Stefani is Hired!

I don't have a whole lot to say about the finale of The Apprentice: LA. It was a really good season, and the finale was just one big disappointment. Don't get me wrong - I really thought that Stefani deserved to win. But I hated the final task, and there was very little substance to the finale. I'm also disappointed that Stefani (or anyone else) never defended her lack of being PM by pointing out the structure of the show this year. In past seasons, everyone took their turn being PM. This season, the teams either won (and kept the same PM) or lost, and the person who was under fire in the boardroom felt like they had to "step up." Because Stefani was never in that "under fire" position, she never had the opportunity to be PM. I'm guessing that Trump watched how Stefani really did lead the team on each episode, which is why she was hired, but who knows.

There's also some rumblings on the web that there might be more to Stefani getting hired than we saw on the show. Something to do with Trump and James. I'm looking into it...I'll post when I figure out more.

Final Task on The Apprentice: LA

In a new twist for The Apprentice, we are down to the final four, and we're also down to our final task. Instead of having one big event for the final two to manage, the final four teamed up to make 60 second mini-movies to advertise yet another product. I know - I don't understand it either.

I hate that because of the way the PMs worked this season James was the only one of the final four who got to lead a team. It could end up getting him hired - not because he's the best choice, but because he's the only one who can say that they've been a true leader. I think that Stefani is probably the most qualified of the finalists, but I worry about her lack of leadership on the show.

I'm also not a fan of the final task. It's just like any other task on the show - where's the big final event where they each show how they can manage a team on a big project? After a really good season, the episode really felt like a let-down.

Trump does get to see all the episodes before he makes his final hiring decision, so there is hope for Frank or Stefani yet. I think that bringing back Tim was the beginning of the end for Nicole. And, of course, there's the fact that I picked James at the beginning of the season, so I'm rooting for him a bit too.

I Love The Apprentice

That's right, I said it. In fact, it is slowly working it's way into my heart as one of my favorites. I don't know why this season has been so good (especially with its slow start), but I am totally on board. Way to go Mr. Trump.

First, last week, I was totally bummed to see Tim go. It should have been James, but they had the ability to pin the loss on Tim's relationship with Nicole. Boo hiss.

So on to this week. First, the teams - six left, and they had to pair up for the task. And I was shocked to see how they paired. I would never have come up with those pairs. I wish they had shown us more of when they picked - especially how Frank and Heidi ended up together.

The task itself was a great task, but didn't even matter much - what mattered this time was the board room. It was incredible. There was no question that James and Stefani won the task (though did you notice that Trump never really declared a winner or gave a team a reward?). They were so polished and prepared. I think that Stefani may actually win the whole thing. Nicole and Kristine was miserable. Nicole totally punted the presentation, and if Kristine had just kept her mouth shut, Nicole would have been fired. Instead, when Nicole went out with James to check the phone numbers, Kristine couldn't bad mouth Nicole fast enough. Aside from it being a bad move to throw someone under the bus like that, how could she do that knowing that there was the distinct possibility that she was claiming responsibility for the wrong phone number? She pretty much asked for the "you're fired."

Then there was Frank & Heidi. Their presentation was worse than Nicole & Kristine's, and it looked like they didn't even try on the brochure. What was more shocking was how Heidi handled it. She contradicted herself over and over, and Frank showed some real skills in pointing it out to Trump. I loved the moment when she's trying to say that she hadn't contradicted herself, and Don Jr. said "well...you've done it a few times." Hee hee! Good bye Heidi!

Now we're down to the final four - all original members of Arrow. Very interesting.

All's Fair in Love & Business

After a slow start to the season, I am totally on board with The Apprentice: LA. All of a sudden, I find myself actually caring. Who would have guessed?

With the teams uneven, it wasn't a surprise at all that someone had to go to Kinetic. What was surprising was who James picked. When no one at Arrow volunteered, it was almost a no-brainer for James to volunteer himself. It would mean, as they like to say (and I like to hate them saying), that he could step up. If he could lead Kinetic to victory, he would be considered a front-runner. Instead, he sent half of the lovebirds (and really, the harder worker of the two). It was a bad move, that will hopefully come back to bite James in the end. Nicole is a strong player - she'll stick around regardless of teams.

The task itself was interesting. I still have no idea what they were selling, or what the point of the Ad Walker units was. It doesn't seem all that exciting to be able to sell with that giant equipment strapped to them. I also wonder if Kinetic saw the size of the equipment before they decided to spend their day on roller skates. And not a shocker that Arrow won, or even by how much. I wouldn't have bought my pass from a girl on skates - I would have gone to the booth that looked more "real."

I also thought it was interesting how Trump treated Angela in the boardroom. He clearly was looking for any reason at all to not fire her. It was a shame that she couldn't give him one. I can't imagine the stress of being in that boardroom, but I know that if I were in her shoes, I would be more prepared. She seemed to be ready to tell Trump to fire Nicole, but didn't have any idea what to say after that. It's too bad - she was a strong contender, but she clearly was at fault for the loss.

Did Trump just call him the "Governator"?

I really thought that The Apprentice had jumped the shark. But the past few weeks I'm finding myself more and more into this season. I don't know why - maybe we're down to enough candidates that we actually are getting to know them. But I'm finding myself actually caring again.

The task itself was interesting. I hated the "Passions" tie-in (insert your shameless NBC plug here), but it was a different kind of advertising task. I was shocked that Kinetic went with an "adultery" storyline - it seems like the type of thing that an exec wouldn't want their product associated with. And the fact that Kristine let Muna be in front of the camera was interesting as well. And I wasn't too surprised that Arrow won - they are a stronger team now that Surya is gone.

I wish that we could have seen more of the boardroom last night. Even without Muna's ridiculous move to ask Heidi who she would keep (don't ask a question that you don't want to hear the answer to!), I think she was headed home. And I would think that at some point, Kristine would have to point out the awkward position that Muna put her in by demanding to be on screen. She was in a no-win situation - either she put Muna in the webisode and risk no one being able to understand her, or she says no, and has Muna both pouting and claiming that she was singled out because of her accent/ethnicity. I'm glad she's gone.

We're at the point of the season where I'm starting to really have favorites. I think that Stefani is a strong contender to win, as is Heidi. I also am loving Frank - he could actually go from almost being the first one fired to winning the whole thing. There's something about him that is so likable.

When Will They Learn?

Seriously, there should be a requirement before you go on a reality show that you watch at least one or two previous seasons. I can't even begin to fathom how different shows would be if this rule was put into effect. Certainly the past few people fired on The Apprentice: LA would still be around if they had paid attention before. Especially last night.

The task itself was really inconsequential. You just knew that Kinetic was going to win from the editing at the beginning. That, and the fact that Kristine runs halftime shows for a living. Neither halftime show was very good (though Kinetic's would have been fun if it were fans in the costumes...maybe it was, and we just didn't see it); Kinetic's was just the one that sucked less.

Which brings us to the boardroom. Before they went in, we saw Surya for who he really is. Early in the episode he told his team how joining them was the best decision he ever made, yet as soon as they lost he's poking his head through the bushes, telling Kinetic how much he misses them and to make sure Kristine saves him. (and don't get me started on how much I hate that his former teammate is in the boardroom and can do that). I don't know about you, but I would hate for my family/friends/colleagues to see me act like that. Then there's the actual moment where Surya got himself fired. He actually used the fact that he would make a better teammate than a team leader to try to save himself. Well, hello! Of course Trump will fire you - he's not looking for an employee - he's looking for a leader. And if you're telling Trump that you're not a leader, of course you'll get fired. Please, people, think these things through!

I'm really glad to see Surya go. Arrow was clearly winning in spite of Surya, not because of him. I can't wait to see how they do next week without him.

Boardroom Drama

The previews for last night’s episode of The Apprentice: LA promised us some boardroom drama. And, quite frankly, I didn’t believe it would happen. But, oh, how great it really was.

The episode started slowly. It was clear as you looked at the two events that Arrow was going to win. The difference between the two was amazing. I can only imagine what the members of Kinetic were thinking as they watched the episode back last night (I just imagine their family members teasing them...“go karts? GO KARTS?”). Even with Surya’s white board extravaganza (and seriously, what was that all about?), they were miles ahead of their competition.

So then we get to the boardroom. I was already hoping that Derek would be fired. Week after week he doesn’t seem to really do anything (did he do anything at all on last night’s task, other than shift blame?) but is exceptional at targeting his teammates. But Derek got himself fired, and didn’t seem to even care. It was so swift and so wonderful – one second he’s calling himself “white trash”, the next Trump looks at him like he’s crazy and fires him on the spot. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I rewound it to look at the expressions on his teammates faces. Fantastic. This is why I love this show – moments like this. And then Trump decides that someone still must be held accountable for the loss – and Jenn is fired too. Even though I think it should have been Angela to go, the whole thing was terrific. I’m also hoping that next week Trump will “even out the teams” and Surya will be back on the other side.

An Apprentice Love Story

We learned something very important on last night's episode of The Apprentice: LA - you should be able to look around the food court, and see that there are lots of people who don't speak English. Oh boy...

I don't usually like tasks like this - tasks whose only real point is for the advertising for a sponsor. But I liked a very important twist in this task. The folks from Priceline were Trump's "eyes and ears", rather than one of his kids. I don't know - this just seems like a better idea. We were also back to the editing showing us exactly who would lose, and who would likely get fired. We saw Derek & Jenn being told that 50% of the mall's customers were Hispanic, saw them never do anything about it (and the backup it caused at their booth), and Aimee "take charge" of Jenn's inflatable octopus. If you didn't see it coming, maybe you should try another show.

I was really surprised that Derek & Jenn didn't make signs in Spanish, or hire someone to translate. It really did seem like they were trying to throw Aimee under the bus (which Derek tried to do last week too...I'm liking him less and less each week). I also didn't understand how Surya was running the team - they really did win in spite of Surya, rather than because of him. And somehow, Surya thought he did a great job. Watching the episode back last night must have been an adventure. At least Nicole & Tim finally kissed...how long have they been teasing that for?

In the boardroom, I wish that Jenn had been fired. Aimee was right - the team didn't do it's best work for her. I wish she had spoken up a bit about the whole "noticing that there are a lot of Hispanics" thing as well. Seeing that there is a lot of diversity in the mall, and knowing that a lot of the patrons don't speak English are two very different things. It was Jenn's responsibility, and Aimee should have fought more for that. I wish, too, that Surya wasn't in the boardroom. He has friends on Kinetic, and he was clearly making sure that they didn't get fired.

A Sweet Task on the Apprentice

Kudos to the producers and editing team on The Apprentice: LA. Really. This was maybe the first time ever where it seemed so clear through the entire episode which team would win, and that team actually lost. I was shocked; it was fantastic.

The task was back to a marketing/sales task with an advertiser tie-in. I liked the twist of them harvesting their own honey, but really that was just an extra step in the process (it's not like the task hinged on it). And this is where the fantastic editing came in. At Arrow, they kept showing them working well together (with the exception of Surya showing that book smarts don't really mean anything in business). And at Kinetic they showed the chaos of Aimee's "leadership". It seemed like Arrow was selling much more (and their price point was higher); it didn't seem like Kinetic was selling anything until they pulled out the "meet an Olympic gold medalist" card at the end. They even showed members of Kinetic talking about how there was no way they would win.

Of course, in the end, Kinetic ended up winning. And in a move that he can't possibly be proud of, Surya climbed up to the fence to ask Derek to ask Aimee to make sure he won't get fired. (it reminded me a lot of Arrow ganging up on Melissa last week) This is why I hate the twist of the winning PM being in the boardroom. Without Aimee there, Surya probably would have been fired. But instead it was Aaron. It's too bad - he seemed like a nice guy, and his laid-back leadership style was a nice change of pace. At least Kinetic is stuck with Aimee as PM for another week.

If Only We Had Chicken Suits...

Chicken suits. Did Trump just fire someone over chicken suits?

After the requisite movement of a team member to Arrow, the teams started on a marketing task. As soon as I heard the two different bowls, I knew Arrow would win. Why? Because I would never eat Kinetic's creation...I'm like Trump - I don't like fruit with my food. (I was the only one at my own wedding who didn't eat the chicken with fruit salsa) It was even clearer when they showed the two restaurants. Arrow's restaurant had balloons, signs, and a general air of excitement. Over at Kinetic's restaurant I wasn't even sure they were having a promotion. Did they do any marketing at all?

In the end, Arrow did finally win one, and got an amazing reward. They're in the house now, and got a private concert from Andrea Bocelli. Amazing. I liked seeing a softer side of Frank at the reward too - he really got choked up at the concert. My friend Stephen thinks that Frank is a "typical obnoxious Yankees fan"; he is, but he's also starting to grow on me. I also really like Aaron. He's a local kid - he actually went to the same college as my sister - and he seems to have really good business sense.

Over on Kinetic, it was great to see them in the boardroom. I was also happy to see the return of pretty-boy-Sean from last season. What bothered me was what ended up happening. It shouldn't have been Marissa fired. It wasn't her fault that they lost. Heidi was in control, and decided that she wasn't going to take any of Marissa's suggestions. I totally see where Marissa just gave up - none of her ideas were being considered. (I also don't understand what the rest of the team was doing while Marissa & Derek were working on marketing) Marissa was also right when she pointed out that the rest of the team had ganged up on her - they HAD decided ahead of time to take out Marissa - when Trump asked them all who they would fire, they already knew who they would say. I think that if Marissa had managed to keep her mouth shut, maybe Heidi would have been fired. I know that there is a lot of board room that we don't see (come on NBC, post the entire board room on the web!), but it didn't seem like Heidi had to do much explaining about the task. But Marissa kept saying "chicken suits" over and over and over. Of course, she was the one Trump fired.

Would you Rather Quit or be Fired?

That's really the question, isn't it. Ok, maybe the bigger question from Sunday night is how Tom Brady and my beloved Patriots could blow a 21-3 halftime lead to the Colts. Seriously. I don't care that it was one of the best games ever, that Peyton Manning may just be a better QB than Brady, and that he might also be one of the nicest and most decent guys in the game. At least now we can get back to focusing on the fact that pitchers and catchers report to spring training in less than a month. Sigh...

So after I got over the Pats loss (ok, sort of), I watched Sunday night's episode of The Apprentice. I'm just not sure about this season. It sure does seem like it's jumped the shark. But I can't figure out why. The contestants are nice enough. The twists this season are actually interesting. And all of the tasks have been fantastic (best tasks in several years...thank you Mark Burnett...). But something seems to be lacking, and I don't know what.

The task this week was fantastic. And you could tell from about two seconds in that Michelle was going to lose. She didn't want to be project manager, and she clearly had no leadership skills. Meanwhile, Aaron was leading his team to a clear victory. I kind of felt bad for Michelle's team. It was pitiful. But what was even more pitiful than the crushing defeat was Michelle quitting. She had to know she was going to be fired. She could have even gone into the board room, said that she was responsible for the loss and that she should be fired instead of the others. It would have been the same result, and she would have looked a million times better. Instead, she made a decision that is going to make it hard for her to get a job outside of the show. Yes, the show is hard. But you had to know that going in - to look at Donald Trump and tell him that this wasn't what you signed up for is not only dumb; it's insulting, both to Trump and to the thousands of people who were turned down so you could have a chance on the show. I hope that she can live with that choice.

Nice Shorts...

There’s a lot of talk about this season of The Apprentice. Some say "best ever"; some say the show has jumped the shark. All I can think about is how white Donald Trump's ankles are. Seriously, did you see them? They were about a million shades lighter than his face. It's all I can think about. Well, that and Carey in his pink bathing suit. Oh my.

Even though I don't see how designing a bathing suit prepares you for a career in the Trump organization, I really liked the task. I liked it because it wasn't all about selling a sponsor's product (which was nearly every task last season). Yes, there was a sponsor, but it was much better integrated into the show.

So, I liked the task (and I liked the reward - how fun would it be to hang out at the Playboy Mansion? And yes, my husband thinks it's really cool that I think that...). But I hated the editing. Did anyone else notice that in Carey's interview at the beginning of the show he said that living in the tents for two weeks was miserable? Did anyone else realize that that means that they lost, since they had only been in the tents for about a week at the start of the task? Even if they had actually been living in the tents already for two weeks, the story of the show has them having been there a week, which would break up the story they are trying to build.

I also hated that Carey got fired. There was no question that it was his fault that they lost. (I mean, come on...who would wear that?) But he took a risk, while the other team played it very safe. And I really hated that Michelle refused to make a decision or take a stand on anything, so nothing could be pinned on her if they lost. I hate that kind of game play, especially in a show like this, which is all about taking a risk and shining.

The Donald is Back

It's been a long few weeks without any new reality tv. I really don't know how I survived.

Last night's premiere of The Apprentice: LA was surprisingly good. I knew that there would be some twists, but not how many twists there would be. And for the most part, they're good.

To recap, they're in LA this season. Trump is in one mansion, the candidates are in the mansion next door. Well, sort of...the winning team is in the mansion; the losing team is in tent-city in the sprawling backyard (and since it's a mansion's backyard, there are sprinklers. Brilliant.). It's a huge twist not just because of the rift it creates between the teams, and the reward of living in the house, but game-wise, it means the teams don't really interact with each other. At first I didn't like it, but it's more Survivor-ish, and we all know how I feel about Survivor. George and Carolyn are gone...I know that Carolyn is no longer with the Trump organization, but who knows what happened to George. Ivanka is the one "eyes & ears" this season, and she's actually pretty good. The other seat? The winning PM. Wow. That's a HUGE twist...not sure if I like it or not yet. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over the season, especially when a PM who has sat in the board room actually loses. The final twist I know how I feel about - the winning PM stays PM until they lose. This I hate. So many reasons why - for now, just know that I hate it.

Now for the candidates. It's hard to have feelings about most of them yet, but I definitely have my favorites (and my not-so-favorites). I really like Heidi & James. I also like Angela. One of them will be in the finals for sure (see, I'm not so much for predicting the entire final three anymore!). At the other end? Well, let's just say I wasn't sad to see Martin go. If he pulled out one more African proverb, I would have lost it. So worthless; so his time to go. Frank didn't do a great job, but I think he'll be fine - being the first PM when you don't know your team yet...it's hard, and he didn't lose by a huge margin.

The other thing I really like this season is that Trump seems to have a lot more attitude. Even from the first few minutes when he said to his son "take care of yourself." :) He was funny on the reward, and snarky in the boardroom. I love it.

Can't wait for next week...