I agree...way too much board room time and none of it is compelling. With the possible exception of Chris selling out his team and Ivana's thrashing of Stacie. People need to remember that Chris threw John under the bus in the boardroom a few weeks ago after building him up in the suite.
But what's really bothering me is the show as a whole. It lacks the drama of last season, there is no villan (i.e. Omarosa), we should have seen more from the people who were brought back, cut the boardroom time down to the last 12-15 minutes, the character development stinks.
And the tasks; while the objective is clearly defined (i.e. what is needed to win) I would like to see an outline of the plan, in graphic form, that the team will execute upon. Having that would allow the audience to grade the individual team members on their performance.
As with any 'reality' show, it's all in the editing. And this season has a much different feel leading me to believe that someone else is pushing the buttons in the control room.
Hopefully Season 3 will be titled The Apprentice: The Redemption
rstith
· 5 years ago
Ivana is weak and lacks courage, so she'll be gone in another episode or two. Poor Raj, Don practically offered him a "get out of jail free" card when he asked Raj if he still would like to bring in an additional person when Chris opened his big mouth. Chris should really count himself lucky.
Chas
· 5 years ago
I didn't care much about anything except finally seeing Raj get what's comming to him. Finally I got to hoop and holler and cheer at those fantastic words..."Raj, you're fired!" YEEEEhaw! How I grew to hate him after he sang his little German song during Elizabeth's chat. Man he is an asshole.
Jennifer: Who let the snake out? I didn't know she was going to turn into such an unprofessional witch. Clearly Raj was at odds with her about knocking down that wall; as if it only takes sledge hammer. Had Roj listened to her and put more effort into that bathroom instead of being an arrogant idiot, they would have won, regardless of the contractor. So why did she concentrate on Ivanna so much? Clearly, with Roj gone her chances of success are much better, sh'e not thinking to clearly.
Carolyn: What a little lap dog...DT says he dislikes hearing about poor team performance and she starts biting like a yappy little attack poodle... If this woman has her head up any further, she's gonna start being classified as a tape worm. I swear, if she ever looked at me with that snotty tone, and snapped like that, I'd have to bust out laughing, boss or not... She reminded me of my snotty little sister.
DT should have pulled another fast one, fired both Roj and Ivanna, and then let crazy Stacy back in, that would have been fun.
None
· 5 years ago
what Chris said was unpardonable. Raj made a mistake of not bringing Chris back in. But given the heat of the moment when you are deciding who to bring this can be a pressure on the candidates. And Ivana is really disgusting. She said the pm (Raj) needs adult supervision. In fact she said this to Stacie before. Doesn't she have a better idea to attack ? Some of the second season candidates are really not upto the mark. I would rather rewatch 1st seaon than watch second season at all.
Chas
· 5 years ago
Oh yeah, poor Andy....does he realize that he had the Mob do him a favor....think those guys ever forget that???
hhou
· 5 years ago
I completely disagree that Jennifer was an "unprofessional witch" for speaking her mind. She stuck her neck out and said clearly and firmly from the beginning that they should stick with 4 bedrooms and only tackle a few big projects, "keep it simple." Chris, a complete a**, obviously can't deal with a strong woman who has her own opinions. I guess a strong woman who sticks her neck out is a "witch" but a man who does the same thing is just "strong." Huh.
Besides, Jennifer M is the only one who has ever acted respectably towards Stacie J. Sticking up for a scapegoat is my definition of "professional."
hhou
· 5 years ago
Oh, and Jennifer explained exactly why she "went after Ivana"---she contributes the least of anyone on the team, and wants to get rid of the weakest link. Jennifer said specifically that she wanted a strong team going forward, and that wouldn't include Ivana. Sounds like pretty sound reasoning to me.
Chas
· 5 years ago
Unfortunately, both observers saw that Ivanna was working her butt off and clearly did not belong in the board room on this particular task. The fact that jennifer plotted against her and clarified her reasoning for being a witch, does not make her any less so. You comments about her sticking her neck out make no sense at all. She argued with Roj about 4 bedrooms, and was right. The fact that they lost because she couldn't convince Roj to keep it 4 bedrooms makes me wonder about her judgement. I used to like her a lot, but now I see her as a snake; slithering around and trying to get ahead by stepping on others instead of flying above the. She will never make it to the end, she is a witch.
Watch the witch...... Roj deserved to get fired, he destroyed the commercial and the house, how can anyone see him as an asset???
Maybe she's just a stupid witch... Pretty, but a stupid witch?
Well, not stupid, she is groomed well....maybe just a bad judge of character.... a poor judgement witch...
Wes
· 5 years ago
There is only one good moment for Jennifer M....When she leaned over at the fashion show...other than that, just another pretty face....
Roj
· 5 years ago
I agree with Wes. jennifers beauty is most distracting. I find it hard to concentrate if she is within smelling distance, her aroma permeates my sences and knocks me to my knees. when she suggested offering Ivana for sacrifice, I was blinded by her beauty and willing to make yet another mistake.
I should know by now that women have but only one purpose in business, and that is to bend over a lot while picking up files and other sundries.
Chester
· 5 years ago
I still love the Apprentice, but it is over-produced. All reality programs require some editing to make them fun to watch - just like cookies need some sugar to make them taste good. But, add too much sugar and people will be barfing all over the place. Trump needs to fire the editing crew and get back to the basics of the show . The drama is perfect when it's off the cuff. That's what we want and it's not too much to ask.
I must say, I didn't notice any obvious voice-overs this episode. Could be they are picking up on our complaints. There's still too much boardroom time and too much rehash in the beginning. The show is getting fluffier when the original formula worked great.
Vent mode off.
Conan the Grammarian
· 5 years ago
There is no way anyone can make the argument that Raj deserved to be fired before Ivanna the Terrible and the Schizophrenic Blink Monkey.
That said, I don't think DT had much choice. He offered Raj a Get-out-of-Jail-Free card when Chris opened his big mouth, but Raj stuck to his principles and left DT no choice.
I was impressed how Raj opened the BR by taking his proper portion of the blame. He left it to Bradford and Jennifer to point out that Kevin championed the contractor.
Stacie saved Kevin. She pointed out that everyone liked the contractor at first and who knew he'd turn out to be a lazy jerk.
I haven't figured out if Jennifer fed Raj the idea of firing Ivanna the Terrible in her pre-boardroom strategy session in order to get I.T. off the team or in order to keep Raj from pointing out her own lack of contribution. I'm still deciding whether Jennifer is a smart player or a poisonous witch.
Ivanna's lack of ability in a debate came out in the BR. When DT praised Stacie, Jennifer jumped on board the love train. Ivanna was trying to point out that Jennifer was not the good teammate she pretended to be but she blew it by cutting off Jennifer and DT and ended up making a nasty comment about Stacie.
Of course, Ivanna's made a few nasty comments without prompting herself. Her "you need adult supervision" comment to Raj was WAY OFF BASE!
Raj's "Ivanna, my dear" was, I think, a polite way of saying "Ivanna, you b#@#ch."
Although I see what Raj was trying to do in converting the house from a four-bedroom to a three-bedroom with a master suite, it was a costly mistake. He took time and resources away from redoing the landscaping and the upstairs bathroom to accomplish it. I've seen appraisal forms (they're mostly fill-in-the-blanks these days) and bedrooms are a multiplier (i.e., the more the better). A luxury master suite in that house would have been a minor plus at best.
Chris = bonehead. Now he's on the firing line. He should send Raj a bottle of cognac for saving his butt.
Kudos to Raj for calling out DT and telling him he wouldn't be a politician and bring him a sacrificial lamb.
How many neighborhoods have contractors randomly driving by and offering to upgrade a house for you? How exactly did Andy come across the Soprano's Contracting Company? Hmmm.
Kudos to Sandy. I didn't think she had it in her. She didn't waste project resources inefficient and ineffective tasks. She kept it fun and even marginalized the Blink Monkey without being obvious. She had her moment of emotional trauma, but she did it in private and recovered quickly.
BTW, was Maria in a bikini not exactly the eye candy you wanted? Eeek! What a lame reward - going to Denise Rich's house in the Hamptons. I was waiting for someone to say, "If we spill something, do you think she'll pardon us?" If only Raj had been there.
I was, however, rooting for him to go ahead and fire Ivanna anyway. She'll get hers.
Raj's hit on Robin was, I think, a poor attempt to salvage some ego. Raj is arrogant, but does not seem to suffer from high self-esteem.
Raj's cab-ride was part delusional ("I'm a gentleman...") and part true ("I should have attacked Kevin and Ivanna more.").
Although this episode was crushing (Raj is an ass, but an one of the few entertaining people on this show), it feels like Trump did the right the only thing he could do.
apprentice
· 5 years ago
Check out the business column on this week's episode at this site:
I just saw Fox's knock-off of The Apprentice tonight. Actually, it's a cross between Apprentice, and last season's "My Big, Fat Obnoxious Groom", and it's called "My Big, Fat Obnoxious Boss".
Like "Groom", the boss and his henchman and henchwoman are actors, ad-libbing obnoxious personalities. And like "Apprentice", there are tasks for each team to complete.
Tonight's task was to raise the most money panhandling. Each team is all but encouraged to lie, such as claiming to be raising money for a charity.
In the boardroom, the men are criticized for not matching the women's team by using their own sex-sells techniques, like targeting gay couples. The men lose, and after the team leader chooses two subordinates to share the blame he is excused, because "the boss never takes the fall".
The remaining two men are criticized for irrelevant reasons. One is too short. The other is dressed too well. The winning women are rewarded with the "luxury" of sleeping on mattresses stuffed with money, only to find out a) they don't get to keep the money and b) it's very uncomfortable to sleep on stacks of cash.
It's a real hoot, and probably more so to those of us who love The Apprentice to see such an hysterical send-up
Dave
· 5 years ago
Yeah, I agree Andy is gonna owe the Wise Guys construction company some dues later in life. "Ok, Harvard boy, time for you to return us a favor".
Then again, the house was on Long Island, and it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that construction crew was working on another site. Keep in mind there are a thousand TV cameras on the Apprentice folks so they surely garner some attention.
I was shocked to see what Raj has achieved as a project manager - it seemed like he tried to lose or was way too disorganized. How could noone else see how bad off the house was right before the appraisers came? Don't any of them watch Trading Spaces or While You Were Out, where the remodel team is frantically cleaning up the entire time? I guess they were frantic near the end, maybe they just misjudged the contractors and figured they would get it all done.
The taco guy - if you live in Long Island, watch out for this shmuck! I have used and hate these types of contractors before - the condescending "Let me finish my taco and I'll get it all done" - he was playing them for a fool with the TV cameras pointed right on him? I don't get it. The Wise Guys crew at least knew some TV exposure would be worth it and were probably smart enough to eat some costs to get the positive exposure.
Having said that, Raj should have backed Taco guy down with the pressure on. "Here's the deal - finish the job on time, you get paid. Finish your Taco, you get NOTHING!" It's a good lesson for Raj for when he tries to finish his ski lodge and someone else takes him for a ride.
Dave
· 5 years ago
Also, why is it noone ever says "I brought person so and so because you require me to bring two people" when they know Trump will call them on it? Why did you bring Ivana, she worked very hard - "because you make me bring two people!"
I thought Bradford was good giving a solid opinion in the boardroom, but he has gotta work on his presence in a business setting - too much goofy frat boy feeling to him still.
Kerry
· 5 years ago
This season it doesn't seem to matter what you do in the job. It matters how you come across in the boardroom that counts. The tasks are mostly pretty lame, and do not translate into real achievements one would expect to make working for Donald Trump. This season, for the most part, the biggest disadvantage when you go into the boardroom is to be the losing PM. It doesn't matter whether anyone else in the group is incompetent. You can't fire them, so you're left holding the bag, so to speak. Trump is very inconsistent. If people don't take responsibility, he lambasts them. If they do take responsibility, he still lambasts them. I really don't know how he got so far in business with his attitude.
Sled
· 5 years ago
I get the feeling both teams ended up with contractors that were picked by the producers. More and more this season I am reminded that this is a television show first and "reality" doesn't have a lot to do with it.
Just saw in the local newspaper that Elizabeth may have "failed to disclose" to NBC that she had had several TV and movie roles, including one in which she appears in the buff.
I'm surprised there are no comments about the reward for this episode:
I don't know much about nor do I have anything against Denise Rich, but what does having the winners luxuriate on the Hampton's estate of pardoned tax evader Marc Rich's ex-wife say about business ethics?
What would people think if the prize was to have a party at disgraced former Tyco exec Dennis Kozlowski's palatial pad or at Enron CEO Ken Lay's swanky condo?
Trump and Ms. Rich must be good friends and I'm sure Ms. Rich is a lovely woman, but Burnett and Trump could surely have come up with a better reward than this...
================================================
Reginald Thornton
· 5 years ago
Here, here, George.
Conan the Grammarian
· 5 years ago
Here here George! I hope you'll pardon Trump and Burnett.
Perhaps for the next prize, the aspiring corporate weasels can visit Martha Stewart in prison.
Conan the Grammarian
· 5 years ago
MSNBC.com had an interview with Raj. In it, he acknowledged that his firing was justified. According to Raj, he is in the real estate business and lost a real estate task to a wedding planner.
He went on to say that converting a 4BR house to a 3BR house was not a wise decision - despite the miniscule size of the bedrooms.
He closed it out by saying he did get a date with Robin.
Chas
· 5 years ago
Raj has a website: typical raj too, he starts out with a pompus excuse why the website isn't finished, imagine that.
The more I learn about him, the more I dislike him. He tries so had to be different it makes me wonder who he really is. He is a pompus ass that should have been fired long ago. He interfered in the modeling segment; making an ass out of himself and getting in the way. Then he personally destroyed the NYPD commercial. Then, as a project manager, he displayed what an incompetent fool he really is... I loved watching him scramble around trying to cover his ass in a half assed way. It is very humorous listeneing to people talk about his ability to stand up and admit he made a mistake... perhaps because it is so obvoius that he made so many, he had no choice.
Jennifer C. also has a website, in it she offers her services. It's pretty funny to think that a loser fired twice is offering speaking engagements...what will she talk about, Jewish Women??
All Comments
But what's really bothering me is the show as a whole. It lacks the drama of last season, there is no villan (i.e. Omarosa), we should have seen more from the people who were brought back, cut the boardroom time down to the last 12-15 minutes, the character development stinks.
And the tasks; while the objective is clearly defined (i.e. what is needed to win) I would like to see an outline of the plan, in graphic form, that the team will execute upon. Having that would allow the audience to grade the individual team members on their performance.
As with any 'reality' show, it's all in the editing. And this season has a much different feel leading me to believe that someone else is pushing the buttons in the control room.
Hopefully Season 3 will be titled The Apprentice: The Redemption
Jennifer: Who let the snake out? I didn't know she was going to turn into such an unprofessional witch. Clearly Raj was at odds with her about knocking down that wall; as if it only takes sledge hammer. Had Roj listened to her and put more effort into that bathroom instead of being an arrogant idiot, they would have won, regardless of the contractor. So why did she concentrate on Ivanna so much? Clearly, with Roj gone her chances of success are much better, sh'e not thinking to clearly.
Carolyn: What a little lap dog...DT says he dislikes hearing about poor team performance and she starts biting like a yappy little attack poodle... If this woman has her head up any further, she's gonna start being classified as a tape worm. I swear, if she ever looked at me with that snotty tone, and snapped like that, I'd have to bust out laughing, boss or not... She reminded me of my snotty little sister.
DT should have pulled another fast one, fired both Roj and Ivanna, and then let crazy Stacy back in, that would have been fun.
Besides, Jennifer M is the only one who has ever acted respectably towards Stacie J. Sticking up for a scapegoat is my definition of "professional."
Sounds like pretty sound reasoning to me.
http://apprentice.tv.yahoo.com/
Watch the witch...... Roj deserved to get fired, he destroyed the commercial and the house, how can anyone see him as an asset???
Maybe she's just a stupid witch... Pretty, but a stupid witch?
Well, not stupid, she is groomed well....maybe just a bad judge of character.... a poor judgement witch...
I should know by now that women have but only one purpose in business, and that is to bend over a lot while picking up files and other sundries.
I must say, I didn't notice any obvious voice-overs this episode. Could be they are picking up on our complaints. There's still too much boardroom time and too much rehash in the beginning. The show is getting fluffier when the original formula worked great.
Vent mode off.
There is no way anyone can make the argument that Raj deserved to be fired before Ivanna the Terrible and the Schizophrenic Blink Monkey.
That said, I don't think DT had much choice. He offered Raj a Get-out-of-Jail-Free card when Chris opened his big mouth, but Raj stuck to his principles and left DT no choice.
I was impressed how Raj opened the BR by taking his proper portion of the blame. He left it to Bradford and Jennifer to point out that Kevin championed the contractor.
Stacie saved Kevin. She pointed out that everyone liked the contractor at first and who knew he'd turn out to be a lazy jerk.
I haven't figured out if Jennifer fed Raj the idea of firing Ivanna the Terrible in her pre-boardroom strategy session in order to get I.T. off the team or in order to keep Raj from pointing out her own lack of contribution. I'm still deciding whether Jennifer is a smart player or a poisonous witch.
Ivanna's lack of ability in a debate came out in the BR. When DT praised Stacie, Jennifer jumped on board the love train. Ivanna was trying to point out that Jennifer was not the good teammate she pretended to be but she blew it by cutting off Jennifer and DT and ended up making a nasty comment about Stacie.
Of course, Ivanna's made a few nasty comments without prompting herself. Her "you need adult supervision" comment to Raj was WAY OFF BASE!
Raj's "Ivanna, my dear" was, I think, a polite way of saying "Ivanna, you b#@#ch."
Although I see what Raj was trying to do in converting the house from a four-bedroom to a three-bedroom with a master suite, it was a costly mistake. He took time and resources away from redoing the landscaping and the upstairs bathroom to accomplish it. I've seen appraisal forms (they're mostly fill-in-the-blanks these days) and bedrooms are a multiplier (i.e., the more the better). A luxury master suite in that house would have been a minor plus at best.
Chris = bonehead. Now he's on the firing line. He should send Raj a bottle of cognac for saving his butt.
Kudos to Raj for calling out DT and telling him he wouldn't be a politician and bring him a sacrificial lamb.
How many neighborhoods have contractors randomly driving by and offering to upgrade a house for you? How exactly did Andy come across the Soprano's Contracting Company? Hmmm.
Kudos to Sandy. I didn't think she had it in her. She didn't waste project resources inefficient and ineffective tasks. She kept it fun and even marginalized the Blink Monkey without being obvious. She had her moment of emotional trauma, but she did it in private and recovered quickly.
BTW, was Maria in a bikini not exactly the eye candy you wanted? Eeek! What a lame reward - going to Denise Rich's house in the Hamptons. I was waiting for someone to say, "If we spill something, do you think she'll pardon us?" If only Raj had been there.
I was, however, rooting for him to go ahead and fire Ivanna anyway. She'll get hers.
Raj's hit on Robin was, I think, a poor attempt to salvage some ego. Raj is arrogant, but does not seem to suffer from high self-esteem.
Raj's cab-ride was part delusional ("I'm a gentleman...") and part true ("I should have attacked Kevin and Ivanna more.").
Although this episode was crushing (Raj is an ass, but an one of the few entertaining people on this show), it feels like Trump did the right the only thing he could do.
The Apprentice Rules
Like "Groom", the boss and his henchman and henchwoman are actors, ad-libbing obnoxious personalities. And like "Apprentice", there are tasks for each team to complete.
Tonight's task was to raise the most money panhandling. Each team is all but encouraged to lie, such as claiming to be raising money for a charity.
In the boardroom, the men are criticized for not matching the women's team by using their own sex-sells techniques, like targeting gay couples. The men lose, and after the team leader chooses two subordinates to share the blame he is excused, because "the boss never takes the fall".
The remaining two men are criticized for irrelevant reasons. One is too short. The other is dressed too well. The winning women are rewarded with the "luxury" of sleeping on mattresses stuffed with money, only to find out a) they don't get to keep the money and b) it's very uncomfortable to sleep on stacks of cash.
It's a real hoot, and probably more so to those of us who love The Apprentice to see such an hysterical send-up
"Ok, Harvard boy, time for you to return us a favor".
Then again, the house was on Long Island, and it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that construction crew was working on another site. Keep in mind there are a thousand TV cameras on the Apprentice folks so they surely garner some attention.
I was shocked to see what Raj has achieved as a project manager - it seemed like he tried to lose or was way too disorganized. How could noone else see how bad off the house was right before the appraisers came? Don't any of them watch Trading Spaces or While You Were Out, where the remodel team is frantically cleaning up the entire time? I guess they were frantic near the end, maybe they just misjudged the contractors and figured they would get it all done.
The taco guy - if you live in Long Island, watch out for this shmuck! I have used and hate these types of contractors before - the condescending "Let me finish my taco and I'll get it all done" - he was playing them for a fool with the TV cameras pointed right on him? I don't get it. The Wise Guys crew at least knew some TV exposure would be worth it and were probably smart enough to eat some costs to get the positive exposure.
Having said that, Raj should have backed Taco guy down with the pressure on. "Here's the deal - finish the job on time, you get paid. Finish your Taco, you get NOTHING!" It's a good lesson for Raj for when he tries to finish his ski lodge and someone else takes him for a ride.
I thought Bradford was good giving a solid opinion in the boardroom, but he has gotta work on his presence in a business setting - too much goofy frat boy feeling to him still.
Just saw in the local newspaper that Elizabeth may have "failed to disclose" to NBC that she had had several TV and movie roles, including one in which she appears in the buff.
I'm surprised there are no comments about the reward for this episode:
I don't know much about nor do I have anything against Denise Rich, but what does having the winners luxuriate on the Hampton's estate of pardoned tax evader Marc Rich's ex-wife say about business ethics?
What would people think if the prize was to have a party at disgraced former Tyco exec Dennis Kozlowski's palatial pad or at Enron CEO Ken Lay's swanky condo?
Trump and Ms. Rich must be good friends and I'm sure Ms. Rich is a lovely woman, but Burnett and Trump could surely have come up with a better reward than this...
================================================
Here here George! I hope you'll pardon Trump and Burnett.
Perhaps for the next prize, the aspiring corporate weasels can visit Martha Stewart in prison.
MSNBC.com had an interview with Raj. In it, he acknowledged that his firing was justified. According to Raj, he is in the real estate business and lost a real estate task to a wedding planner.
He went on to say that converting a 4BR house to a 3BR house was not a wise decision - despite the miniscule size of the bedrooms.
He closed it out by saying he did get a date with Robin.
The more I learn about him, the more I dislike him. He tries so had to be different it makes me wonder who he really is. He is a pompus ass that should have been fired long ago. He interfered in the modeling segment; making an ass out of himself and getting in the way. Then he personally destroyed the NYPD commercial. Then, as a project manager, he displayed what an incompetent fool he really is... I loved watching him scramble around trying to cover his ass in a half assed way. It is very humorous listeneing to people talk about his ability to stand up and admit he made a mistake... perhaps because it is so obvoius that he made so many, he had no choice.
Jennifer C. also has a website, in it she offers her services. It's pretty funny to think that a loser fired twice is offering speaking engagements...what will she talk about, Jewish Women??