At the top of tonight's Celebrity Apprentice Nely Galán said she was surprised that Gene Simmons respected her as much as he did (he prevented her from getting fired last week and ensured his own departure). She seemed to take much from Gene's apparent nicety. From the perspective of a viewer I think I can safely say that it had nothing to do with Gene respecting her, it was more of his desire to get himself fired. Sorry Nely.

Tonight's task required teams to sell tickets to Broadway shows. Each team would get four shows out of a possible 8 (they would negotiate with the other side for which shows each team would get). Whichever team made more money from selling tickets would win the task. Easy enough.

Hydra had Vinnie Pastore running the show tonight, at least nominally. Piers Morgan, as has become the norm since Gene left for Empresario (and then the door) tried to take over instantly. Stephen Baldwin, the team's other loudmouth also wanted his piece of the pie. As Piers was against Vinnie, Stephen took the PM's side, but more in order to fight with Piers than to support Vinnie.

Empresario had Marilu Henner as their Project Manager, and she not only ran the show, she ran it smart. She got on the phone with her Broadway contacts immediately and determined which shows out of the 8 that they had to choose from were the best selling and most profitable. Because of that, and Vinnie's complete lack of negotiating skills, the women got three out of the four shows they wanted.

With the negotiating out of the way, the women's team got right down to business and called their rich friends. Piers wanted the men to do the same thing, but Stephen insisted that the task was really about selling tickets, not counting on high net worth buddies to bail out low volume. He seemed to absolutely refuse to make any calls, which was not just contrarian but plain stupid. Tiffany Fallon was fired because she didn't call Hugh Heffner in the first episode, so maybe Baldwin was looking for a way out tonight.

Once it actually came time to sell not only did the women have rich people coming in to buy overpriced tickets (and get face time on television), but they also got swag and people from the Broadway shows to make appearances. The men weren't without their own connections at the shows as Vinnie was able to get Piers a Spamalot knight outfit (it's a natural, he's got the accent).

Baldwin's earlier point about trying to just sell to regular people and Piers's disagreeing almost came back to bite the Brit in his posterior as his $10,000 check from Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airlines showed up with less than two minutes to go (some of Nely's connections showed just after the deadline had passed). In the end, the women ended up with around $31,000 in sales to the men's $33,000. Branson and his check made all the difference.

Before the men even left the boardroom the women starting complaining that they lacked the sheer star power that the men had, that they didn't have the black books or pure wattage of the men. They of course had been quite certain that they would win prior to learning the reality of the situation though, so it sounded like sour grapes to me.

As soon as the men did head out of the boardroom, Omarosa started letting the daggers really fly (she had tossed a few for fun while the men were still there, but nothing serious). Some people on Empresario, according to her, had been flying under the radar, and others overpowering everyone else. This week, according to the Dragon Lady, it was Carol Alt's fault the team lost because she was the accountant and not out front (Omarosa really just parroted Vince McMahon's complaint on the subject, but she made it sound so much nastier). Jennie Finch argued that if either she or Carol tried to step up into a leadership role the entire group would just end up fighting and nothing would get done. Omarosa certainly would have a hissy fit if such a thing were to occur, so Jennie was probably dead on.

Nely suggested that Marilu ought to be fired because she should have been out front, not the PM. Nely is clearly crazy. Marilu got them farther than anyone else being the PM could have because of how well she knows Broadway and was able to work her connections. Trump said Nely was wrong. In response to that statement, Marilu brought Jennie and Carol back into the boardroom.

Let's see, if it were I, and Omarosa was going hog wild complaining about everything and everyone and half the group seemed galvanized that this week it was Omarosa's fault the team lost, and then Nely, whom Trump wanted to fire last week, made an idiotic comment about getting the me fired, would I bring neither of them back into the boardroom? Well, if I stopped thinking completely about how to play the game and had no desire to save my own skin, sure. Marilu actually argued that she, Omarosa, and Nely work well together (that must be why Nely suggested Marilu be fired). She's right, the three of them manage to lose so well together every single week, I can't imagine wanting to break that triumvirate up.

Thankfully for Marilu, Ivanka said to daddy that if Empresario were to ever win they needed her. Jennie, who clearly had no desire to get in anyone's face (which is the only way to control Omarosa), ended up being shown the door tonight. Trump said that for his purposes Jennie lacked a competitive edge. I disagree, she lacked a cutthroat edge. Jennie works as a member of a team and only wins when the team wins, she would have led by example, not fiat, and teams on The Apprentice don't win that way. Jennie's methods are far more humane and can be just as successful, the Donald simply isn't interested in them.

A couple of other thoughts:

• In order to help Ivanka out tonight, Trump brought out Vince McMahon (of the WWE). Is this just another way to sell advertising time? Trump's single episode advisors this season seem to do absolutely nothing. Vince pointed out that David Hyde Pierce should have been on a pedestal rather than just standing next to the women's booth, but I don't really count that as helping. I like David Hyde Pierce, always have, but at 50 yards is he identifiable to the average person? I tend to think not.
• Baldwin said to Trump before the result was announced that the only way the men lost was if they didn't raise as much money as the women. Mock away, that's what the comment section is for.

Whatever you do though, don't mock The TV and Film Guy's Reviews. That guy works really hard.

Comments

I don't dislike Baldwin as much as some seem to - and I don't like Nely as much as I did at first. I don't know how many tickets each one sold, but with only $2000 separating them, Baldwin may have been right - that it was the volume of tickets rather than the few high end sales that made the difference.
With that said, Marilu was right when she said that the men outranked the women in star power. I would recognize only Marilu or Omarosa on their team - on the men's team, I know all of them by sight.
Not so down on Omarosa either - she wants Carole gone, but overall Carole's been pretty useless - pretty but useless. These women run businesses?

Barb L | Jan 25, 2008 5:09:49 AM | #

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I really, really dislike how this season is going. Instead of teams coming up with great (or not) ideas & stragies on how to win tasks, it's down to who knows someone with the most money to give.

This is not my idea of fun competition or use of brain power. There is no out of the box thinking necessary to make a phone call!

gr8k8 | Jan 25, 2008 5:33:00 AM | #

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I agree the men have far more star power.I also agree that more "selling" tasks that come down to using a black book is getting old really quick, although it is cool to see just who they can call. I mean who would have thunk Piers could just call up Sir Richard Branson?? I'm a fan of Branson so I was impressed, I think Trump was too, even though he's not a fan of Branson.

I'd like them to do more of the commercial planning type stuff that is judged by company execs. I'd like to see them put on events, like they usually do at the end, stuff like that. It's still fun to watch and better than the LA season so, it's all good.

realgenius | Jan 25, 2008 7:21:32 AM | #

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even though the board rooms have been predictable---trump fires the person who who stays away from confrontation---i don't mind cause i love to watch people fight-----all reality tv lovers should watch the BAD GIRLS CLUb SEASON 2 on oxygen---it's the best show on the air!

tim | Jan 25, 2008 8:19:57 AM | #

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I find it very interesting that Trump has said in every interview that he brought Omarosa back because he likes her, and he's the ONLY person who likes her. I would assume by Trump's comments that he will make sure that Omarosa will somehow outlast the other female contestants. So far, I think Marilu deserves to stay more than anyone else on the women's team.

Also, I noticed that Piers and Omarosa have been exchanging plenty of insults, so I assume that Piers will stay, if only to antagonize the "villain" Omarosa. Personally, I think that there has been too much in-fighting among the male contestants, but I do enjoy the arguments between Piers and Stephen Baldwin.

I can't wait until next week when it seems like Vinnie is turning against Hydra. I'm not sure if Trump would allow him to actually switch teams, or will Vinnie just give the women some inside info on Hydra's plans?

Paige | Jan 25, 2008 9:52:17 AM | #

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i agree with gr8k8 and real genius--it's all about the black book and not really strategy or brainpower. That being the case Dragon Lady doesn't seem to have any contacts so she being kept for ratings. For next week, it looks like Vinnie is jumping ship because he won money for his charity already so he doesn't have much to lose. Wasn't he the one who bailed out of Dancing with the Stars?

jt | Jan 25, 2008 12:12:01 PM | #

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Yeah, I think so.

Unless the women get their act together, the men will clean sweep the whole season.

Craig | Jan 25, 2008 1:51:28 PM | #

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I kinda like the idea of the celebs being able to whip out their black-books an call whoever is in it. You never know who might pop out on the show. (witness Alec Baldwin and David Hyde Pierce both of which mostly identify with NBC shows, but anyway...)
I think Trump did not wanna fire Gene but I think his "I know everything" spiel might wear thin quickly. Like one of the commentators said, I too like it when people fight on TV. That being said, I don't want Piers, Omarosa, or Pastore to leave for quite awhile.
I also don't think Trump wants to fire Marilu just yet. She is the brains and class of the women's operation and, lets face it, for being in her mid-50's she is not bad at all to look at. I think Vincent may be assigned to the women's team (the way Simmons was) because they are short a couple members due to their constant losses.
Overall, a nice season so far. Way better than having to watch dog-faced Nicole all year.

djintheatl | Jan 25, 2008 4:07:18 PM | #

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I cannot understand why, oh why, the Donald likes that B---H. She is not a celebrity as she thinks. I don't know what she thinks she is. I know why she is there, RATINGS, But I think the show would be much better if there were people who worked together better, especially being that the money is going to charities. If Mr. Trump wants mean and nasty, he should have Vince McMann get the groups together.
I enjoyed the show much more in past years.
Now I change the channel and could care less about who wins and who looses as long as the money is put to good use and not in the B's pocket. Thank you.

ANDREA | Jan 25, 2008 6:08:10 PM | #

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I think Trump is having a better time with the celebs. I too loved the look on Trump's face when he heard "Richard Branson" because it's what he expects of those people. I admit I didn't know if I could go through another Apprentice but I'm sold on the celeb thing, especially Stephen Baldwin. I hope he does this a few more times before he goes to back to the youngsters. Black book or not, I'm there.

Lisa | Jan 25, 2008 6:19:11 PM | #

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