'The Celebrity Apprentice' puts up its Duke
At some point during the past two weeks, the celebrities over on "The Celebrity Apprentice" seem to have finally decided that they know each other well enough to let the gloves come off. We're now getting to see a lot more blatant fighting between them (and not just liquor-fueled rants). Sure, I may quibble with the show not finishing a task tonight, but at least the celebrities have started to play hardball.
We got one and a half tasks tonight and the first was to come up with packaging and a display for LifeLock. You know, those identity theft people where the crazy guy/CEO gives his social security number in the ads. I can't believe that people haven't tried to rip that guy off solely based on his claims that it can't be done. It seems to me that the guy is just asking for it.
Natalie was in charge over at Kotu and actually was able to get Joan and Clint to work together, or at least not against each other. Joan definitely liked Natalie because, as Joan said, Natalie took a backseat to Joan's desires.
Athena, led by Brian McKnight, seemed less well organized. They didn't bother to talk to the people building their actual display until it was almost too late. Brian simply didn't have good time management skills and the increasingly less and less popular Annie Duke wasn't afraid to say as much. She thought they were good to go time-wise at first, but quickly became the chief clock-watcher, complaining about the team running out of time in umpteen different areas. She wasn't wrong about the time crunch, but I have to imagine that the way she went about stating it caused her to be ignored. She has alienated just about every remaining celebrity with her attitude.
Brian's team also ended up with serious e-mail problems. They weren't able to send graphics from one location to another and ended up not getting their display ship-shape. The thing just didn't look good, even with Jesse James having helped organize the production of the display (in his defense he was terribly sick). The LifeLock people not only weren't that impressed with Athena's display, but they also liked Kotu's delivering four celebrity endorsements and handed the win to Kotu.
It was then that it got good tonight. Back in the suite, Joan divulged to her team that she'd had dinner with Annie the night before and Annie had said that if Athena lost, she'd be going after Brande in the boardroom. Joan then saw Annie attack Brian and not support Melissa. Joan was pissed, she announced that if Melissa went home and Brande stayed that she, Joan, would also leave.
I like Joan Rivers. I've always liked Joan Rivers (I used to watch her talk show everyday), but that wasn't right. That was a horrible attitude to take, after all, this is just a game and she and Melissa can't both win.
It was pretty obvious to me that of the folks brought back into the boardroom -- Brian, Melissa, and Brande -- it was Brian, the PM, who ought to go home, so Joan shouldn't really have been so worried anyway. Even Brian knew he should go home, that he no longer had the desire to be on the show. So go home Brian did, ending the first task.
As much as I liked the notion behind that task -- a classic "Apprentice"-type task -- I hated the second one which required the contestants to hold a jewelry auction featuring Ivanka's jewelry. Nepotism much?
At least the whole thing was made better by having Joan as project manager of Kotu and squaring off against Annie, who was leading Athena. Having a line of her own, Joan knew jewelry better, but Annie had that massive black book of gamblers with money to burn. If Kotu could somehow out-fundraise Annie and Athena, Annie would be going home.
Wisely, Kotu had not one but two backup strategies. First, they were planning on bidding high on cheap items, thereby maximizing their net profit. Definitely an interesting strategy and the sort of thing that could help eek out a victory. It was their second strategy -- hit upon by Natalie -- which was pure genius. Natalie realized that perchance there were poker players out there who didn't like Annie as much as the celebs didn't like Annie and who would happily go against her by bidding on Kotu jewelry.
As for Annie, the woman who had been, allegedly, ready to throw Brande under the bus earlier tonight, she spent the whole second task schmoozing with the former playmate. It put Melissa as the odd, and now angry, woman out. It also meant that Melissa couldn't complain to anyone when Brande did things like only picking dresses for herself and none of the other models in the auction.
What happened during the auction itself? Goodness knows, we're going to have to find out next week during the actual event. Oh yeah, and Piers Morgan will be there helping Trump judge. That was supposed to be some sort of massive surprise. I don't know about you, but I wasn't impressed, and I certainly didn't like them ending a task in the middle, particularly when that task was focused on Ivanka's jewelry. That had to have been done on purpose.
Questions, questions:
- Was it necessary for us to hear Jesse James heave in a porta-potty?
- Did Joan really say that Natalie being straight was unusual for a golfer?
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews - Angel Cabrera, wow.
I had enough of the gruelsome twosome of Joan and Melissa in last night. I wish Trump would've fired Melissa so that Joan would left as well. I'm not making excuse for Annie because she can be controlling most of the time, but for Joan to throw a fits because Annie doesnt protect her daughter is just crazy. It a game, Trump pick on whoever he feel like firing that day, so get over it. Speaking of Trump, what a cheap stunt nominating Joan to go against Annie just so he can give the show some firework. I think he fired those two last week for no other reason than they were boring, so that he could set up last night showdown. What a douche.
I'm becoming increasingly cynical with old age. Don't both of the Rivers have PR people that counsel them how to act on the public stage? Suppose one of them was booted out day one, would the other have left? Nah, I doubt it. Joan wasn't going anywhere, this was all theatrics.
Tonight's task was rather mundane. Isn't this in fact, a job of law enforcement? What next, do old people have to put out for crossing guards for busy intersections? Free wheeling capitalism is out of control in this country. Anyway the story was Annie versus Melissa.
This is clear-cut since the start of reality TV. It's an elimination game show. Most anything goes none the least of which is lying. Well played Annie. Better win this upcoming round or you're out.
Lifelock's appeal is that they guarantee their services. If you get zapped, they reimburse you up to a million bucks (law enforcement won't do that).
What really struck me as odd was how Herschel Walker kept calling Annie Duke "Anna." His Georgia accent sounded like he also had some kind of neural damage.
I'm glad they caption each interview clip with the name and job of each contestant, because I otherwise wouldn't know who most of these people are. I've never heard of Jesse James, Annie Duke or Brand Roderick (I pronounce it Brand because of that stupid spelling).
Boy, Melissa sure got jealous when Annie decided to be BFF with Brande and not her! Best line of the night was when Annie put Melissa in charge of jewelry and Brande in charge of clothes because, "Brande knows all about clothes and beautiful people", then a quick cut to Melissa looking like she just smelled something really bad! LOL
Melissa said she should have been picked, since she has years of experience in jewelry and clothes. Is this concurrent with her years of experience as a TV producer? I suspect that if next week's challenge is to cure cancer, Melissa will tell us about her years of experience in surgical procedures, too (facial only, of course!).
I had enough of Piers Morgan last season. The fact that he's back as Trump's viceroy will only mean trouble ahead. But I sure hope Annie Duke goes home next week. What a piece of work she is!
I'm just waiting for Joan's and Melissa's faces melt off like the ending scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Isn't Jessie James married to Sandra Bullock?
Joan Rivers clearly has no confidence in her daughter. First, she insists that anyone who hires her also hires her daughter. Then she viciously attacks anyone who doesn't think Melissa is God's gift to the universe. If you can't raise a child capable of standing on her own two feet, can you really think yourself a good parent?
As for her allegations that Annie dissed Brande, I'm not buying it without proof. I can see Annie saying one lukewarm thing about Brande, and Joan turning it into "Annie said Brande was the the second coming of Hitler". Her view of reality is obviously sooo skewed.
I like Annie. She seems organized and focused, and I think only those with weak egos would find her "pushy". While I did find it repugnant that Annie kept ***uring Brande (and Melissa, I think) that she "loved" them, I did like and understand why she and Brande forged such a wonderful working relationship. It was hilarious to see ugly Melissa completely freaking out because Annie was not recognizing Melissa's top-of-the-line talent at everything. I actually laughed out loud when Annie ***igned Brande the models/clothes because she knows beautiful people, and the camera cut to ugly Melissa. Honestly, why would that task have been given to anyone but Brande?
For weeks we've been waiting for a project manager to actually 'manage' the project. Although we don't care for Annie or her overly aggressive behavior she actually did was she was supposed to do..***ign tasks and keep watch over their completion.
So glad she didn't cave into the ego of Joan's sporn. That one had way too much camera time last night which made us change the channel. We pity the people who have to work with her on a regular basis. Wonder if she'll fade off into the woodwork once Joan p***es on.
Joan's breakdown was so overly acted it was funny. Good one script writers!!
Who the heck is Piers Morgan?
I was so hoping Joan and Melissa were going home last night. They add nothing but distraction to this show. Loved it when Trump called Melissa a brat. I can think of other words LOL
Obviously they have something written in their contracts that keeps them both on til the end. Even Donald Trump isn't able to pull Melissa off her Mommy's coattail!
The smartest one last night was Brian. He looked like he just wanted off this train wreck and got his wish. Good move. I'll be watching something else next week.