I would totally buy a light-weight sweeper that picks up nuts and bolts! Way to go, Trace! You won this task for your team, not Baldwin, even if he was trying to take credit for it.

Picking up nuts and bolts is impressive as a demo, but since they hadn't rehearsed, it could have been a disaster if it had done a lousy job. However, I am sure that Trace would have pulled it off anyway. Of all of the competitors, he is the only one I think would be fun to have a casual beer with in a relaxed environment.

Why am I still watching this show? This episode was boring and totally unmemorable.

I'll say one thing for Piers. He's very well-spoken and knows how to craft an answer on the fly.

I hope Trump overlooks Trace's PM loss and picks him as the winner. He practically treated the loss last week like a win, so maybe he will.

Based on the edit Marilu'd been getting all season, I was a little surprised to see her fired in the first half of the cast, but as this episode bore out, it looked like she'd be the only choice if her team lost.

My husband was watching LOST-so who got booted off?

Marilu. She was PM of the losing team.

Too bad Marilu forgot to put on her dress over that slip.

Also, too bad the editors forgot to try to hide from the get-go who was going home tonight.

Too bad Carol decided to throw Marilu under the bus by lying about not knowing about the easy pay plan. Hell, I don't even WATCH QVC and I knew they had it!

Overall, a big snooze of an episode. Carol: again, no real airtime or chance to see her perform her task, but damn she looks good. Manic Marilu just being Manic Marilu-- you could see her firing coming from a mile away. Still love the big cowboy. Still hate Omarosa. Still not sure what to make of Tito...

In the boardroom, it looked like Lennox was reading off a cue card at one point (wish I could rewind the tape, but alas, I didn't tape tonight.) And the prize for most annoying player of the episode goes to Steven Baldwin. Sorry, dude, but God's too busy with worrying about the economy, the war and Darfur, to name just a few little global troubles, to worry about helping you on a stupid coin toss.

Soooo happy Marilu went home tonight. She's useless.

This game is Trace's to win or lose. The others don't even come close. Lennox may be able to skate by for a little longer, but that's about all.

I knew as soon as they paired the QVC host, Rick Dolmier with Marilu that Empressario would lose the task. Rick is a mile-a-minute talker just like Marilu, and the two them talking over each other for 10 minutes would have been chaos.

It was also clear to me that pairing Lisa Robertson, who is one of QVC's top selling hosts (as is Rick), with laid-back Trace was the perfect combination. As it turned out, Trace did just fine with his presentation, but Lisa is excellent at picking up when a vendor may need some help.

Loved the scene of Trace, sprawled in a chair, while thoughtfully pushing the sweeper back in forth!

Piers was absolutely right about Carol's claim that she didn't know about the EZ pay option. No way does a vendor work with the Q for five years and not know about it.

And because it can't be said enough, STFU Stephen Baldwin.

Seriously! "I worked for QVC for 5 years.... " "No, I didn't know about it." Even her face, you could tell she was lying!

Marilu was the right choice to be fired.

And, I'm sorry, but I was offended by the outfits in the boardroom tonight. As a businesswoman, I would never dress anything close to that. What were the 3 ladies thinking? They all looked like sluts, for lack of a better term. Marilu.... way too much cleavage! Carol - see through? Seriously? And Omarosa - short, tight, and too much cleavage. Seriously?

I knew they were going to lose when three whole minutes went by and I didn't see or hear Omarosa.

While I really wanted Omarosa gone, I could tell early on when they were setting up Baldwin for a possible firing if they lost, that she wouldn't be gone if the task went sour. I just want her gone the next time her team loses.

LOVING Trace Adkins, still.

Piers is on my nerves, as is Omarosa.

I knew Marilu was in for it when she was babbling over the lady who called in to QVC

I thought Impressario was doomed when Stephen nixed the idea of Trace rehearsing. But, Trace came thru.

When Trump asked Carol that question, you could literally see her catch herself as the wheels started turning ("if I say I knew about it I'm screwed. . . . nope, never heard of it.").

Hearing shit like Baldwin was spewing makes me want to do really sacriligeous things.

Terrible task, terrible episode, telegraphed result. Stephen and the coin toss really makes me question his entire notion of his faith; does he honestly believe that God gives a flying crap about a coin toss to win the right to sell a commercial product on television? I'm Jewish, does he think I should never win a coin toss for any trivial matter against a Christian. If that's your God, man, keep Him to yourself.

The only way Marilu was going to be saved was if she brought Carol to the boardroom. One of them had to take the fall for the inexcusable failure to understand how to sell items on QVC.

But as to the nuts and bolts, it's a pretty standard thing for most vacuums nowadays, and not a particularly valuable feature to demonstrate. What you want with a vacuum is for it to pick up stuff that you can't pick up with your fingers (who wants to take the nuts and bolts out of the vacuum, mixed up with cat hair?). That neither Trump nor Ivanka knew this is an indication that neither has ever had to buy a vacuum, not exactly surprising information.

I fell asleep mid episode cause of my new comfy couch, but I already knew that it was going to be Marilu who was doomed. Her manic hyper talking over everyone including the customer sales tactic did nothing to help the consumer see why it would benefit them. Her focus was solely on how much SHE loved and SHE wanted it. As if the QVC customer should buy it because Marilu wants/has one. It seems to me that the QVC customers see B-list celebrities shilling wares every day and aren't likely to be moved too much to purchase just due to Marilu's hyperactive enthusiasm for the product.

Sales should involve getting the customer to see the features of the product, the benefit to THEM, and the desire to purchase, then the purchase price and ease of acquisition (easy pay, low comparison price, etc.). Also, the interrupting and talking over.....Doh! The customers who call in to QVC do it to hear their own voices on television...let them have their 10 seconds of fame and they will buy and tell all their friends to buy, too. QVC understands this all too well. They also understand that the consumers calling in lend an air of authenticity to the process that supports other average consumers in their decision to buy.

Also - I find Omarosa (don't remember or care how to spell it) so vile that if it weren't for Trace, I'm not sure I could continue to watch this. It seems to me that other shows ala "Dancing with the Stars" have figured that America remains obsessed with Celebrity and will tune in to watch Celebrities work outside their comfort zones. It is not necessary and in my opinion, is even detrimental, to put delibertately hateful celebrity wannabe reality show psychopathic cockroaches on the show for the drama factor. You're losing as many people as you're gaining. Then the people who tune in for the other celebrities and the enjoyment of the show premise and format keep the numbers of the show sufficient enough to make the producers and the Donald to believe they are on to something by putting that disturbed sub-human on the show.

It's awfully early for me to be this aggravated.

Breathe. And refill the coffee.

I guess she wants everyone to see what her buying dollar bought. Especially the boobs.

At first I thought he was being sarcastic because they always show vacuums picking up weird stuff like nuts, bolts, and even batteries!

I've got one of those battery-powered vacs (not the one they were selling last night). The most important thing for me would be whether it could hold a charge long enough to actually finish off a room.

And werd on Omarosa's dress. All season, whoever's doing wardrobe really doesn't like her. And the hairstylist has it in for her too.

Trace Adkins could sell the SNL Bass-O-Matic. He's so damn right.

Carol would have made more sense as a spokesperson than Marilu. Yes, Marilu has been on QVC, but Carol worked there five years! No way did Carol NOT know about easy pay. I knew about easy pay and I've only flipped past the channel a few times.

Omarosa reminds me of an Oscar Wilde line in "The Portrait of Dorian Gray". "She looked as if her clothing had been thrown on in a rage, her hair done in a tempest." A lot of effort to look like a hooker in a hurricane.

Didn't Marilu claim to be a QVC fan? She should have understood this completely! Satisfied customers are encouraged to call in and tell about their experience with the product. This is almost as good as a celebrity endorsement. I nearly bought some stupid piece of exercise equipment once when a woman called in and claimed she went from being shaped like "an upside-down light bulb" to having a skinny little 33" butt in a couple of months. (Luckily, I didn't, because she was obviously a plant and a shill.) I have thought all along that Marilu is on some sort of medication that affects her thinking. However, I don't think they could fault the team for not using E-Z Pay, because not all items qualify for it. That's up to QVC. If E-Z Pay was available, they would have been told. The QVC exec or the host mentioned (about the sweeper) that it is very unusual for a new product to have E-Z Pay offered with it. They lucked out when they lost the coin toss.

Somebody on the production of this show is very slyly having fun making Trump look dumb. How many times did he say how inspired an idea it was to pick up nuts and bolts? And Trace let him think it was his idea, of course, not mentioning it has been done on every vacuum cleaner and floor sweeper demonstration in living memory? As Flashbacker alluded, it's not useful that it will pick up large items or things you want to keep. Show me how it picks up pet hair or cornflakes.

My biggest laugh was when Piers said trading Omarosa for Marilu was like losing Satan and getting Nelson Mandela.

Omarosa really needs to be told to go up a pants size. Maybe two.

I think the final showdown is going to be evil v. evil: Omarosa and Piers. None of the others make for the drama.

This show is called "Celebrity Apprentice, but Omarosa's achievement is that she was a loser on a game show. She has not been a good player on this show, either. I was dumbfounded at the (I thought) undeserved compliment she got last night. She could only be called excellent, compared to what? That she didn't stab anybody through the heart?

The host said that on air, that it was unusual for a new item to have it, but I had the impression that the team requested it and QVC let them do it. I don't think the product would have E-Z pay if they hadn't asked. I'm also sure that if that were the case, the other team could have had E-Z pay.

So true. Why is Trump willing to damage his reputation through his association with that person? Even Omarosa herself remarked, "Mister Trump must REALLY, REALLY like me as I am still here!".

She looked like a really bad parody of drag, especially with those fake boobs.

That was my impression, as well. I don't remember his exact wording, but SB specifically asked the QVC rep if they offered anything that made it easier for customers to pony up the cash for their items. I suspect both teams would've been allowed to use EZ Pay on this task. They just needed the knowledge of QVC and/or the business savvy to ask. It wasn't going to show Trump much about either if QVC just offered up the EZ Pay option upfront.

OK, who decided to use the demo of the vac with the nuts and bolts? I don't remember it being spelled out. The only time I saw anything close to rehearsing use of the vac was when Trace was idly pushing it about while sitting in the chair. ITA with other posters about Trace- this game is his to lose now. He's great!

Trace has come up with so many good ideas, and been an important part of every task. And, he's level headed and doesn't get into all the catfights. I want Omarosa gone SOON, but I think TPTB want her around as long as possible, for the drama or whatever.

I''m betting on Trace now, too.

Except both products were new items. I thought that Carol should have done the presentation, because after five years with the skin care line she is completely familiar with how QVC presents items, camera angles, customer phone calls, etc. I wonder if there was a contractual issue with QVC? I'm sure that Carol was aware of easy pay financing, but that's not normally the vendor's decision. QVC normally decides which items are on EZP, but I think that both teams had free rein with their presentations. I remember when Jonathan Antin had his QVC segment on his show, Blow Out, QVC staff gave him strict instructions of how things would happen. Antin's job was to show up and shut up.

I know Marilu talks way too much and probably blew some sales last night. She always has been overly talkative, but I really do like her and I'm going to miss her on the show. Chatty Cathy or not, she is a class act. Trace is my favorite to win now that Marilu is gone.

Oh, and props to the ever annoying Piers - he actually showed some (gasp!) adulthood when he refused to take DT's Omarosa battle bait.

Every time I see Omarosa (and I saw her way too many times last night to suit my taste), I can't help but think of a line from the old Mary Tyler Moore show. I think that Valerie Harper's character is the one who said it..."It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."

Knowing that Carol worked on QVC for 5 years, I wonder how recently those 5 years were. Has QVC always had Easy Pay? Or is it a relatively new thing and did it come after Carol's time on QVC? I've never watched it, not even fleetingly, so can't say, but I was wondering about this as I was watching last night.

I love Trace; he is always so cool and goes with everything that comes his way. The complete opposite of the rest of the Drama Queens on the show--Piers, I'm looking at you.

Not a huge surprise that Marilu was booted, but knowing that Omarosa may be the last woman standing makes my head hurt. Also, part of me was hoping that Stephen would give his PM money to Trace to make up for losing the last task as they did try their best. But since this is Trump's world, that is wishful thinking.

Was I dreaming, or did Carol admit she was unaware of QVC's installment payments? Because if that's true, the the woman is too dumb to feed herself. I've only watched a few snippets every now and then of QVC since it has been on the air, and been on their website a half dozen times. It's impossible not to know about it. They mention it every damn time they tell the price of the item, which is about every two minutes, and it's always on the screen (viewable on monitors by the people giving the presentation, I am sure). You'd have to be brain dead not to know about it. And she was there for five years, you say?

So I must respectfully disagree with you--in hindsight, of course--bimbo du jour, that she would have been better with the presentation. Maybe she's good with camera angles and such, and a lot calmer than Marilu, but boy, she's a couple of bricks shy of a load. There's no telling how she might have fielded any testimonials.

Although on first blush, I would certainly have made her PM because of what appeared to be sales experience. It certainly would have seemed that she would have learned the QVC business backwards and forwards, but apparently she was only a mannequin.

I just remembered The Apprentice had almost this exact same task in an earlier season, also at QVC. They got to select the item that they sold and also were allowed to set the selling price. The women's team chose some kind of cleaning sponge for about $20, and the men's team picked an appliance, maybe a grill(?) for a whole lot more money. I'll have to check the recap.

I missed the first half of the episode, but my favorite moment of the second half was when Piers, watching Marilu and Carol hugging outside the boardroom, goes over to Lennox like he's going to hug him too. Love that Brit sense of humor!

Don Jr did comment that Ivanka doesn't do a lot of vacuuming.



I wouldn't have thought about offering a $35 product on E-Z Pay, even if I was aware it was an option. Whoever needs to stretch that piddly amount out over five months probably shouldn't be wasting any money buying the QVC junk. As for Carol not knowing about it - she might've been too embarrassed to admit she hadn't thought about it (and worried it'd get her booted) so she lied. Or none of the cosmetics she hawked ever offered that option and she never bothered learning anything about their business practices. Some people are just oblivious to anything that's not directly related to what's going on in their little world.

Yes, it was during season 2 when the one lady on the guy team was switched teams and then was project manager. The ladies lost by $10 and she was fired. I think her name may have been Pamela.

QVC didn't just let them have E-Z pay, it let them divide the payments of a $55something product over 5 payments of $11 something each!!!! Two payments would have been more reasonable. That totally isn't normal, because it really adds to the QVC admin costs. But anything for the tv show. Marilu could totally have asked for and gotten E-Z pay.

It was. Trump forced her to go a disfuctional team, made her project manager, and after actually getting the team to work as a team for the first time, and coming that close to a win, Pamela was fired. Worst firing ever. When I saw last night's task was QVC, that was the first thing I thought of.

You're probably right. I'm not a fan of Carol's, I was merely speculating.

There are people who need that 5 EZP option for a sweeper -- I've observed that a significant portion of QVC's audience are elderly people on fixed incomes. Sad but true. And QVC will do whatever it takes to meet their dollars-per-minute quota.

Ha I knew I saw a QVC challenge on T.A. before. Too bad for Marilu. I think if she brought back Carol and Piers they could have beat Carol into submission. Piers obviously had her back. And I loved how the men on the team seemed like they were about to bust out in laughter at the idea of Carol not knowing about E.Z. Pay.

As for the other team what can I say. Go Trace. Shut up Stephen. Please slither back under the rock you came from Omarosa. Hmm, I don't even know the other person on the their team. Ok I checked. It's some guy named Tito.

There is no way Trump was going to get rid of Carol on this task. I see her clearly as one of the final 2, if not winning the whole thing.

A shame about Marilu. She was a good contestant, and classy all the way, even when being fired.

It's Dolly Parton's line.

OK.

Carol should have been fired. Or Piers, just beause he's an arse.

Absolutely LOVED Marilu's BR dress, but not on her, and wow I'm getting really tired of looking at your cleavage, lady. That was more cleavage time than I wanted. I would like to have that dress though.

Hey, Ivanka, you are on national TV, and I have a very nice high-resolution computer monitor. Do you think I want to look at those des-goosting roots of yours? Hair and Makeup, yes, you, you are a department on a TV show crew, can ya touch that up, or at least style her hair to cover it up? I don't want to look at those roots. I prefer my Ivanka stirred, not shaken, and never EVER looking trashy.

I think this might even be our THIRD QVC challenge because I'm thinking of some kind of overpriced caddy for a garden hose....

I thought the same thing when they were talking about 5 payments of $11.99. For an item under $100 - if someone needs to use EZ pay installments, maybe they should think twice about buying it. Of course, there are people addicted to the shopping networks who max out credit cards and nothing in checking acct. So, for them EZ Pay is heaven.

I think that was the Martha Stewart Apprentice.

Oh dear. I inadvertantly outed myself as a TA:MS viewer.

I genuinely liked Marilu Henner, and was very saddened to see her go. She seemed like a lovely person who threw herself into each of these tasks.

Trump's logic, as always, seems bizarre. It is somehow better to sleep throughout the task to ensure that you might not make the wrong decision and be responsible for the team loss. I think will have to avoid signing up for business classes at Trump University.

I also also like seeing how much the Apprentice means to Piers, and how hard he is willing to work on all of these tasks. I also love watching Trace work his magic each week.

Omarosa needs to be locked up in a room together with Steven Baldwin somewhere far away from my tv. If the two of them are allowed to run free, maybe they can be sent on a world tour of Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur so that Steven can understand why God doesn't have time to worry about his coin flip (even though they are on the same team) and Omarosa can learn to think about someone else besides herself.

This is why I cannot stand either evangelicals or New Agers. They cannot see the logical fallacy of either God or the "Universe" picking a side in response to one person's prayers/thoughts and changing all the laws of physics to suit that person's momentary selfish wants. Big Picture, Steven! Maybe God has a grander design in mind that doesn't have you getting to sell a ladder for 10 minutes on television on this day. Gah, the pure arrogance and tunnel vision! And this brainiac is a preacher, running around the world telling people what to think and believe!