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RSS'The Celebrity Apprentice': The Dennis Rodman meltdown, part two
NBC heavily promoted this week's "The Celebrity Apprentice" as the one where Dennis Rodman has a meltdown... again. It was really a lot sadder than that. This week really just boiled down to Dennis Rodman having a problem with alcohol.
Let's set the stage, shall we? The teams were each given five rooms to manage at the Loews Regency Hotel. As you should know by now, that thrilled me -- another non-black book task, one that actually required the candidates to do something. The women went with Tionne for their PM. She seemed terribly down to earth, she even put herself on housekeeping. The men went with (drum roll please)... Dennis Rodman! From that point you can pretty much guess what happened.
On the one hand, Rodman ought to have been the PM because if he did a good job it would show that he was semi-serious about being in the contest. Just as obviously, Rodman ought not to have done it because he's been incapable of taking anything seriously or focusing on a task for more than 30 seconds.
Clint Black actually thought Rodman could handle it. Black's saying that kind of worried me about where his brain was this week, but at least he gave Rodman the benefit of the doubt. And yes, Rodman looked capable early on, he did great things like getting the Carnegie Deli to provide welcome cookies, but then the drinking started.
I felt bad for Brian McKnight at that point, he tried to keep the train on the tracks, and Dennis kept trying to cause a derailment. He even gave Joan some of the Carnegie Deli cookies for the women's team to use. Then he got a drink. He went to get the men's first guest some champagne. Then he got a drink. The cookies -- which were brought to the kitchen to be beautified -- didn't make it back upstairs for hours. Rodman was pretty "happy" at that point, but I'm less than convinced that his guests were.
In the end, Joan Rivers was fantastic (except for not giving people prices) as the concierge on the women's side. There was nothing she couldn't get done and she seemed to really enjoy doing it. Plus, more importantly, I enjoyed watching her -- there's nothing like watching Joan Rivers look into peep shows.
Rodman and the men's team? They were a disorganized mess. Brian McKnight was overwhelmed and completely underwhelming as the concierge, but he started behind the eight ball. Herschel Walker not being able to figure out which order he was ferrying to which room? That was just plain incompetence and not Rodman related. As for Rodman's bailing on the hotel to go get dinner with some guests... I'm not even sure what to do with that. It wasn't a surprise though.
I applaud the show's effort to try and make it look like the men might have won when we saw the guests filling out the comment cards, but come on, creative editing can only go so far. The men didn't have a shot from the word "go" tonight and we all knew it (no clever lines there, Dennis wasn't doing shots, he was having vodka cranberries). The guys definitely tried, but they started with fewer people and had Dennis, who, after getting back from dinner, took off before the task was finished. At that point though, Dennis leaving was probably the best thing for the team.
In the boardroom, Jesse James (still my personal favorite) was the first to say that Dennis had a drinking problem. It almost turned into an intervention and Dennis didn't even deny having a problem, he just said that it wasn't the drinking that caused the team's issues.
Once the loss was officially announced, Trump didn't even dismiss the women, he just fired Dennis Rodman. Even then Rodman didn't admit that there was any sort of problem, he just felt like he was being persecuted again.
It makes you feel for him, it really does. I hope he gets whatever help he needs.
Bits and pieces:
- Let me say again, good for Jesse James. Not only did he admit openly about his having had a drinking problem, but he was the guy who started the truth-telling with Dennis. He even did it in as non-judgmental a way as possible. How can you not think he's great?
- Did you notice that they threw up a card at the end of the episode suggesting folks with alcohol problems contact AA? Good for the show.
- On a happier note, I have to admit, I thought it was funny that Stephen Baldwin and Vincent Pastore both showed up at the hotel tonight (they were both contestants last season). They didn't make it easy for the teams, particularly Baldwin. At least they didn't fill out comment cards.
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews - we never walk off the court.
No poll tonight, but I do have a bonus bit of footage from the boardroom:
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That was really sad. Dennis started out so well, and then let his drinking take control.
The boardroom was incredibly uncomfortable, but probably more "real" than all the other boardrooms on all the other seasons of "The Apprentice" put together. All of the other players (as well as Mr. Trump) handled themselves very well.
I was surprised when Jesse just stated that Dennis had a drinking problem, but I guess that was the best way to attack the problem head-on.
Dennis always acts like a clown, but when he won "Celebrity Mole", you could tell there was a lot more to him than that. I wish THAT version of Dennis was with us on this show.
I feel very much for Dennis, I hope he gets help!
I really liked it when Jesse told Donald to compare Dennis and Hershel i mean in my mind that just says it all.
"I depubed the toilet" only Jesse James. My favorite also.
Pretty hard not to like Jesse. He and Annie are my favorites by far. And, I agree that his comparison of Dennis and Herschel was amazingly poignant.
It take some guts to openly admit your business on national TV. way to go Jesse. Thats cool. This is the best season yet... I waiting for ammorosa to show up ")
What did Dennis say about being able to kick everyone's ***.
I feel extremly bad for Dennis. Thats not who he really is. He is my idol in a basketball sence because I loved his hustle and he could care less what anyone else thinks. But in a way I think that has also hurt him by not listening to what other people are saying about the problems that he has. I really hope he fixes this problem because him on the show is not the real Rodman. It was really sad to see him on the Apprentice the way he was.
dennis rodman has lost his luster. i like him and hope he gets it together soon, before he is a permanent has-been. he needs to find a real life outside the spotlight.
c'mon Dennis, you can do it!!!
I think of all the words in the english language the two words that Dennis Rodman has spoken the most on the Apprentice has been 'Vodka Cranberries' (and the F-word) and I think that's a sad commentary in and of itself. Every time he went to the kitchen he was ordering another Vodka Cranberry...
Before he started drinking, when they were learning what the task was and in the van on the way to the war room at Loews Regency, Rodman seemed very with it... I mean he was a little hard to understand (for me at least) but he was coming up with some good ideas. But after they got to the war room and the room service came up with his first round of drinks... it all went downhill from there for the Men's team.
I seriously hope that Rodman's friends and family sit down with him and have a serious intervention. I give kudos to Jesse for the way he handled the situation. Jesse got very emotional when he was talking about Dennis' drinking problem. I can only hope that Dennis can look back on the footage of himself and realise that he does have a problem and checks himself into rehab for it.