I have spent at least some time every day for the past week hoping, nay, praying that this would finally be the week that Omarosa gets herself booted off The Celebrity Apprentice. All the promos for the week featured a brewing fight between Lennox Lewis and Piers Morgan though, so the chances seemed quite slim. Not that the promos haven't lied to us all season, but it just didn't feel likely.

For tonight's task, the celebrities had to go to QVC's studio, pick a product, put together a 10 minute segment, and sell their product. Whoever makes more, wins. Stephen Baldwin was going to take the reins of Empresario and Marilu Henner ran Hydra. It was an easy enough setup and a task where there was more to do than just break out the black book.

Once they arrived at QVC, Piers instantly had a little scuffle with Lennox. Piers wanted Lennox to star in the ad (again), but Lennox seemed uninterested. Lennox said that he wanted to produce and/or direct the segment. Compared with last week this wasn't even a fight, but it was a silly discussion to have before they even had a product to sell.

Naturally when it came time to actually see and select the products both teams wanted to sell the same thing, a ladder-hand cart combo unit. Hydra got it by virtue of a coin flip and Empresario ended up going with a cordless electric sweeper.

Lennox had clearly taken himself out of the running to be the on-air talent, so Carol Alt and Marilu, who have both been on the network before, debated which would do it, with Marilu eventually being selected.. Empresario went with Trace Adkins, who, for the first time all season seemed off his game. Omarosa and Stephen argued a little about whether or not to rehearse Trace and Stephen, being project manager, won.

And there it was, the hint that maybe, just maybe, Empresario would be going down tonight. The only problem was that it would be because of Stephen's decision and Omarosa had argued correctly. Then again, Baldwin wanted to institute an "Easy Pay" plan (multiple payments) and he was pretty convinced that the multiple payment thing was going to put them over the top. So, even if they lost, that might save his bacon.

When it finally came time to go on the air, Hydra went first. Marilu was, it appeared, a disaster on camera. She kept talking, and talking, and talking, and, sadly talked over her co-host and the callers. However, the entire team seemed to feel as though she'd done a great job which might just mean it was cut to make it look worse than it was.

Over on Empresario, Trace still seemed out of sorts when the team was ready to go on the air. However, once the cameras actually went live, Trace seemed perfect. He was relaxed, calm, and demonstrated the product well.

When all was said and done, Empresario sold over 700 units making about $43,000. Hydra sold slightly fewer units, (still over 700 though) but only made about $35,000. Omarosa would live to see another day.

It was all kind of ho-hum today. Nothing to get excited about whatsoever. No big blow-ups, no backstabbing, no real disagreements about how to proceed on the task, nothing to fire anyone about except for product selection and on-air talent. Even Piers didn't really go after anyone in the boardroom. He said Lennox was the weakest link, but didn't really attack him (and Marilu agreed with Piers). Marilu ended up bringing Piers and Lennox back into the boardroom.

There was a little hubbub about whether or not Carol ought to have been brought back into the boardroom as she didn't inform the team about the Easy Pay plan (Carol, who worked at QVC for five years, claimed not to know about it). Without Carol in the boardroom there was no real choice but to fire Marilu. Trump could have done one of his "over the course of the whole season" things, but he chose not to, he fired Marilu for being overly talkative and having the wrong product (he probably made the right decision too).

Other thoughts:

• First and foremost, haven't they done this EXACT task before on the show?
• Trump has never seen a vacuum that picks up nuts and bolts and screws? That's probably because he doesn't actually clean anything (and probably doesn't even know where his vacuum cleaner is kept).
• Trump said that it wasn't price point that made the difference today, that a better price point wouldn't have won the task. He said that if the team had raised the price by 10 bucks it would have made no difference. Actually, an 11 dollar increase would have put them over the top (if they'd sold the same number of units), so they may have been able to develop a better price point that could have won the task for them.

You know what could have definitely won the task for them? Having me on the team. I could have won the task. I also have a bridge in Brooklyn that you can buy. It's available for purchase at The TV and Film Guy's Reviews.

Comments

Can't Piers go thru one episode without name-calling a teammate?
Even though he is on his best behavior this night and is avoiding trouble, he still throws in a smart aleck remark of "sleepy-boy here" with Lennox.
Just put a lid on any type of name calling with your OWN teammates!!!!
Even Omarosa managed to do that.

DestroyPiers | Feb 22, 2008 6:21:22 AM | #

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How could Carol not know about the easy pay plan? She should have been in the boardroom

jt | Feb 22, 2008 6:35:24 AM | #

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I think Carol did know about the easy pay plan...she hesitated and had a comtemplative look on her face when Trump asked her if she knew about the plan. What her reason would be for not saying anything about the plan, is the mystery.

Cindy MacLean | Feb 22, 2008 7:53:02 AM | #

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I believe Carol knew about the easy payment plan. How can you work on QVC for 5 years & not know that. She knew, she was just covering her a**. She should have definitely been in the boardroom.

Ben | Feb 22, 2008 8:02:38 AM | #

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I was quite surprised to find out that Empresario won the QVC challenge. I thought Hydra had the advantage because they won the coin toss and were selling the ladder, which seemed like a cooler product than the vacuum cleaner. I laughed when Trump seemed so mesmerized by the vacuum cleaner-- I'm sure it's because he has servants to do all the housework for him.

I was hoping for an Omarosa elimination this week, but Empresario deserved to win (utilizing the Easy Pay Plan). Piers is definitely being annoying on purpose, calling Lennox "Sleepy boy", etc. He is trying to pick a fight with anyone, even his teammates, so that it looks like someone else should be fired instead of him.

Paige | Feb 22, 2008 8:11:08 AM | #

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I don't know if this show has done the exact same task, but as TWOP pointed out, it is being taken from another Apprentice show Trump has been down on. (Martha Stewart, anyone?)

msavela | Feb 22, 2008 8:54:03 AM | #

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why wasnt carol the on air host?

friday | Feb 22, 2008 9:50:53 AM | #

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Something significant is happening that seems to be overlooked...no matter WHAT team Trace is on, his team wins. Without attention seeking or argumentativeness, he stays quiet until he is needed; then, he pulls the smooth move and comes up with the winning ideas.

I loved what AOL reported him saying about Omarosa. When a woman like her is on the warpath, "vacate the premises". He had no problem with her because he basically did not deal with her at all.

She and all the others had to respect his contributions.

Way to go, Trace! You make the show worth watching.

Oh, must mention how hilarious it was of him to say Trump had "hair envy".

Cool dude, that Trace.

Patte | Feb 22, 2008 11:41:04 AM | #

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Oh, and by the way, did anyone know this was edited out?

Josh Turner, another famous country singer, brought a significant donation from members of the Grand Ole Opry.

That was rude.

I would much rather have had Omarosa's comments edited out than miss that.

Patte | Feb 22, 2008 11:43:26 AM | #

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What job did Carol previously hold at QVC for 5 years? It seems to me that she was lying about not knowing about the Easy Pay plan to protect herself from being fired.

Betty | Feb 22, 2008 2:25:34 PM | #

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Patte, I agree with you that Trace Atkins has been a strong player and has provided many entertaining moments. But I will say that I don't put as much significance on his record as you do. He HAS been on a losing team (the horse-and-carriage challenge), and his record is no different than Piers and Lennox, who have also been on the losing side only once and even managed to pull out a win when their team was in total disarray. That being said, I do think Trace is a leading candidate to become the final Apprentice.

Beth | Feb 22, 2008 6:33:56 PM | #

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They did a QVC challenge in season 2 or 3 I think. This one was pretty ho hum and you could see them straining to put a little drama in it - it did prove something that people don't want to admit. Baldwin has good instincts - but decisions, on the price points to boost the sales, and not rehearsing (I think Trace would have been too tensed up if he were overrehearsed) were good calls. Loved that ladder and thought it was a natural winner, and since they were priced about the same and the teams sold about the same number, it really was in the details like using the price points that made all the difference.

Barb L | Feb 23, 2008 4:50:18 AM | #

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I didn't understand why everyone was so excited about the ladder. QVC is primarily targeted toward women and I think that women would be more interested in a lightweight vacuum (obviously they were, since they sold more units) I just don't see why people would want to spend 40 something dollars on a stepladder which they would probably not use very often as a pushcart.

Julie | Feb 23, 2008 8:39:05 AM | #

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WHEN did Carol work at QVC? The "Easy Pay" hasn't been in place for the entire existence of that channel. Perhaps she worked there prior to its establishment?

Just a thought.

dj | Feb 23, 2008 10:17:14 PM | #

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Carol apparently worked at QVC from 2000-2005. She signed a deal to work with them in 2000 (according to her website). I'm pretty sure Easy Pay was around during at least part of her tenure.

I'm not particularly impressed with Trace. When he was project manager (the carriage rides), his team had four people compared to the other team's three (since Omarosa essentially brought in no money and didn't participate). Yet his team lost by a significant margin. He didn't seem to know HOW to bring in money! He also doesn't say much at all. Yes, when he does speak, he tends to have good ideas. But he's way too quiet.

Omarosa needs to go. She personally attacked Piers, and is a vile person.

Lisa | Feb 24, 2008 8:08:42 AM | #

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