PremiereWatch: 'The Celebrity Apprentice' sells cupcakes
It's time for another season of The Celebrity Apprentice! There's nothing like semi-celebrities tearing into one another on a weekly basis, and I think the band of folks we have this year will definitely be good for some laughs. So, on with the show...
Joan Rivers was the first project manager for the women, who went with the name Athena. She also proved instantly senile because she told the camera that she honestly believed that there would be no backstabbing on their side. Seriously, Joan? No backstabbing?
Well, we didn't see any upset on their side immediately, whereas we did with the men. Rodman was instantly pissed that Hershel Walker was chosen as the first project manager. What he should have been pissed about was the men's name, KOTU, which stands for "Kings of the Universe." It was Dice's idea, but Hershel, as first project manager went with it. Not really the strongest first decision, was it?
I'm not going to lie to you, the men seemed like they were going to be a disaster early on. Rodman told Trump he didn't like the name, Jesse James agreed, and then Dice went off about how there were no bagels in the suite. He blamed Trump for the lack of food and coffee. I get that Dice got more camera time by saying it, but surely going off about the lack of free food isn't the best way to impress the boss, is it? The men did however have sandwiches at their next meeting.
The first task this season was selling cupcakes, and it instantly turned into a black book task on the women's side, with Annie Duke calling up her friends and getting them to promise that they would come down the next day. She watched the show last season and definitely learned a bunch of do's and don'ts. Smart, yes, but she seemed to not realize that Trump's decrees on good and bad ideas are not always... how to put this... based on all the facts.
Trump tends to be selective in determining which pieces of information he uses to come up with his answers. A statement like "Penn Station is a terrible location to sell hot dogs," which he said something akin to last season, may have been due to a poor performance by the team in question at that location, not due to the location itself.
I think the most important thing we learned tonight is that celebrities can't cook. The women's chocolate cupcakes didn't rise, and the men's apparently tasted horrific. The professional cooks helping the celebrities managed to salvage both teams, filling the women's chocolate cupcakes with extra ganache, and adding sugary syrup to the men's.
The men ended up selling in Times Square for 20 bucks a pop. The women were on 5th Avenue, near the park and outside the Playboy studios, and told folks they'd love to get more than five bucks a piece. Frankly, I like the men's price point better, but, success would mostly be based on the big donations.
Fortunately, the producers figured that out and added a little twist -- each team had to bring a cupcake to a bakery, and whichever team according to that bakery had a better tasting cupcake would get an extra $15,000 towards the task. That's the exact sort of change this season needed to make the show about more than just the size of each team's black book.
The cupcake taste test was won by the women, I guess the syrup didn't work. The taste test made all the difference, the men sold better than $49,000 worth of cupcakes and the women raised over $61,000 before the taste test cash. See, the test taste, great addition to the show this year.
Before it was narrowed down, the men picked on Hershel, Rodman, and Dice. Hershel, as the project manager; Rodman for sitting in the truck; and Dice for not helping cook cupcakes. Dice actually argued that Scott Hamilton should be fired, but he didn't have a reason for it, so I can't accept that as an answer.
It was Dice and Rodman who Hershel brought back with him to the board room, and a case could be made to fire all of them, but my choice to go was Rodman, simply because I don't think he added anything. Dice may not have done what other people wanted, but he did something (he went to Sirius to do a couple of shows to promote the sale), Rodman just sort of sat there. Hershel may have been very laid back, but I think that was probably the right attitude for the first task with this group of guys.
Dice ended up getting the heave-ho for appearing, momentarily, that he might be willing to quit. Trump then immediately told Ivanka that's not why Dice got fired, but it was. Fair enough.
Bits and pieces:
- Jesse James' design for the cupcake-selling truck, according to him was intended to look like "Celebrity Cupcakestar Galactica." Who knew he was a fanboy? I love it!
- In perhaps the best moment of the night, Rodman more or less called Dice a slacker for not helping out making cupcakes. Okay, totally true, Dice was a slacker, but Dennis Rodman told him that. Dennis Rodman. Here, think of it this way -- "hey pot, kettle here, did you realize that you're black?" Jesse James said as much. He may be my new favorite.
- Playboy Playmate Brande Roderick utilized her Playboy connections today, getting a check from Hefner (who didn't show), and proving far more intelligent than last year's playmate, Tiffany Fallon.
- Roderick also sold 24 cupcakes for $9,000. Annie Duke didn't like that because it meant that Athena ran out of cupcakes 15 minutes early. Crazy, just crazy.
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews - we're brownie people.
I have never wanted to watch the apprentice before, and only found myself watching tonight because of a lack of other choices and TVGal's comments that it was entertaining. And I have to say that I was hooked. And Anne Duke is either way to bossy or the editing is making her look that way. She had points for most of the things she said but in the moments we saw and the way she acted on most of them she seems rude and arrogant. The way she treated those last guys with the $9,000 check was just out there.
anybody know how much money Annie Duke raised vs Brande Roderick raised?
bcz Duke called her Poker buddies too.
(just wondering)
Glad Dice got canned he is a loser and just not funny. He kept informing the world of how funny and great he thinks he is yet no one laughed...The expressions on the other team mates faces everytime he talked were looks of disgust and probably what 99% of America looked like as well. cya Clay...hopefully NO TIME SOON!!!! As for Annie... One of the girls should have shoved a cupcake down her throat!!! Also, even though Rodman seemed slackish... I'm not a fan, however I think he took the right approach in staying in the van as a treat to take a picture for those who bought cupcakes.
So, is Tom Green the Stephen Baldwin of this season? The guy who's known as a complete screw-up who actually turns out to be thoughtful and competent? Who knew?
I was shocked the women won that challenge. It looked like the men had much bigger crowds all day, plus they were dialing for dollars (Tom was anyway).
Don;t discount Dennis Rodman. He actually won Celebrity Mole, and did it by figuring out everything that was going on while appearing completely out of it.
Yeah I'm thinking Annie Duke is gone, gone, gone as soon as the women get the chance!!
Love this show way better than the ordinary Apprentice.
Jesse James is my favorite but I still can't see Sandra Bullock being married to him, can you?
I thought for sure the title of this recap would have been "Perfume on a ****." Easily, the funniest line of the night.
I can't say how glad I am that Andrew "has been" Dice Clay is gone! He has an ego the size of Texas.
I didn't want to see Dennis or Hershel go because I think they or worthy of more challenges. Dennis says just what he needs to and then shuts up and Hershel proved his points. Dice was just annoying and a quitter.
I actually gained a little respect for those I didn't think I would - Tom Green was very impressive and I actually liked Joan Rivers' motherly ways and trying to keep the girls together.
I had only heard of Jesse James before this, but he is an interesting character. He will be fun to watch.
One final word on Dice Clay - he was just so worried about the boys in Brooklyn would think about him in the baking outfit. I just have to wonder what they think about his choice of eye gl***es and very long jackets. He looked like Morty Seinfeld in some of the scenes.
Also, question about the radio spots. Dice kept saying it like sir reeh us. Did he mean Sirius satellite radio? Also, did he even go on the air? We didn't hear any of these spots if he did go on.
Also loved how The Donald always had these long awkward silences after Dice Clay said something (bagels, women, his terrible impressions). :-)
I watched last year's Celebrity Apprentice, and I could pretty much tell after 3 episodes that Piers had the connections and the knowledge to win the whole thing. This year should prove to be more interesting, since they are starting out with more celebrities. The best part is finding out there is NO OMAROSA !!!! Although I think Trump might bring her back as a "surprise" guest later on.
So far, I have been impressed with Jesse James and Tom Green (who knew that he could tone down his wackiness?). I think Clint Black seems like the nice, laid-back guy in their group. On the women's side, Brande really stepped up to the plate, and Melissa Rivers might do well (I remember her surviving for a long time on that silly reality show about being stuck in the middle of the Amazon rainforest!) I think Annie Duke is a very smart woman, but the other women will get tired of her pushiness (just like Nely Galan last year).
I really wanted some cupcakes from the Crumbs store in NY, but I would never eat the cupcakes that cames from KOTU or Athena! :-)
I was actually surprised that Joan and Melissa did not bring in their contacts especially since Joan was the Project Manager. You would think they would know everybody. I think Annie Duke worked very hard but she came on a little too strong. She has to learn to work with her group. Otherwise, they will be gunning for her or when she herself becomes Project Manager, they won't work with her.
As for Joan Rivers bringing in her contacts, hasn't she insulted most everyone to have anyone to turn to? Okay, just kidding. She gave to a worthy charitable organization, which is why they are on this show. Maybe she did call her contacts but they weren't shown because of editing.