is not winning because nobody in our team has leadership qualities. WTF? That could never have happened on real Apprentice. And Nely (who was actually one person saying that)--isn't she supposed to be (or have been) some kind of CEO of something or another? There is just such a huge difference when comparing these people to regular Apprentice contestants, and not in a good way.

ETA: And Omarosa consistently comes across as the most competent of them all.

Nely: she's not Charo, shes Joan Rivers....no, scratch that....she's the "La-Teee-Na" Joan Rivers. Because she doesn't want us to forget her heritage. Even though she acts and talks like she hasn't been to the barrio since the days of King Arthur. That's just something that bugs. Whenever I see a hispanic woman (most often a local news reporter) speak and annunciate in a very bland Americanized accent, all of a sudden drop a word in with a poser, faux-hispanic accent that would make Inigo Montoya jealous, I just cringe. Look, I speak in the same Americanized manner that they are, I can say "Latino". "La-ti-no". "Latino". See? Its not that hard, I didn't have to channel the spirit of Evita to be worthy of using that word. I just said it. And all the TV reporters, why don't you say your name at the end of your report the same way you would every other time in your life. You're not "Pat-a-reeee-seee-aaaahhh Goon-zaaaaahhh-leeeeees", you're Patricia Gonzales, you've probably never even been to Mexico because you're probably 3rd generation American. You don't see Irish-American news reporters slur their names in a drunken Leprochaun stupor to say their name is "Peeeter Oooo'malllley". Or some Norwegian-American woman reporter yodeling her name.

Omarosa: everyone else is playing to get money for their charity. She's just playing to "win the game". Any charitable contribution is a distant second to her. She's got the total bullshit strategy down pat: "Admit nothing, deny everything, launch a counter-attack." Not only that, she throws in "use hyperbole as much as possible", even though it may be completely irrelevant to the discussion, or a complete lie. Piers was a clown? Carol Alt is not on your level? Somebody needs to give me some of the stuff she's smoking. We need more footage of the other contestants questioning her on why she's a 'celebrity'.

Trump: more and more of these contestants are not giving a shit when you release them from this hell....errr... I mean fire them. What was a freak occurance is now pretty much the norm. Just sayin.

WORD! I live in Phoenix and it's rampant amongst the hispanic reporters here. Very annoying.

They all have gigantic man-crushes on Lennox, which I find to be rather cute. Heh.

My Assorama hate is full-on right back to where it was when she was on the first season of the show. She doesn't particularly do anything *right*, yet insists on doing everything anyway without actually trying to help her team. She's a bully, and no one in their right mind would ever want to work for her. I'm hoping she's fired right soon.

I must have missed it, because I tend to tune out the crazy, but what was the quote?

What does Vince McMahon have to do with Broadway plays ?

I could see if they were selling tickets to a WWE event.

I remeber from the Martha Stewart season there was a woman with a plain american accent, and then she said La-TEEE-na. Why pick up an accent with one word. I don't say "Give me some Fraunch Fries".

I understand sacrificing your weakest links, but relegating teammates to 'support staff' positions and then punishing them for it is grossly unfair. Instead, they should be assigning blame to the person who actually lost them the challenge. Case in point - in my opinion Nely lost this one for them when she sent those people to get a cashier's check. What was that about? Did I miss something? Did they show up with gold bullion or Confederate currency that wouldn't have counted towards their $ goal? Nely has consistently shown poor judgment and should've been ousted a long time ago.



And what was up with Marilu's comment about him being cute? The woman has low standards. I thought his little head made him look like a turtle. Very odd head-to-body ratio.

Did you notice Marilu's face when DT said money would be going to Broadway's favorite charity, then he announced some public school fund? She went from all excited to WTF?!?!

I think the big charity for people in the Broadway and theater community is Broadway Cares, Equity Fights Aids. I know Marilu is a big supporter of it (as is David Hyde Pierce).

I just thought it was interesting that he made a big deal out of it being a Broadway charity - maybe it is, or maybe he was stretching for a way to link the charity to the task.

That was a very odd tie in. MacMahon is a promoter, so he's got some relevance to any "promotion" task?

It seems like they just had a set number of tasks and set number of minor celebrities willing to be Trump piss-boys ("wait for the shake!") and are stretching to line them up.

What's strange is that from what I could tell MacMahon had/has nothing in particular to promote at the time (no special WWE event or anything like that). What's in it for him, unless he thought he could tap Ivanka?

Oh, and I attribute the odd head-to-body ratio steroids. The guy ballooned up a few years back.

I think it would've been a smart pick if their audience had been New Yorkers/theater fans. But they were selling tickets in Times Square to tourists in fannypacks and white sneakers, most of whom probably didn't see the Tony Awards and just want to "see a Broadway show." Something like "Chicago" or "Spamalot" or something familiar. I imagine their reaction to "Spring Awakening" was "...what?"

So, in a way, I think the women lost the task on the shows they picked. Despite the large donations, I also think the women sold fewer tickets than the men, which didn't have everything to do with promotion. It had to do with show selection.

I'm glad Marilu wasn't fired, because I like her, but she really should've been. The task was lost from the moment she picked theater-friendly, not tourist-friendly shows (IMHO).