No Joan - You are the manipulator and snake!

If I never see either of the Rivers women again, it will be too soon. What pathetic, whiny excuses for human beings they are.

Psyched that Piers is back. I am concerned about money that Phil Hellmuth could bring in. From what I hear, he's a petty, competitive person. I'm hoping he'll have some poker loyalty.

Annie or Jesse FTW!

ETA: It's too bad Brian McKnight had to leave on the first night I realized how awesome he was. He did what Melissa and Clint should have done last week.

Seeing Piers and his "there's only one Celebrity Apprentice" line made me laugh over the cheesiness.

Shut up Melissa! Does she ever stop whining. "They're besties now. Wah, Wah, Wah"

This was the first time I've hated Joan this season.

Melissa may be a brat, but she is great television. And I think it's hilarious that Donald actually used the word 'brat' to describe her. I thought Ivanka worked for Trump---she does jewelry too?

If this show isn't actually scripted, it certainly is "concepted."

Why is Natalie walking the streets of New York in giant hooker heels?

Love, luv, LUV! Joan's theatrics. She gets it: Who cares who wins a celebrity tv game, give us good entertainment. Joan goes over the top and adds a good ol' fashion celeb soap opera performance. Improv theater. Bahaha, loved the giant mocking picture of Melissa in Joan's Lifelock commercial. It is all show-biz for her. And I'm pretty sure now that Melissa is also hamming up the catty drama.

But Joan is also 100% (er, 190%) right about 2-faced Annie. "Annie would spit on the ground and drown her mother in it, if it gave her one inch of an advantage." ("And no, I wouldn't say that about Tom Petty.")

"You've walked before."

I love Piers. Almost as much as Joan. For once I'm actually looking forward to next week's CA.

Donald calling Mellissa "bratty" is the biggest understatement ever uttered. Has it ever occured to her that Annie was being nice to Brandy because she wanted to be a good PM and not cause any drama?
"Waah! They didn't pat me on the back after I picked out the jewlery. Look at me!" I'm against violence towards women, but I wanted to strangle her so much.

Joan: Okay, so Annie allegedly told you she wanted Brandy fired, but told Trump that she thought Brian should be fired and that somehow is stabbing Mellissa in the back?

Jessie really needs to realize his wife knows people.

I figured it'll be Phil Helmuthe (don't like him so I don't care about the spelling) would be brought in to get to Annie.

I still don't know why only the Rivers bitches have the All Short And Mighty ads for charity. That's another reason I want them gone from my TV for the next decade

I give Joan props for sticking up for Chloe at the beginning of the show – when no one else would. I also want the cool silver purse she had when they stepped into the elevator about midway through the show.

But she was way out of line getting ticked off at Annie. Hey, Joan, Annie and Jesse are the two best people on Athena. I like Brandi, but she doesn’t seem to do much but play around. Brian was just too laid back.

And Melissa? “I’m researching why point of purchase displays work…” WTF?

If it hadn’t been for Annie, nothing would’ve gotten done. And Joan, Annie did exactly what she said she was going to do. She criticized Brandi in the boardroom – she didn’t say one word against Melissa. But she can’t just tell Trump to fire Brandi instead of Melissa. So stop making Annie the scapegoat because your daughter sucks.

Joan, you’re always saying, “Grow up!” Maybe you need to grow up and realize your daughter isn’t perfect.

Melissa, want to know why Annie’s working with Brandi instead of you? Maybe it’s because your Mom bitched her out and tried to blame her because you got called into the boardroom. If I were Annie, I’d avoid you like the plague too.

Oh, and props to Jesse for working so hard, even though he was sick.

This show has become such a joke. Is this the Joan and Melissa show? I expect that one of them (probably Melissa) will make the final. They feel so entitled it's pitiful. And this is coming from a (former) fan.

Hawking Ivanka's jewlery? Oh Please.

Gee, the fact that Annie manages to get along with someone she doesn't think much of is the sign of an adult, team player. She was smart to play to Brande's strengths. Take a lesson, Melissa, then call the wambulance.

Herschel oggling the models in a non-creepy way was a hoot.

Go Annie. You've got everyone scared so you're doing something right.

BWAH! I thought it was so ridiculous when Brandi said she gives 190%. Well if you can get up to 190, why not 200? Hell make it 310%

Did we really have to hear Jesse throw up? I will never understand the reason why things like that aren't edited out. Just makes me cringe.

I like Joan but who cares if they both end up walking just because one is fired?

And speaking of that, didn't Joan step in it at the start of the show when she said she thought project managers should be fired and she was disappointed that didn't happen last week? Wasn't Melissa the p.m. on her team?

Was that Caroline who did the identity theft commercial? I had the sound off but it looked like her.

Melissa is really a poison gnome--she looks like she is half the height of Brandi. Such a creepy little pony face.

I love the implications for next week--will Melissa throw the game so her mom's team will win and save her mommy?

I am sooooo glad Piers showed up to snark the day!

I loved when Joan smashed her champagne glass and was walking around with pieces of glass all over her shoulders. I thought it was a trap for Annie. "Come on Annie dear, give Joan a hug!"

Jesse just looks drained. I'm not sure about the time line, but if he just had the flu that bad he must feel like he just wants to lay down.

Yeah, this ep just about killed whatever Joan love I once had.

I don't think she was defending Khloe as much as she was slamming Clint.

It's really funny to see that both teams has one person bitching about fellow team members non-stop and those two are related. And Joan has the balls to call other people snakes? What a farce.

I believe Melissa was indeed the PM.

Also word MyEyesSee about hawking Ivanka's jewelery. That's just plain wrong.

I don't get that impression, I think she probably is a catty bitch.

If found it interesting that Jesse is holding off with getting the big bucks, until there's a chance it will go towards his charity. That's pretty smart.

ITA. Melissa would not have even been chosen to come back to the boardroom had Brian not picked her to come back. Joan was getting all worked up and Melissa had not even been freakin' FIRED. Furthermore, why wasn't Joan this worked up the week before when Melissa was PM?

Up until tonight, I thought it was solely Melissa riding the coattails of Joan's fame. Now tonight, I think the reason for the said umbilical cord is more Joan than Melissa. Sure, Melissa will allow Joan to protect her, but I do agree with the celeb who said that Joan was overprotective of Melissa.

Ah, so Piers is back. I was kinda hoping for Boyfriend Bill. :) Next week does look really interesting. I had no idea they would do two tasks (well, one and a half) in one episode.

I think so too. Gee, wonder who she gets that from?

These Rivers women are nuts! Annie's criticism of Brande was that she didn't show initiative. The first few things Brande did on this task was to make phone calls without being instructed to which were supposed to be of some help to the team. Annie congratulated her specifically for doing this which shows a great deal of maturity and professionalism from both Annie and Brande. Brande listened to issues from the Boardroom and improved on them, Annie recognized a change in attitude from a teammate and affirmed the behaviour with praise.

Joan during the boardroom was so over the top nuts! She broke a glass because George rightly pointed out that Melissa wasn't focused on the right aspect of the task. And somehow this all becomes Annie's fault. Annie read the room and realized that Brian was ready to go. Why stir the pot if you don't have to? Joan takes stands on principle but she forgets that she too changes her mind. After all Clint suddenly is her best friend. Why can't Annie do the same?

Thank God Piers is back. It's time for some real snarking!

In the boardroom, I didn't see anything indicating that Annie threw Melissa under the bus. In the second challenge, yes, but not before that. Maybe she didn't go into detail regarding Brande in the boardroom but, due to Trump's blonde blindness, it didn't really matter. It was Brian's choice who to bring into the boardroom and there was really no difference in this task between Annie and Melissa. As for Trump's choice, it was clearly Brian getting fired.

In a real business setting, Melissa would piss me off. But I admit it's fun TV realizing how much she (and Mom) hate Annie. That automatically makes me want to root harder for Annie to win this show.

Speaking of phony friendships, Joan and Clint's new-found coziness makes me as sick as Jesse felt in the first task.

This is the first time I can think of anything nice to say about Natalie. She was a mediocre manager and would have been the one to fire if her team had lost but I love the idea of using a rival of Annie's for the second task. Especially since I can picture Phil Hellmuth loving playing the bad guy (I happen to be reading one of his books right now, so yes he is that petty).

I think Jesse does know that his wife knows people but he's planning on saving them for the final.

And I so wanted to slap Melissa when she said, "Love you, George!" on the way out of the board room. Geeze, what a phony ass bitch.

I'm really starting to love Clint Black. Having read some reviews of his music, I've seen raves that he's a wordsmith, yet he comes across as a simple man who just wants to contribute to the task. Last week I gained new respect for him since he said he wouldn't let anyone take the fall for him in the boardroom and the more I see him the more I like him.

Both Joan and Melissa are more concerned with gossipy, bitchy, playing games to stab someone in the back, that they are distracted from the TASK. They're not supporting their teams, they're trying to make themselves look good by tearing down someone else. The energy that needs to be directed at how to WIN the task, is instead directed at how to make sure someone else gets fired when you LOSE the task.

Just like last week, when Joan was more interested in putting Clint down and talking about how bad his idea was, instead of coming up with anything better.

Joan did say she was naive.

I'm so hoping she wins this next task.

And why didn't Joan go and pick out the jewelry since she's always talking about how she's in the biz? Instead of sending Natalie, then bitching about her choices?

With that seductive smile on her face... what was that! I guess she's letting us know that her mom knows George and therefore, she's met him outside the show.

Joan throwing down her drink (and getting it all over the back of her jacket) was incredibly childish.

I had a problem with that too. Even if Joan didn't go, why didn't she give Natalie some instruction on what type of jewelry to purchase? Joan is the one with the experience in this area, not Natalie. What did she expect?

And wait, I thought Melissa's business/forte was producing top of the line television shows (wah wah that's my business)? No, it's also jewelry merchandising (wah wah that's my business)!

It's such high-school bullshit. And they're letting Annie know she is getting to them. Of course, Annie is deliberately shutting Melissa out. So much for the apology to Joan. Damn. Don't mess over Melissa; Joan can get fierce!

That disgusted me too.

Mellissa broke Rules 1-50 of the boardroom, she didn't listen to George. ALWAYS shut your pie hole when George is talking. George knows his shit. If he's saying something LISTEN. But Mellissa has to keep her big mouth open. I mean that literally, her mouth is youge

I don't blame Annie at all for that. I'd totally marginalize Melissa too, just so I wouldn't have to hear any of her -- or Joan's -- stupid drama anymore.

For Christ's sake (who resurrected in this day to redeem our sins), what's wrong with the Riverses? Senior and Junior, they are both nuts! I think they really are milking their times on the show by acting like complete idiots. Really, what they say don't make any normal sense.

Well, remember last week when someone suggested she was sabatoging her own team for Melissa? I think she knows Trump loves her and if she's not p.m. and just doing what she's told, that if her team loses she's safe. And if she doesn't help her team, in fact puts her team down, then Melissa has a better chance of being on the winning team and remaining safe. Sounds like a good strategy.

Regarding her throwing down the wine glass and breaking it - and she calls Clint stubborn and childish?

Paul Servo, you're right that it's business 101 to shut your pie hole when the boss is calling you out, even if you're right, but Melissa really is an argumentative brat.

Yeah, you could get lost in there!

I've been trying to figure out exactly what it is about her appearance that really bugs me. The big mouth, the little beady eyes...

But I think it's mostly that I get the feeling she thinks she's really hot ....... when she so isn't.

The only one who hates Joan and Melissa more than we do is their plastic surgeon!

Makemelaugh said:
Melissa had her own jewelry line on QVC a few years ago. It was an offshoot of her mother's jewelry line--but geared more towards women of Melissa's age--& it was all-silver (whereas Joan's line has different metals). And she's also presented for/with Joan on her mother's jewelry shows on QVC in the past. So, yeah, Melissa "knows" jewelry as well.

That is entertainment as well. Besides, Annie being a poker player that she is must've calculated her steps carefully and figured out she needed an ally. Knowing that Joan and Melissa would cut throats for each other, who's a better ally than Brandy?

Is it me or does Joan and Melissa's bond look kinda weird?

Except that her jewelry line bombed and is apparently out of business now.

That was most noticeable during the discussion of (beautiful) Brande presenting the higher priced item. Melissa was clearly green with envy. Poor thing doesn't realize she's not even cute, let alone hot or beautiful.

Except Joan IS p.m., at Trump's instigation. She was all benevolent, sending Natalie out to be "girly" since she is a straight golfer, but couldn't wait to criticize her to Melissa's benefit. There's a really wierd dynamic between the Rivers(es). I have to wonder how much it has to do with Joan's husband's (and Melissa's father's) suicide.

She is simply not rational when it comes to her daughter, which leads to the monster of entitlement that is Melissa.

The number was stupid, but more stupid was repeating – supposedly as a positive – the negative, that she’s a follower not a leader. That she gives 190% when assigned a task reinforces that she’s not a leader.

Get Joan and her fetus off my tv already! Yeah, Joan is funny, but I’ve had enough funny. Did anyone else notice that Melissa first said she’s only been “brought into” Joan’s jewelry business in the last 2 years or so, but then was complaining that she wasn’t being listened to when this was “her business.”

I think Annie is great, and she can certainly take the criticism (it’s hard to be a woman poker player and put up with those assholes). Kotu had a great idea to find a poker player who hates Annie, though it’s pretty funny that Phil Helmuth is considered not only a great poker player but a real whiner and a brat. Joan might adopt him if he actually shows up!

As others have said, Joan is the snake here. How many people can she call a snake before she runs out of everyone but Melissa? Annie would have been a fool to compliment Melissa in the boardroom after George called Melissa out for spending her time researching point-of-sale displays. Loved that Hershel commented on the “mother hen” and how she’s protecting someone on the other team. Too bad he’s too quiet to do anything about it.


Which is probably exactly what poker player Annie wants, because they they won’t play their own A game (well, Joan has an A game, Melissa can only get to the C level on her own).


Right, she’s down to a team of Jesse (who seems nice but is a non-entity), catty bitchy Melissa and Brande. I’d certainly be friendly to Brande at this point.

Someone mentioned Jesse is waiting to pull out his money men for when he’s PM. Waiting on the big money guns didn’t work out so well for the Playmate in the first celebrity apprentice. If Athena loses (and Trump won’t fire Melissa) he may well find himself out for failing to ever raise serious money. He’s been surviving on his hard work and design skills so far, but that’s not enough to actually become the celebrity apprentice.

I think it's just the big mouth, her eyes aren't that beady, Clint Black has beady eyes.

Big mouths are often attractive (think Julia Roberts) so I don't even know if it's that. I really think it is Melissa's personality that makes her unattractive. She's so full of herself and yet has no reason to be.

What was Brian's problem that he practically quit the show. There was no fight in him at all.

For Joan to get her hackles up about Annie was one thing (not that I agree with her), but then George was talking to Melissa and that's when Joan threw the glass and went off the deep end. "I knew it! They're going after Melissa. I'm out of here."

Did anyone catch it when Melissa smiled and said "Love ya, George" ? as she was leaving the boardroom after Brian was fired. barf. I think George just kind of grunted.

I have a great deal of respect for Joan as a groundbreaking woman comic and her long term survival in the entertaintment industry, however, this show made me feel a bit sorry for Melissa. She didn't stand a chance of growing up to be an independent healthy person with the way it seems she was raised. Joan's smothering behavior the last two weeks has been embarrassing.

I think it's the angle of the eyes/eyebrows - she's had a facelift or eyelift that makes her eyes slant up and gives her a perpetual harsh expression. Melissa and Joan have the same thing - you rarely see a genuine, natural smile from them, because their eyes don't "smile".

Yeah, the cord has never been cut. I remember when Melissa got married. I knew it wouldn't last because of Joan (even though she spent a cool million on the event). Same thing here. Without knowing what really went on with the other team's dynamics, Joan had a hissy fit that anyone would dare criticize Melissa. You could tell Herschel was flabbergasted at the outrageous response.

This I think was a good idea and I hope it pans out. Annie's in a competitive world and who better to get than her opponents?

Actually there was a rift between Joan and Melissa after Edgar's suicide; they didn't speak for about a year.

Joan is one vicious Mama Bear! Now she has to beat Annie and see that Melissa isn't fired. heh heh. Or - lose the task and risk taking a bullet, thereby leaving Melissa alone to fend for herself. What a dilemma.