I can't believe what I just saw on the finale of The Apprentice. It's been a few minutes, and my jaw is still hanging open. (really) Oh my goodness.

So, the biggest part of tonight's show was the commercials. Could NBC have crammed any more commercials down our throats? And they had to shoot back to the live scene in NY between each commercial. It was absurd. Why couldn't they just show us more of the events (which both looked good)? NBC -- this was a bad move.

Anyways, the two events were both really good. Randall, who will never start another day without checking the weather, bounced back from not having a "Plan B" relatively nicely. What I didn't understand was what would have happened if the weather had been nice. Would they have still had the auction? And there didn't seem like enough celebs there to play an actual softball game. I think that the rain was really a blessing in disguise, giving Randall an opportunity to showcase his speaking and fundraising skills. I don't think he would have had such a chance with the game.

At Rebecca's event, she bounced back very quickly from Joe Piscopo pulling out from the MC job. (although I don't understand why she didn't try to work it out with the union...I hope she did, that we just didn't see it) Rebecca's event was fantastic...the major snag was caused by Trump himself. And George was a remarkably good sport with the comedians. I wish there had been more of a focus on the charity. But I disagree with Trump that Rebecca should have just gone ahead with her fundraising against the wishes of Yahoo. If she had upset the Yahoo execs, he would have been annoyed with her on that end. This was really Yahoo's mistake, not Rebecca's; from the giant donation made by Yahoo during the live portion, I think they realized that as well. (it just couldn't have been publicity for them to have Yahoo execs saying that they wouldn't be comfortable asking their VIPs to give to the charity)

So, we get to the live portion of the boardroom, and my questions begin. What on earth got into Alla & Felisha? They were part of that whole "sorority girl clique" in the early episodes, and Rebecca wasn't part of it, but still. There's a point where you go from supporting Randall to making a fool of yourself on national television. I think most (including Trump) would agree that this season there really was no clear winner. For Alla to be going on and on about how Rebecca didn't derserve the job, spoke volumes about her (and Rebecca for that matter, who never turned around and said "I made it further than you, didn't I?"). And why didn't they show us who stood up when Randall asked the fired candidates who would hire him? And what was written in big letters on the piece of paper on the board room table in front of George.

Anyways, I would imagine that Randall and Rebecca had both gotten wind of the rumors that were circulating today that Trump was going to hire both of them. So they probably got a chance to think about what that would mean. I can imagine that they both wanted to win, not tie. So when Randall was hired, he got what he wanted -- he was the winner. Now here's where my jaw fell open. Trump called them both back, and asks Randall if he would hire Rebecca as well. Now, one of the reasons that Randall has been hired is because he "leads through kindness." But he tells Trump no -- he wants to be the only apprentice. WHAT????? You won. It doesn't hurt you or cost you anything to put in a good word for Rebecca. And you're not even guaranteed that he will offer Rebecca the job. Instead, we see a part of Randall's personality that didn't really come through on the show, and it's not pretty. If nothing else, Randall should have told Trump that he thought Rebecca would be an asset to the company, then launched into his "it's not 'the apprenti'" shpiel. After what was really a great season of the show, the last few minutes just left a bad taste in my mouth. Anyways, I can't wait to hear them both on the talk show circuit tomorrow.

Good luck to Martha on topping this one...

It's the start of the final task on The Apprentice and it's time for the two big tasks. This season they are both charity events (albeit with huge corporate sponsors) for two very worthy charities. As a teacher, I've seen what autism does to families. And Mark Burnett has been committed to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation since Survivor: Africa. These should be great events.

From the start, Rebecca is way more into the task than Randall. She has already picked out her team, and is willing to play hardball to get them. Randall really seemed surprised that Rebecca was so into it. And you could see that both Carolyn & George took notice as well. I liked that they got to choose from everyone this season -- in the past they have gotten to choose from a selected group (or even been assigned a selected group) of "characters." In Mark Burnett's book he even talks about the fact that having Omarossa on his staff most likely cost Kwame the job in season 1. I guess even Trump couldn't take any more Markus.

My favorite part of the episode? Chris picking out the different purple fabrics. Did he say "decor"? Nothing like a football player choosing fabric because it's shimmery. So glad we got to see that!

I definitely think that Rebecca is going to win. They keep showing her on top of things, while Randall seems to be making some strange choices (four people at Party City???). And we know that they'll show both teams with a looming problem (it makes for good television), but Rebecca's seems so much easier to solve. She can call the Union; Randall can't do much about the weather. (although if he can he will definitely get the job!)

A few weeks ago, Randall and Rebecca demonstrated that they had learned a very important lesson while on The Apprentice -- when Donald Trump fires someone, do not move a muscle. Don't get up. Don't say anything. He just might not be done. Alas, this was not a lesson that Alla appears to have learned. Which is why at approximately 9:55 EST, you may have heard a giant gasp coming somewhere from the vicinity of my house. Trump fired Felisha, and Alla stands up and starts to say her goodbyes. Oh Alla -- and I thought you might win.

The episode itself was really interesting. Not because it was essentially a coronation for Rebecca, but because of the dynamic between Alla & Felisha. Alla and Felisha have a friendship. From the start of this season, they have had almost a sorority girl thing going on. I think a friendship like that works really well early on in the game. But in the later stages of the game, you have to remember that you are competitors. They just couldn't seem to get past the fact that if they lost, one of them was going home. And neither girl was going to let it be her. So they spent the entire time trying to not let the other shine. It was really strange. I had initially thought that they would both be trying to out-do each other; instead, they seemed to both be trying to make sure the other underperformed.

So it was no surprise at all that Randall & Rebecca won. And I was glad to see that Randall got to see his wife (of course, did you notice that earlier in the episode, Rebcca talked about how nice it would be to be sharing dinner with her boyfriend, and Randall talked about wanting to see his wife. Foresahdowing anyone?). It seemed to soften him a bit, and I thought they both really derserved it.

Next week should be good. Neither of them are expecting to be at a head-t0-head task yet. And I guess that they are not doing the "interview" section of the show this year. I just hope that Rebecca can finally get that darn cast off of her ankle -- I feel so bad for her everytime she hops into a room. Of course, if all my shows are about to have their season finales, and the new ones (like The Bachelor and American Idol) won't premiere until January...oh dear.

Two episodes of The Apprentice in one night! Of course, when NBC was promoting two new episodes of The Apprentice (I swear, I saw the commercial for "two new episodes on Thanksgiving night!!!!" about 4 million times) they never mentioned that the first episode was just a clip show. The name of the episode was actually "clip show." Wow. The only thing that was interesting about it was the fact that it was narrated by Trump. Now, that doesn't seem that interesting, except for the fact that the final episode (where he makes the final decision) is taped live. So we know for sure that he is able to see all the footage before he makes that choice. Good to know.

The second episode was the actual episode with a task. I've actually heard of wrapping, since there is a company that will pay you to wrap your car with an advertisement. They pay you based on how many miles you put on your car each day and where you drive. Why do I know this? My dad thought this would be a great way for me to make some extra money. No, I did not get my car wrapped...I somehow thought it would be awkward to be a mobile billboard. Anyways, the teams could have wrapped anything. Why oh why did Capital Edge think that wrapping horse drawn carriages would be a good idea? Come on -- carriages??? I would have thought that Alla knew better than that. As soon as they made that decision, I knew Adam was going home. Oh Adam.

This leads me to the whole issue of the megaphones. Of course, it was a great move by Randall & Rebecca to buy the megaphones. But why didn't Alla reserve them with her name? It seems almost too easy -- Rebecca never went in and said "Hi, I'm Alla. Do you have the megaphones I reserved?". She just went in and asked for the megaphones. And no one in Radio Shack ever questioned her. Hee hee! :)

So the final four is Randall, Rebecca, Alla, and Felisha. The preview for next week showed that there is another task -- usually once they are down to the final four they are ready for the interviews. So I'm glad to see that they're mixing up the format this year. Every time I make a predicition, I appear to be wrong, but I think that it will be Randall & Rebecca in the final. Either way, I can't wait!

Randall & Rebecca have learned a very important lesson from Donald Trump. One that will most likely stick with them throughout their business lives. When Donald Trump fires someone, do NOT move a muscle. Don't blink. Don't cough. Don't say a single word. Because he might just fire you too.

Thankfully, this is a lesson that they have learned well. Because they had to know they would need it as soon as Clay moved to their team at the beginning of the task. When a team is overjoyed to lose a member, that is NOT a good sign. And it was a good thing that Clay acted professionally about it (did he actually ask Randall for a hug??).

Now, Mark Burnett and the producers could not have seen coming Trump's multiple firings. So you would think that they have extra tasks now planned...3 or 4 extras, actually. So why did this task make the final cut? I just didn't see the point, other than the fact that XM Radio clearly paid a lot of money for it. This is why NBC has the most "product placement" of any network on television. While we thought we were watching The Apprentice, we really just watched a lengthy commercial for XM. (although if that's what I'll hear on XM, I think I'll stick to free radio, thanks) I love this show, but I liked the tasks from season 1 better, where the corporate sponsorships were a bit better hidden. (remember renovating an apartment, selling lemonade, or the negotiation scavenger hunt?) I want to watch a show, not an ad.

While the boardroom was predictable (how could Trump not fire Clay?), it was still good. Rebecca is clearly the woman to beat. She has established herself as honest and trustworthy, and these attributes will clearly get her far in the game. Quite possibly it could be an all woman final...wow.

Two episodes next week...my tivo will be getting a workout while I stuff my face with extra pie. Ahhh...Thanksgiving!

Tonight's board room on The Apprentice showed why Donald's version has such higher ratings than Martha's -- boardroom boardroom boardroom.

So the task itself was easy -- create an advertising display for Star Wars Episode III. If you saw the any of the Star Wars movies (or even the never ending ads for them), you knew that the whole point of the movie was to find out how Darth Vadar became Darth Vadar. Of course, the task would be easier if you bothered to show up for the meeting with the execs. Here's where I get on my soapbox for a minute -- being late is such a pet peeve of mine. When I was interviewing for jobs, I would figure out how long it would take to get there, then leave an hour early. Really. I would usually figure out where the closest Starbucks was when I figured out the directions as well, just so I would have somewhere to go while I waited. I was never late. I even got to spend an hour in a small town in Virginia (where when I walked into a small store, I was greeted by the locals because they had never seen me before). So why oh why would Brian leave 15 minutes before the meeting? It can take 15 minutes just to get a cab!

Because they missed their meeting, Excel had to rely on Randall to tell them about the movies. I guess they should have been thankful at that point to have a fan on their team. But they didn't even attempt to reschedule the meeting, or find someone else to meet with. Brian pretty much sealed his fate. (although Marshawn did make a strong case to get fired by bailing on the presentation)

Over at Capital Edge, Clay was being Clay. Not only did he let Alla run the entire task, he actually walked away from the photo shoot to flirt with a production assistant. Maybe it's just me, but that seems a bit unethical. Flirting on a job interview is on everyone's list of "don'ts." Thank goodness Alla is so good. I think she and Randall will fight it out in the end.

But again, the best part of the show was the boardroom. While we knew that Excel would win, it was great to see the entire team vote against Clay having an exemption. And was he actually shocked? If you didn't see that coming, maybe Trump should fire you right now. And Marshawn...don't lie in the boardroom. First you said that you didn't present because you thought Brian could do a better job. Then you said that you thought Rebecca needed to do it. Which was it? I'm glad that Trump caught that too. And then came the shocker -- Brian AND Marshawn got fired. Really, Brian should have gone a few weeks ago when he fired the entire team -- the only thing that saved him that week was his exemption. And Marshawn, well...didn't you learn from last week that playing "cover your ass" will only get you fired?

Thank you Mark Burnett for making my Thursday night so great. I'm still hoping to have dinner with you...my husband won't mind too much. :)

Ahhh...I love Mark Burnett night continues with The Apprentice. After last week's boardroom massacre, I don't know how they can top themselves. Just the look of the four of them all crammed in the back of the taxi, silently looking at each...reality tv gold.

In previous seasons, contestants have said that they don't actually pack their bags for each boardroom. In fact, in season 1, they filmed all the shots of the fired contestents getting into the cabs at once before filming even started. If you watched carefully, you could tell, especially with the girls. They would have their hair up in the boardroom, down as they walked to the cab, then back up in the cab. (yes, somewhere there was a tape of season 1 winner Bill doing the "walk of shame") And even past season 1, they would just get in the cab, drive around the block, then come back to the suite to pack and say goodbye. So I am wondering what happened when the four contestants got the boot last week. The remaining players waited up for them, but no one ever returned, or even called to tell them what happened. It wasn't until they asked Trump that they found out. Did they change the way contestants leave this season? Or did the four who got fired really just spend a night with none of their stuff? (is it wrong that as a gainfully employed adult I have put this much thought into a 3 minute bit of reality tv?)

The task itself tonight was interesting. I had never heard of the Learning Annex, which was a nice change from the ridiculous product placements that usually make up a task. I loved the class that Excel designed. They could actually speak to the subject matter, and there are actually people who would be interested in the subject matter. (I do wonder if the students knew what they were going to see, and if they paid for the class) Capital Edge's class was so ill-conceived. But I guess watching Clay talk about slapping-ass makes for good television.

The majority of the show was after the task...I guess someone realized that we really just want to see boardroom. Donald Trump is just so good yelling at these kids. He certainly didn't disappoint tonight. I about fell off of my couch when he explained homosexuality as "that's why they have menus in restaurants. Some people like the steak, others like spaghetti." I guess that's what it does really boil down to, but it made me laugh so hard. And while I was happy as heck to see Markus finally go, I do wonder if Clay stayed on another week so it wouldn't look like Donald was firing him because he's gay.

Oh, Markus. Will you ever learn? After Trump fires you because you just won't stop talking, you proved him right. Have you ever heard of being a graceful loser? And it never seems to occur to the fired contestants that even though they won't be working for Trump, they still want to work for someone. Don't be a sore loser on national tv!

My odds on favorite to win it all? Randall. No question.